Fika with Charity, founder of Green Tulip
The story of a shopkeeper with great foresight and impeccable timing who has grown a portfolio of sustainable e-commerce businesses fit for the future.
Green Tulip is a retail business dedicated to sustainable and ethical homewares and gifts. Founded by Charity in 2007, the trigger moment was realising that if she continued as an employee, she’d blink and miss her children growing up. She didn’t want to look back and regret missing out on that special time, so in 2005 began to plan an exit from her senior role in high street retail and return to Wiltshire where she had grown up.
First (and still) a bricks & mortar business, the Green Tulip e-commerce store was established soon after, closely followed by Green Pioneer, a distribution and wholesale business spawning two own brands, and more recently The Natural Gift Company, an all-female e-store established in 2017.
‘Each of our gift boxes is a homage to small businesses and small batch suppliers that sometimes get lost amongst mass produced products’
I first met Charity when she joined the board of Trustees at Dorothy House Hospice Care 2 years ago. Ensuring good governance, especially in respect of the organisation’s retail operation, she was invited to the board of directors of Dorothy House Trading Ltd in 2023. Hugely rewarding, she is pleased to be able to share her growing knowledge of end of life and palliative care to those in her own community.
Charity learnt to be a retailer from one of the best
Her invitation to join the board is unsurprising. Having spent her early career rising from graduate trainee to managing 2 floors of the John Lewis Partnership flagship store at Oxford Circus, Charity is more than qualified. With 14 years on Britain’s best high streets, there is little she hasn’t experienced. Buying, brand development, packaging design, merchandising, recruitment, department & store management. You name it, Charity likely has first-hand experience.
Recalling a highlight moment - she had the pleasure of working with commercial graphics luminary and former Pentagram partner John McConnell - she credits that experience as the pivotal moment that gave her the confidence to develop two exciting own brands which we’ll hear more of later. McConnell is the graphic designer and art director responsible for the iconic Biba logo and other celebrated brand marques and advertising campaigns for organisations such as Faber & Faber, The British Museum, Boots and Clarks.
From that time, she also carries with her the intrinsic values of integrity, honesty and quality. All learned at John Lewis.
After the birth of her son, and before returning from maternity leave, she was already plotting her next steps. Green Tulip was registered in 2006. ‘At a time we were still throwing wine bottles in the kitchen bin’ she recalls. Awareness was growing, and people were beginning to speak of sustainability. Legislation had been passed in 2003 (the Household Waste Recycling Act) which meant local authorities in England had to provide every household with a separate collection of at least two types of recyclable material by 2010. Slowly migrating from white paper to pavement, recycling bins were making an appearance on kerbsides. Charity was social listening, before social listening was invented. Her timing was impeccable.
images from @theinneryard and @greentulipuk via Instagram
The office is at her old family home. A Crown property where her grandparents & parents farmed. It’s recently been taken over by her younger sister. From a family of entrepreneurs – her parents temporarily moved from Wiltshire to Wales to start a food business, her sister owns a cookery school offering alternative provision for students not in mainstream school and her brother has his own fintech company. Self-employment is in the blood.
Shortly after her return to Wiltshire, a serendipitous coffee date with a group of new school mums landed Charity a new business partner - antique dealer Beth. Antique dealing is the purest form of sustainable retail. It was a match made in retail heaven. They still share the shop today, Charity managing the financial aspects of the business, Beth the creative side. ‘It works incredibly well. We trust each other implicitly and make decisions quickly whilst at trade shows or during the few dedicated times we are together, away from the shop. I wouldn’t advocate for setting up business with strangers (3 years in we had to part company with a third business partner after realising the misalignment), but I totally trusted my instincts with Beth’.
Becoming the Green Pioneer
Charity never intended to start a wholesale business. In 2007 she was sourcing a range of bamboo products for the shop, to discover the UK distributor was no longer representing the range. Her mind whirring as she sat at a school assembly, she returned home to discuss the opportunity with her husband and crunch some numbers. Together they approached the brand owners in the US and were offered chance to become the UK distributor of Bambu - Green Pioneer was born. Today, it is a leading wholesale distributor of design-led products supplying stylish sustainable and ethical products to the UK and Europe. But it hasn’t been without its challenges.
images from @greenpioneerltd via Instagram
The first shipment was bought under a favourable exchange rate of 2.1 with the US dollar but the financial crisis hit, and the exchange rate plummeted - not the best start. When a wet summer resulted in product spoils and a poor appointment demanded a financial resolution, her resilience was put to the test. But challenges aside, Charity’s decisiveness resulted in an early partnership with Not On The High Street which, bolstered by an established route to market through Green Tulip, Green Pioneer soon secured a foothold.
In 2015 Green Pioneer worked with the government on the Passport to Export programme, and by 2017 the business had 80% of its distribution sales coming from Europe. Business was booming.
Branching out into own brands
Once on the path, it became difficult not to continue. Charity’s curiosity and interest in sustainable sourcing and products grew stronger. Always one to dig deeper, she discovered some misleading narratives and ‘hated the idea of being fooled into believing I was buying something that was not as sustainable as it claimed’. After discovering a new sustainable raw material during one of her sourcing trips, she’s developed two own brands Respiin and A Slice of Green, both of which ‘felt like something the market needed,’ and have been well-received.
Respiin products made from recycled wool thread collected from clothing that has been put into recycling banks
Work hard and make your own luck
The businesses are self-funded, bolstered by an early funding circle loan and savings. With thorough planning, clear foresight and decisiveness, each business and brand has become viable and self-sustaining. A firm believer in working hard and staying curious and that you make your own luck, there is little doubt that being a shopkeeper and owner of three e-commerce businesses is a vocation.
