COMMUNITY STORIES

Crafts by makers for makers: SoLo Craft Fair's success story

Grow London Local

Posted: Thu 24th Apr 2025

Founded in 2016 and based in south London, SoLo Craft Fair specialises in creative events, shops and workshops centred around handcrafted items, with a difference – the crafts are made and sold by the makers themselves.

As well as two shops in Elephant and Castle and Brixton Village and regular craft market events, SoLo Craft Fair pops up in pubs and other quirky venues across South London.

Here, the company's founders Catherine and Rebecca tell us about the journey their business has taken so far, the thrills and challenges they have faced over the years, and the support Grow London Local has provided to help them thrive.

What inspired you to launch SoLo Craft Fair?

SoLo Craft Fair was founded by us, Catherine and Rebecca, who are makers ourselves. We were so passionate about supporting small businesses and we wanted more opportunities for makers to sell in South London.

The idea was to have a one-off event in Catford with a handful of stalls and some live music, but this snowballed and we ended up having 13 events across seven different venues in our first year.

Nine years later, we have two shops, one pop-up and events in amazing venues across London.

What are some of the challenges that you've faced as business owners, and how have you overcome them?

With every business, there are so many challenges. With the events, it's navigating things that are out of our control, such as the weather (2024 brought a lot of storms!).

We've just learned to be as responsive as possible to unpredictable challenges – there's a lot of on-the-spot problem-solving.

But in general, it's just a difficult factor in everything that comes with growth, learning to put employees on payroll and train them properly, having to become VAT-registered and learn new laws of having a permanent location.

It's very important to put aside time to work on your business to learn how to do this properly (and not just work 'in' your business).

How did you hear about Grow London Local and what has your experience been like?

Our first encounter with Grow London was when we collaborated on running workshops with our database of makers, so they can find out how Grow London Local can support them.

Through this, I got to find out how we could be supported, and this is when we needed some advice on finances after becoming VAT-registered.

It is an amazing organisation which supports small businesses when they need it most.

What's next for SoLo Craft Fair? Are there any exciting plans or developments on the horizon?

The joy of running SoLo Craft Fair is that we never know what is going to happen next. We're so lucky enough to get approached with so many exciting opportunities from different venues and organisations.

We can't reveal much now but we're in the process of booking one of our biggest markets yet in central London.

What advice would you give other small business owners in London?

Have your plan but be open to change!

Never in a million years was it our intention to open a shop, but the opportunity came our way and it's one of the best things we've ever done.

The climate in every sector is ever-changing, so you have to be responsive to what is happening in the area you work with. This can take you on a wonderful, unexpected journey.

Why would you recommend Grow London Local to other small businesses?

I think the range of support that Grow London Local offers is most appealing. Whether you need guidance with accounting, marketing, business development – they'll have someone on hand to help.

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