The husband and wife duo whose business is inspired by Cumbria

The husband and wife duo who run Lakeland Lights is made up of James Long, 42, who is originally from Peterborough and Jo Iles, 40, originally from Southport, Merseyside. The couple relocated and set up business in Cleator Moor in early spring of 2019. The business recently hired a new employee Emily to join the duo.

The duo manufacture and sell luxury scented soy candles inspired by their favourite location in Cumbria. The sales for the business are split betweens those originating on their own site and those originating through their stockists. Lakeland Lights now have around 35 stockists across Cumbria and the Lakes. Jo Iles, co-owner spoke about her descision to be based in Cleator Moor:

"It was really important for us to be in Cleator Moor. We could have went to an industrial estate but we wanted to be part of the community and bring manufacturing back to West Cumbria."

Lakeland Lights have launched their Christmas trio (Image: Lakeland Lights)

The pandemic hit the business just one year after opening, it destroyed supply lines that were in places meaning it there was no wax, jars, or cardboard which became a commodity at the time, meaning the packaging of the candles was also disrupted. However, the partners explained that a silver lining came from this as they were able to forge new supply lines with bigger distributers which were more secure. Jo said:

"During the pandemic, we turned to local customers as our stockists closed and they have became like friends. We have really loyal customers who are amazing, they keep coming back to us again and again. They are the people who really sustained us."

The next steps for the business is to continue to grow and give back. The business want to eventually employ more local people and encourage young people that there is a different way of manufacturing, you can do it in a family run enviroment in towns like Cleator Moor. They also want people to be aware there are different roles within a small business whether it be manufacturing, marketing, product development or admin.

The business now has a second workshops after outgrowing the Phoenix House location, but they want to stick to their roots and remain in Cleator Moor.

Lakeland Lights have launched their new advent calendar (Image: Lakeland Lights)

Jo spoke about what sets her business apart from others:

"I think we are unique in the sense we are location specific. We are inspired by our favourite places whether its Cleator Moor, Buttermere or Ennerdale as these are the names of our products so we really like to look at the history and what these places mean."

"We are not just sticking a scent in a jar, we try to be really thoughful around everything from the jar to the scent."

Lakeland Lights recently launched their new luxury advent calendar for Christmas which incudes a wax melt behind each window. Windows include a QR code about each scent and a geography quiz about the location. They have included special golden scents and if you are lucky enough to find one of these you get to have a day in the workshop helping create products.

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