WHILE many took to Zoom quizzes and baking sourdough during lockdown, for Jordan Irving, it was candle-making.
Starting out in his parent’s kitchen at the start of 2021, Jordan has since gone on to set up Conwy Candle Company, which aims to bring nature’s most alluring scents into your home.
Combining his business with his full-time job as a corporate buyer for Audi, Jordan, from Deganwy, now has eight retailers across North Wales, including in Snowdonia, Llandudno and Colwyn Bay.
Jordan said: “I was spending too much money on candles for myself and thought: ‘Hold on: I reckon I could make some myself’.
“I spend a lot of time outdoors in North Wales, walking and cycling, so that’s where some of the nature-inspired scents come from.
“I thought we’d incorporate that, rather than the standard scents you get everywhere. We have candles called ‘Nature Trail’, ‘The Woods’ and ‘The Beach’, which are aimed at the North Wales area, just to bring a bit of nature into the home.”
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Also selling reed diffusers as well as its range of 100 per cent soy wax candles, the business is largely a one-man operation, albeit one of Jordan’s friends has begun to help out as his venture has grown.
From beginning in his parent’s kitchen, the success of the business has enabled him to expand, now operating out of a home workshop he’s created in his garage.
But maintaining the company’s ties with its surroundings, he says, are in many ways, its USP – so much so that he’s found some customers don’t even want to light the candles he sells them.
Jordan added: “It’s basically just me, but one of my friends has also started helping me with the manufacturing, just as it’s got a lot bigger.
“We’ve sold thousands of products, and can often be found at local markets, including Aber Falls farmers market and Llandudno Victorian Extravaganza events.
“People really love that they’re made locally. I try to do as much as I can to keep it local.
“You can buy a fresh linen candle from any company, but those locally-linked fragrances are very popular, both for people who live here, or people buying them as presents for those with ties to Conwy.
“People often tell me that they buy them, but never actually light them, because they like to have them as ornaments in their house!
“Obviously, I’d like people to buy them so that they buy another, but it’s kind of a compliment, too.”
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