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Accountancy advice leads to lingerie success

An Internet lingerie business set up by a Coventry couple is now exporting to almost every country in the world - and has begun manufacturing its own range of suspender belts.

Nylon Dreams Ltd was launched six years ago by Steve and Linda Lapworth and has grown so much that some of the biggest names in lingerie have beaten a track to its door.

“Our order book has doubled in the last six months,” said Mr Lapworth. “We experienced a terrific boom at Christmas and then, instead of business tailing off, the orders just continued to grow month on month.”

The Lapworths launched the site www.nylondreams.co.uk in Christmas 2000, after seeking advice from Prime Pilleys in Coventry. “They have been with us since the start and have seen us through every step of the way,” said Mr Lapworth.

“We really wanted to start our own Internet business and see it grow. Linda, who gave the company its name, was always interested in selling lingerie, so it seemed the ideal opportunity to pursue our dreams,” he said.

He built the web site himself and it was three months before the first order arrived. “I was getting concerned but my accountant Laurence Moore, who is chairman of what is now the Prime Chartered Accountants Group, said we needed to be patient.

“Then the orders started to trickle through and now we process up to 500 hundred orders a month.”

Gradually, the business began to grow as enquiries came in from around the world and the couple spent their evenings and weekends packing and posting the orders.

Then the major break happened. Business adviser Mr Moore said: “The big turning point came in September last year when the company supplying their suspender belts ceased trading. We contacted the directors and agreed to buy the patterns and the machines, which were then shipped to their factory where we set up a new manufacturing line.

“So, suddenly, they found themselves in the wholesale business and began supplying their own Nylon Dreams branded vintage style deep lace suspender belts to shops and boutiques in virtually every country in the world. They also sell their own brand of fully-fashioned nylon stockings, made on the original machines from the 1940’s and 50’s, for which the United States is their largest market.”

Mr Lapworth said the secrets of their success were good business planning and knowing what the customer wants. “We listen to their requirements and then we meet them, or, in many cases, exceed them. We react to the marketplace and deliver.”

The company is now so successful that international brands such as Panache Lingerie, Pretty Polly, Aristoc Hosiery and Cette (Belgian) sell their lines through the sites which have now grown to four.

“We were very lucky to have found Prime Pilleys,” said Mr Lapworth. “The firm has built up a considerable expertise in e-commerce and Internet based businesses and their advice has been invaluable to us.”

Any web based business looking for advice should contact Laurence Moore on 024 7622 0208.

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T: 024 7622 0208 E: coventry@primeaccountants.co.uk

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