A GUIDE TO LOCKDOWN SHOPPING –
INDEPENDENTS
IN BEDFORD
So we’ve found ourselves in another lockdown, and more than ever, it is important to support our local sellers. I’ve spent 2/3 UK lockdowns in Bedford, and I’m still making my way through our amazing local independent sellers.
In this list you’ll find a list of local businesses and sellers that you can purchase from, either online or heading to their store. We’ve really been trying to make an effort to only shop local. I’ve decided to create some new year practices, including shopping local, no fast fashion, and supporting independents.
I’ve been researching around and finding recommendations from others for independent sellers and shops, so I haven’t been able to try all of them. I would only post those who have had great reviews from others, or I have tried myself.
I would highly recommend trying everything to support locals, to keep them running, and to also give to someones dream/business. Here are some following categories:
Food & Drink
Home
Wellness & Beauty
Clothing & Jewellery
Botanical
Takeaways
This list is still ongoing and being updated as I contact and discuss with local companies, so if you do not see yourself on here, give me a shout!!
Food & Drink
Minkiemoo Bakery
Minkiemoo is back from her adventures in Cornwall, swapping the sandy beaches for the hustle and bustle of the Bedfordshire area. During her time in Cornwall, she was able to hone in her skills in scone, cashew clotted cream and pasty making whilst there, and turned an old established butchers into a beautiful vegan bakery whilst there too!
A 100% vegan bakery, vegan owner, always gluten free options available. Minkiemoo Bakery is a lovely local vegan bakery that offers deliveries and online orders. Currently they are doing a delivery service and also supplying a few independent shops in the local area, covering Beds, MK & surrounds, Northamptonshire, Herts, and often regular deliveries to Plymouth & Cornwall as well.
Also a stockist of Jeavons Toffee choc bars, Naturally Vegan Food Company nut cheeses and very lucky to be a stockist of Food by Sumear artisan nut cheeses! Plus she has an awesome selection of premium loose teas.
Bedford Cheese Company
Bedford Cheese Company is a family run fine foods company specialising in cheese from both local and UK based dairy farms. Bedford Cheese Company was formed in 2020 after the popular demand for cheese deliveries from their sister company – Decant Wine and Cheese Deli. They also supply some of their most popular French cheeses that they have grown to know and love through their already established cheese deli in central Bedford.
Being able to support local dairy farms is extremely important to them, they believe that shopping local really boosts the economy and supporting small businesses like themselves is invaluable.
She Bakes Cakes
Sam has been baking as a hobby for about 5/6years and only used to bake for her families birthdays and events, everyone kept telling her that she should go for it and sell the cupcakes and cakes. So, in October 2020 Sam opened up her business after a horrible year for everyone and loosing a family member, she decided what has she got to loose – she has been overwhelmed by the support and have been busier than anticipated.
Cupcakes are her most popular items, and she has recently started doing cake geo hearts. Keep an eye on her valentines day boxes!
How to order: Pop her a message through social media!
Roar Porridge
Roar Porridge™ was founded by the co-owner, Graham, out of frustration over a lack of quick, tasty and nutritious foods he could feed his baby son whilst on the move. Cafes offered cakes, pastries and cookies- all delicious, but not ideal for a teeny baby. He started experimenting with how many wholesome ingredients he could grind up and pack into porridge. These experiments, became the original recipe for Roar porridge.
Their porridge contains no processed stuff – there is nothing in it that you can’t buy at a health food shop. It is simply 50% freshly ground organic seeds & nuts, and the rest is freshly ground organic wholegrain oats and bran.
Their products are all freshly ground to order, then stored in recycled glass jars. No plastic in sight. The scoops are metal and don’t need replacing, mail-order bags are truly bio-compostable, and the stickers are made from responsibly sourced paper and water-based inks.
How to order: Through the website!
Kindly Baked
Kindly Baked is a 100% vegan cake business based in Bedford. Created in 2019 by two best friends, vegan mothers with a passion for baking! Now just continuing the business as one, the aim is still to create delicious vegan cakes for everyone to enjoy! Catering to all allergies. Check out the beautiful cakes on offer, with options for collections, deliveries or postal brownies. The Biscoff drip cake is a popular pick from customers!
Pretty Little Platters
Home
Scribe.Tribe.Studio
A mum of 2 combining a passion in crafts and all things organisation. She specialises in seasonal and personalised items, home organisation and vinyl labels. There are some beautiful pieces on her website, from bottles, decorations, bags, labels, personalised gifts, and storage, and so much more!
