A dad-of-two has launched a business selling gifts that celebrate the Wirral’s towns and villages – including Parkgate and Neston – from his shop in West Kirby.

Steven Ramsay explained: “I  took redundancy from a pharmaceutical company when I was 51 and I had no idea what I wanted to  do.

“I thought about maybe investing in a local business. I have always loved West Kirby and I said to the financial adviser that I’d like to help ‘somewhere like Le Bizz on Banks Road’. It was just off the top of my head – I had no idea that it was up for sale. I’d taken my two daughters in when they were little to buy Beanie Babies.”

Steven and his wife Caroline threw themselves into running the West Kirby shop, which stocks a range of gifts and cards.

He said: “We started doing cards with West Kirby on and they sold really well.

“That got me thinking about other things we could put the branding on. I wanted to try decorating mugs but it was hard to get a good quality colour print on bone china. Eventually we found someone who  could do it.

“I’m not an artist or a designer and we wanted to make the mugs  omething really special, so  I asked around the customers if anyone knew somebody who might be able to help.”

Steven met graphic designer Rebecca Furlong through mutual  friends. Rebecca, who lives in Upton, Wirral, was on maternity leave and she offered to try out some designs.

Steven and Rebecca looked at phrases that summed up each of the Wirral towns in a funny  or quirky way.

Rebecca said: “We started to put  them in the Facebook page and people were really enthusiastic.  We were getting suggestions for towns and requests for products.

“We started doing more and more places on the Wirral – and  further afield too.”

Now Steven and Rebecca have launched Love Your Nation, with a range of designs for areas  in Liverpool, and plans for further afield  too. They are also looking into ways to export the ranges to expats around the world.

“We can’t believe how popular  they have been,” says mum-of-two Rebecca, 32.

“It started off  as a one-off but it’s  just grown and grown. We have tea  towels, chopping boards and coasters  now as well as the mugs. It’s  nice to see how proud people are of  the places they live.

“We’re in the process now of  expanding that with a Liverpool  range. They will go into production  soon. I enjoyed designing  them – places like Penny Lane  really lend themselves to what we do.”

Find out more at www.lebizz.co.uk .