Why Wrendale Designs Grows on You: A Brand Built on Nature, Craft, and Genuine Values

There is a quiet kind of magic in finding a brand that you did not know you needed until it was already woven into your daily life. A mug on the kitchen shelf, a greeting card pinned to the fridge, a cushion that makes the sofa feel like home, these are the small, joyful touchpoints through which Wrendale Designs has built one of the most loyal followings in British giftware. The UK giftware market is estimated to be worth approximately £9.3 billion as of 2024, and within that vast and competitive landscape, a brand that began on a kitchen table in Lincolnshire has carved out something genuinely remarkable. That brand is Wrendale Designs, and this is the story of how it started, what it stands for, and why so many people, across the UK and beyond, grow quietly fond of it.

Key Takeaways

• Born from a kitchen table in 2012: Hannah Dale began Wrendale Designs in 2012 on a crowded kitchen table in Melton Ross, Lincolnshire. What began as a handful of greeting cards became a global brand, therefore, if you are new to Wrendale, start with the greeting cards to understand the brand's soul before exploring the wider range.

• Turnover of over £15 million in a decade: The creative mind behind Wrendale Designs built the business from a farmhouse kitchen in Lincolnshire to a turnover of more than £15 million in a decade. That kind of growth signals a trusted brand worth paying attention to as a gift-giver or collector.

• Selling in 44 countries worldwide: Hannah's business decisions and perseverance took Wrendale from strength to strength, and created exponential growth in international markets that now sees the company selling to 44 countries across the globe.

• Certified B Corporation: At Wrendale Designs, the mission statement has always been to use the business as a force for good. Their mission is to create sustainable and ethically produced giftware that brings joy to people's lives while also making a positive impact on the world. This means buying Wrendale is a purchase with purpose behind it.

• Over 200 designs in the flagship collection: 'The Country Set' card collection now includes over 200 different designs, with an array of wildlife to choose from. Use this as a benchmark, if the recipient loves a particular animal, there is almost certainly a Wrendale design for it.

How It All Began: A Kitchen Table in Lincolnshire

The Unlikely Founder

Having a pretty eclectic background, studying art at school before reading Zoology at Cambridge University followed by five years as a stockbroker in London, Hannah found herself married to a Lincolnshire farmer with a young baby and a desperation to find an outlet for her artistic roots. That combination of scientific rigour and artistic sensitivity is the key to understanding what makes Hannah Dale's illustrations so distinctive. Her zoological training gave her an eye for authentic animal behaviour; her artistic instincts gave her the ability to capture personality in a brushstroke.

Hannah believes that if you have a love and affinity for what you are painting, a little bit of magic happens as the characters appear on the paper and a little bit of that joy comes out in the artwork. She has always been obsessed with wildlife and nature, with her favourite 'day out' as a child involving nature trails and hunting for treasures like owl pellets and snail shells. That childhood obsession never left her, and it flows visibly through every illustration she produces.

From Hares to a Global Brand

Inspired by the glorious Lincolnshire countryside, Hannah started to paint hares, loving their expressive faces and wonderful personalities. After printing these designs as greeting cards based on her own watercolour artwork on a beautifully textured board, she began sharing these with local gift shops and they were an immediate success.

In my experience, the brands that resonate most are those where the founder's love for the subject is plainly visible. With Wrendale, there is never any doubt. Hannah Dale is renowned for her expressive watercolour illustrations of British wildlife. With a degree in zoology and a deep-rooted love of nature, Hannah combines scientific insight with artistic sensitivity to create her much-loved animal characters.

Pro Tip: If you want to understand the Wrendale aesthetic quickly, look for Hannah's hares. The hare designs that started the brand remain some of the most beloved illustrations and are available across mugs, cards, prints, and cushions.

The Product Range: Something for Every Corner of Your Home

Greeting Cards and Stationery

Wrendale Designs are an award-winning publisher of greeting cards, stationery and giftware featuring the characterful watercolour artwork of artist Hannah Dale. The greeting card range, particularly 'The Country Set', remains the heartbeat of the brand. Wrendale Designs cards feature Hannah Dale's delightful watercolour illustrations of British wildlife and countryside scenes, perfectly suited for birthdays, thank yous, or any occasion, bringing a touch of nature's charm and versatility to all your heartfelt messages.

