0:18:00] changed it as over the years? 

Claire Burrows: So we only ever had one and then we’ve added. But we’ve changed, well, not changed countries, but added countries as well.

So we’re all still Europe, but we were mostly Portugal. Now we’re making also in Spain and Italy. 

Catherine Erdly: Oh, fantastic. I suppose as you went along and you had to go through that same process of finding those people that you really could put your trust in, right? 

Claire Burrows: Yeah. I mean, I’m lucky I’ve got a good network, so I’ve been able to call on my network and also things change [00:18:30] within that network too.

So it’s you know, somebody might move from one factory to another, or one agency to another. And you know, then that opens up an opportunity.

Why strong supplier relationships make all the difference

Claire Burrows: So yeah, it’s not always the easiest getting started with a new manufacturer. But like for me, I’ve found that it’s really important to set out the understandings upfront.

It’s almost like a pitch, isn’t it? That they need to understand what your business is and what to expect from that development [00:19:00] process. Because we’re not the same as other footwear brands I’ve worked for. G enerally, I’ve worked for brands that have been a bit more into sort of fast fashion.

When I fell out of love with that, I realized that wasn’t something I could do any longer, and I wanted to put a lot more into the quality of the shoes and the development of the shoes. And that takes time. We will sample more than other brands do, and we wear trial and we will iron out as many [00:19:30] problems as possible through that process to ensure that when the shoe launches, we’ve taken the pain for you.

Basically. Literally, you know, just a simple thing like moving a seam on the inside of a shoe can make the hugest difference to whether that she’s gonna rub or not. So we were trial them to find those pain points beforehand. And that means that, you know, it takes a lot longer.

So we have to ask our suppliers to be patient. [00:20:00] So do you know what, and honestly, some of them will be, some of them won’t. You’re not always the perfect fit for everybody. Yeah. But the ones that have stuck the course with us, have seen the benefit because once we get a shoe right. And you know, it’s in a case of like repeat orders for years. Yeah, our crew trainers have been in the range for I think now, seven or eight years.

 So that’s the business that they like. That’s the part of it that we can give them in reward. But yes. It’s not the [00:20:30] easiest process to start, but yeah. You know, we don’t make them in big batches either. So again, shoe factories they like to make at scale. But we’ll be like, look, we’re gonna make small batches.

But often that means that we know that we can control the stock. We know that we’re not over producing. And it means that for them, they’ve actually got to like it. Because it means they can kind of like keep the factory busy. So they have their big orders, but then they produce the smaller orders in between.

Catherine Erdly: Right, got it. It’s [00:21:00] like any relationship, isn’t it? You get to know each other.

Claire Burrows: It really is a partnership. 

Catherine Erdly: Yeah, yeah. We’ve talked about some of the challenges already. We talked about obviously big things like the having to reject the production run or issues like cash flow.

But what other challenges of being a are there of being an independent footwear brand?

Claire Burrows: Lots. It’s any business, isn’t it? There’s always challenges. 

It’s how you deal with them. I mean, I’m just, you know, preparing for the unexpected all the time. You can control what you can [00:21:30] control in your world, but you can’t control what’s going on outside of that. Yeah, so that’s about you just dunno what’s gonna hit you.

I mean, we’ve been through all sorts haven’t we in the last 10 years. It’s been great fun, just it keeps coming. 

So I think what I’ve learned is basically just expect it. There’s always gonna be those challenges and you’ve just gotta learn to navigate them and be nimble. Yeah. And I’d say one of the biggest things is having a decent cash buffer in the business.

So that you can navigate [00:22:00] things if the unexpected happens that you’re not kind of like on that knife edge whereby, you know, one thing trips you up and that’s it. Back to cash flow. But yeah, I mean, it’s just finding a way to navigate being nimble with the business. Just considering all the outcomes.

And again, back to partnerships as well. You know, when we’ve had some issues. Sometimes , we had a factory go bust recently and you know, that was then we had to kind of [00:22:30] like call on our partners to see what we could do to move our products that were in that factory into another manufacturing partner.

And you know, people were really great. So they could see an opportunity for them as well as us. And yeah, it’s just about having those strong relationships to get through all the challenges. 

Catherine Erdly: Yes, I can imagine that it really helps if you’ve built up that goodwill over the years that you’ve got a bit more flexibility built in more than one way.

So then just to wrap us up. [00:23:00] Absolutely fascinating hearing more of the story behind our own grace, but as we look forward into 2025, what advice would you give to other small business owners who are looking for growth this year? 

