Look in The Nest

Look in The Nest Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Look in The Nest, Consulting Agency, Royston.

We provide 360 degree business advice, support and guidance for brands, retailers and manufacturers of maternity, baby and children's products, so you can start up or scale up your business, consciously and profitably.

04/09/2026

An amazing opportunity for business development opens on Sunday.

Autumn Fair, NEC Birmingham, 6th to 9th September. Trade only, free to attend.

Most founders think a trade show is binary. Afford a stand, or don't go.

Going as a visitor with a notebook is the most underrated move in this industry.

All free:

· Counter Talks, four days with Google, Faire, Bira and ASDA

· 30 minute one-to-one mentoring in Hall 9

· Pitch Live, Kids, Toy, Play & Clothing on the Tuesday

But the aisles are the real prize. How competitors merchandise and price. How buyers actually behave, what they pick up, what they walk past.

Booking a mentoring slot? One question, not five. Bring real numbers.

Just 1 watchout from me: general retail advice is not category advice. Ours is regulated. Take the commercial thinking, check compliance with someone who knows children's products.

I'll be there. Coffee's on me if you fancy a chat.

Build BETTER. Grow CONSCIOUSLY.

Link in bio.

03/09/2026

Last week: your washing machine is not product safety testing.

The question I get over and over since:

"But how much does testing cost?"

Honestly? I can't give you a number. It's bespoke. A soft toy, a sleepwear range and a nursery product are three different quotes.

What I can do is tell you which tests you need, and point you to a proper testing house.

But there's something else inside that question.

· I've never met a founder who would knowingly put a child at risk

· The risk was never that you don't care, it's that nobody checked

· A loose part on an untested product is a choking hazard

· That's the outcome you cannot undo

Everything else is consequence. Trading Standards. A recall. Every unit back from every retailer. Your brand on a public recall database. A buyer with an easy reason to say no.

Whatever your testing quote is, it's smaller than the first invoice of a recall.

Build it in from day one. Testing belongs in the cost of the product, next to the fabric and the tooling.

Build BETTER. Grow CONSCIOUSLY.

Link in bio if you want to talk it through.

02/09/2026

“So how do you actually help?”

It always starts the same way. We listen. Then we tell you honestly what we would do.

What happens next is your call.

· We teach it. Mentoring and training, so the knowledge stays in your business.
· We do it. Hands on, alongside your team.
· We advise. A seat at the table for the bigger decisions.
· And we bring our network of experienced consultants and partner businesses.

Because different businesses need different amounts of help.
Nobody should be sold a twelve month programme when what they needed was one honest conversation and a clear plan.

Not sure which one you need? That is usually a sign it is worth a chat. Send us a message.

Build BETTER. Grow CONSCIOUSLY.

01/09/2026

The latest The Nest. NEWS is out!

Three things we’re talking about this week…

✨ How one of the brands we work with is building brilliant brand awareness WITHOUT a huge marketing budget.

🛍️ Why Autumn Fair is about so much more than buying this year, with talks on practical AI, independent retail trends and retail crime, mentoring sessions and a Dragon’s Den-style pitch event.

🤖 And The Invisible Shelf…

AI is changing the way we search.

Increasingly, customers are getting the answer to their question without ever clicking through to a website.

Which means brands aren’t just competing for Google rankings anymore.

They need to make sure AI can find, understand and recommend them too.

We’ll be talking a LOT more about this one…

Are you thinking about how AI search could affect your business?

28/08/2026

“I’ve tested it. My children have worn it and I’ve put it through the washing machine.”

We hear variations of this more often than you might imagine.

But that is NOT product safety testing.

If you’re creating a product for babies or children, product safety isn’t simply best practice. It’s a legal responsibility.

And you need to understand the specific requirements for YOUR product.

Clothing, toys, electrical products and nursery products can all have different requirements.

Depending on what you’re selling, compliance can involve appropriate testing, risk assessments, technical documentation, labelling, traceability, safety information and conformity assessment.

So please:

✓ Know which regulations and standards apply to your product.

