LUXURY candlemakers Gold Hart create scents designed to evoke a memory of Scotland’s wild and romantic landscape and history.
The brand was founded by entrepreneur Lorraine McKenna, who previously worked for Cruise clothing.
She credits her mentor and the then brand owner Jim Gibson for teaching her valuable industry lessons.
She says: “Working for an independent company, buying high-end luxury fashion, was a truly unique experience as I was involved in every aspect of the business from buying, managing budgets, merchandising, through to sales.”
During her career break to bring up her children, McKenna developed a passion to return to retail, although this time, she wanted to work for herself.
The Gold Hart concept came together off the back of the energy created during the independence referendum and Commonwealth Games in 2014. These events triggered McKenna’s realisation that Scotland had a global presence and that there was an appetite for Scottish-made goods, outwith the tartan and whisky industries.
Turning passion into profit, she worked with a former colleague to identify a gap in the current home fragrance market.
In 2014, the Gold Hart label was officially born, bringing with it unique and delicate scents.
The brand’s ethos is to evoke memories of the wild yet romantic Scottish history and landscapes through five rich and distinctive scents. Each scent emulates the foraged nature of Scottish wilderness, contrasting this with the fresh and clean fragrances of the shoreline.
Unfortunately, bringing the brand to life wasn’t as simple as McKenna initially thought.
She explains: “It’s not been an easy road; product development was much longer and costlier than was forecast but I recognised that set-backs are to be expected when manufacturing your own product.”
Last year was a turning point for Gold Hart. McKenna finally developed the product as she imagined, the business was restructured and she began making traction with product placement.
She credits her background in buying for her understanding of the importance of distribution, making the decision to keep it tight in order to protect the branding. She uses Gleneagles and The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews as the backdrop for her candles as the landscape reflects the essence of the brand.
gold-hart.co.uk
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