Enterprise Nation

Gillian Crawford may refer to her business as having been born in a storm (in the midst of a recession) but the only storm gathering speed now is being whipped up by this amazing company that’s run by two sisters with day jobs. This is a must-read home business story.

When did you start the business?

We formally launched the buisness in January 2008 at Scotland's Trade Fair where we won Best Scottish Product for our sterling silver chick-and-egg necklace.

Are both you and your sister working on it 5-9?

Lyndsey runs Studioarc, a design company. It's based in Edinburgh and is very successful with lots of high profile work. She is currently redesigning 18 galleries at Scotland's National Portrait Gallery, working on the visitor centre for Rosslyn Chapel, the visitor experience at Stirling Castle and writing the guidebook for the new Robert Burn's centre in Alloway, among many other things. I am a journalist with The Sunday Times in Scotland and I write an interview and a column each week for them. We both fit Tartan Twist around our other work.

Are the majority of your sales of tartan to overseas customers, or in the UK?

We sell online in the UK and overseas but mainly we are business-to-business, which accounts for about 80 per cent of our turnover. Our clients include The Scottish Parliament shop, the National Trust for Scotland, The Royal Yacht Britannia, Glasgow Museums, The National Museum of Scotland, The Royal Collection, The Gretna Green Group and Johnstons of Elgin as well as lots of independent shops and galleries. We sell in Japan via the York Tartan Group.

Do you make the earrings/necklaces/bracelets yourselves?

To start with we did everything ourselves but as the business has grown, we now have a small team of home workers who make the jewellery for us, often fitting it around other work such as child-minding.

How are you promoting the business?

We have Scottish Enterprise funding to redesign the website which will go live in September. We keep in touch with both retail and wholesale customers with e-newsletters. We send regular press releases to key publications and we've just got into Twitter and Facebook. We also attend trade shows and promote the jewellery directly to buyers. We've just done a new catalogue (which EN will be profiling in its own right as a separate feature.)

Do you work from separate home offices? If so, how do you keep in touch?

We work in different cities. I'm in charge of the jewellery workshop - a lovely arts and crafts outbuilding at my home in Stirling. Lyndsey is either in the Studio Arc Edinburgh office or at her home office in Edinburgh. We keep in touch by phone and email, mainly and meet up at least once a week for meetings with third parties. There is a lot of juggling.

What are your plans for the business in 2009?

We were commissioned to design the official pendant for The Gathering 2009 part of Scotland's Year of Homecoming which helped our profile in Scotland this year. The website and the catalogue launch next month. These will be key tools for promoting the company and introducing ourselves to new customers. We are talking to some key investors and working with Scottish Development International regarding an expansion in our Far Eastern business. In the meantime we intend to give the best possible service we can to our existing customers who have been very loyal with re-orders.

• Tartan Twist