Sweet smell of success on the cards for Dawn

A RESIDENTIAL childcare worker from Shaw has developed a business idea she hopes to turn into a cottage industry.

Dawn Torrington has had the business trademark, Knickerbocker Cuddles, registered since 2006 when she first had the idea for ice-cream-scented greetings cards.

Employed by Oldham Council, Dawn (35) works with children with additional and complex needs at a short-term break unit in Glodwick.

She said: “This is where I got the inspiration for my idea, an ice-cream-scented card, and the design is a bear character.

“Some of these children have a visual impairment and they can’t really get any pleasure or enjoyment from a standard card.

“There are some scented cards on the market, but none aimed specifically at children.”

Two years ago, Dawn enrolled on an entrepreneurial course at University Campus Oldham. Part of that project was to develop a business plan.

Using all the materials and research she had put into her greeting cards idea, Dawn was rewarded with a ‘B’ grade.

“I thought that if I could achieve a ‘B’ at degree level for my idea then it must be worth pursuing,” she added.

Dawn has spent the intervening two years finding printers and designers to fine-tune and produce the cards.

A website is now in development and Dawn expects to be up and running by the end of the month.