Where are we going?

As many of you will know York Scarves came about not through planning but through evolution. From a backpack full of scarves and shawls we grew our business organically at the local market. You can read about how we started here in more detail. Since the inception of our wholesale scarf business we have tried many avenues to try and promote ourselves, not all fruitful, but we are moving forward. I am sure some of you will go to the many trade fairs around the country, and in fact a few years ago we were exhibiting at 5 or 6 shows each year. However the hit and miss nature of these events, along with the astronomical expense, forced us to look for a better return on our investment.

At the time we had a website which was generating some business but was not easy to use, either from the front end or the back end. It was built for nothing by a friend on open source software and as such was always a compromise. Eventually we decided we needed to take the plunge and invest in a nice shiny new website. After shopping around and having several consultations we employed a professional web design company. The birth of the new site which you are now on was a turning point for us. It is so easy for us to manage and from all the great feedback it's obviously a pleasure for our customers to use.

With the growth in trade over the past year or so we have had the confidence to keep pushing things forward. In 2012 we were accepted by BAFTS as a fair trade importer and now about 90% of all we import is from fair trade scarf suppliers in NE India. For us it was important to distance ourselves from the cheap Chinese producers and wholesalers which seem to have flooded the market in recent years and not fall into the trap of trying to compete with them. We have now managed to develop our own unique flavour whcih we are continuing to refine.

Moving on we aim to stay fair trade and unique. We now have a very close relationship with our suppliers and currently have about 200 families relying on the business we bring them as their main source of income. I have to say that I never expected to be in a position where so many people are relying on us.