By Kira Kolsova
They say that in order to be successful, all parts of your life should be in balance: family, relationships, career and hobbies. Harriet Hastings, who co-founded the fashion forward Biscuiteers company and boutique in Notting Hill with her husband Steve Congdon, managed to find this equilibrium.
The couple launched
their business online in 2007 and a phrase “why send flowers when you can send
biscuits instead?” became their slogan. “I had just left a job as head of
consumer brands at a PR agency and was keen to see if I could create an online
brand of my own! My husband runs his own
catering and events company and we felt that there was a big opportunity in
gift food. Biscuits seemed the perfect
place to start as they lend themselves so brilliantly to so many designs”, says
Harriet. The biscuits were a perfect platform for the couple's creative minds:
they started to produce them seasonally as fashion collections, which caused a
furore. The company received so many orders, that they realised the need for a
bigger space, so they moved into their proper bakery in November 2007. Since
then, they have created their handmade bespoke designs for legendary brands
like Burberry, Prada, Mulberry and many others, and also published their own
“The Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits” in 2010, which led to the brand's
worldwide recognition.
In their boutique in Notting Hill, you can try their delicious biscuit,
chocolate and cake selection as well as participating in one of the themed
icing lessons. You can even become a student at the Biscuiteers School of Icing
and learn the art of creating your very own tin of biscuits.
Despite the success of
their enterprise, Harriet is proud that their biscuits are still made based on
the old fashion non industrialised techniques, which might be the reason why
they are so in demand. The company continues to collaborate with fashion brands
and you know you got it right when Anna Delo Russo posts a picture of your work
on her instagram. “Our first fashion collaboration was with Anya Hindmarch. We
created a tin of her iconic handbag designs for sale through Selfridges. For
our latest collaboration we have created a range of Ricky handbags for Ralph
Lauren for their press tour”, says Harriet. “We love working with fashion
brands – it is always exciting to work on the launch of a new handbag or
perfume. As you would expect they are
very particular about their designs but that is part of the fun and the
challenge”.
To have a business
with one's partner and take care of four children (young Biscuiteers, as
Harriet and Steve call them) is also quite challenging. But Harriet and her
husband handle it perfectly. “Day to day he runs his catering company and I run
Biscuiteers but we are working pretty closely together! The worst part is talking too much about
business when you are not in the office.
The children get very bored of the subject!”, shares Harriet. She
believes that mutual support and understanding of pressures and rewards of
running your own business are one of the main advantages of co-founding a
company with your partner. And having a complimentary skill sets is also very
helpful. When asked how she makes it work, Harriet gives a very wise advice:
“Carve out your own space. My husband
and I work on completely different aspects of the business and respect each
other's expertise. I think that helps”. And looking at what the power couple
have managed to achieve, one cannot argue with that.
Biscuiteers
Boutique and Icing Cafe
194 Kensington Park
Road, London, W11 2ES
http://www.biscuiteers.com/
