About Betsy Benn

I grew up in East London, not really thinking about what I wanted to be when I was big, but I always, ALWAYS painted and doodled and crafted along with Tony Hart (gawd bless 'im). Then one of my teachers told my Mum I had a brain in my head, and that was it, I was going to be an academic! So I studied art and history and politics, unable to decide between the two loves of my live. Academia won out for a while and I did a history and politics degree at Keele University after a fruitless search for a uni anywhere in the country that taught history and art alongside each other.

Post studentdom I slipped into a career in the corporate world and enjoyed many years working in the events and hospitality sector, occasionally being allowed to design beautiful event invitations! I picked up photography as a hobby along the way which would sometimes pay for itself with the odd commission.

When my beautiful little boy was born it was time to make some decisions in life. Commuting and working away from home suddenly wasn't exciting anymore, but making my child and my family, handmade special gifts made me as pleased as punch. Best of all, everyone else was doubly pleased to receive these gifts and convinced me that my talents were worth pursuing. So, How am I doing? Lots of people who know about design and more about business than I do have told me that I’m rather good at both of them which is lovely and flattering. I’m just happy that something I love doing has come to mean something special to lots of other people.

I’ve been honoured to be chosen to be on the front cover of not one, but two campaigns for the prestigious Not On The High Street catalogue. The quintessentially chic Bodie and Fou stock my designs, as do Rockett St George, Red Direct and many others. I was pleased as punch that a friend, while holidaying in the UK tweeted me to tell me they’d seen one of my mugs for sale in a cathedral gift shop and that another had seen one in Heals in London. I still work mostly from home with the help of a grand bunch of helpers and friends who become full time Betsy's at busy times of the year.

Described by Not On The High Street as being one of the “UK's most creative and innovative small businesses” showing a “wealth of creativity, innovation and dedication”. Their founders Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish said of their Make Award finalists of which I was one, that we “demonstrate all that is great about enterprise in Britain.” Not bad going for a girl from East London!

A little bit more Betsy

Is Betsy a Green Goddess?

Well, not yet a goddess, but we're aiming for the heavens!

We are committed to minimising our waste and maximising our recycling! So yes we print on both sides of the paper (if we need to print at all) and all scrap paper gets utilised as craft material for my three year old before it ever sees the recycling box. We also "upcycle". If in the process of making a print it gets damaged or spoilt, we turn it over and print our tea towel care instructions on the reverse, making very pretty label inserts! If the print is only marginally damaged on the edge, but still perfect in the body, then we'll sell it as a sample at a greatly reduced price - so keep an eye on our sample page.

We make no apologies for recycling packaging material that gets sent to us, to wrap products that we send to you. If for whatever reason you would prefer "virgin" packaging then please let us know in the special instructions.

We don't, at the moment, use vegetable based inks or print on recycled paper for our giclee prints for many technical reasons around white brightness, lightfast years and archival qualities. We design our prints to last a lifetime so need to be able to rely on the raw materials. But we promise to keep looking for a greener solution that ticks all our boxes. We even specifically designed our logo to be largely white to save on ink!

We've recently switched the supply of gas and electricity in our home office to the green energy plan from the lovely people at OVO Energy. And, for the last 6 years, one of our vehicles has been a lovely Toyota Prius Hybrid which has all number of green features.

One of our current paper suppliers, Hahnemuhle, only use green power in their production plant, power that is produced using a variety of renewable energy sources. In doing so they prevent CO2 emissions of more than 3000 tonnes per year. They also support a number of environmental projects. Not bad going! For more information visit www.green-rooster.com

We also use whenever and wherever we can local firms for our supplies. This cuts down our carbon footprint which with the hybrid car is reduced even further. For a small company we aren't perfect, but we are making a good effort.

What does Betsy make?

 Is Betsy a techno geek? 

Ah no - but she wishes she was. Instead we make do with having a techno geek in the house who inspires and tweaks and twitters and fixes! As such, you can be Betsy's friend on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. We'll announce new products, special offers and random musings along with the best of them.

We will maintain a customer database (not at all as scary as it sounds) and you can join or leave at any time simply by sending us an email to betsy@betsybenn.co.uk.  We'll use the info on that and from our website to learn a little bit more about what you like and then hopefully offer you more stuff you like; including limited time discount offers, previews of sales and news of new products. We will NEVER forward your information to anyone outside of our company for any purpose.

At the moment, postage in the mainland UK is free for all customers - but postage abroad is done at cost. Please go through the checkout process for details or email me.

What do my customers think?

Here’s a selection of customer responses from Feefo

Excellent service with a personal phone call when clarification was required. My husband is delighted with his print.

What a great product - I have never seen my husband so thrilled with a surprise present. Beautifully presented, looks fabulous ... I loved it and the service was great too.

Thank you Betsy!! I love the print, and so did my husband when he opened it on Valentine's Day. Thank you for delivering it to me in time for Valentine's day too.

Betsy was a great help and very accommodating. Great quality. Highly recommended.

Super quick delivery...and the finished product was beautiful.

Just as gorgeous as expected. Thank you x

Beautiful quality print. Betsy makes changes as needed and sends proofs to check over. Very happy with this product!

I love it and so do all my friends. I've bought another for my mother in law and one of my friends is having one too!

Absolutely brilliant service and fabulous products.

This is so amazing I love it!! Thank you, thank you, thank you Betsy Benn!!

Very pleased with my purchase and cannot wait to give it to my husband.

The destination print is gorgeous. I got it with the frame too and the finish is quality and second to none. Thank you Betsy Benn!

Beautiful!!! Excellent service, too! Thank you.

Absolutely beautiful print. Better than expected!! And quick delivery. Thank you so much :-)

i brought the print for my husband on our anniversary in June, when i saw it i had to give it to him early, he loved it & he had tears in his eyes,  priceless !!

Very efficient service, Betsykept me informed all through order, and responded to my questions quickly.

Bought this as a joint 40th present for my brother and sister in law. Haven't given it to them yet but I'm sure they will love it. Excellent service  throughout. I changed my mind on the wording a couple of times. This was never a problem.

The picture in the magazine and on the web does not do the finished article justice! It is one of the few things I've ever brought that's made me go  ...read more 'Wow"! Well worth the money, brilliantly done, great frame that compliments the picture/text well...what else can I say. Brilliant.

Absolutely love the destination print it is really original and my husband will love it!

Gorgeous gift idea and very happy recipient. Great communication with Betsy, would order again.

I brought this for my husband for our first Christmas being married - detailing the last 5 years and he absolutely love it. The service was excellent  and arrived before the allotted time. Thank you!

It's really lovely, great idea for as present and Betsy seems lovely too! Great communication thank you

Couldn't ask for better customer service, excellent communication and speedy delivery. One of the few businesses not to grind to halt in the snow.  Exceptional

Really pleased with my purchase - it looks great. Betsy Benn was brilliant and we emailed back and forth to make sure we got it right. - good service.

Betsy was so helpful, and fitted the order in with my plans so that the print arrived for our anniversary. Really good communications, and a fabulous print

And finally

Lastly, I love to hear from my customers if they've bought something already, or if they are about to buy something, or they are thinking about possibly buying something. You can always email me at betsy@betsybenn.co.uk or call on 01242 702873 or 07789953311

Love

Bxx