A successful Anglesey clothing brand with the Welsh language at its core has experienced continued growth and success despite the global pandemic.
Dillad Arfordir, co-founded three years ago by students Sion Emlyn Davies and Sion Owen as a Welsh BAC project at Ysgol David Hughes, is now a fully fledged business that has achieved record levels of orders in 2020 despite the effects the Covid crisis has had on businesses.
With an office in the Santander Universities Incubation Space at Menai Science Park, and having received significant support from Bangor University, their business is going from strength to strength and the young businessmen are encouraging other young people who have business ideas to “go for it”.
Co-founder of Dillad Arfordir Sion Emlyn Davies said: “We want to be known as the Welsh brand from Ynys Môn. Sion and I put £40 each into this business three years ago when it was just a school project to order some cheap t-shirts, so to think we’ve gone from that to have over 600 orders in the last year, it is just surreal, really.
“We’re different to everybody else and the fact that it says ‘Arfordir – Ynys Môn’ and not ‘Coastline – Anglesey’ on the clothing is what sets us apart and the Welsh language is very important to us as a company and to our customers.
"Bangor University, M-SParc, and so many others have given us so much support which we’re really grateful for.
“My advice to anybody looking to start a business is to just go for it – you never know where you could end up.
“Three years ago, this was a side project, but now it’s a fully-fledged business paying both of us a good wage, so just go for it, and you might look back and think it was the best thing you ever did.”
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Lowri Owen, Enterprise Projects Manager at Bangor University, added: “Sion and Sion from Dillad Arfordir have grown significantly in confidence since they’ve had access to the Santander Universities Incubation Space at M-SParc.
"Having use of the space gives them a professional base for their business, as well as professional guidance and the opportunity to network at M-SParc.
“Bangor University offers this room at M-SParc to student and graduate applicants who want to launch or develop their business and help them grow.
“Many of the businesses are technology-based, but businesses in a variety of sectors use this space, and access to a wide-range of support too.”
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Pryderi ap Rhisiart, managing director of Menai Science Park, said: “It is fantastic to see young businesses like Arfordir thriving at M-SParc, taking full advantage of the wide range of support available to them through ourselves and Bangor University, and growing their business despite the challenges of the pandemic.
“They are gaining skills and experiences that will be useful for them as they develop the business or as they develop new ventures in the future.”