Happy Birthday Natural Baby Shower!

It's our birthday!

It’s been ten years since Natural Baby Shower started offering parents natural, ethical and eco-friendly products. In the past decade, we’ve grown from a table top business into one of the most popular online nursery retailers around.

Here, we’ll take a look at our humble beginnings, the brand we’ve grown with and what we envision for our future.

Where did it all begin?

Victoria started Natural Baby Shower after being inspired by the natural parenting movement during her time living in New Zealand, after the birth of her first child Dylan. Whilst the trend for adopting organic and natural products was growing there, the UK had yet to catch up and simply did not offer the same breadth of choice.

“The idea of ethical products — and a simple, close approach to parenting — really made sense to me. Back in the UK, the same kind of choice just wasn't there.”

After moving back to the UK, she saw the lack of options for parents who wanted a more ethical approach to bringing up a baby. When her first son, Dylan, was born, Victoria and her partner Clifton knew that starting their own company, bringing together the best natural products they could find, was the best way to help bring the movement to the UK.

The first step to bringing Natural Baby Shower to parents in the UK was ensuring the brands they stocked were true to the NBS philosophy. They had to be quality products that were sourced ethically, taking parents’ worries away so they can buy with confidence.

How does Natural Baby Shower choose their brands?

When choosing products, the most important thing is whether it is good for baby. This doesn’t just mean convenience and practicality of a product, but what goes in it too. From organic cotton and bamboo clothing, to wooden toys, to cloth nappies – every brand is looked at from a natural perspective, making sure it is safe for baby, safe as can be for the environment, and fair for those who produce it. 

“We research all our products very carefully (many are from small, family-run companies), so it really is brilliant stuff. We are obsessed about honest pricing – meaning you can really trust our prices and don’t have to spend hours shopping around.”

Natural Baby Shower started stocking a range of natural brands from the outset, including Cuddledry, Merino Kids, Frugi, Close Parent and Tots Bots. These brands started selling like hotcakes, showing just how much UK parents truly desired this natural approach.

How did NBS start growing?

The business started out online, at a time when online retail was an up-and-coming medium. Clifton's knowledge of technology allowed Natural Baby Shower to be ahead of the curve, embracing new online mediums to push their lovely products. However, Victoria knew that the beautiful quality of the NBS brands still needed to be seen and felt to be truly appreciated. This encouraged her to open a boutique to showcase the natural materials that had grown so popular.

Natural Baby Shower soon outgrew the boutique, so moved to Windlebrook House in leafy Bagshot, Surrey. This newfound space piqued the interest of the larger stroller and car seat brands, as they had space to demonstrate their products, and Natural Baby Shower had the knowledgeable staff to give parents the information they really needed.

After enjoying great success online, and with a bricks and mortar location, the business began attracting the attention of many world-renowned brands such as Boori, Joolz and Cybex, who believed in the ethos and came on board. After that, more brands followed and before she knew it, Victoria was being approached by suppliers rather than the other way round.

What’s new for Natural Baby Shower in 2017?

Well, reaching double figures has given the whole team motivation to keep on giving parents in the UK, and indeed across the world, access to high quality, luxury, and ethical brands whilst still maintaining the feel of an independent company.

There are big changes coming in 2017. The Bagshot store is currently under construction, being expanded to almost three times the size, and refurbished into a one-stop-shop for parents. With a huge increase in floor space, we have even more room to showcase specific brands, more room to road test products, and more room for mums and dads to come and discover the fantastic brands we hold dear.

"The growth of the business over the past few years has been phenomenal, and we are really excited about the expansion. We want to create a MumHub (well, ParentHub to be a bit more contemporary and inclusive, but it doesnt' quote have the same ring to it!).

Once we have reopened, the plan is to offer the upstairs space to parenting classes and groups, creating a real community within the store. We will also be offering a personalised shopping experience for new parents, via a free flexible appointment service. With the wealth of products on the market, shopping for your baby can be an overwhelming task, but at Natural Baby Shower parents will receive the time and consideration needed, from expert advisers, to guide them through the process. This means they can make the right purchasing decisions for their lifestyle and their new baby.

Shopping for your first baby only happens once, so you want it to be special.

We also plan to bring a lot of new and exciting brands over the coming months and we will be updating the website too. We are always looking for improve and develop in everything we do, to provide the best customer experience possible. We are so grateful to our fabulous customers and suppliers, who have supported us throughout this journey.

We look forward to another ten years of Natural Baby Shower!"