I always love this time of year, as you can probably tell from my past 'Looking Back' blog posts. A time to reflect, see how far we have come and if we achieved any of the plans we had set for ourselves.
We had so many plans for 2020, including a very special travel trip combining work and family going back to Sicily. A dream collaboration as well as new product launches that have all unfortunately had to be put on hold due to coronavirus restrictions.
This year saw me and Marianna go back to basics as we furloughed our staff and came to the office on alternate days (to not see each other in that first month of lockdown before we knew what we were dealing with). We were packaging up orders, answering customer emails and doing repairs.
I actually enjoyed going back to this part of the job and fulfilling all of the orders, ensuring each piece was checked carefully and packaged lovingly was a great release for me during a time of mass uncertainty. It also meant I got out of my house every other day to a new environment rather than try to home school my 9 year old who has made it very clear I'm not a great teacher!
We personally had a very tough year last year, which meant many plans were put on hold for Soru. This year being a very tough year again globally has meant the same.
But I honestly believe that with every cloud there is a silver lining and this year is no different. One thing that has been made very apparent is that we have an amazing, hard working, dedicated team. When we were up against it they all came through for us.
Last year we grew our team from 4 to 5, this year we have grown again from 5 to 6! With Romilly joining us as the new manager. We can't tell you how happy we are to have Rom as part of the team.
Last year we re located from our very small top office to a downstairs larger space (within the same building) and this year we expanded again to now have the entire unit- upstairs and downstairs! I cant tell you how excited we were for this and how privileged we feel to have this great space we love right on our doorstep where we get to work every day.
The team at Soru Jewellery HQ
More achievements to mention; Soru turned 7, we launched the third instalment of the Fashion Bug Blog X Soru (which was a massive success AGAIN as everyone went rainbow crazy!) We set up sketch with Soru through the difficult first lockdown times and received so many amazing designs from followers we will cherish forever and shared with all of our Instagram community. We gave the amazing NHS key workers a special discount and a giveaway just for them to help shout about the amazing work they are doing and stories that were emerging. We have managed to raise over £7k to help feed the homeless in Birmingham by donating to the charity 'Lets Feed Brum'. And we did more giveaways than ever before to our followers and subscribers.
Sketch With Soru template launched during lockdown
On set with Laura Wills from The Fashion Bug Blog for our 3rd collaboration together
With everything else going on we all managed to eventually come back to work- social distanced - shoot two campaigns in lockdown, join with Cadeaux Paperworks to bring you sustainable gift wrap and launch our first ever charm collection; Soru Charms!
We have SO many plans for 2021, if we manage to achieve them great, if not ill look for those silver linings again- they are always there.
Wishing you all a wonderful new year ahead for 2021.
Francesca & Marianna at Soru HQ
Please feel free to leave us any comments on what you would like to see Soru doing in the new year, we love reading each and every one of them or contact us though our customer service team at customercare@sorujewellery.com
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