North Devon jeweller’s work to be showcased at top London retail festival

A North Devon jewellery business has been selected by top retail guru Mary Portas to take part in a festival in London showcasing the best of independent traders.

Wanderlust Life, of Caen Street, Braunton, will be part of the Thrive Street event at the Truman Brewery, in Shoreditch, London, from today (Friday, October 24) to Sunday (October 26) – and its owner hopes that taking part will put North Devon’s independent retailers and creatives on the map.

Wanderlust Life is one of just 16 small businesses at the London event picked by Mary Portas, who is best known for her television series ‘Mary Queen of Shops’ and is a highly respected figure in the retail industry.

Wanderlust Life was established as a jewellery and lifestyle brand in 2013 by Georgie Roberts.

Above: Georgie and Wanderlust Life were hand-picked by top retail guru Mary Portas to appear at the Thrive Street event.

She had followed Mary Portas for a long time and jumped at the opportunity to collaborate with her. Georgie said: “We really do believe in experiential retail and the revival of the high street, so we've got a shop and studio which we've always had jewellery making in, and have always wanted to connect with her [Mary Portas], and this is a perfect way to do so.

“We're the only jewellery brand that's been selected and the other brands are from all over the UK, so we're flying the flag, the Devon flag, in London.”

Georgie began the business from her spare room in 2013, before opening her first shop in Ilfracombe in 2017, and later moving to premises in Braunton, where there is both a studio and a retail shop. There is now an all-female team of 14, with 80 per cent of the firm’s products produced in Braunton.

Above: Bestselling Moonstone fine cord necklaces on the makers bench inside the Wanderlust Life shop and studio.

Georgie added: “It's great to be able to carve out creative roles within a coastal, rural environment, because it is really challenging. When I started the brand, I just wanted to have a creative role and I didn't know how that was going to happen

“One of the most gratifying things for me is that I'm able to share that experience and give other people a career and jobs in this location, because a lot of fashion jewellery  is quite London-centric. So to be able to have a successful business in quite a quiet area of Devon is challenging.

“We are really lucky because we're in a coastal kind of town and although it's quite isolated here, we do get a lot of people who come from Bristol and from London on surfing weekends and a big amount of footfall that comes in the summer to the shop. That's often how customers have discovered us and then they carry on their journey with us online once they've had their couple of weeks in North Devon.”

Above: Inside the Wanderlust Life shop and studio in Braunton.

In addition to recently gaining B Corp accreditation – a certification for businesses which demonstrates high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability – Georgie plans to expand the online sales platform, which currently accounts for between 30 and 40 percent of sales.

In the meantime, Georgie and some of her colleagues will be travelling to the Thrive Street event where, in addition to showcasing their products, they will take part in mentoring sessions and a presentation panel before it opens to the public.

Find out more at wanderlustlife.co.uk