In the searingly hot August of 2003, Isobel Thompson gave birth to twin girls, who had been born many weeks too early, and had to spend their first months in hospital. A professional woman with a busy and challenging career, she began to realise that her first priority, and true passion, were her babies. However, one of her key frustrations was trying to find the right products for her growing children.
Disappointed with the utter impracticality of so many baby products, she decided to do better, and so Isobel, along with her twins, invented the Baby Hoodie, a hooded travel wrap designed to fit into any car seat or buggy. Since those early days, Morrck now sells the Baby Hoodie in a range of colours and sizes, and has added the ‘Wrapture’ (poncho style coat), ‘Splasha’ (hooded toweling wrap) and baby blankets to its range.
What did you do pre children?
I spent 25 years in HR working for companies including the NHS and BHS. My last role was as a department head for Tescos.
What would you say the greatest hurdles were setting up a new business
Without a doubt sourcing things – for example where to get things manufactured, where to buy materials.
What have been you biggest learnings?
You can make it very complicated, but in reality, there are only a few key things you need to keep an eye on. Set up with the future in mind, have processes and measures in place and realise that you can’t do it all yourself.
What’s the best thing about your job?
There’s a new challenge everyday. There isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t learn something.
How do you juggle work / children?
I’m lucky that my husband in involved full time with the business and hugely supportive. Between us we juggle it all!
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I’d like the Baby Hoodie to be a must have item for all new mums, and for Morrck to be a trusted and well respected baby brand.
What advice would you give a would be mumpreneur?
Find local resources in your area that can give you free advice. We have received tremendous support from the Enterprise Hub in Milton Keynes, Business Link and the Chambers of Commerce, which has given me the confidence to grow the business. Also, I always get people to ask themselves 3 questions:
- Work out what you will have to sacrifice in order to start and maintain the business and ask yourself, are you prepared to do this?
- Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to be successful (within legal and moral guidelines of course)?
- If you won the lottery would you do it anyway? If you can answer yes to them all, then you have a chance, because that’s the level of passion that’s required.
A bit about Morrck
Morrck hasve a great website which show cases the products very well indeed, but also goes further and invites you to understand more behind the reasons and beliefs of Morrck. Morrck is ethical in its products with designing and manufacturing mostly in the UK working closely with partners to determine high standards in trading. They are interested in keeping their carbon footprint as small as possible, from employing local people to using minimum packaging.
They offer practical advice on their products. As the parents of twins, they have plenty of first hand knowledge on how to manage the juggling act – really useful for other parents in a similar situation. , they are of course the ones who know the most about them and know all about bringing up children, especially twins. Having parents of twins talking to and advising others in a similar situation allows for that bit of extra appreciation. What is more, each online purchase includes a donation to Tamba.
The Baby Hoodie was the first product to be launched and is regularly quoted as a ‘must have’ product for new parents, particularly for parents of multiples who find getting out of the house takes an age. The hoodie is simply left in a car seat or buggy ready for use. Harness straps fit through slits in the fabric so that babies can be popped into their seat in their regular indoor clothing (no faffing with coats) and the straps can be tightened to the baby’s chest. This is a key safety aspect. Babies should not be put into car seats in thick coats. In an accident, the coat can compress, resulting in the harness straps being too loose. The Baby Hoodie is one of the few car seat accessories to have been crash tested to prove its suitability for in car use.
Once the baby is snugly strapped in, the hoodie is simply wrapped over them to keep them warm. They can be just as simply unwrapped if they get too hot, without having to fiddle with coats. Unlike conventional footmuffs, the hoodie isn’t sealed or zipped at the bottom, which means they aren’t outgrown as fast. The hoodie can also be used in bouncy chairs or supermarket trolley seats. It comes in a selection of colours and sizes.
answers some of the issues parents sometimes find with the conventional footmuffs products. Versatility is key for the Baby Hoodie, and with twins/triplets (or more!) versatility it is something that makes or breaks a solution. A footmuff is normally sealed or zipped at the bottom which restricts the legs from being able to kick about, as the child grows the footmuff soon becomes too small. The best bit about Baby Hoodie, especially with small babies, you can easily wrap and unwrap the baby (or babies!) as and when needed/wanted, no need to get them out of the buggy/car seat or wake them up.
So no faffing about when out and about, harness straps of the buggy and car seat fit securely through the Baby Hoodie. No bulky coats or snowsuits that constantly need taking on and off, if baby gets too warm just unwrap the Hoodie a bit while still secure strapped in. It is shaped to fit neatly into a standard car seat, pushchair, bouncy chair and even supermarket trolley seats. Your baby is then not only snuggly wrapped up in the cold, or comfy in the warm, but secure too with minimal fuss. Plus, importantly, a selection of colours, including special limited edition colours, is available!
The Baby Hoodie was the first but the collection has grown. Morrck offers various Baby Hoodies for different seasonsssions and uses, but also the Wrapture (a waterproof poncho), Splasha (perfect towel for wrapping up in), hats and scarvesfs, and blankets.
Please do visit their easy to use website at http://www.morrck.co.uk for further details on their products and more about who Morrck is and what their values are.
