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Success story: The Soap and Bubble Company

The prospect of keeping a group of children entertained for a few hours is daunting enough - especially if it's for a birthday or special occasion. To successfully do this however, whilst enticing children to learn more about natural skincare sounds like an impossible task! Rennae Matthews was unphased by such a prospect and following years of office work decided to incorporate her work and soap-making hobby to set up The Soap and Bubble Company.

Having always been creative and looking for new challenges outside of her nine-to-five office job, in 2005 Rennae stumbled upon a soap making course, and soon decided to utilise her new skills and organise her very own soap parties.

From this point onwards, Rennae's hobby became a part-time vocation - organising parties every week for new and existing clients, focusing especially on children. For two hours, Rennae hosts parties for children aged eight years plus, giving them the opportunity to make a number of different bath products, the most popular being "exploding bath bombs and handmade duck soaps", while also learning about the history and science of the soap making process, in an informative, hands-on and entertaining way. Rennae furthermore insists on using child friendly, organic or SLS free ingredients to make all of her Soap & Bubble creations - pleasing parents and children's sensitive skin no end!

Looking to grow the business to a full-time enterprise, Rennae approached a London Business Loans-backed loan fund at GLE oneLondon in 2007. Following intensive one-to-one support and the refinement of her business plan Rennae was able to secure a £5,000 loan to grow her business, which she would have been unable to access through her normal bank.

Going from strength to strength, the business has since paid back the loan two years in advance, and now looks to expand its services to offer soap workshops aimed at schools, youth clubs and other youth services. There are further plans to expand the business throughout London and then UK, whilst also producing an organic range of children's bath products.

www.soapandbubble.com