How to order: Check out her website
Daisy and Honey
Daisy and Honey was started in November 2020 by the lovely Katie. Lockdown definitely gave Katie the push she needed, she has always had such an obsession with scents, candles, wax melts, diffusers, perfumes, you name it, so Katie feels so lucky to be able to put her passion into products and to know that people love them just as much as she does.
Katie can offer delivery by herself, collection, or delivery (although postage times might take a little bit longer!). Although lockdown has made things very challenging, she works in the week and is a single mum to her beautiful daughter Daisy.
Katie says she loves all the scents and is currently working towards adding more, but the most popular product is the Roses & Crystals Candle. This candle is a beautiful scent of rich rose wrapped with smoky oud with hints of clove & praline. On top of each candle, there are carefully placed real dried rose petals and Rose Quartz chips. Rose Quartz is the stone of Universal love. It is said to purify and open the heart at all levels to promote love, self-love, friendship, deep inner healing and feelings of peace. Burning Rose petals benefits your heart chakra. Keep your eyes peeled for the exciting Valentine’s gift around this candle!
How to order: Pop her a message on her Instagram!
Handmade With Loz
Handmade with Loz is a lovely local lady that makes handmade eco soy wax melts, reed diffusers, starter kits, and car air fresheners.
How to order: You can order from her website and instagram, with arrangements for collection, delivery or postal.
Designs by AtoZ
Designs by Atoz is run by two best friends that have always made handmade cards for friends & families birthday / celebrations, so they thought why not give opening a small Etsy shop a go! They try to bring people’s messages to life through watercolour & words. As every order is hand drawn, they are bespoke every single time. They are currently focusing on personalised cards for any occasions as well as watercolour quotes & designs for the home.
How to order: You can order via their Etsy, or pop a message on their Instagram!
Homemade Tales
Specialising in creating beautiful hand poured vegan candles, infused with healing crystals to bring good vibrations, love and light to homes. Each candle is hand-poured with love, their vegan and cruelty-free soy wax candles are made with a therapeutic scent of Jasmine. Each candle is not only infused with healing crystals that hold such beautiful meanings they’re topped with dried petals / buds which also hold their own meanings.
They are currently offering a contactless collection service and are still sending out orders via post during lockdown.
How to order: Can order online on the Etsy store or via DM on Instagram.
Oh Sew Violet
If you’re like me and love all things colourful, and you’re looking for something to spruce up your home/event – check Oh Sew Violet out!
Felicity at Oh Sew Violet makes beautiful bespoke and personalised bunting for all kinds of occasions using striking fabrics lovingly sourced from all over. She launched the business in 2015 shortly after having her first child as she wanted something of her own where she could work around the family and get her creative fix at the same time.
It’s been a really tough time over lockdown and Felicity has tried to bring as much colour, glitter and fun to home parties with her bunting to make them as special as possible.
How to order: Check out her Etsy & also see all the cool designs on her Instagram!
Whiffle Wax
Whiffle Wax, is a lovely company created by two sisters who saw the opportunity to produce more eco friendly, plastic free wax melts.
As fans of wax melts and candles prior to creating Whiffle Wax, they really liked the fact that wax melts can be a more ‘safe’ alternative to candles, providing beautiful scents without the need for a flame. The only issue is, when purchasing melts from big brands they are often cheaply made and include a huge amount of plastic in their packaging. They wanted to provide a better alternative to this, and so Whiffle Wax was created!
Our wax melts consist of a blend of soy and natural waxes, quality fragrance oils, and natural botanicals, and our packaging is biodegradable and plastic free.
Jodie – My personal favourite item in our range is the ‘Moonlit Jasmine Musk – Skull Snap Bar’. It’s warm and woody, yet floral and soft, a scent with a lot of depth. The Skull Snap Bar is my favourite shape as it provides the beautiful alternative look of our signature skulls along with a satisfying snap.
Zoe – My favourite item from our range is the ‘Summer Monsoon – Skull Heads’. The scent is fresh, floral, and lightly fruity. I love watching the Skull Heads melt in my electric burner, it’s so satisfying!
How to order: They are an online only store, so Whiffle Wax is operating as normal! They currently offer free local delivery if you reside within Wilstead, Wixams, Cotton End, or Shortstown.
Wellness & Beauty
Kristina Jayne Makeup & Beauty
Kristina started her business back in October 2019. Based in COX hair, holistic & beauty therapies, she was able to meet new clients and build new relationships. Even though there is been many challenges over the past year, she’s been keeping busy during lockdown. There are still lots of lovely products on offer such as custom made press on nails, (any shape,length and design you’d like! ), and Lash & Brow serums to help nourish and strengthen those natural lashes!
Make sure to check out her Instagram for makeup looks and nail designs! I’m super excited to be trying out the Lash & Brow serum!
