We are excited (and shocked!) to be one of the lucky 12 finalists that will be pitching their business idea to the key buyers of John Lewis!

A few weeks ago we submitted an application form to the Start Up Britain‘s Pitch Up scheme: a scheme which will see start-ups given the opportunity to pitch their products to high street retailer John Lewis, with a view to getting their merchandise onto the British department store’s shelves.

Never in a million years did we think we would make the top 100, so to find out we had made it through to the final 12, who will be invited to the John Lewis head office in London to pitch to the buying panel, was a surprise to say the least…making us only slightly more nervous due to the fact that Sam was due to have her baby anytime between when we found out and the date of the pitch! But what an amazing opportunity for us!

With the date of the pitch looming, plans are coming together well, and regardless of the outcome, we are really proud of ourselves for getting this far and is sure to be a great experience. We are also looking forward to meeting the John Lewis team and fellow finalists and we wish them the best of luck.

We also want to thank all those who have offered advice and an ear to listen to us practice our pitch, especially our business mentor Gina Yates from Leeds City College who passed on the information about the pitch and encouraged us to go for it, my (day job) manager Nigel Lockett, probably the busiest and experienced person in this field that I know, who gave up his (extremely valuable) time to help us, and our good friend Rose Mountague who, with her amazing design skills, makes Love Me Sew come to life.
We have been overwhelmed with the offers of encouragement and help.

Fingers and toes crossed!