a dozen years of a dozen eggs
a dozen eggs has been in business for twelve years, and what a journey it’s been! We thought we would take this opportunity to celebrate how far we’ve come and to thank all those people who have made it possible.
Back when we were fresh faced graduates, I’m not sure whether either Jo or I would have been able to tell you we would be here 12 years later. We’d both graduated from the Graphic Communication course at Loughborough University, and had absolutely loved our time there. Working together in our third year (I think we were one of the first parings to do so) had been very fruitful, and a whole lot of fun!
A photo story …
Apologises in advance for the bombardment of photographs, but we couldn’t help ourselves!
First up, being a photograph of Jo and I next to our Part C work at University – don’t look too closely! We decided quite quickly after graduation to start a business, with the feeling that you might as well start one when you are naive and don’t know what to expect!
Thanks to Loughborough University Enterprise department (and Marina Pickles in particular!) for encouraging us to write a business plan – we won our first ‘pot of money’ which we spent on some huge iMacs!
with Jamie Murray Wells getting our first award!
Our very first Christmas meal, just the two of us in Touchwood, Solihull.
And our first office was a slightly deserted room in the heart of the campus …
… we were only here for a few months before moving to the shiny new design school building!
As part of the Studio we joined lots of other new starters in the Design School.
We are so grateful for Meg, who helped us shape what a dozen eggs could become.
We settled in quickly to the design school.
… and quickly made ourselves at home!!
Ross and Tim celebrating their awards!
The Studio
We then joined the Studio (Loughborough University’s Commercialisation Hub) with the wonderful Megan Powell Vreeswijk, surrounded by other people starting up businesses. Our fellow studio members became firm friends (and also clients!).
A brain storming session with Hugh Leader-Williams, Sophie-Louise Hyde, Lauren Page from Aulm and Nathan Kohut from Future Fresh.
We loved working alongside the other studio members; Andy from Future Fresh, Simon from Version 22, Suzi from Noux, Sophie-Louise Hyde from the Student Wordsmith, Ross from ASAP watercraft and Ian Tricker.
Chris joins the eggs!
In 2014, Chris joined the team as another director. He bought with him a wealth of experience in all things web, but he is also a brilliant teacher, a problem solver and someone you could always talk to. When he joined, Jo and I tried to include ‘tea boy’ in his list of duties as part of the heads of agreement … unfortunately his attention to detail meant he spotted it immediately.
The lovely Amy making our moves even easier with a picnic!
Chris building the Charnwood Brewery website
I ❤️ bats – what more is there to say!
“What’s your banana?” – Pete through and through!!
a dozen eggs starts growing
Not long after Chris joined a dozen eggs, we welcomed Peter as our first employee! Full of ideas, great fun to be around and a brilliant friend, we loved having him as part of the team.
As the business grew, so did our team. Michelle, our illustrator who always has an interesting view of the world and bags of talent as a writer as well as an illustrator. Danny, our front end developer who has an infectious smile and is a brilliant team player. Beth, who is quickly becoming our brand expert, an exceptional designer and a joy to work with and Dale, our developer who is a true problem solver, never settling for ‘it’ll do’ and always encouraging beer drinking and pizza eating!
We’ve had our fair share of photoshoots. Holly taking some brilliant photos for Amy Allwright Homeware …
… and Pete doing his thing, getting some snaps of Tunde cleaning cars.
The launch of CARMeggs, with Liz Stokoe, who has quickly become one of our favourite people!
Nick has been a godsend, helping with advice at every stage – thanks Nick, we are very grateful!
We’ve been very lucky to have worked with some incredible people – clients who have become firm friends. We are so grateful for having people around us championing what we do.
Recently, we looked through the projects we’ve undertaken over the years and have enjoyed seeing the variety, working with so many people in so many industries. No wonder we don’t have that ‘Monday morning feeling’!
Keep an eye out on our socials over the next month with some branding and design highlights of a dozen eggs over the last 12 years!
Enjoying tea at Fortnums …
… and celebrating Liz’s talk at the Royal Institution – she takes us to the best places!
From time to time we’ve got involved in a bit of interior design! From the reception area of Derby Grammar School …
… to the cosy interiors of the Sorrel Fox.
We love seeing our work in the wild, from St Peter’s signage …
… to the big box concept stores for Shoe Zone
The new pub from Charnwood Brewery; Hall Croft Tap
We even wrote our business plan in the spa – so they’ve been a staple of the a dozen eggs journey!
And now that Radgale is a client, it would be a shame not to avail ourselves of their facilities!
We’ve enjoyed tutoring on both the Visual Communication degree and Foundation degree at Loughborough over the years …
… although the COVID getup wasn’t the most flattering!
We’ve tipped into the Studio community on occasion, being part of the steering committee for a while …
… and catching up with Meg and the current studio members in Whitby
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed working on loads of projects for Loughborough University (thanks Anna Leather!) …
… and supporting Stuart Brady in his campaign to be Loughborough’s MP
Andrew Bowler showing Jo and Danny around our new office at the ATIC …
… with some very fetching shoe coverings!
Over the years we’ve moved offices a fair few times. Donning hard hats when looking at new builds, rebuilding Ikea furniture countless times, and meeting lots of new neighbours!
We are currently in the process of another move, with the wonderful folks at CWS.
Our offices have been used for exercising, lots of listening to music, lunchtime video watching, and plenty of sampling of customer treats (thanks LOTOS, Hatari and Charnwood Brewery) in other customers home wear (thanks Emma Britton and Amy Allwright home wear!)
It wouldn’t be an a dozen eggs photo compilation without Michelle building some flat pack furniture!
We thoroughly recommend Hatari’s mashes and sauces!!
A tiny James!! And Jo looking stunning despite only just giving birth
Growing in more ways than one!
We celebrated the first a dozen eggs marriage when Chris married the wonderful Jess, with them welcoming the first a dozen eggs baby a few years later. Jo, Beth and I have also tied the knot (to Liam, Mike and Richard respectively) and Jo and Beth have had some more beautiful children.
We’ve always wanted to put family first at a dozen eggs so its been a joy to see it grow in more ways than one.
And then COVID hit, and Michelle spent a number of weeks alone in the Canal House
Before the whereby meetings started …
Thankfully, we managed to enjoy a few walks – James even made appearances!
We will be posting lots more content about the fact that we are 12 on socials, so if you are interested, give us a follow!
