Nestled in a coastal town in Gwynedd is a popular pottery business that has grown leaps and bounds over the past nine years. A couple from Porthmadog started their dream business in their garden shed in 2011, and are now based in a 250-square-foot facility with plans to expand after raising £70,000 from a crowdfunder.
Tom Gloster and his wife Myfanwy Gloster, started their business, Gloster, in 2011 after moving back to their hometown. Tom has been a potter since 2004 and Myfanwy enjoyed making crafts after studying textiles and fashion in university. After returning to Porthmadog and buying their first house, Tom turned their garden shed into a pottery workshop and the pair opened the ground floor of their home into a craft and coffee shop.
Myfanwy said: "His workshop was in the garden shed and mine was in the attic and that was in 2011. In 2014, we decided to open another shop in town and moved his workshop above it. It really took off from there. The ceramics got really popular in the shop and we ended up hiring help."
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The 35-year-old said that business was going well and then the Covid pandemic hit. She added: “Covid came along and the shop closed, we sent everyone home and we thought that would be it for the business." However, to their surprise, their online sales "boomed.”
In 2020, Myfanwy and Tom also set up a crowdfunder named ‘Go Big or Go Home’ with the intention to raise enough money to cover the cost of installing a new electricity supply at their then workshop. She said: “We did a crowdfunder to try and raise money to get a commercial supply which was going to cost us £10k - but our fundraiser raised £40k”
This catapulted their business into a new era and they decided to move locations and found a new site, which was 2,500-square-feet facility. Myfanwy added: “We went to that one with the assumption that it was going to take us quite a while to fill it, but we grew into it very quickly.”
Gloster is known in the area for its magnificent ceramic mugs and has queues around the street during its annual sample sale. The store sells pottery, contemporary ceramics, gifts, tableware, handmade mugs and has its own pottery courses.
Their products are now based in 55 wholesalers across the UK, including Kew Gardens and a supplier in Dubai. Myfanwy said: “The online sales have been amazing and the shop is back open and running - that’s been really good. We’ve reopened our wholesale in February - which we had to close in 2020 when Covid hit - and now we’re in 55 shops in the UK and a team of 10.”
Gloster has been able to hire an expanding workforce due to its local and online support and hopes to bring more job opportunities to the area with the expansion. Tom has taught the team everything they know and now has a variety of trimmers, glazers, and potters in the team.
The couple felt that they had reached capacity at their location and needed more room to make their products and enter their next era in business, expanding to the adjoining unit.. They started another crowdfunder and raised £70k in 48 hours and the money will be used to open a designated onsite workshop store with views straight into the workshop. This means customers will be able to see everything being made onsite and have the opportunity to glaze their very own mugs. Come summer, Gloster hopes to offer mug painting alongside their pottery throwing class courses and events.
Speaking on how business has been during the cost of living crisis, Myfanwy said that having a shop has been "harder." But added: "People are making a conscious decision to shop with smaller companies than big ones, and what they are spending they’re making the decision to put into small businesses.
Myfanwy said that the support from the online and local community has been "incredible." She added: "It’s come a long way from a garden shed. It’s really nice that people understand and are willing to pay for something that’s handmade - they’re realising that they’re not just investing in us, but a team. Our goal was always to create local jobs in North Wales, as when we finished university and came back there weren’t any.
"We’re so grateful to our lovely customers and really proud of the team that we have."
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