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Internet Business

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The new manufacturers The new manufacturers

A great British renaissance has been taking place. From Aberdeen to the West Country, the zing is back in manufacturing. It’s about time this spectacular story was told.

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Internet entrepreneur with big plans afoot

by Rebecca Burn-Callander - Friday, 18th April 2008 -

Internet entrepreneur with big plans afoot

Glenys Berd started her online shop LoveThoseShoes.com in 2003. Five years’ on her range of shoes that “Look Good & Do You Good” are literally sprinting off the shelves.

If you visit the LoveThoseShoes.com website, the first thing that hits you is the volume of testimonials. From ME suffers to vegans to the elderly, there are hundreds of happy letters from satisfied customers.

Few websites can boast the level of celebrity endorsement evident on the site. A-list superstars from Jodie Kidd to Reese Witherspoon and Teri Hatcher are crowded together on the celebrity fan page.

What’s got all these people so excited? It’s the medically beneficial, ecological nature of the LoveThoseShoes offering. The shop only stocks healthy, ecologically sound footwear, designed on yoga and biomechanical principles. The business now stocks 11 different brands, from Asgi to Redfoot and Xsensible. And LoveThoseShoes.com has exclusive distribution rights for seven of these niche products – deals valued in excess of £30m.

The firm carries real clout in the healthy footwear sector. Over the last three years Berd has launched three bespoke brands through the site: Power Diet, Tonewalker and Airun. The latter is a truly cutting edge trainer; it has an inbuilt weight and motion sensor to calculate exercise data!

Berd launched the business with a meagre £5,000 of savings. But despite its small beginnings, the firm has grown to a turnover of £2.5m, with over 60,000 unique visitors per month.

And the LoveThoseShoes range is about to walk out of cyberspace and onto the high street following wholesale deals with Harrods and John Lewis. The offline sales will bring an extra £3.5m into the business.

All in all, a runaway success!

Picture source

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