Robin Valley, a sustainable jewellery brand founded by husband-and-wife duo Liang Zhang and Wanchong Chen, just opened its first physical store in Manchester’s Arndale Centre.
The business completed 54 transactions on its opening day, with takings of over £1,000.
The opening marks a significant milestone in the business’s rapid growth since it secured a £15,000 Start Up Loan from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme in 2023. In doing so it crossed a milestone of £1bn of Start Up Loans financing for start up and early stage businesses.
With a strong focus on sustainability, Robin Valley is known for its crafted wooden fashion jewellery, designing and selling earrings, necklaces, key chains and more.
The Start Up Loan was crucial in supporting Robin Valley in its transition from a small start up to a successful wholesale distributor and now a business with physical retail premises. The business now supplies over 100 well known retailers, including the English Heritage, National Trust, WWF-UK, Sealife Centres, and Science Museum Group.
Robin Valley also creates opportunities for local talent, working with art students from nearby colleges to offer hands-on experience in painting jewellery, in exchange for payment. Its team predominantly consists of young women aged from 21 to 30.
Since receiving the funding through the Start Up Loans programme, Robin Valley has also grown its team to 20 employees, spread across both full-time and part-time positions.
The new store, located in Manchester Arndale, showcases Robin Valley’s full range of sustainable jewellery and provides an opportunity for customers to shop directly from the business’ first physical store.
The first store is not going to be the last for Robin Valley. The business is now aiming to build the brand to become the ‘Pandora’ of the wooden jewellery sector, with the team planning to open more stores in 2025.
Liang Zhang, co-founder of Robin Valley, said: “When we applied for the Start Up Loan, we didn’t own any property in the UK, which made accessing traditional forms of finance difficult. We never imagined just one year down the line that we would be opening our first physical store – the whole team has been an amazing support in helping us to get to this point.
“This new store will enable us to establish a physical presence in the region – a base where customers can come and see our products for themselves. We hope it will help to develop a community where people who need a gift come straight to Robin Valley. We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity we have been provided through the Start Up Loans programme, and we are so excited to get this next part of our journey underway.”
Delyth Edwards, senior network manager for the North West at the British Business Bank, said: “The Start Up Loans programme was set up to support businesses that would otherwise struggle to access finance, and Robin Valley is a classic example of one such business. It’s been great to see the way Liang and Wanchong have scaled Robin Valley since receiving a Start Up Loan, and it has been a pleasure to watch the work they have done over the last year.
“The business demonstrates the positive impact the programme can have on small businesses and local communities in the region, which is why supporting businesses like Robin Valley is of upmost importance to us. We’d like to congratulate the whole team on the opening of their first store.”
