A RINGWOOD business is among eight UK finalist shortlisted for a design award.

Sbri has been nominated as the pet category finalist for this year’s Etsy Design Awards, which are also known as “The Etsies”, for its personalised dog waste bag holder.

The design awards celebrate the highest-quality items on Etsy while spotlighting diverse sellers from around the world.

'Blown away'

Speaking about being a finalist, Emily Carr, who runs Sbri, said: “We were completely blown away. We knew we loved this product and our customer feedback has been brilliant so far, but to get recognition from the Etsy Design Awards judges was absolutely amazing and unexpected, especially when there are so many incredible entries and innovative products. We’re really proud to have reached the Top 100.”

The poop bag holders are handmade in Sbri’s studio from sustainably sourced British leather.

“Running a small business is wonderful but it has its challenges and is definitely tricky at times – that’s why being nominated for an award is so special. We love our designs, so to have our hard work recognised by Etsy would mean so much. As a team we are all thrilled, it’s such a cool thing to be a part of and to call ourselves “finalists” is already so exciting – being winners would be incredible. Winning at the Etsy Design Awards would help us reach more people and share the joy of Sbri even further,” added Emily.

How the business started

"Everything started with a leopard print coin purse. After I had my children I wanted a purse that was small enough to carry in my baby changing bag but still felt like me and my style, something practical but fun as well," explains Emily.

"We already had another business, Create Gift Love, where we make and sell personalised wooden and leather keepsake gifts from our New Forest workshop, so we turned our leather skills to making these small leather purses in a select range of colours and prints to start with.

"The purses really took off and were so popular with our customers that it led to us designing more prints and leather products. Eventually we realised that our leather range was ready to be a brand of its own and we launched Sbri in February 2020.

"Having a leather brand that was separate from our gift company has given us the space to develop our leather skills, try new things and launch new exciting ranges, like our personalised leather pet products."

Pet products

"Pet products were actually a customer request. We often ask our Instagram followers what kind of new products they’d like to see from us and a pet range always comes highly suggested. All our Sbri products are designed to add a little bit of extra joy to the everyday essentials - whether it’s the keyring on your house keys, the purse in your back pocket or the case to hold your headphones - and we realised that for a dog owner nothing is more everyday or essential than the dog walk. One of our team members, Carla, had a new puppy at the start of this year and the poop bag holder was her suggestion - her puppy Hendrix has been chief product tester for the pet range."

Judging

To decide the winners of the “Etsies”, judges will be looking at the quality, creativity, utility and “wow” factor of the finalist entries. Selected from thousands of entries received from around the world, the eight UK Etsy sellers are in the running for a cash prize.

Emily said: “If we were to win an award the prize money would be reinvested into the business. We have so many ideas that we’re excited about and the money would definitely help with bringing them to fruition: investing in new technology, launching new collections and helping new people to find out about Sbri. I think there would have to be some kind of team celebration too.”

The winners will be announced in late August.

 

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