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 .