Mother and daughter duo open new stationery shop in Pangbourne

A young entrepreneur has opened her first pop-up shop after growing her stationery brand during lockdown.

Fresh from her GCSEs, 15-year-old Eva Younger co-founded The Ink Pot with her mother during the pandemic.

After a successful introduction online, the pair have now opened their first pop-up store on Pangbourne’s vibrant high street.

From personalised journals and notebooks to washi tape, the store promises something for all stationery aficionados.

The mother and daugther due have run a few pop-ups before, including one in John Lewis 18 months ago.

But this latest is their biggest venture yet.

Eva’s mother and litigation lawyer Kirsten Younger spoke about how the brand started.

“Eva wanted to buy a book which had really thick paper and the only place she could get it was in the States, and it was really expensive,” she said.

“So she said to me, we should do this.”

And they did, despite neither having any retail experience.

“In lockdown, everybody was on their computers, so it was quite easy to build a business online,” she added.

“We do find when people see the books in real life they really like them because they are good quality.”

And how did Eva juggle running a store alongside her studies?

“It’s been good, because the fact I’ve been so busy means I’ve been able to prioritise things better I found, and it was nice to have a seperate activity away from revision”, she said.

Eva, who studied art at GCSE, penned the name and logo of the brand herself.

She is also the creator behind many of the custom-made notebooks on sale, the others being created by a neighbour who illustrates children’s books.

“We’re going to try and do something new each week to keep it interesting,” Eva added.

You can find The Ink Pot opposite Nino’s Deli at 15 Reading Road, Pangbourne, RG8 7LR.

Store opening times are Tuesday to Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Please visit www.theinkpot.biz to find out more.