Hall 4, Stand F72
Gifts Today talks to Henry & Co Home Fragrance managing director Mark Rees and creative director Jo Stubbs, who are exhibiting for the first time at Spring Fair
What are your career backgrounds?
Mark: I’ve worked in retail for the past 25 years, so I have extensive knowledge of the card and gift retail landscape. Plus, I also ran a chain of 10 destination home fragrance stores, and this is where I met Jo. I knew she had a passion for home fragrance and had spent many years perfecting her talent making her own products.
When the stores had to close due to the pandemic, it gave me a chance to look at how we could develop our own brand home fragrance range, pooling the extensive knowledge we had, and the experience and passion Jo had developed. Henry & Co Home Fragrance was born.
Jo: I also worked in retail for 27 years, straight from school to supermarkets, and then to more specialised gifting working with Mark.
I’m also a trained massage therapist and a Reiki practitioner – Level 2. I have a qualification in basic aromatherapy, and have made candles and home fragrance products for the past 12 years. At first, I was making them for family and friends, and it turned into a small business alongside my holistic therapies and aromatherapy.
I’ve put this on the back burner since the pandemic, and took the opportunity to go into partnership with Mark and build Henry & Co Home Fragrance. Both my personal and career experiences have been strategic in the building of the brand.
What’s the story behind Henry & Co Home Fragrance?
Henry & Co Home Fragrance was born out of the pandemic. This has given us the time to work on getting the branding, range and production together. We are based in Derby, with all products manufactured here with our small team. Currently, there are eight of us in the team.
What Is your company ethos?
Our company ethos is to operate with integrity and always put the customer at the heart of what we do. Because of our retail backgrounds, we are always thinking: what will sell for our retail customers?