Natalie and Jame's love for low carbon, reclaimed furniture started when James decided to make the tables and bar for their wedding in 2018. They originally set up Sustain Furniture as a part time hobby to James's architecture profession and Natalie's wedding planning, however following it's success they formalised the company Sustain (Retail) Ltd in July 2019 and have opened their shop and workshop in June 2020 in Stockport.

In 2018, Stockport-based James Mather and fiancée Natalie were stunned by the cost of hiring tables and a bar for their impending wedding. With a love for low-carbon reclaimed furniture, they decided to make their own using reclaimed scaffold boards.

Named Lockdown Start-Up Award Winner at the eBay for Business Awards 2020, Sustain Furniture was originally created as a part-time hobby alongside James's architecture profession and Natalie's wedding planning.

The timing couldn’t have been better. With employees across the country now retreating from offices to work from home, the tables soon sold out. James ordered more boards, and his hobby soon took over his garage.

Within two months he'd opened a shop and workshop to complement the eBay store, having already turned over a promising £22k.

With Natalie and baby Isaac now out of hospital, the couple are planning to find more time to shape the look of their shop front and develop the business further.

The eBay judging team were hugely impressed with James and Natalie’s success in turning a part-time hobby into a fully-fledged business during lockdown. “Their products are beautiful, eco-friendly and timely with people still buying new desks,” they said, “and there is a lot of room for growth now that they have also set up a physical shop to complement their eBay store.”

“We turned our hobby of creating furniture into a business in May this year, during the first lockdown. We decided to use eBay to list our products, which has given us access to a huge variety of customers that we would not be able to otherwise reach. The business has grown so much that we have gone from using our garage as a workshop to renting a workshop space close to home. 

“Advice we would give to people looking to start their own business would be to feel the fear and do it anyway. If you have an idea that your friends and family are telling you to sell – go for it! There might be other people doing similar things, but there’s space for everyone, so don’t be put off by the competition. Finally, appeal to your local community. Now, more than ever, people need to feel part of their community and, in our experience, being close to yours will boost your joy as well as your sales.”
 

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