Wealden Times | WT165 | November 2015 | Gift supplement inside

Introducing...
Love Inc
Working from her award-winning shop in
Tunbridge Wells, Hannah Gee ensures that love
is incorporated in all aspects of her business,
from carefully sourcing her unique products
to interacting with her loyal customers.
What’s the significance of your company name,
‘Love Inc’? I originally wanted to call the shop ‘Love’ but
as the domain name wasn’t available I settled on ‘Love Inc’.
It’s all encompassing and reflects how love is incorporated
in all that we do. We try to make sure that everything we
stock evokes a feeling, we definitely don’t do ordinary!
What inspired you to start your business?
There’s nothing I enjoy more than having a proper
rummage at an antiques fair and I’ve found some absolute
gems that way. I am blessed with amazingly creative
friends who kept telling me to open a shop, and it was
their belief in me that finally pushed me to just do it.
Have you always been a creative person?
Yes. I
enjoy making things and I have
always had a passion for interiors.
At Love Inc, we call styling, playing,
because that’s what it is to us!
Creativity is within everyone, you
just need to have fun, and not be
afraid to make mistakes. I was lucky
enough to be a contestant on Th e
Great Interior Design Challenge on
BBC2 last year and I will always
grab any opportunity to be creative.
Did you have any training? None whatsoever! I was
blessed to grow up with parents who were great at making
things with us as children, from creating our own Christmas
cards to up-cycling furniture. I would encourage everyone
to try different things, whether that is a new craft, or redecorating
a room. There are no mistakes, only lessons learnt.
sell products that I would want in my own home. I scour
trade fairs, both here in the UK and abroad to bring an
original edge to our interiors collection. I am constantly
sourcing vintage, as it sells so quickly in our shop.
What’s your favourite product from your
collection? My favourite Christmas product is the red
vintage car with the Christmas tree on
top. Outside of our Christmas
collection I love our marquee
letter lights. The word LOVE
sells better than anything,
which obviously resonates
with what we do at Love Inc.
Do you enjoy working for yourselves? I love
working for myself, I get to decide where our focus is and
steer the direction of what we are doing. We donate 10%
annually to Hospice in the Weald and our High Street shop
donates 50% profit to a slum in Africa. Love Inc is my baby,
and part of its ethos is making the world a better place. I
have a fantastic team who are just as passionate about making
the business a success and we all throw ideas around.
What makes all the hard work worth it? What I love
the most are the customers we have. Every time someone comes
into our shop and tells me how much they love what we do, I get
a huge thrill. When I started Love Inc, I was so scared no one else
would understand it, as it is classic but slightly unconventional.
To see that there is a movement of people who aren’t scared
to break traditional interiors rules, and support charity whilst
they shop is amazing. We recently won ‘Best shop front’ for the
whole of Tunbridge Wells and it blew my mind, I was so proud!
What influences your product aesthetic? We only
sell products we love and our customers expect us to have what
they can’t find elsewhere. I think the key to our success is being
different but not so different that it won’t fit in your home.
What is the essence of the business? Being
excited about stuff, whether it’s handmade, fantastically
up-cycled, or doesn’t yet exist, it has to be exciting!
How do you choose and source your products?
Gut instinct has a lot to do with it! It has to either make
me laugh, or be something I haven’t seen before. I only ever
Clockwise from above, Hanging Car
Decoration, £7.50; LOVE Light Up Letters,
£145; ‘Oh Happy Days’ Vintage Print, £40
www.wealdenfairs.com/loveincltd