Corby entrepreneur already planning for next Christmas after record-breaking sales

Corby-born Louis Porter is the co-founder of The Handmade Christmas Co. alongside Tom Coleman.

The firm, which makes and sells personalised Christmas gift sacks, enjoyed its busiest year to date, with a record number of online orders as well as a lucrative partnership with retail giant John Lewis.

Louis, 20, who is a former Brooke Weston pupil, said: “Our toy sacks proved to be massively popular in the run-up to Christmas with sales through the website soaring.

“But with a physical presence in John Lewis stores, as well as pop-up shops in their flagship Oxford Street and Sloane Square stores, our sales exceeded all our expectations.”

But there is no rest for the enterprising pair.

Louis and 27-year-old Tom have already visited trade shows in Europe and are busy planning their 2017 Christmas collection.

The Handmade Christmas Co. was founded in 2014 using a £3,000 credit card loan and a dream of selling 500 sacks.

They smashed their original target within weeks and sold more than 42,000 sacks in their first year alone.

This year, the rich festive red of the Rowland sack proved to be most popular among buyers, with the magical ‘North Pole’ inspired Grenville sack a close second.

To find out more, go to www.handmadechristmasco.co.uk.