SO Sustainable was born in 2019. Starting out as a pop-up shop first in Katy & John Riddell's front room and then in the back room of The Social (thanks to the awesome Vicki & Steve!). Each month Mat and I heaved our stock from our home and set up a make-shift shop, following the lead of Kitty & Al of The Orange Bakery, who's successful pop-ups had created quite the buzz around town.

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We were delighted with the turnout at our pop-up shops and shortly added another in Chinnor to our monthly schedule. We were about to launch another location in Chalgrove when the pandemic hit. This put the brakes on our pop-ups but we pivoted the business and started opening our dining room window three times a week and refilling people's containers from there. We also offered a free home delivery service to help people stay at home as much as possible.

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It was a crazy few months, often delivering up to 30 orders a day and flour being delivered to our driveway by the pallet load! The increase in customers we gained during this time gave us the confidence to take on our current shop premises on Watlington High Street.

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After a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign, where over 200 beautiful people donated over £9,000 we were able to complete a beautiful fit-out with the help of some brilliant local trades. Our fantastic carpenter, Kristian Lucas, needs no introduction, having made his mark on several other local businesses. Huge props to our plumber Ed for his ingenious liquid dispensing wall, our fab electrician Simon for our beautiful statement lighting (& our lovely neighbours at Bella Luce who supplied it!) and not forgetting my bestie, Lorna Syson who masterminded the whole shop design and without whom, I would have most definitely been in a right pickle on opening day!

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I am delighted that the shop is going from strength to strength and we've been able to employ a fantastic team so I can return to my career, helping companies on their sustainability journey.

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Steph x

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Founder & Owner

SO Sustainable