With over ten years experience supplying quality designer and decorative items to the antiques trade, we decided it was time to use our knowledge of good design and source quality products for retail through a High Street shop. After a couple of years research and the wait for a suitable location, One Brown Cow Ltd opened in the Autumn of 2007 in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

There is growing concern for the environment and the impact we are all having on our planet. With this in mind, we decided to look at how we could help reduce some of that impact and concluded that the best place to start is at home.

By sourcing goods designed, manufactured and supplied from within the British Isles, we are not only helping to supporting British industries, we are also helping to reduce our own personal carbon footprint. Regrettably, after the years of hardship British Industry has endured, not everything we want to stock is available in the UK so we have made some exceptions. Even with our exceptions, we like to establish the true source of our products and actively seek out recycled, organic, fair trade and ethically manufactured products.

Our goal is to increase the range of British goods we stock and to continue sourcing products which include organic materials, show innovation in recycling or just offer the best of British design. By doing all this, we hope to increase awareness of British design and show that Britain still has a wealth of talented designers and manufacturers.

One of the most frequent questions asked at our shop is "how did you come up with the name one brown cow?"

There isn't any mystery or hidden meaning to the name. While planning the business, we happened to be travelling through lanes between two Hampshire villages when we spotted a field of cows that were all black and white except one brown cow. As this cow stood out from the rest of the field we decided it was the ideal name for us, especially as we wanted to stand out on the high street.

See how we renovated our shop in pictures on Flickr

Member of the Stonehenge Chamber of Trade.

The South Wilts Business of the Year Awards

These awards are hosted annually in the City of Salisbury. Each different category celebrates and recognises business success in Salisbury and South Wiltshire. In 2009 One Brown Cow were winners of the newly introduced Design Types e-commerce award and in 2010, 2011 and 2012 we were in the top five finalists for the same award.

• 2009 Winners Design Types e-Commerce Award
• 2010 Top 5 Finalist Design Types e-Commerce Award
• 2011 Top 5 Finalist Design Types e-Commerce Award
• 2012 Top 5 Finalist Design Types e-Commerce Award