Founding Principles with Ailis Topley from Pott Candles

Brands of Tomorrow is Walpole's business mentoring programme for emerging luxury brands. Over the course of a year, we take up to 12 carefully selected, early-stage brands through a twelve-month programme of workshops and professional mentoring that will help develop their business skills and set them on a path to growth. Discover all of our Brands of Tomorrow 2025 here

Walpole: What is your career background – and how did that lead to launching your company?

Ailis Topley: I worked in consulting and also in KFC and Deliveroo in strategy and operations roles. I was in Australia when I first started making candles as a lockdown hobby and gifted them to friends. When they had finished their candles, I offered to make them a new one and they offered to return the vessels to be refilled. It got me thinking, why don’t refillable candles exist? I quit my job, flew back to the UK and decided I would give it six months before I went back to a ’normal job’. And here we are four years later!

Tell us about Pott Candles…

We sell refillable candles, which means that you never have to throw away an empty candle jar ever again. We are at £1m revenue, growing at 77% a year, and we are stocked in John Lewis and Selfridges. All our products are handmade in the UK by local artisans.

Why was launching this company important to you?

I knew there was a problem out there and nobody was looking into a solution. I always wanted to start my own business and this just felt like a natural idea.

How does your company represent the future of British luxury?

Sustainability has to be at the heart of British luxury and so does hand-crafts; these are the two principles that Pott Candles has been based on.

What’s an important value for you that you’ve ensured is part of your business?

Being kind with everyone we meet – every customer and everyone we work with.

Tell us about an obstacle you’ve experienced in establishing your business, and how you overcame it?

Scaling pottery has been very difficult and we have looked into every option from outsourcing to starting our own pottery. We have a solution now, but the scale journey was very challenging.

What is your ultimate goal for your business? What’s the dream?

To look back and there be no single-use candles anymore. There is no need for them to exist!

What’s a key piece of advice you’d share with another entrepreneur that you’ve learned or been given on your journey?

Just go for it and don’t over think it. Naivety is a superpower – I think if any founder knew the reality of what they were getting themselves into they probably wouldn’t do it. Believe in yourself and your idea, and just run at it!