A Rotherham-based entrepreneur who channelled his creative talents into producing custom-made dresses has stitched up a bright future for his fledgling business after relocating the company to the RiDO-operated Fusion@Magna business centre.
Life could have been very different for Scott Nickson who seized a “now or never” moment when he was made redundant from his shelf-stacking job in a national hardware chain. Determined to try and earn a living by harnessing his natural creativity, Scott decided to try his hand at dressmaking.
Largely self-taught, Scott received his first sewing lessons from his mother, who spent much of her career working as a professional seamstress and he quickly discovered that his new talents were in high demand.
To keep his start-up costs as low as possible, Scott opted to transform the family dining table into a makeshift studio, whilst turning to his mother for sewing lessons. Within a relatively short period of time, Scott began receiving his commissions from friends and family who were impressed by the quality of his work and attention to detail, however with his designs in high demand, Scott realised that he had outgrown the family home and in 2017 he set about looking for new premises.
After spending time scouring the local market for a suitable location for this business, he chose Fusion@Magna to become the home for his growing company. Relocating his company to the centre proved to be perfect fit for Scott’s business, which has seen him build the business through word of mouth recommendations and referrals.
However, all that changed when Scott launched his first website, resulting in orders being secured from across the UK, from Birmingham to Belfast, as well as helping him to land his largest order to date.
Each hand made design takes Scott between 8-12 weeks to produce from scratch and are carefully tailored to suit the tastes of his growing number of satisfied customers. However, the additional space provided in Scott’s new studio enables him to work on a larger number of designs simultaneously.
It is fast approaching five years since Scott transformed his passion of dressmaking into a vibrant and successful business, with RiDO helping to provide Scott with a good level of business confidence and other valuable entrepreneurial attributes, but he isn’t done just yet. And with hopes of continuing to support prom nights, weddings and even dipping his toe in the world of costume design, he is working towards realising his long term goals of seeing his designs feature in London Fashion Week.
Scott Nickson said: “When I first started the company I wanted to try and keep my overheads as low as possible, but working from home wasn’t ideal, particularly when I was working on a number of different orders, so I began scouring the market for suitable premises to develop my business further. Since relocating the business, I’ve noticed that I’ve become much more productive and it has also helped to improve things like time management, as there are a lot fewer distractions in the office than there was when I was working at home.
“One of the best things about the centre is that it’s filled with lots of like-minded entrepreneurs and I feel as if I’ve become part of a community which is helping my business to grow. The centre is everything I hoped it would be. It helps me to offer my clients a private place for fittings, as well as enabling me to concentrate upon growing and developing my business further. It’s been quite a journey over the past five years, but the five years of hard work and time I’ve invested in my company are starting to pay off, and I’m setting my sights on building and developing my business further in the future.”
Julie Hall, RiDO Business Centre Coordnator, Fusion@Magna said: “Scott’s keen eye for detail has stood his business in good stead, and it was clear from the time that he relocated his business to Fusion@Magna, that he has the passion, talent, and entrepreneurial knowhow to succeed. Scott’s beautiful bespoke dresses are a testament to Scott’s skills and I am sure it won’t be long before we see his designs parading on the catwalks as part of London Fashion Week.
“Our business centres were designed with the needs of entrepreneurs in mind, offering flexible easy-in, easy-out terms and one of the advantages of being based in a centre like Fusion is that you instantly become part of a business community. Scott has benefitted from ongoing support and guidance from the RiDO team, as well as offering the flexibility to take on additional office space as their business has evolved.”
Fusion@Magna is based between the Sheffield-Rotherham gateway and home to 28 office units, 18 workshops and provides a range of meeting spaces. To find out more about the current availability at Fusion, please call: 01709 789300
