About Us
The Buggysnuggle Company became a reality officially in 1998, a typical story of two very good mates with an idea, but not much of a plan! 13 years later, remarkably, we are still very much in business, still talking to each other and have seen our original product the Buggysnuggle, become a ‘must have’ accessory for every new baby! At Buggysnuggle we wanted to produce ‘snuggly stuff’ - original products made from soft, cuddly fabrics that will be loved by you and your baby - and that is still our philosophy today!
How it all started:
Several lifetimes ago, in December 1996, I was exhibiting my kids clothing company, Fish Kidswear, at a consumer show. I got chatting with the importers of the first 3-wheel pushchair to hit the UK about its lack of a cosy liner. At that time the only “cosy toes” type products on the market were plain and made of stiff, scratchy fabrics. They loved the fabrics I used for my Fish Kidswear clothes and suggested they’d make a great buggy liner, and so the seed was sewn…!
It took another 12 months before I finally got around to designing a prototype using the soft and colourful designer fabrics I used for Fish. I then made a couple of samples for friends. One of those friends was Jo, who I’d known since we were 10 years old. After a few months of using our new ‘Buggysnuggles’ with our new 3-wheel buggies and gorgeous babies, Jo suggested that we should produce and sell them, as there was nothing similar on the market. So after a couple of brain storming sessions (involving several bottles of wine!), we came up with the name Buggysnuggle and the first advert was placed in Junior magazine in October 1998.
To our surprise & delight we were inundated with orders and enquiries. After a couple of weeks of literally manufacturing from the dining room table into the wee small hours, we placed our production with a tiny factory in Salisbury. Within 3 months we secured an order from John Lewis who had seen our advert..... After that there was no looking back and The Buggysnuggle Company was born!
Over the last 14 years our original, award winning Buggysnuggle has seen many upgrades and improvements. In 2010, we were delighted to introduce the new, improved Buggysnuggle – an innovative revamp of our original design. Over the years we have added more products to the range, always sticking to the same philosophy of ‘snuggly stuff’!
My name is Sarah Wickins and I’m co-founder of The Buggysnuggle Company, married to John my extremely long suffering hubby (ELSH), a mum of 4, mad keen Cornish Pilot Gig Rower and mentally still 26 years old!
I studied at London College of Fashion and then briefly worked for Warehouse as a Design Room Assistant before moving to Monsoon as Production Assistant in 1992. I learnt so much over the next 3 years and had such a great time! In March 1995 I left work to have my first son, Cameron. I’d always wanted to start my own company using my fashion & design background. Armed with the knowledge I’d gained at Monsoon I set up Fish Kidswear in October 1995. The next couple of years were a major learning curve and Daniel, my second son, came along in 1997! This was one of the most chaotic times of my life trying to balance work and 2 small boys... As things panned out, Jo & I launched Buggysnuggle and after 5 years of trying to run both companies (and almost going out of my mind!), I decided to wind down Fish and concentrate on Buggysnuggle – something that looking back I’m very glad I did, but it was a sad thing to have to do knowing that Buggysnuggle probably wouldn’t have come about without Fish....
Well after that it was full steam ahead and we have both worked so hard to build the Buggysnuggle brand and develop our range of products! In 2003, ‘ELSH’ and I finally realised a long held dream to relocate to Cornwall from Oxfordshire. I wasn’t sure how it would work out running the company from two offices 292 miles apart, but most of the time it’s fine. I deal with all the design and production side of things from Cornwall, and Jo works on the sales and distribution from the main warehouse in Oxford. My 3rd (HAT TRICK!) boy, Sam, came along just before we moved to Cornwall and then in 2009, my little Cornish pixie, Lizzie arrived – finally a girl! Life is still one massive juggling act, only now I have to add taxi driver to my list of jobs, dropping off budding surfers at wherever the surfs up! But I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Hi I’m Jo Ellis, co-founder of The Buggysnuggle Company, middle of three daughters, ginger haired and serial “toad kisser”! Suffering for years with second child syndrome, constant taunting associated with being a "carrot top" and hoping that if I kiss a lot of toads my prince will come! I have one beautiful daughter, Ruby, now 12 years old and her father Mark, who I am now separated from (after 20 years) is still my best friend. As well as work I try to fit in long walks with my very energetic Springer spaniel Darcy, school runs, lunch with the girls (very rare!) and in the winter the office occasionally re-locates to Switzerland so I can enjoy my other passion, skiing!
I always knew that I wanted to run my own business, probably because I am very bossy and not good at taking orders, but didn't know what. For four years I worked for Post Office Counters which taught me a lot about accounting and how to lick a stamp! I took voluntary redundancy as soon as I could and then started working in my mother’s property letting business. This developed my love of nosing round other peoples homes and seeing their potential, which later led to numerous house renovation projects and living in dust and debris for many months. This was a pretty crazy time in my life, I got married, had a baby and the "Buggysnuggle" dream was launched.
Sarah and I went to school together, probably kissed the same boys and certainly shared the same blue eye shadow back in the eighties - so it came as no surprise that such old friends would make such a great working partnership… and the rest, as they say, is history...!