My Slouch: Glowing in the dark

Yvonne Slough, a bubbly entrepreneur from Surrey, South East England, came up with the idea of manufacturing and retailing ‘glow in the dark’ indoor and outdoor furniture. She built on her background in design and event decoration to create ‘My Slouch’, a couch that gives the impression of “sitting on the moon”, in Yvonne’s words. She has created her product to be eco- friendly, water repellent, salt resistant and made in the UK. Yvonne explains that “everyone asks how this incredible idea came about. Well, it all began when working abroad, where on numerous occasions people would stumble around at night parties looking for somewhere to sit!”

However, this great experience abroad turned out to be a barrier when Yvonne needed money to manufacture her product. She asked traditional banks for additional financing, but without success: “I had just moved back to the UK from living abroad. I therefore had no credit history and was getting systematically turned down by the banks.” Ultimately, Fredericks Foundation, a Responsible Finance Provider, turned out to be Yvonne’s solution. Thanks to the financial backing of EIF through the EU Employment and Social Innovation programme, Fredericks Foundation was able to offer Yvonne a loan on advantageous terms, which really supported Yvonne in taking her business to the next level: “I could not have continued to run my business without this loan from Fredericks Foundation.”

Thanks to this EU programme, whose aim is to provide microfinance to vulnerable groups who want to set up or develop their business, Yvonne was able to buy the necessary material to start the manufacturing process of her newly launched product.

Yvonne is currently still working on her own to produce her original indoor and outdoor furniture, but is hoping to expand her business’ activities and hire help at a later stage.

Company: My Slouch (United Kingdom)

Type of business: Manufacturing; Furniture

EIF financing: EaSI

Financial intermediary: Fredericks Foundation

For further information about EIF intermediaries in the United Kingdom, please refer to:
http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/gb