A woman who has spent ‘too many’ years working in an office, has opened a shop on Forres High Street in order to ‘reinvent herself’.
And in doing so, brings a touch of local, UK and international chic to her new venture.
Bianca Judd has recently opened a home decor, art and craft store at 95 High Street with a range of quirky, colourful and hand-made items to brighten up your home.
Forres is a ‘lovely town’
Bianca met and married husband John abroad, but when the decision to move back to the UK was made, they chose Forres.
“John’s mum was a Forres girl, his dad was in the RAF. I had been living and working in Spain for 20 years. I worked in retail for a lot of years in my earlier days, and then went into office work as a PA.
“Forres is just a lovely town with a lovely high street. I wanted to reinvent myself, almost. I didn’t want to work in an office anymore.”
She explained how she came up with the name: “My nephews’ first two names are Ulysses and Roman, and we call them Uly and Ro for short. I toyed with my grandmother’s names, but it just didn’t quite work. And I wanted something from the family with a personal touch. So I sent them both a WhatsApp, because you don’t call young people, do you?
“I asked them how they felt about me naming my shop after them? And they’re just like, oh, that would be really cool. “
Hand-made products
Bianca explained how she chose her stock: “I thought I’d go down the Scandi route to begin with. And then as I started doing research, I was inspired by local artists and UK-based hand-made products, trying to be as sustainable as I can. I have got some bits and pieces that are made in Morocco. I’ve got a few bits that are made in India, but about 70 to 80 percent of my stock is made in the UK.”
“I just got in touch with different artists, I’ve got Jenny Douglas, she’s an Edinburgh-based print artist. Bea Müller is based in London, she also does prints.
“The ocean plastic pots are made by a commercial diver who was upset by all the waste that he saw. He and his team traipsed the beaches of Inverness and around the islands, so each color determines the area. The blue is rope from Dunbar Port, the pink are from fishing boxes.
“Dook Soap handmade in Edinburgh with all natural ingredients, and four different fragrances.”
Local artists
She explained that she has already been contacted by more local artists: “I’ve had one young woman contact me. She’s a Forres girl originally who went to Glasgow to study at the Glasgow School of Art. She was there for 10 years and now she’s back and she’s a jewellery designer. So I’m probably going to put a couple of bits in.”
Uly + Ro is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 5pm.
