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The Basket Company began in the home of the co-owners and co-founders Ian and Catherine. Whilst they were both working in full time jobs (Ian as a software developer and Catherine as a business analyst) they dreamt of owning their own business, so one day they did a little experiment and started selling items on eBay and at car boot sales.
After months of raiding their home of items that could be sold, including items from friends and family such as various interior pieces, football boots, clothes (and even a dishwasher) they accrued £1,500 to put their business idea to plan. Ian and Catherine adore homewares, interiors and home décor pieces so it was time to try something new.
They began by selling anything interior related, cushions, door curtains and wicker baskets. In 2011 the eBay shop was launched and as they were still working full-time every single evening, weekend and spare moment they had was dedicated to the business. After noticing that the baskets were selling very well, they decided to sell more types of baskets and in 2013 The Basket Company website was born.
WICKER STORAGE BASKET COLLECTION
The products were becoming so popular that Ian and Catherine decided to employ another member of staff and with Catherine now being able to join the business on a full-time basis, there were now three employees working on the business in their home.
A WICKER LABYRINTH
Ian and Catherine’s lounge became so full with baskets that it looked as though a wicker labyrinth began forming in their home. With packed baskets from floor to ceiling and nowhere to sit they decided it was time to get a bigger unit.
Ian “During this time, we simply had too much product to store at home and decided to keep it in offsite storage units, but that didn’t last for long…”
THE BASKET COMPANY WAREHOUSE
The company went from strength to strength and they soon grew out of the 4 storage units they had and needed to re-evaluate their plan once again, so in 2015 they moved their business to a warehouse and office unit on Endeavour Business Park in Ringwood.
Ian: “Shortly after the move we needed to push the business forward with all the exciting projects and ideas that we had and so we completed our big move with further hiring of staff to increase our team to handle all our customer enquiries, sales and accounting”
Catherine: “It was always the plan that we would end up full time in the business and we feel very fortunate and grateful that we were able to do so. We listened to our customers and it’s amazing how it’s just grown!”
In 2018, The Basket Company launched their Instagram page, which resulted in budding new relationships and collaborations with customers, influencers, interior designers and businesses. Now that the baskets were on the map, the Instagram page just grew and grew whilst simultaneously the company quite literally doubled in size, as an adjoining warehouse and office became available.
With big business plans ahead, including a showroom they were extremely excited about future prospects; however, they did not prepare for what was about to happen.
In March of 2020 when COVID-19 had well and truly taken over the globe, Ian and Catherine had to think carefully about what they were going to do. Social distancing and anti-bac routines took place in the workplace and Ian and Catherine ensured that those who could work from home, did.
Catherine: “We just went with the flow, took each day as it came and we were determined to keep the business going and keep as many of our employees in a job, for as long as possible”
Ian: “During this time, we were not prepared for the sheer number of orders that we were receiving. Because we are an online business and not a shop, we were allowed to stay open and because so many people were furloughed and at home organising their homes and gardens, everyone was looking for baskets”
Now after 3 years of uncertainties and obstacles in the way (including one of our containers that got stuck in the Suez Canal on the Ever Given container ship) The Basket Company is prospering.
Catherine: “We’re so thankful to our lovely customers, staff and suppliers for making The Basket Company what it is today”
As of today, The Basket Company has two offices and warehouse units, a dedicated and hardworking team of 11 employees, over 66k followers on Instagram and over 5k followers on TikTok.
We hope you enjoyed our story!
Would you like to meet the co-founders? Check out our YouTube video interview of Ian and Catherine here or read our blog “An interview with the The Basket Company Co-founders” here.
To view our full collection of storage baskets, click here.
