S5 Ep3: 'The best ideas are organic' Ally Mitchell and Anna Campbell-Jones chat to us about their incredible collaboration ‘Ocean Swallows’

Today we are joined by Ally Mitchell founder of Ocean Kitchen Scotland a brand that's doing amazing work using recycled plastic found in the ocean. Joining with Ally today is Anna Campbell-Jones, an awarding winning interior design and presenter of Scottish home of the year. Together they are both here to talk about their collaboration of an amazing new swallow wall ornament range. 

Ally chats to us all about how he started his brand after his career as a commercial diver, diving all over the world and being involved in dives up in scotland where he saw first hand the devastation of plastic contamination in our oceans. He tells us his story on how this inspired him to start a brand that even he didn't anticipate to have such incredible growth in such a short space of time. 

Anna tells us her story as a interior designer for over 35 years, 7 years a judge on Scottish home of the year and Scottish influencer of the year (interiors and design) 2022-23. Anna began to be approached by brands to promote their products. She thought “why dont i make my own products” so she set out to design her own brand of homewares, all made in Scotland and sustainably.

Ally and Anna met whilst speaking at a climate conference in Glasgow, COB 24. They quickly realised they had a lot in common despite one being an North Sea saturation diver who had founded a sustainable pant pot business and the other being a TV presenting interior designer. They met for scones and coffee a couple of weeks later and brainstormed spontaneously from pots to ducks to swallows, deciding to create swallow wall ornaments from Scottish ocean plastic.

There was no plan apart from to collaborate and experiment, launching softly on each of their Instagram accounts these little objects, symbols of hope and home, organically became an overnight sensation

Hear their story from evolution of the concept of the swallow to the design and production process- even collecting the waste themselves on the beach cleans they regularly do together. This story is incredible inspiring and really highlights the power of storytelling and motivation to make an impact on the planet.  

Our key takeaways:

• Organic, homegrown ideas often have exceptional potential for rapid growth.
• Collaborations thrive when brands with shared values unite.
• When a product connects with people in different, personal ways, it helps build a loyal customer base that grows with the brand

Ocean swallows are available on https://luckyswallows.com/ and are now stocked in the V&A Dundee as well as the Edinburgh Royal Botanical gardens

You can also contact via their instagrams @ ocean.kitchen.scotland and annacampbelljones

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