It’s All About Shoes as Gaynor aims to change the way we buy shoes one step at a time

A Salford entrepreneur plans to change the way we buy shoes forever with the help of GC Business Growth Hub’s Innovation Voucher Scheme.

Gaynor Thomasson founded It’s All About Shoes in 2017 with a vision to create fashionable, comfortable and sustainable footwear, after she was inspired during a search for wedding shoes for her goddaughter.

After being taught how to make shoes in a small cobbler’s shop in Florence in 2008, she came up with her own innovative modular designed shoe, built around a sliding mechanism that can be implemented into the sole of any shoe with straps that can be manoeuvred to provide perfect comfort.

The motivation for It’s All About Shoes was to reduce the amount of waste produced by the footwear industry, with 140 million shoes going into landfill every week. With a modular design the straps can be removed and shoes can more easily be reused and recycled, reducing waste.

Once she had set up her business, Gaynor reached out to GC Business Growth Hub, part of The Growth Company and part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund. She attended a marketing masterclass and met Innovation Advisor Karen Dudley, who introduced her to the range of services available through the Hub.

The Hub’s Innovation Voucher Scheme has enabled Gaynor to work with design staff at Manchester Metropolitan University’s PrintCity on product development and 3D prototypes while reclaiming half of the project costs.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do this without Karen from the Hub, and I can’t say that strongly enough,” said Gaynor. “When I met her, I didn’t know what my next steps could be but she’s very proactive and really got me going again. She found a plastics specialist for me and she’s put me on various courses from the Hub and the NatWest Accelerator Programme, which has been amazing.

“She also introduced me to MMU PrintCity which has been a huge help. Their expertise around product development and 3D prototyping has meant that we’ve been able to produce prototypes to pitch the idea to investors. Being able to quickly make informed changes to our designs based on the feedback from these prototypes has made a big difference for us.”

Karen Dudley, business innovation specialist at the Hub, said: “Gaynor is a fabulous example of strong women in leadership. She is a role model for those who are looking to start their own business. Having built It’s All About Shoes from the ground up, she has surrounded herself with an experienced team which has enabled her to innovate within her sector. Additionally, her sustainable approach to footwear design is a refreshing alternative within an industry which is renowned for pollution.”

It’s All About Shoes is moving forward with new projects funded by the savings made thanks to the Innovation Vouchers Scheme, while Gaynor is hoping to move production closer to home: “Something I’m really hoping for in the future is to be able to make our shoes in Manchester and Salford. Both my parents were engineers that were qualified in Manchester and we’re so proud to be based here, so I would love to do it here instead of going abroad for everything. It’s such a diverse project and we’ve got big plans so it would be great for it to be known as having come from Manchester.”

You can find out more about GC Business Growth Hub’s Innovation services at businessgrowthhub.com/innovation.

This and other GC Business Growth Hub services are part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of a project designed to help ambitious SME businesses achieve growth and increase employment in Greater Manchester.

The Hub is also supported by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Greater Manchester local authorities.