Your Business March 2020 - 57

environment, Jon wanted a change. That's
when he bought a derelict farm in Lincolnshire.
"We've still got Monty who's over 17 hands,
Pablois the miniature Shetland and he'll stand
underneath Monty in the rain. Bramble the cat
lives in the barn - she's a barn cat but she's a
real fusspot. And then there's Lucy and Freddie
the geese who follow us around, they're only
14 weeks," he says. Jon and Judy also have
two dogs - a German shepherd, called Max,
and an Alaskan Malamute, called Nukka.
"I used to make saddles and bridles and the
leatherwork was a hobby to keep my hand in
over the winter. The horse world is very expensive
and leftover money for saddles and bridles is
few and far between," he says. "Occasionally
I'd take something I'd made to a craft gallery.
The bags were really popular and I was making
more on the leatherwork than the saddles so
I decided to concentrate on this," he says.
Handcrafted leatherwork
All Elemental Leatherwork products are
handmade by Jon and Judy. "It's really rewarding
- leather is a lovely thing to handle, touch, smell,"
he says. "You're taking a natural material and
creating something beautiful and useful."
It takes Jon more than a day to make a
bag, a briefcase longer, while a cartridge bag
for shooting is three and a half days of solid
work. "Commissions take longer and I'd like
to do more of these bespoke designs - we can
customise everything from the lining to the

buckles and pins," he says. "Judy loves painting
and she does some of the design details, and
hand paints all of the embossed work."
The leather that Jon uses to make the
pieces comes from a local tannery and he
also buys end of runs. "A big fashion house
might buy 1000 hides and then if there's
100 left the company buys them and sells
them on to me," he says. "Even the smallest
pieces get used. Nothing goes to waste."
For Jon, the biggest challenge is marketing.
"I find the social media side of things difficult,"
he says. "Face to face didn't initially come
naturally to me but you get used to it very quickly
and it's good fun." He sells the bags and belts
at summer and country fairs, craft fairs and
local farmers' markets. "Most weekends, we're
at a market showcasing the bags," he says.
His advice to others is to speak to customers:
"Don't get carried away sitting behind a
keyboard, get out in front of people. You'll get
much faster, more honest results," he says.
"If they don't like it, they'll walk away."

Award-winning business banking

Jon first heard about Starling through Facebook, which
he uses as an online shop. "I liked the idea of an online or
an app based bank," he says. "I saw Starling and a couple
of others and Starling was one which was a proper bank
that was registered - the app looked easy to use." Within a
few minutes, he had set up his Starling sole trader account.
Voted Best Business Provider 2019, Starling isn't just
for sole traders - our business bank accounts are also
available to limited and multi-owner companies. This is
award-winning* banking at your fingertips, with no monthly
fees** or fuss - made especially for the Jon's and Judy's of
business. Download the Starling Bank app today.

starlingbank.com |

@StarlingBank

*Starling Bank was voted Best British Bank, Best Current Account Provider & Best Business
Banking Provider at the British Bank Awards 2019. **If you have fewer than 10 employees and
less than £1.7m in annual turnover. Business accounts are also free for larger businesses for
a limited time. Competitive fees for cash deposits and withdrawals at the Post Office.

YB2020 Starling Bank DPS_F.indd 57

12/02/2020 11:31

http://www.starlingbank.com

Your Business March 2020

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