Claire Burrows: I mean, I always say work hard, be nice to people and don’t run out of money, cash flow, making sure that you’ve got a grip on the finances is the biggest learning curve that I’ve had.

You know, I could quite easily have been the person who just thinks that there’s money in the bank so you can spend it. [00:23:30] Luckily my husband has a financial background. Put together a cashflow and financial reports for us to make sure that I didn’t do that. And I’d also say test and learn. You know, that’s been a common theme throughout for us from the beginning to now.

It looks very different to how we test and learn. Although, you know, we still do some kind of like in real life stuff, but mostly it’s digital. But just trying things out to see if they work for you, and that could [00:24:00] be in terms of marketing activity. It could be in terms of retail activity, it could be in terms of product. But I guess always doing it in a way that you are testing with a small amount of budget.

That means that you can optimize that and get dive into it if it does work. But if it doesn’t, then you’ve only assigned a small amount of budget to it and it’s not gonna be critical. You don’t get anywhere by doing the same things over and over, do 

you? 

Catherine Erdly: No, and I think this is a really great point you make. Because I do think sometimes it’s a little bit of a [00:24:30] different mentality with small businesses and big businesses. And I’m sure from your background in bigger footwear brands as well, you’ve probably seen the same thing. It’s always about moving forward and you’ve got a bestseller. The question is, what’s the next bestseller?

Can you create something that’s gonna outsell it? And I think sometimes I see small business owners, not all of them, you know, lots of them do get that. And they’re constantly moving forward. But they almost feel like, okay, I’ve got this formula now I’m gonna work. That’s what I’ve got. I’m gonna sit on it ’cause it’s working.

But it’s like this idea that you’ve always got to be moving [00:25:00] forward, right? You’ve got to constantly what’s next? How do you develop it? How do you tweak it? Move it on. 

Claire Burrows: Yeah, and it’s sometimes like, I mean, God reinventing a bestseller. If we have the formula for that, we’d be all in. We pocket that, but that’s the hardest thing always.

So I mean, what we’ve found is that I’d say this is true of any sort of footwear business that I’ve worked in, is that it’s not necessarily a move on of the same thing. It’s something that is like completely [00:25:30] different but hits the same spot somehow. And that’s why it’s really difficult, because you can’t take something like, you know.

But think of some of our best sellers. Like you can’t just say, well, let’s just tweak it and it’ll be an update. Yes, you’ve got new colors and new materials, but it’s not gonna be that if you just like tweak that thing, it’ll be the next big thing. You tend to find that the customer wants something completely different from you.

For us, that’s kind of how we’ve grown, is by adding categories and [00:26:00] taking customers on that journey. They were started with a ballerina, then it was trainers. Now we’re really big on sandals. Then it’s into boots. You know, for us, we wanna be having our customers on that journey with us and being the go-to for each part of their footwear lifestyle.

Catherine Erdly: Yes, yes. And then in two, I see you have your wedding edit and your heel sandals and yeah. It’s having those loyal customers, but then offering maybe gradually over time, offering them something different. [00:26:30] So it’s almost complete their lifestyle. 

Claire Burrows: I mean, I always wanted to do heels right from the beginning, you know, I was like, I want heels that I can dance the night away in.

So that’s where the heel products come from now. And that’s then led into okay, well people have been sort of saying, oh, I’m buying a pair for my wedding or for my bridesmaids. Or it’s the day when you definitely don’t wanna have miserable feet. But that’s come from customer feedback too.

‘Cause they’ve been saying to us, oh look, you know, can you do it in silver? Can you do it in various colors? And can you do a lower heel? A higher heel? Yeah, we are constantly [00:27:00] evolving.

Catherine Erdly: Well, thank you so much for joining us today. And do you want to wrap up by just telling everyone where they can find out more about your amazing shoes?

Claire Burrows: Of course. So online at airandgracelondon.com. So it’s airandgracelondon.com And follow us on socials as well. 

Catherine Erdly: Thanks so much for joining me today for today’s episode. Don’t forget, you can now sign up for early access to Retail ROAR 2026. There’s lots of perks for doing so. So head to the show notes and [00:27:30] make sure you sign up. If you have a moment to rate and review the podcast, you can do so within Apple Podcasts.

You can also rate the podcast in the Spotify app. And of course, if you like, follow or subscribe, depending on where you’re following or listening, then you’ll be the first to know about each new episode coming out every Thursday morning. See you next week.