The stationery range extends this same sensibility into everyday life, with nature diaries, organisers, address books, and notebooks. If you find yourself reaching for a beautiful notebook to plan your week, the Wrendale stationery collection is worth exploring at Wrendale's stationery section.

Homeware, Mugs, and Tableware

The collection began with just six mugs and has grown to include a range of tableware, kitchenware, socks, plush animals, pet accessories, Christmas gifts and more. That journey from six mugs to a complete home collection is one of the most compelling growth stories in British design retail.

Each design begins as a hand-painted illustration, giving the range its signature warmth and authenticity. From fine bone china mugs and kitchen textiles to stationery and giftware, Wrendale products combine artistic quality with everyday practicality. This means that a Wrendale mug is a practical daily object that also happens to be beautiful, rather than a decorative piece that sits unused on a shelf.

Tinware, Soft Furnishings, and Fashion

The collection has grown over the years, ranging from stationery to homeware, fashion accessories to storage tins, clothing to ceramicware from British brand Portmeirion. Collectors particularly love the tinware range. Collectors of the range will love the country kitchen tinware collection, including cake tins, storage canisters and a very handy recipe tin, as well as cushions, fabrics and soft furnishings with everything one might need to create a wonderful Wrendale home.

The fashion and accessories range has also expanded steadily, encompassing bamboo socks, scarves, bags, and clothing, all carrying Hannah's wildlife illustrations and all made with the brand's characteristic attention to quality and detail.

What Wrendale Stands For: Values Beyond the Products

Nature as the Core Mission

Nature has always been at the heart of Wrendale. The wildlife and landscapes around the brand continue to inspire every illustration, each one capturing a small moment from the natural world.

This is more than a brand positioning statement. In 2019, Hannah and her husband Jack took the extraordinary step of ceasing commercial food production on their 300-acre farm to dedicate it entirely to wildlife. 'Wild Wrendale' is a rewilding project set up by Hannah and Jack Dale, pushing boundaries to bring back lost species and habitats on their farm in rural Lincolnshire. 'Wild Wrendale' acts as a source of inspiration for future artwork, and Hannah and Jack have already seen huge increases in biodiversity on the farm in the short space of time since the project started.

The results have been remarkable. 24 species of butterfly have been recorded on the farm, a significant increase on the 14 species present prior to rewilding. This kind of commitment to genuine environmental action, converting a working arable farm into a wildlife sanctuary, is rare among consumer brands of any size.

Pro Tip: Follow the Wild Wrendale rewilding project on Instagram at @wild_wrendale to see the farm's transformation in real time. It is, frankly, one of the most inspiring accounts in the British countryside space.

The Wrendale Family

As the business has grown, it has become a family affair and Hannah's husband Jack now runs the business with a wonderful team in place at their offices in Brigg, ensuring everything runs smoothly; they call it the Wrendale family.

I've found that brands with a genuine family culture tend to produce products with more soul. There is a coherent thread that runs from Hannah's original hare paintings through to the packaging, the customer service, and the community the brand has built. In 2022, Wrendale adopted a four-day working week with no pay cut, significantly improving team well-being and health. This kind of internal commitment to people is rare, and it is reflected in the brand's impressively high customer satisfaction.

Awards and International Recognition

From The Henries to Buckingham Palace

The company has won many prestigious awards in recognition of their successes. In 2021, Hannah was awarded a NatWest Everywoman Award, given to the most inspirational woman running a business trading from 6 to 9 years.

Wrendale have also received five Henries awards, the Oscars of the greeting card industry, for their wonderful greeting cards, and the 'Country Set' card collection continues to be a best-seller worldwide.

Perhaps the most significant milestone came in the form of royal recognition. Wrendale Designs received the King's Award for International Trade in 2025, following a previous award in 2019. The awards were momentous occasions for founder Hannah Dale and served as recognition of the hard work that went into growing her business from a small range of greeting cards in 2012 to fully developed licensing agreements with industry giants like Portmeirion and Bothy Threads.

Pro Tip: When evaluating whether a brand is a trustworthy long-term purchase, look for sustained award recognition over time rather than a single accolade. Wrendale has won major awards across greeting cards, giftware, stationery, and international trade, over more than a decade.

