Two designers swapped city for countryside to launch a giftware business inspired by Lakeland sheep. Seven years on, the Herdy Company has scooped a top business award

Diane Hannah We started working together in 2000. I was an interior designer at a large architectural practice and Spencer was self-employed. I left the practice and we set up a design consultancy called the Knack in north Manchester. We had a weekend house in the Lake District and liked it there. So, in 2003, we moved the business to the Lakes and got an office in Kendal.

Spencer Hannah I had been working as a designer for years. With the skills we both had, we decided that we could offer clients a good service. Besides the concerns about a married couple becoming business partners, we felt that there would be a good marriage professionally speaking as well. We both felt a frustration with the daily routines that you fit into when you work for large organisations.

DH In 2005, we went to Helsinki for the weekend and we were impressed by the quality of giftware. Nobody in the Lakes was doing anything like that, so we set about creating a giftware brand for the Lakes. We were confident we could do it ourselves.

SH We both have a passion for Scandinavian design. We like its cleanliness. So we created a brand, and we now design products with that in mind. I'd been coming to the Lakes since I was a kid and for anyone from the north-west it is a special place. We felt it deserved something smart. We set ourselves the challenge of coming up with something symbolic of this region. The appealing face of the Herdwick sheep seemed to fit the bill.

DH We wanted to give something back to the area. No one else seemed to care what was sold, as long as it made a return. We care passionately about the area and what we do. But we aren't hippies. This is a business, but we want it to be a business that does good things.

SH We wanted to create a company that was altruistic and was about more than just consumerism, but that was also a cool brand. For us, this is about creating something that's part of the community and that does more than a faceless global company would do. Whatever size we grow to in the future, I'd like to think the directors might go down the local pub and meet some farmers for a drink.

DH I look after sales and marketing and dealing with the retailer network, while Spencer is focused on the product design and setting up the overseas licensing. He's more into the bigger picture and strategy, while I'm more hands-on. But we were both designers and we both have a lot of input into product design.

SH I play the role of prospector, the person who has ideas and makes a mess and leaves it for other people to pick up the pieces. Diane is more linear and rational, and she is very good at cutting to the chase. Married people in business can be a disaster, but we have a third partner, Steve, who is a shareholder. He was a chartered accountant and he puts order and structure into the business and makes sure it is operating efficiently.

DH We do row, and occasionally there are jokes about staff in the office needing tin hats, but the outcome is always the better for both of us being involved. Sometimes things all go swimmingly and sometimes there are fireworks, but we always resolve it.

SH It's on the design side where fur tends to fly. Because we come at things from different starting positions, we come to design conclusions quickly. We quickly resolve our two ideas into a conclusion that works.

DH Winning the BITC Small Company of the Year award was important because we want to be seen to be doing good. We want to be a loveable company doing the right things, and we want to look after the area that inspired us and inspired the brand. We pay fair rates to our suppliers so that everyone benefits.

SH Our biggest weakness is shyness and not making a noise about ourselves. We haven't been as pushy about our designs as we could be. Herdy gives us that opportunity and the BITC Small Company award has been a big boost to our confidence.

DH We want to build something that we can be proud of and that will benefit this area. Cumbria is one of the poorest areas in the country and we want to create employment and wealth for the region.  

SH Diane has notched down the interior design work she does, while I'm doing design with local firms. That pays the bills and keeps us going. We want to invest in product development, which costs. We're not taking anything out of the business at the moment. We put everything back into development, but in the long run we will get the benefit of that.