Former teacher and local mum of two Anna Higham is the ‘mumtrepreneur’ behind As fresh As a Daisy pram cleaning, restoration and refurbishment. Anna started her venture around six months ago after leaving the education sector and was ready for a new challenge. Scrolling along on social media (as most of us do) she saw a pram for sale at just £10.
"I was browsing one day on an online marketplace, saw a pram for sale and thought 'I can do something with that’. Looking at the pictures I was sure they didn’t tell the full story, but for £10 pounds it was worth a punt. I went ahead and bought the pram. I was right, it needed quite a bit of work doing to it, but I was willing to put the time and effort in, learning some new skills along the way. Upon inspection I could see the handlebars needed recovering with leather, all the plastic needed buffing up and restoring, and the fabric required some stitching and a bit of TLC. I set to work right away and sometime later (quite a lot of time) it looked like new! I was really happy with the work I had done and was able to sell it on for a profit. It was at this point I thought ‘this could be a really good sustainable, environmentally friendly business’ and ‘As fresh As a Daisy' was born".
Anna moved to Chesterfield 13 years ago with her husband Kevin. She worked as a Teacher educating children in the nursery and reception years and loved her time with the children.
"I really enjoyed my time as an early years Teacher. At this age they are still amazed and excited by the simple things in life. I knew I was ready for a fresh challenge and wanted to build something of my own. I do miss the pupils though, well, most of them anyway haha".
Being a mother of two herself she was all too familiar with how worn out, damaged and tatty pushchairs, strollers and child car seats can get overtime.
"Pushchairs, prams and child car seats are so expensive these days, some costing well in excess of a thousand pounds! It makes sense to look after them and have them serviced every now and again and repaired if they break. We have a tendency in society to throw things away if they break and buy a new one. There’s a big push to reduce, reuse or recycle and my little business is doing its bit to help with that".
Anna buys all her supplies from local, independent ventures like herself and is a big fan of our high street.
"I love the fact you can just pop into the town centre and pop out again! I’ve lived in cities before where it’s difficult to do that and venturing in the centre is a big job! My favourite shop has to be Fred’s Haberdashery. They have such a wonderful selection of products and I pretty much get all my supplies from there. It’s important to me to support other local businesses and keep money in our local economy. Starting my business has led me to be more mindful of where I spend my money".
Anna works from home and it’s clear she enjoys what she does. Her services start from just £2.50 and she sells restored, good as new prams from as little as £50.
"For many families buying a new pram simply isn’t affordable. I love being able to offer less well-off families top branded prams such as Silver Cross and Mamas & Papas for as little as £50! If you are thinking of throwing your old pram away, don’t! I can bring it back to life and make a local family who can’t, or don’t want to, spend hundreds of pounds on a pram very happy."
At S40 and S41 we just love Anna’s little environmentally friendly company, and we are sure she will be ‘pushed off her feet’ in no time.
Words: Simon Paterson
Images: Anna Higham