Successful jewellery entrepreneur Shaun Bell is aiming to write a further chapter in his business career – with the launch of a luxury pen ecommerce brand.
The founder and director of Hessle’s Joshua James Jewellery has dealt with the likes of Swarovski, Nomination and Thomas Sabo for more than a decade.
Now under the Pen Alliance name, he is uniting Cross, St Dupont and Hugo Boss and others online.
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It comes after a strong lockdown performance through the digital platform for the 12-year-old business, with a 100 per cent uplift in profit for the entity named after his firstborn son.
The past year has also spawned marketing agency SoShell, which is now handling both accounts.
Shaun Bell, of Joshua James Jewellery, has launched Pen Alliance. (Image: Pen Alliance)Mr Bell said: “During the lockdown, we have seen such significant growth for Joshua James, and so I felt it was time to invest in a new opportunity that targets a new type of audience.
“The pen industry has always been highly successful because those who enjoy the beauty of penmanship know what it takes to write with only the finest. And that’s what I wanted to accomplish with The Pen Alliance. A platform that avid writers turn to for the finest.”
It will house some of the industry’s major stationery brands and will be looking at further growth down the line once the Christmas season is fast underway.
Moleskine will take the lead of their stationery collection with a selection of their best-selling notebooks.
SoShell launched this summer, with the aim of giving start-ups and SMEs assistance and guidance.
Marketing professional Ellie Clark has run the campaigns for Joshua James, and is now director of the standalone full-service business.
“2020 was such a hard-hitting year,” she said, “With that in mind, we have created Soshell to give back to our community and nation with affordable marketing tailored entirely to each business. With our extensive backgrounds in several industries, specifically retail and hospitality, we are confident that we can advocate online success for SMBs.”
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