✓ Build testing and compliance into your development process AND your costs.

✓ Get advice from someone who genuinely understands children’s product safety.

Because this isn’t just about protecting your business.

It’s about protecting the babies and children who will use your products.

And there should be no shortcuts when it comes to that.

If you don’t know what testing, risk assessments or technical requirements apply to your product, come and talk to us.

We have experts within The Nest who can help.

Don’t guess. Get the right advice.

27/08/2026

Founders sell what they love. Retailers buy what makes commercial sense.

And that difference matters.

When you’re pitching your brand to a retailer, telling them why you love your product or what securing the listing would mean for your business isn’t enough.

They need to know what’s in it for them.

Before you send that deck, make sure you can answer three questions:

1. Why do you belong there?
Do you understand their customer and the gap your brand fills?

2. What do you bring commercially?
Think sales, margin, KPIs and the negotiation that will inevitably follow.

3. How will you drive customers?
A listing alone won’t build your brand. What marketing, community and audience are you bringing to the partnership?

Sometimes founders are simply too close to their brands to see the opportunity through the retailer’s eyes.

That’s where an experienced commercial perspective can make all the difference.

Before you press send, ask yourself:

“If I were the retailer, why would I say yes?”

If your deck doesn’t answer that, it probably isn’t ready.

26/08/2026

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks… 🐶

We're determined to prove them wrong!

We've been going back through the library of documents, templates and tools we use at The Nest.

Many are based on processes we've used throughout decades of working in retail. But the way we do business is changing rapidly, particularly with AI and new technology.

So we're challenging ourselves.

Is there a better way to do this?

Could we make it simpler?

Could AI remove some of the time-consuming work?

Could we make our tools even more useful for the businesses we support?

Because our tools aren't about creating more paperwork. They're about helping our clients structure and organise their businesses, make better decisions and save valuable time.

Experience gives us the foundations.

Curiosity keeps us relevant.

So we'll happily keep being old dogs learning new tricks. 🐶💡

What has AI made you rethink in your business?

25/08/2026

Issue 8 of The Nest. NEWS is here

Three things on our radar this week

🎒 A shake-up in school uniform
New rules come into force from September, but what could they mean for the £1bn+ schoolwear market?

📈 A remarkable retail turnaround
Seven years after administration, Mamas & Papas has reported record revenue of £170m. What can other brands learn from its journey?

♻️ What does real circularity look like?
We’re looking ahead to the Real Circularity Summit in London on 17 September and the conversations we’re excited to hear.

Planning to attend? Use our referral code PEER888 when booking before ticket prices increase at the end of this week.

Want the full stories?

Read Issue 8 of The Nest. NEWS, and if you haven’t subscribed yet, sign up to get it in your inbox every week.

24/08/2026

What does The Nest actually do?

It’s a question we’re asked a lot.

And the answer is actually very simple.

We help maternity, baby and children’s product businesses:

Make more money.

Stop wasting money.

Without losing what they stand for.

Because growing a successful business doesn’t have to mean compromising your values.

Sometimes it’s not about selling more. It’s about making better decisions about what you design, what you buy, how much stock you hold, where you invest and where you stop spending.

Commercially stronger. More conscious. Less wasteful.

That’s what we want to help businesses become.

Could your business be making more and wasting less?

21/08/2026

"As long as it doesn't affect the margin."

I heard that line for years.

I'd raise it at my desk, wherever I could find an opening. Organic cotton for babies. How the product was really being made.

And the second they realised where the conversation was going, they'd start to walk away. Before I'd finished the sentence.

The parting shot, over the shoulder, every time.

Then they were gone.

Nobody ever voted against it. There was no meeting. No villain. It just got deflected in corridors by people who didn't stay long enough to argue.

Which is why everything I build now starts with the affordability question, not the ethics one.

Because conscious production will never win an argument it isn't allowed to finish.

Everything costs something. Someone just has to be willing to have the conversation. 🌱

Address

Royston

Telephone

+447888871707

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