The bricks and mortar store is still hugely successful. ‘We have lovely customers and being tucked away are reliant on customer loyalty’. Testament to her relationship building and focus on customer loyalty customers keep coming back. Charity adds that supplier relationships are equally important. Working with 70 suppliers, many who have been with them since the beginning, and nurturing the supply chain is a vital part of the business operation.
When quizzed on what traits Charity thinks make a successful founder, she quicky jumps in with ‘hard work’ closely followed by:
Resilience
Optimism
Decisiveness
‘Oh, and the ability to reflect on and enjoy the successes, which is often overlooked,’ she adds. Retelling her story, she is reminded of how far she has come.
The biggest challenges for retail & wholesale
So much has changed over recent years, from Brexit and Covid to the e-commerce explosion. It’s difficult for Charity to put her finger on a single environmental factor that has changed the retail landscape, each bringing with it different challenges:
The challenge of Brexit
With Brexit the issue was the wait – ‘knowing that it was coming but not knowing what to do about it. Then the shit show that followed.’ While centrist in her politics, she believes the government was short sighted in not considering the lost income from corporation tax associated with trading in Europe. However, she is feeling a glimmer of hope with the change of guard at Westminster.
The impact of the pandemic
Being first and foremost e-commerce businesses, Green Tulip and Green Pioneer fared well during lockdown and Charity & her husband rode the pandemic wave with an well-established, well-optimised websites. They had their best ever year in 2019.
The eco-bubble bursting
When Blue Planet captured the public’s attention around 2018, interest in eco-products went from niche to mainstream. What followed was a market flooded with eco-focused e-commerce stores and eco-products. With consumers distracted by Covid, and so much more competition it was an adjustment for both businesses. But the own label products have played a huge part in their continued success and Charity feels positive about the future.
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The key to retail success
Both in the shop and online, Charity and her team are careful to prioritise customer service. The business thrives on repeat customers that return due to good service, great products and it’s all very well creating a lovely welcoming retail space, but if the customer service is poor, that’s a battle lost.
John Lewis recently changed its slogan from ‘never knowingly undersold’ to ‘everyday quality and value’ and shifted its focus on products ‘for all life’s moments’. With champagne flutes and changing robes toppling velour tracksuits and white goods from the best seller list, insights suggest that post-pandemic people are preferring to spend money on stylish things that make them happy day to day.
‘If a company is actively contributing to the pollution of the planet, unfair labour practices or unethical designs, we can choose not to enable their behaviour by shopping elsewhere.’
So perhaps we are facing a return to the Arts & Crafts sentiment of ‘having nothing in your home that is not useful or beautiful’. And with Gen Z using their collective buying power to put pressure on the market, it seems that Charity may be one step ahead of the curve again. Green Tulip, Green Pioneer and The Natural Gift Company are in a great position to respond to market trends and meet the needs of an increasingly discerning audience.
‘If your dream is to be stocked on the shelves of big and prestigious retailers like Selfridges, be careful what you wish for!’
Retail is a numbers game
From our fika, a few insights for burgeoning brands looking for a retailer that Charity was kind enough to share, drawn from her experience working with John Lewis Partnership and in managing the supply chain for Green Tulip:
Small businesses partner best with small brands, working with high street retailers is tough and you need huge upfront investment, often for little return.
You will have to find a way to fund large quantities of stock, be prepared to wait 3 months for payment, and might be subject to cancellation of pre-orders if goods are not sold.
Big retailers demand high margins, as high as 70%, and will require stringent legal paperwork demonstrating standards and certifications.
So, what of the future of bricks & mortar retail?
Stock not only needs to be well-sourced and beautifully curated, but it also has to meet customer needs and not just reflect the shopkeeper’s taste. This is where independent retailers can fall foul of high rents and find themselves out of business.
‘It’s easy to buy stuff, less easy to sell it.’
You can drive footfall, host events and workshops to entice people in store, but if the stock listing is not well-priced and it does not meet the needs of the customers, forget it. Commerciality and insights first. Tailor your offering to demand and be open to all routes to market.
images from @theinneryard and @greentulipuk via Instagram
What sets Green Tulip apart?
We have a different way of doing business. For us, it’s not all about the bottom line. Of course we need to make a profit to be in business, but we understand that behind every business are people. We don’t offer credit but do pay up front. Because isn’t that what suppliers want? Neither do we cut margins. We advocate for an ethical supply chain where everyone is rewarded properly. We all support each other and live by he motto: ‘turnover is vanity, profit is sanity, cash is reality’
What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting up
Don’t overthink it, just do it
Act before someone else comes along and does it
Set up Instagram, start a blog, run a market stall
Start it as a side hustle until it becomes viable
Think progress not perfection
Has being a founder given you the life that you wanted?
There are hugely challenging days, but these are offset by the ability to be there for my children growing up, support my team with their own needs, take a break, have a coffee and network like this and most importantly to make a positive impact and drive change.
image credits: Johanna Davies & Lucy Jane Saunders (Ubiety)
Charity and I enjoyed Fika at Timbrell’s Yard, an independent hotel and eating spot in Bradford upon Avon. We chose the location, not only because it sits conveniently in the middle of our respective places of work, but you also get to indulge in a little Ubiety when you stay. Ubiety is the skincare and fragrance brand developed by Dorothy House Hospice Care, and all profits help provide valuable end of life and palliative care to patients and their families in the local area.
You can visit Charity and her team at The Inner Yard in Bromham and shop Ubiety at the Ubiety store in London Road Bath.
