Part of a Community

Selling across the UK

From Marsden to all corners of the UK

1. What did you do before Hord?

We both graduated with creative degrees. Gemma graduated in Fashion Design at London University of the Arts and Jason graduated in Music Technology at Huddersfield. From graduation, Gemma dived headlong into running her own business – what started out as a broad spectrum of creative disciplines, swiftly focused on leatherwork and Hord was born. Jason joined in 2015 after managing the Grove in Huddersfield.

2. How long had you wanted to open your own place?

Every day, we would walk from our home studio to the Post Office in the centre of Marsden and conversation would often lead to “What kind of workspace would you love to have if we could work anywhere?” – we didn’t want to commute, and we both decided that if we were paying for a workshop, it would be really cool also to have a retail space that sat alongside it. The more we discussed this, the more the desire set in. I’d say it was probably about 2 years of being serious about it and trying to keep an eye on rental spaces in Marsden.

3. Why did you want to be in Marsden?

We live in Marsden and absolutely love the village and we want it to be celebrated and visited. After 10 years of working from home, we didn’t want a massive commute – so being able to get a space in the centre was first on the list.

4. How did you find out about SB Homes/the building?

We spotted on the Marsden Facebook group rumours about what SB Homes were going to do with the Swan building. We had very little luck with finding a suitable space that was in the village that hadn’t been snatched up before being advertised – so we reached out right away!

5. How was it working with SB Homes?

It was really easy working with SB Homes, from our first meeting to getting the keys, it was simple and seamless.

6. How is it going?

It’s really been a great benefit to us having a shop and studio space in Marsden – our local business has increased greatly and people have visited us from all over the world already. We have been selling online for over 10 years, so we knew this was a solid next step for us as a brand.

7. What are your plans for the future?

With so many changes to the economy and post pandemic, we are just allowing ourselves to take things steady – with no major projects on the horizon. When opening the space, we always wanted to venture into providing some small workshops for people to make their own leather-goods and learn some skills from us, as it was once a dying trade. This is likely the next venture we will embark on!