The Candle Jar Interviews Shearer's Rosey

Shearer Candles is one of our favourite candle brands and one of the best Scottish candle brands you will find. They have been around for years, and from humble beginnings have become a worldwide brand.

These things don't just happen overnight, so we sat down with Rosey Barnet, Creative Director of Shearer Candles to get her story and catch up with everything Shearer Candles.

Q1. For Everyone that’s going to read this, could you give a short introduction to who you are?

Rosey Barnet, Creative Director and Matriarch of Shearer Candles.

Q2. I know Shearer is a family run businesses, founded way back in 1897. How did you first get involved, how has your role change over the years? What does a typical day look like for you?

I married into the company in 1984. My background was in textiles (my fathers business) and ceramics (my own business in Glasgow) I had also been educated and lived in Hamburg, Germany so was used to using candles.

When I first started working in Shearer I needed a project of my own, this resulted in me growing our catering candle business to hotels, restaurants & events etc.

It soon became apparent that our candle offering was not keeping up with the explosion of the home fragrance market.

Using my design and colour experience and basically my own taste for fragrance and interiors, I took on the role of Creative Director and product development. Today I am also involved in the retail side of the business

Q3. What do you think was the most important part of Shearer’s whole business journey so far?

Delivering high but affordable quality candles, keeping up with fast changing trends and having an excellent global supply chain and investing in technology good manufacturing practices and e-commerce.

Q4. So, we have to talk about that Amazon TV Advert. What has the impact been?

The Amazon ad has given us fantastic brand visibility both locally and globally. Our website traffic and sales have benefited along side demand for the product - we even have evidence of the advert benefiting our trade customers.

My daughter Stephanie has worked successfully with Amazon on quite a few PR projects and has a very good relationship with them. We also fitted the criteria of heritage versus SME.

You can find out more about Stephanie and Shearer Candles in another Amazon video here.

Q5. - How do you plan on growing Shearer Candles?

Growing through investment in manufacturing processes, sales team, marketing, IT and continuing to launch new products.

Q6. Do you see the industry changing at all in the next couple of years?

The products will not change in essence but the routes to market are changing already and we will need to react to that.

Q7. There’s a lot of smaller Scottish candle companies out there that would love to have the success you guys have built, do you have any advice for them? Or for anyone looking to get started in the candle industry?

Don't be too ambitious grow slowly and carefully, unless you have huge investment and capital.

Q8. Amber Noir, I think, is your best selling scent, when you first smelled it, was it an “a-ha” moment, did you know you had a winner?

I had the scent in our portfolio for some years under a different name and in white wax. It performed well but the a-ah moment for the candles came when I decided to put it into black wax with the distinctive black & gold packaging and calling it Amber Noir of course.

Q9. What’s the process behind making a new scent? Do you still get nervous when it first “hits the shelves”?

Developing a new scent is a collaboration between PD and the Fragrance Houses. We both work together, sometimes it starts with the scent name or a colour a trend! With over 30 years’ experience, I continue to be confident in my nose!

Q10. Do you have a personal favourite scent?

Currently my fave scent is Kitchen which features in our new Home Collection. Also Frosted Pear & Pomegranate - a new addition to the Couture Christmas Range.

Q12. With Christmas coming up, do you guys go into overdrive making candles? How do you prepare?

The majority of Christmas production is manufactured in the summer but we do tend to take on extra production staff and run more shifts (sometimes 24 hours) in the last 4 months of the year.

Q13. If you had to pick one Shearer product to give as a gift to someone, what would you chose and why?

The Highland Ae Fond Kiss triple wick candle in a Shearer gift bag. It just looks lovely and expresses our Scottish Heritage of 1897.

A massive thank you to Rosey for taking the time to speak with us! We're excited to see what the future holds for this brand and family as they continue to fly the flag for Scottish Candle makers!