Today, (18 September) marks the 25th Anniversary of Cinnamon Aitch starting in business. As one of the longest standing successful ‘double acts’ in the industry, PG Buzz checked in co-founders Sara Burford and Sarah Fitzgerald to find out how they will be celebrating as well as taking a trip down memory lane.
“Birmingham (where Cinnamon Aitch is based) is currently in lockdown so our celebrations will be strictly virtual this year – Prosecco in PJ’s while eating Tunnocks Teacakes I think should do it, and limited photo opportunities!” said Sara. “We are very grateful for our 25 years, they have mainly been filled with laughter and although it doesn’t always feel like it, we must be doing something right! 😂”
If Sara and Sarah had listened to the opinions of others two and a half decades ago, the industry would have missed out on this wonderful creative duo pooling their talents and forming Cinnamon Aitch.
“’Don’t do it’ they said. ‘Most partnerships fail within a year…and most businesses fail in two’. They said. In our case they were wrong, thankfully,” says Sarah. “We do finish each other’s sentences and have a shared passion for design but it’s probably the shared vision, focus and determination that has seen us through the ups and downs of the 25 years,” she added.
Having studied Textile Design at The Nottingham Trent University, dabbled with lecturing, producing a range of scarves and wraps and navigating the couture fashion industry, Cinnamon Aitch began life juggling Birmingham with London and Paris.
“But our love of stitch and design soon found its way into the wonderful world of greeting cards. At this point we never looked back. Commercial restraints soon saw stitch evolve into glue, but a passion for surface, texture, colour and design always nods to the textile design roots of the business,” believes Sara.
With a Henries nomination (for its Piccadilly range) and the company’s successful diversification into toiletries and gifts proving fruitful, the next chapter for the company has plenty of spice.
“We are lucky enough to work in a fantastic industry and still have customers today that have been with us from the start. We can hardly believe we have reached this milestone (although the grey hairs are abundant!) and as our product evolves into gifts our story continues…
We’d like to thank everyone who buys a Cinnamon Aitch card and everyone who helps keep our business going, making the magic happen!” says Sara and Sarah.
Top: The Cinnamon Aitch co-founders, Sara Burford and Sarah Fitzgerald have been friends since their university days.
