Banburyshire Mum turns lockdown stress into Christmas business opportunity

The Covid pandemic, demands of a job that became unrecognisable and then redundancy meant Tania Humphrey needed a new start. After a difficult time, the mother of two from Wardington decided to set up a gift wrapping service in time for Christmas.

"Christmas has always been my favourite time of year. I spend at least a day enjoying wrapping the gifts,” she said. “It’s one of my absolute favourite things to do. So what better to specialise in?

"Besides wrapping, we’re also offering an end-to-end gift sourcing service, collection and delivery and calendar management, where we manage all your gift buying events for the entire year so you don’t have to.”

Mrs Humphrey’s idea was prompted by a struggle over the Covid lockdowns.

“Over the last two years, like many of us, I struggled with the demands of a job that became unrecognisable and the pandemic caused me to feel extremely isolated - even though I’m in a super-happy marriage and living in a beautiful village where I have plenty of outside space and lovely walks,” she said.

"I found it impossible to separate work life from home life and my mental health deteriorated to the point where I desperately needed a break. So, with my amazing husband, Greg’s support I took extended leave from work.

"Once I began to feel better, I used the time to reflect on what I enjoy and what I wanted to do next.

“It took a lot of discussion and research and no small amount of courage but I’m happy I’ve taken the leap to starting my own company. I’ve always been creative and went through several potential business ideas, finally settling on gift wrapping.

"I did go back to work but had a terribly rocky year so, outside of work, I prepared as much as I possibly could for my new business. I knew I needed to make the change but the company I worked for was facing a huge overhaul and I was fairly confident my role would be made redundant - so I just needed to bide my time.

"By the time the redundancy came round, I’d already chosen and registered my company name and completed a business plan,” said Mrs Humphrey.

"Over the next month Greg and I prioritised what needed to be done to launch the business. We’ve named our company Big Red Bow Limited. We’re aiming at a local market and are working hard to get our name known.

“It’s scary, it’s risky and it may not pay the bills but for me it’s worth taking the chance.”

Big Red Bow Limited is joining other local small businesses at Bannatyne’s Christmas Fair, Banbury on December 14, 12.30pm – 4pm and the company has a stand in Castle Quay for the week before Christmas (including Christmas Eve) where they be offering their wrapping service to shoppers while they wait.

“I can honestly say I’m more passionate about this venture than I have been for any of my corporate roles and I’ll do everything I can to make it a success,” said Mrs Humphrey.

The Big Red Bow Limited family, with rescue dog Mimi, can be found on social media.