In Jen's words: The Story of Òr

Soon we’ll be celebrating our tenth birthday, and as it’s such a significant milestone for us I found myself reminiscing over where we began. Whether you’re a long-time follower of Òr or a new supporter of our maker and artist community, the team and I thought it’d be lovely to share our journey since 2016. Allow me to take you back to the beginning, before the early days of Òr…

Creativity has always been a huge part of my life. From making Valentine’s cards that scared the boys away, to taking art more seriously in high school. I spent my teenage years creating sketchbooks, and my room was always decorated with inspiration and keepsakes. I would make a treasure out of anything! I continued my love for art at university in Dundee, which was great fun but I got so wrapped up in the initial design concepts that I never spent enough time in the workshop!

After university, I wanted to learn how to sell my work. This was before social media, so in those days it was a case of approaching galleries and learning how to present your work. I got a job as a designer for a jewellery shop in Edinburgh, creating bespoke pieces for clients before working in an antique jewellery store as a sales assistant. Each job gave me the confidence to talk to customers and a little extra cash so I could rent a studio and create my own jewellery in my spare time.

My partner, and now husband, Andy secured an architecture job on the Isle of Skye, so we decided to make the move from Edinburgh. We lived in six different houses while on Skye, and I moved my jewellery studio every time! I worked in the local shop and pub while I developed my work through commissions, craft fairs, and wonderful local organisations like Atlas Arts.

After years of making my own jewellery as a small-scale designer, I found myself wanting to create a platform for other makers and artists — ones which truly represented the talent we have here in Scotland. I’ve always been interested in how Scotland’s craft is viewed by the rest of the world; in fact, my university dissertation focused on Scottish jewellery and its perception in the tourist industry.

And so, Òr was born…

In the beginning, I had a Princes Trust Loan, a small grant, and no idea what I was getting myself into. I needed to spend money wisely, but I always bought directly from makers and artists to ensure they were paid fairly for the wonderful work they created — and this is a value I still stand by today. I had so much support from my family, friends and a generous landlord who helped with the refurbishment of our first shop on Wentworth Street.

I will never forget the first week we opened — I was giddy with excitement and nervousness! I remember receiving cards from neighbours and friends wishing me well, and I felt so fortunate to have such wonderful people around me, including Andy who has always been our guardian angel. We’re complete opposites, which actually helps a lot being business partners.

I should also credit my friend for the brand name. She’s an artist and a magical writer — we actually stock one of her books in our store. Luckily for me, she also speaks Gaelic and when she said the word ‘Òr’, which translates to ‘gold’, we both knew it felt right. It has a connection to me and my obsession with jewellery, the wonderful community on Skye, and the desire to represent only the highest quality pieces. And to make things even better, it was short enough to fit onto Wentworth’s shop window!

A wedding, a new shop, and a huge amount of planning!

We got married in May 2018 and opened the second store at The Green in June — it’s safe to say, it was a crazy year! After a short honeymoon to Achiltibuie, it was back to preparing for the shop’s opening day. The Wentworth Street shop is rather small, so the new one meant I could display larger artworks and craft pieces. After the excitement though, the scale of the job before us started to set in…

But as always, I was taken aback by everyone’s support in the local community. A good friend even gifted me the counter! I really wanted to repay the favour, so I joined the Portree & Braes Community Trust. I was a proud member of Light Up Portree, and continued to help with events. I loved it and was thrilled to raise around £16,000 in a charity raffle. All the prizes were donated by Òr’s wonderful community of makers and artists.

And then our little Laurie arrived…

In October 2020, we finally managed to buy a house on the island. A cottage overlooking the sea with views to the outer isles and a lovely garden. Our son Laurie arrived the summer after and we felt so lucky to have our little man.

In honesty, being a business owner and a mum can be hard and exhausting, with a constant pull between both roles. But I had a wonderful team who looked after the shops while I mastered breastfeeding, looking after our dog Charlie, and working from a laptop! When Laurie was eight months old, Andy also quit his job to help us manage — and he's been our rock ever since. We so appreciate everything he does for us!

Making waves online

At the end of 2023, we set up our website — which had been a long time coming. I had so many vision boards that I’m sure I could build a small house with them! The website was a new beast for me and I was preoccupied with making it perfect, but as we know perfection is the enemy of progress and I think that’s why we stalled it for a few years. Though I managed to find two wonderful photographers who transformed the site with their images, making it feel just as curated as one of our brick-and-mortar stores.

The moments I’ll never forget

There are a few moments which have always stuck with me over the years. From famous faces visiting the store to the time I accidentally set fire to tissue paper while wrapping a customers gift! But one of the most recent milestones was being featured in Style Times magazine. Magazines have always been a huge source of inspiration for me, especially prior to the internet, so being included in such a prestigious title was such a wonderful achievement.

The creation of the Corncrake Plate has also been a highlight for me. I adore Celia Wood’s work, so being able to celebrate her and support a local charity at the same time has been a magical thing. The idea behind the plate came from getting to know Skye’s flora and fauna, and learning about this endangered bird. I see the piece as a reminder to champion handmade craft and learn about your local community and its artists, because the world would be a very sad place without them.

The changes we’ve seen

At the beginning, Òr felt very much like an extension of myself but now it has its own identity. It’s become a community, one which is growing, and I feel lucky to be a part of that. Customers’ tastes have changed over the years too, and I believe there’s been a shift in understanding how important it is to support small makers and artists, and their handmade craft.

But one thing which has never changed — and never will — is that we continue to support our makers and artists by spreading the word about their talent and help them grow. I think this email from one of our lovely makers speaks for itself:

“I’ve appreciated your support over the years. I rave about Òr to absolutely everyone; you are such a champion of artists and small businesses and everybody way beyond Skye knows it. So thank you for everything you've done for me – your support helped me run the business which pushed me to move to Cornwall and travel Scotland! So it has quite literally been life changing.”

What makes Òr what it is today?

Above all, we have a enthusiastic and committed team — without their hard work we certainly would not be where we are today. They give our customers the best shopping experience online and in-store, and they’re such a fun bunch to be around. I appreciate them so much.

And we certainly wouldn’t be where we are now without our makers and artists, local community, and those across the globe who support us from afar. I’m so incredibly proud to be part of this community, and I hope it continues to grow for many years to come.

What’s next for Òr?

I would love to keep expanding our website and develop our brand in new ways. We have the most unbelievable team and I’m so excited to see what we are capable of! We have big plans up our sleeves this summer to celebrate our official tenth birthday, so keep your eyes peeled on our events page and social media channels for those updates.

We’ve also got some amazing new makers and artists coming to our online store soon, including a local maker, friend, and former Òr employee Lucy whose ceramics will be making an appearance on our website in spring — so watch this space!