How to order: pop a message on her Instagram!
Ethereal Tarot
Eleanor from Ethereal Tarot specialises in tarot & angel card readings, homemade bath & relaxation products.
She keeps expanding her products, introducing bath salts, candles, essential oils, body scrubs, and more. All vegan friendly, handmade in a variety of scents, colours and packaging.
How to order: Check out her Etsy or message her on her socials!
Mama TT Organics
MammaTTOrganics makes handmade, eco friendly, vegan and natural skin care. We use organic, unrefined & raw cold pressed oils, butters, edible spices, botanicals and pure essential oils in order to make wholesome and delicate, but effective products. Tiziana’s handmade products are 100% biodegradable, cruelty free and gentle to your body, even for the most delicate and problematic skin, whilst also being kind to the environment. Each product is individually made and decorated, making each one slightly unique in shape and colour, even within the same batch!
I personally have some of these products which were a Christmas present this year. They smell lovely, I’m currently using the body moisturiser (peppermint & lime) and shampoo bar.
How to order: Through her website, you can also pop a message through Facebook.
Belles Beautique
Cox Box Wellness
Cox Box Wellness was created within the first lockdown by Danielle. She created it with the idea to share the highest vibe essential oils at home as she is currently unable to offer aromatherapy treatments in the salon! She is grateful for the time she has had for new ideas to develop, she looks forward to sharing lots more with everyone.
How to order: Pop a mesaage through her Instagram, and it will be delivered straight to your door.
Clothing & Jewellery
Studio MOMO
Until May 2020, Nicola worked as a fashion designer for a well known retailer, where she designed womens clothing, swimwear and accessories for 10 years.
MOMO was born during lockdown 1 and celebrates her love for product design and her personal love for statement earrings. MOMO’ is the Japanese word for ‘Peaches’. Peaches was a cat her and her husband adored until she passed last year, just before their honeymoon in Japan.
As an experienced designer, Nicola is used to creating products based on themes and trends, as this approach gives new and interesting direction to established brands, and ‘unlock’ ideas you never knew you had! She likes to research a theme with a meaning which she can relate to in some way, or a theme she personally enjoys. For example, the collection Kintsugi is based on the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold.
Matched Boutique
Matched boutique is a company created by a single mum of 3 in the midst of lockdown! Chanel Sophia started out by selling a few outfits and matching accessories to family and friends, after a busy few months, she decided to take it further.
You can find all the cutest little handmade outfits for your mini people and amazing accessories to match!
There’s a few bits for mums and babies to match!!
How to order: Order through her website, and make sure to follow/check out her Instagram.
Jwllry By Jade
Botanical
Magic Garden Florist
They are doing a collection and delivery service at the moment. They still get regular deliveries of fresh flowers and houseplants and actively share what they have on their Instagram feed and stories. Currently, they’ve got Valentines Day preparation going on, where they are offering 6 red roses for £35, 12 red roses for £55 and 24 red roses for £85
How to order: They are taking orders by email and phone but also through their Facebook and Instagram.
Lola’s Garden
Looking to start your own little garden in your house? Then check out Lola’s Garden. Lola’s Garden started by selling plants from her home on Facebook when she moved to Bedford in February 2019, and people loved them and raved about how happy and healthy they all were. Eventually she came across the lovely St Cuthberts Arcade, and within three weeks she had signed the agreement, sourced all the furniture and stock, painted and opened shop!
Lola’s Garden is perfect for all the people wanting to freshen up their house with a plant! Open for all options such as – ?Plant requests & Pre orders ?(virtual) Bespoke Plant Decor ?Consultations and Services ?Advice & Troubleshooting.
We personally purchased a lovely fern bundle, which are currently all thriving in their new home! (fingers crossed they stay thriving haha!)
How to order: Click and collect via the website!
Takeaways
The Vegan Fryer
The Vegan Fryer opened in 2020 and have been rammed with orders ever since. The burgers taste great, and they keep adding more and more to their menu – keep an eye on them, make sure you give them an order on the weekend. Our favourite is the Original Mayo Burger & the Cauli-Zings
How to order: Via their website, if it says not available, pop them a message on Instagram, they get very busy so have just closed the orders for the time being.
Foxy Wings
A vibrant home kitchen that opened in 2020. They have a passion for food & flavour. They offer a range of chicken/caulli wings, burgers & fries with original and exciting flavour combinations! You have to preorder through their website, make sure you get in a slot because they sell out fast!
I’m looking forward to trying their vegan options!
How to order: On their website! They offer collection from Clapham or delivery around 5 miles from Clapham.
