The Dutch Dolls House Co
Grace McGuigan & Andy Ritchie
Recognised Spark Business
In 2022, Grace, a Fashion Technology final year student at the University of Leeds, had the opportunity to spend a year in The Netherlands, on an Industrial Placement Year. Whilst living in Leiden, an old Dutch city, with many townhouses looking out onto canals, Grace spent a lot of time exploring and appreciating the architecture - often spending time at the weekend sketching tall, narrow houses with symmetrical windows and distinctive roof shapes. Andy, a University of Leeds Civil Engineering graduate, would often visit Grace, and share her fondness for the distinctive and charming architecture.
During one of Andy’s visits, whilst browsing the highstreet, they noticed that dolls houses for children’s play, all looked similar, and were based on a very typical English cottage design, even though they were in The Netherlands. Surprised at this, and seeing a gap in the market, the concept of The Dutch Dolls House Co. was born. Grace and Andy want to create a simplistic Dutch style dolls house, typical of the building Grace lived in in Leiden.
“Since returning to Leeds, we have been fortunate to have received the Proof of Concept Spark Funding. This has provided us with a base fund to build a prototype, which we can test, to ensure our product meets child safety standards”
Grace McGuigan & Andy Ritchie
Founders
The Dutch Dolls House Co
With various experience in other creative outlets, Grace and Andy have a good grasp of the process of constructing a product, and ensuring a high quality is met. Now back in the UK, Grace and Andy have been able to use a studio space, based in Leeds to begin working on a prototype.
Ensuring the product meets child safety standards is one of the most important parts of Grace and Andy’s project. This will enable the product to be sold in both UK and EU markets. To develop a marketable product, Andy and Grace will use their skills to manufacture the dolls houses themselves - “initially we are looking to produce the dolls houses using Laser Cutters, or CNC routers, that we can rent by the hour at our studio space. Then, we plan to screen print details onto the shaped wood. Using standardised processes will allow us to upscale various aspects of manufacturing as we grow our business.”
The simple dolls house design will be flat-packed and easy to construct. Grace and Andy plan to manufacture the dolls houses at their studio whilst their business grows. Hopefully, looking to outsource manufacturing in the future.
