A Suffolk woman whose business began in her mum’s living room has told how she weathered the pandemic, and is now even looking to expand her premises.

Meg Quinton, 35, is the founder of ‘The Cuddle Company’ which produces bespoke baby blankets.

“When Covid first hit, we were able to carry on and work in separate rooms,” said Meg.

“The last six months have been really challenging in terms of the stock, so I am now looking at ways to get the fabric more quickly. At the moment, our focus is keeping up with demand.”

Meg realised her passion for creating babywear as a student, when she would come home to Suffolk from Winchester School of Art to help out in her mum’s fabric shop during the holidays.

“There were lot of scraps of fabric around the house, so I started to make bibs and decided to try selling them on eBay,” Meg explains.

“My mum encouraged me to go down the baby blanket route as lots of people were requesting them, and it took off from there.

East Anglian Daily Times: Meg says she is at her happiest when she's creating.Meg says she is at her happiest when she's creating. (Image: Anthony Cullen)

“We turned my mum’s living room into a sewing room and invested in an industrial sewing machine and embroidery machine. I worked from there for a year until we rented an office.”

Meg was soon able to employ another person to help out, then another, and now manages a team of eight people.

“There was no strict business plan,” Meg admits. “I just realised people really liked the products and listened to what they wanted.”

Meg does not have children herself, but says the “mum community” on social media have accepted her with open arms, recommending her products and tagging their friends.

“The baby market is a nice one to be in,” she said.

Now, having withstood the pandemic, she is looking to the future.

“There are lots of exciting things on the horizon. Over the last few years, we have started printing our own fabric, which we can then offer to customers who want a unique design.

“As we’re expanding the print section, we need more space, and the team on our business park are converting another building so we can expand.”