Hi, I am Liz Cooke the founder of Chester & Cooke, along with My Jack Russell Chester.
In 2015 I had to give up my job in finance to look after Simon, my husband, while he was on dialysis, unfortunately his kidneys failed due to having Polycystic Kidney Disease. I stepped in and helped run the family Pattern Making business based in Cambridgeshire. Working at the business gave me knowledge and understanding of our capabilities and the methods used to work with wood
It was on one of my country walks back in 2017 that my business idea came to mind. Every day I use a boot jack that Simon made me, to prize my beloved wellies from my feet. Thinking about that Boot Jack, I decided there and then that I wanted to design and make beautiful country related products that are practical and solve a problem, but which would be treasured personal items, I wanted them to be the top-notch quality and just shout I am British.
That is where my design journey began, very slowly to start with, until thanks to his sister, Linda, and a paired scheme Simon received a kidney transplant in May 2018. This was a massive life change for us. Once life settled down again, I soon found I had more time to work on designs & think about branding and websites etc, It was a huge learning curve, having never worked in retail, design or marketing. In fact, I look back at how far I have come and feel pretty proud of myself.
It started with the Boot Jack, next came the welly racks which can be personalised, and my range extended to Dog beds and gardening products, Such as our very popular seed box. Then in 2020 I also started on equestrian products. We now ship worldwide into Europe but as far as Australia, Canada and the US. Yet our products are still made by us in our workshop in Cambridgeshire. That is how I want it to stay.
The ethos of Chester & Cooke is really rooted in the countryside, having such a love & passion for Dogs, Horses & Gardening looking after our environment is something very close to my heart and always at the forefront of my mind. I try to analyse every stage of our processes to ensure we are being as kind to the environment as possible.
I hope you will love our products as much as I love designing and making them.
Liz