The Portmeirion Partnership

One of the most significant moments in the brand's evolution was its collaboration with Royal Worcester, part of the Portmeirion Group. The collaboration between Royal Worcester and Wrendale Designs started as just a small collection of fine bone china mugs. Now, Hannah's watercolour designs of captivating British wildlife and zoological animals are expressed beautifully across a wide range of home and giftware. Collaborating since 2013, the Wrendale Designs range through Royal Worcester is now a global best-selling home and gift collection full of personality and charm.

Why Wrendale Resonates: The Emotional Appeal of the Brand

Art That Connects

Each illustration is painted by artist Hannah Dale using soft watercolour brushwork, delicate colours and expressive paint spatters, making Wrendale Designs instantly recognisable and highly collectable. The recognisability factor is central to the brand's loyalty loop. Once you know the Wrendale style, you spot it instantly, and that familiarity breeds affection.

Created from original watercolour artwork, Wrendale Designs captures the character and personality of British wildlife through delicate detail and soft, natural tones. The result is a collection that feels both timeless and uplifting, bringing a gentle touch of the outdoors into your home.

A Community, Not Just a Customer Base

Wrendale hope their customers who form part of the wider Wrendale community will love the brand not only for the products, which are high quality, sustainably sourced, rich in unique detail and always deliver a smile, but also for the whole 'Wrendale experience'. That experience encompasses everything from how the packaging feels when you open a parcel, to the genuine warmth of the brand's communications and customer service.

Where can I buy Wrendale Designs products?

Wrendale products are available directly through wrendaledesigns.co.uk and through an international network of independent gift shops, garden centres, and homeware retailers. Wrendale's growth in international markets now sees the company selling to 44 countries across the globe. European shoppers looking to discover the range can also explore stockists such as Holland Kertészet, which stocks nature-inspired homeware and gift products.

The Bottom Line

Wrendale Designs is the kind of brand that earns affection gradually and then holds it firmly. It began with a single artist painting hares at a kitchen table, grew through honest craftsmanship and genuine love of the natural world, and became a business that sells to 44 countries, employs a devoted team in Lincolnshire, and uses its success to restore lost wildlife habitats. The UK giftware market is full of choices, but few brands manage to be both beautiful and principled, both collectable and conscientious.

If you are choosing a gift for someone who loves nature, or simply looking to add a little more warmth and personality to your own home, the Wrendale collection deserves your attention.

Sources

1. About Us, Wrendale Designs, Official brand history and product overview. https://www.wrendaledesigns.co.uk/about-us

2. Behind the Design: The Story of Wrendale Designs, Portmeirion Group. History of the Royal Worcester collaboration. https://www.portmeirion.co.uk/stories/post/behind-the-design-the-story-of-wrendale-designs

3. We're B Corp and We're Buzzing About It, Wrendale Designs. Full B Corp certification details. https://www.wrendaledesigns.co.uk/b-corp

4. Wrendale Designs, Certified B Corporation, B Lab Global. Independent B Impact assessment scores. Based on the B Impact assessment

5. A Royal Reward for Your Organisation, Lincolnshire County Council. King's Award for International Trade coverage. https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/article/2728/a-royal-reward-for-your-organisation

6. Wrendale's Hannah Dale Is the Business, PG Buzz. Turnover figures and brand growth. https://www.pgbuzz.net/wrendales-hannah-dale-is-the-business/

7. Where Does My Inspiration Come From, Wrendale Designs Blog. Hannah Dale on her creative process. https://blog.wrendaledesigns.co.uk/where-does-my-inspiration-come-from

8. The Story Behind Wrendale Designs, Maybugs. Retailer perspective on the brand's origins. The Story Behind Wrendale Designs

9. Hannah Dale, Maywood Studio, Designer profile and international partnerships. Hannah Dale, Maywood Studio

10. The Dynamic and Expansive Landscape of the UK Giftware Market, Giftware Association. UK giftware market size and trends. https://www.giftwareassociation.org/news-and-articles/the-dynamic-and-expansive-landscape-of-the-uk-giftware-market

11. Personalized Gifts Market in the UK to Grow by USD 1.13 Billion, Technavio via PR Newswire. UK personalised gifts market growth forecast. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/personalized-gifts-market-in-the-uk-to-grow-by-usd-1-13-billion-2024-2028-driven-by-gift-giving-culture-report-highlights-ai-impact-on-market-trends---technavio-302356405.html

12. Our Commitment to Sustainability, Wrendale Designs. Full sustainability policy and environmental commitments. https://www.wrendaledesigns.com/sustainability