It was ten years ago today that I started Auteur. It has been the most exciting journey finding and launching new brands in the UK. It all began with bobble back in 2010 from my kitchen table, where we navigated a launch at Harvey Nichols. bobble broke all their records for having the longest ever waiting list. Harvey Nichols sold one bobble every two minutes until they sold out. The consumer demand was incredible from the start, bobble struck a cord, the consumer was ready for an alternative to single-serve water bottles that had dominated the market. We went on to sell several million bobbles over the next couple of years.
The sales were immediate, but the challenges of running a new business in the early days were tough. I was turned down by three high street banks before I found a bank manager that believed my business was viable. Then it took a several months to secure an EFG loan. In the meantime, I had to spend our life savings and rely on family friends to lend me the money to get started. I had to risk everything, including putting our family home up as security.
At the time my daughters were four and two years of age, there were lots of sleepless nights at this time. The risks were huge, but they were calculated and I would definitely do it all over again. I’m happy to say Auteur is now completely self-funded through organic growth and remains a family owned business.
Auteur now has a portfolio of sustainable design led brands specialising in on the go hydration and food storage – Stojo, Corkcicle, Soma, Hip and Roll’eat – and we have plenty up our sleeves for the future. Our mission here at Auteur is to build brands that have great products whilst doing good – all of our products are an alternative to single serve.
I have the most amazing team who have been with me on this journey, most of whom have been with me from the beginning – to them I say thank you! The housewares industry is great place to work and we’ve met so many encouraging and supportive colleagues along the way. But the biggest shout out has to go to our wonderful customers – we look forward to continuing to inspire you with exciting and sustainable product innovation.
Viv Cudahy
Managing Director and Founder
