Teddington Nub News prides itself on supporting, celebrating and promoting local businesses, especially during these challenging economic times.

The pandemic has helped inspire a more creative spirit and many new businesses have grown successfully on our doorstep.

James and Lianne Carvell are the enterprising husband and wife duo behind MONKEY SOX, the Teddington-based company that has launched a craze by designing and selling brightly-coloured odd socks.

Today, Nub News gets UP CLOSE with the couple as they share their fascinating and poignant story.

NUB NEWS: So, you've set up your business at the Boathouse Design Studio in Teddington, how did this come about and do you have a long term connection to Teddington?

James: "We stumbled upon the Boathouse Design Studio whilst planning our move to Teddington 5 years ago. We instantly loved it as the people are so friendly and the setting couldn't be better. When a desk came up facing the Thames too we snapped it up!

"There are many small business owners working at the studio and as a community they couldn't have been more supportive of Monkey Sox. So many Boathousers have played a role in the set up - from buying socks, setting up the website and suggesting stockists.

"Discovering Teddington really was a turning point for us both, and we don't plan on leaving!"

Odd socks is perhaps a surprising business route to choose, what was the background and inspiration for this?

Lianne: "James was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in 2016 and we wanted a way to raise money for MS charities and put forward a different way of talking about MS.

"So our odd socks story was born: Monkey Sox are designed to be odd but co-ordinated, representing how the body acts and feels different left to right living with MS.

"Many people experience an imbalance in their symptoms; for James his right side is more affected than his left.

"Odd socks are not to everyone's taste! But within our range we hope to offer something for all - some are wildly odd, some very subtle and you can always buy two pairs and match them up! "

How do you manage your working life together given James is a doctor? Do you design the socks together? How does the division of labour work?

Lianne: "This is a challenge we face as a husband and wife small business, and we have a young family (two boys: one toddler, one newborn!)

"James is a GP by day and we are a business team by night! We brainstorm and test a lot of the socks together.

"I am a designer so I communicate the most with our factory and James loves to call stockists and instigate partnerships.

"We've been so fortunate with offers of help, often from Teddington locals and word of mouth. Photography, videos, website builds, packing orders - we have many people to thank. We definitely couldn't have launched the brand without these talented and generous hands."

Can you tell us a bit about your suppliers and manufacturing partners?

James: "Monkey Sox are made in a fantastic factory in Braga, in northern Portugal. Lianne had worked with them for many years with other fashion brands and so the relationship goes way back.

"They have been supportive from the outset, helping us to develop, test and tweak new styles, experiment with innovative yarns, and support with manufacturing minimums. It's a very personable relationship, we pick up the phone to talk and don't sit behind emails!"

There is a very strong charity angle to the Monkey Sox business because of James's illness - what are your objectives here and can you explain the background to this?

Lianne: "We always knew we wanted to create a business with a philanthropic angle. So we choose to donate 50% of profits equally to 3 MS charities: the MS Society, MS Trust and MS-UK.

"Together they are making incredible contributions and advancement in MS research, nursing care and lifestyle support. We have donated £17k to date in our 3 years, and we have our hearts set on much more."

How many pairs of your own socks do you each own? Everyone has a favourite pair, which ones are yours?

James: "We each have a Monkey Sox drawer and naturally only wear Monkey Sox!

"To be honest we wear mostly samples, as we do a lot of the testing ourselves. Wearing and washing new styles on repeat to test their performance.

"Favourites is always a tough question! But any pink & turquoise combination is always up there, and Lianne favours the cushioned Ultra X1s for running, and James the Classic X5s for cycling."

Teddington has a great reputation as a very supportive community. Have you seen evidence of that community spirit?

Lianne: "Absolutely! Without doubt we would not have grown Monkey Sox to the place it is on 3 years without living here. Our Teddington hug!

"As mentioned we've had so much support from the Boathouse Design Studio, also from Shelley at Heirloom and the team at Sigma Sports as our first stockists.

"Other locals have created fantastic photos and videos for us, helped with rebranding, set up our website, modelled for us, helped us with packing and numerous post office trips. The list goes on!

"The power of word of mouth is huge and we genuinely love nothing more than spotting Monkey Sox at Bushy ParkRun, on cyclists, or being stopped as people recognise us as the sock family!"

Is it only possible to buy your socks online or do you have any retail partnerships? Do you have any plans to open a shop?

James: "The full collection is online but we are proud and grateful to various retail partners too.

"In the Teddington area you can find Monkey Sox at Heirloom, Sigma Sports, Road Cycle Exchange and Richmond Cycles.

"We always love to talk to stores and again it's all been word of mouth, so if anyone reading this has an idea for a stockist please get in touch!

"We think a shop of our own is a way off as we are focusing on online and exhibitions, but never say never!"

Working so close together must sometimes present some challenges, how do you handle that creative tension?

Lianne: "It's true! Generally speaking we're always on the same page, but when it comes to the design and sales there's some healthy competition!

"Certain colourways were dreamt up by James and he always makes it known when they are selling the best!!"

Can you give us some idea of the scale of the business in terms of sales and which are the most popular ones?

James: "Year round our sports range is the most popular, and within that the Ultra X1 style as it's the most all rounder for running, cycling and the gym.

"Pink and turquoise has always been and continues to be our bestselling colour duo, we love launching new variations and some customers have the entire pink range!

"We make 350 pairs at a time, so they are fairly exclusive and in making small batches at a time we can manage stock levels better, then repeat bestsellers."

What inspired the brand name Monkey Sox?

Lianne: "Monkey Sox stands for MS, Multiple Sclerosis. But also we wanted a fun and active character for the face of the brand. We support a big message of staying active to help everyone's health and to manage symptoms of MS."

Has your business been impacted by the pandemic? People have been spending more online and that could have had a positive effect.

James: "We have seen positives and negatives, as many small businesses have.

"Yes we had a lot of support online, and it was fantastic to see people exercising in Monkey Sox to maintain good health during the pandemic.

"At the same time though we suffered with cancelled exhibitions and the closure of our retail partner stores, who cancelled or did not re-order during closures.

"Thankfully our community is strong and we have many plans for this coming year, including the return of exhibitions and events which is our favourite way to meet new customers and share our story.

Where would you like Monkey Sox to be in 10 years time?

Lianne and James: "We would love Monkey Sox to be a household name, people's sock choice for sport, leisure and their children.

"Monkey Sox offered us a new way to talk about MS and we hope it does the same for many other people living with MS, their friends and family.

"We want to donate and make a real difference to the research, treatment and lifestyle options for people with MS. As our video says "we won't stop until we do that!""

Watch the video HERE

Visit their website at monkeysox.org/