An embroidery company that a mother from Randalstown started from her kitchen table when her young son was in remission following a brave battle with cancer is celebrating a bumper second year in business that has included the opening of a new workshop, the creation of five new jobs and an impressive 225 per cent increase in sales.

Sarah Thompson started Ted & Stitch in February 2020 with an initial investment of £700 to purchase a sewing machine. Following unprecedented demand, there has been a further investment of £65,000 in seven new state-of-the-art machines and thousands of orders for the custom embroidery of jumpers, t-shirts and workwear.

Despite launching just before lockdown, Sarah, who is mum to Alfie (7), Nate (5) and Arthur (3), did not foresee the initial growth that Ted & Stitch would experience. Confident of continued success, her husband Paul left his job in sales to work alongside Sarah to implement their exciting plans for growth and the couple hasn’t looked back.

Sarah Thompson, Founder of Ted & Stitch said: “Throughout Nate’s illness, I kept thinking, why aren’t there t-shirts with ‘I’m Brave’, ‘I’m Awesome’ or ‘I Can do This’ – something that I could empower him with. When my son was in remission, our future had never looked brighter, but I was still in a bad place. The old Sarah was gone and I knew that I needed something for me. One day, my husband Paul encouraged me to do what I’d always wanted to do and make t-shirts with positive and inspiring messages on them. And Ted & Stitch was born. I bought a machine and got creative for my boys and it wasn’t long before I started receiving orders from family and friends.

Never in a million years when I was sitting at my kitchen table stitching those initial orders did I imagine that Ted & Stitch would be where it is today. A growing business with our own workshop, seven machines, five members of staff and orders from across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and UK. I feel very lucky to be able to work with my husband in our family business and have a fantastic team of employees. We love what we do and I can truly say that our success is a result of sheer hard work and determination. The response and support has just been incredible and we couldn’t be more grateful.”

“Ted & Stitch is personal, that’s what makes us unique. We don’t have customers, we have friends. Every single order we receive, we know there is a story behind it – whether it’s a gift for a loved one, a jumper to empower or an order from a small business to make their uniforms with their own individual brand, that they have worked very hard to establish. To be part of that is something very special,” Sarah added.

For further information on Ted & Stitch go to www.tedandstitch.co.uk