7 inspiring British power couples who are in business together
These couples, whose businesses vary from international associations to smaller scale local enterprises, have all worked closely with their spouses.
Could you set up business with your better half? Why not find out? Come to one of our Build-A-Business Days - just the thing to kick-start aspiring entrepreneurs into action this year. For more information visit our information page.
1. Jo Malone and Gary Willcox at Jo Malone
Literally founded at the kitchen table, Jo Malone has become an eponymous household name selling some of the world's most loved fragrances. Although Jo sold the company for undisclosed millions in 1999 to the beauty brand Estee Lauder, she remained at the creative helm until 2006 when she began working on a new project.
Jo's may be the famous name, but her husband Gary has been with her every step of the way: "He's the business brain. There would be no Jo Malone or Jo Loves without him," she once said. "A lot of people look at the success of this business as just me, what they don't see is Gary was the physical backbone to everything. He was the one who got in the van and drove round the country delivering the oils wherever they needed to be. He was the one that found the factories and sat in the meetings while I said 'that's not how you do it, it doesn't smell right'. Gary was the one who found the first shop."
2. Jonny and Dulcie Crickmore at Fen Farm Dairy
Jonny and Dulcie Crickmore believe the best food in the world is the simplest - straight from nature to your plate. Situated in Suffolk, the pair work tirelessly to farm the land at Fen Farm and make delicious raw milk, raw cultured butter and raw cream. While Jonny works on developing the farm and is the main cheesemaker, Dulcie works on the branding and marketing side of things.
3. Claire and Andy Burnet at Chococo
Husband and wife team Andy and Clare have been making fine fresh handmade chocolates together since 2002. Situated on Dorset's Jurassic Coast, the pair pride themselves on being ethical chocolate makers, who use locally sourced ingredients like local fresh cream. In their former lives, both worked for big companies in marketing and finance roles. The pair now preside over three stores in Swanage, Winchester and Exeter – you can also find their chocolates in Liberty, Selfridges and Wholefoods.
4. Emma Sims-Hilditch and John Sims-Hilditch at Neptune
Interior design extraordinaire, creative director and founder of the luxury design practice Sims-Hilditch, Emma Sim-Hilditch is the Queen of breezy British interiors. While she founded Sims-Hilditch, her husband John presides over Swindon-based design and furnishing company Neptune of which Emma is Creative Director. "It started with a hammock" – which Emma sewed at her kitchen table and twenty years on that hammock has evolved into a select collection of beautiful furniture and a hugely successful British business.
5. Stella McCartney and Alasdhair Willis at Stella McCartney
Although they're not currently working on any projects together, the pair first met at a business meeting at Brown's Hotel in 2001 when creative consultant Alasdhair was hired as to advise on Stella's business. Currently creative director at Hunter, Alasdhair, laughs that his "wife is notoriously late for meetings; I think she was about 20 minutes late." The two clearly share an affinity for fashion: Willis also recently worked on the re-branding of high street clothing chain Warehouse.
6. Will and Caroline Atkinson at Hill Farm Dairy
In 2006, this couple made the leap and left their nine-to-five jobs to move to Hill Farm in the village of Stawley, Somerset. Here they established a herd of milking goats and began to make cheese. Previously Caroline had worked at Neals Yard Dairy in London where she gained invaluable cheese making experience. Will was much more of a novice – having been a lawyer, but together they learned how to keep goats, they built barns and their own milking parlour. Now they have a herd of over 100 goats and make soft and hard cheese from their raw unpasteurised milk.
7. Emma Bridgewater and Matthew Rice at Emma Bridgewater
Despite its resounding success, Emma Bridgewater remains to be very much a family business. Emma met her now husband Matthew at a trade fair and began working together only a year after. They were married in 1987 and it's been a creative partnership ever since. The business name may be all Emma, but the company is in fact run by the two of them.
In an interview with the Telegraph Emma once said: "If you don't have a husband who wants you to succeed and get on with stuff it would be impossible to work and have children." In fact, when Emma was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, Matthew took on running the business. All patterns are designed in house and many are inspired by Emma and Matthew's everyday life: The signature sponge wear patterns and shape designs are Emma's, while Matthew is responsible for the much-loved Black Toast print.
Think you and your significant other could work well together? Come to one of our Build-A-Business Days and kickstart your new self-made career. For more information visit our information page.
You Might Also Like
