The husband and wife team who count Paul Smith and Floral Street among their clients and relax to techno music are set to book a significant revenue hike this year.

Here, one half of the duo takes time out for a Herald Business HQ Q&A.

Name: Duncan Maclean (co-founded with wife Cheryl)

Business name:  Candle Shack 

Location: Our HQ is in Falkirk. We’re now onto our ninth factory in 10 years — starting from humble beginnings in a single room and steadily expanding. Two years ago, we launched our fulfilment centre in Echt, Netherlands.

Business Description: We fuel the art of craft. We’ve evolved from a contract manufacturer to a one-stop shop for aspiring candle entrepreneurs, supporting them with education, technology, and materials.

To whom do you sell?  We primarily cater to design-led, sustainable, and purpose-driven enterprises, particularly in the artisan craft segment of home fragrance.

Our clientele includes recognised brands like Paul Smith, Floral Street and Overose.

How many employees?  86 — with 10 based in Holland and the remainder working at our Falkirk HQ. 

Turnover?  After a decline post-lockdown, we rebounded to £11.9M last year and anticipate growth to £15.3M this year, driven largely by our success in Europe.

Why did you take the plunge? As part of my MBA, I developed a business plan which ultimately became Candle Shack.

Cheryl and I were sitting in the M4 services having a coffee when we decided to give up our jobs (Cheryl was working as a beauty therapist) and go all-in.

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We were living near Reading, but given we hadn’t lived in Scotland for 20 years and our kids barely knew their grandparents, it was time to go home. 

 

Giving up low-cost accommodation, free boarding schools, and everything else the army provides was a risk – so I’m glad it’s worked out. I had the comfort of being in full-time employment while I was planning the business and spent every weekend researching at craft fairs. 

What were you doing before?  I served in the army for more than 20 years, as a soldier and then an officer, primarily focusing on engineering and technology.

I grew up in a scheme in Dundee and I was starting to get into trouble. My dad — who had served in the army himself — took me down to the careers office and encouraged me to join to get some direction and get away from a bad crowd. 

Since joining as an apprentice at 16, I enjoyed an incredibly varied career mostly spent in engineering and technology where I had the chance to learn so much. I spent six years in education during my time in the army; I went to Sandhurst, did a masters in battlespace technology, and completed an MBA.

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Through all that was invested in me in terms of education, I began to intellectually question everything (which is a big part of Candle Shack’s DNA). I did a few operational tours to places like Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and Iraq, but I was mostly stationed in the UK and Germany. 

What do you least enjoy?  Anything that takes me away from creating and developing ideas. Personally, I struggle to find balance between entrepreneurial spirit and execution. My strength is finding innovative solutions to problems, but firing 20 ideas a week at people isn’t necessarily conducive with day-to-day ops and mechanically delivering the promise to the customer. I’m always looking for what’s next, but a business of 86 people needs stability. 

What are your ambitions for the firm?  Our focus lies in doubling our existing count core customers – serious crafters or business entities – within the next three years. By 2030, we believe Candle Shack will achieve more than £50m in revenue, predominantly from European operations. We are focused on growing our core customers – serious crafters who are running a business.

Germany has shown us what’s possible in Europe. We’re a mature company going into an emerging market and we will roll out a bespoke strategy country-by-country – we’ve quickly learned that Europe isn’t a single country.

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Candles are where gin and beer were a decade ago. We’re betting on more and more people choosing to buy local, more often — if people make that decision en masse our customers win and we win.

What single thing would most help? Trading standards stepping up their game. Battling with unethical competition remains a significant challenge. Competitors frequently steal our resources and infringe upon intellectual property. 

Maybe we’re mugs, but we always try to do the right thing. We would never market a ‘dupe’ of a well-known brand; it’s like the Wild West. 

We invest time and money into original content, artwork, illustrations and professional photography, but with unscrupulous competitors it’s a free for all. 

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned?  Focus on the benefit to the end user above all else. If you are in the home fragrance market, everything else is secondary to making a product that looks great, smells great, and has a good story. 

What was your best moment? Seeing employees who started with us in entry-level roles, developing and progressing. Our team leaders are mostly youngsters who have shown promise and been promoted.  

What was your worst moment?  When lockdown ended, the market normalised, which led to a huge drop in revenues. It was impossible to forecast anything and we were close to running out of cash – we had millions of pounds in stock and too big a team. 

How do you relax?  I produce music, DJ, and go to music festivals. Cheryl and I both like techno and trance, which some people would not find relaxing, but we find it to be a great escape.