It all started with the Princes’ Trust

As far back as Clare can remember, she has been interested in design. “Why does this work like that? If I just change that I can make this product better. Why has no-one thought of this before.” Some of Clare’s ideas were great, some not so……

At school, the only thing that kept Clare going was Frank Priest, her art teacher. He sadly died before he could reach his full potential as a fine artist and Clare found motivation in this tragic event to pursue her career in art and design even more. After completing a degree in advertising, Clare became pregnant with her first child and decided that advertising wasn’t for her and set up her first business with invaluable help from the Prince’s Trust. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Well, actually it wasn’t. Because although Clare’s first business was a runaway success (responsible for most of the glitter consumption in the UK in the Noughties), the global meltdown of 2008 forced Clare to sell her business. In the back of her mind however, the Bottlesoc idea was forming. It wasn’t easy and Clare lost count of how many times people said “No, it won’t work. Why would people want to re-use an old bottle when it’s just as cheap to go buy a new one?” but carried on anyway. Many prototypes later the Bottlesoc was finally ready and Clare launched her new business at the start of the Global Pandemic 2020.

Over the last few years, there is a growing need for people to reuse and reduce their impact on the environment. “There is a great need to help people make informed decisions about how they want to live their lives more sustainably,” says Clare. “I like bottled water and I LOVE the packaging but I HATE throwing away a single-use plastic bottle. So I started giving them a wash in warm soapy water and began to reuse them. But even I am a sucker for nice packaging and realised they looked a bit naff. I started to look at how I could repackage this bottle and make IT the product and the Bottlesoc was born.”

After the phenomenal launch Clare realised how important it is to keep start-ups motivated in business. “Without them, we lose cutting edge design, the Disruptors of the future, the Mavericks. It’s OK TO FAIL but we need to help people realise this and carry on to their full potential and that’s what I’m doing today, helping young people. I love it and get a real sense of achievement when something I’ve said helps motivate others.”

When Clare is not thinking about products or clearing up after the kids, she’s drawing. Having studied for a Masters in illustration through Falmouth, Clare’s portfolios can be viewed here: @claredavislondon and @the_real_clare_davis