A DUO of entrepreneurs have opened their own shopfront after growing their business substantially over lockdown.

Friends and business partners Rhona Rogers and Jacquie Fitton started Luxury Gift in a Box just before the beginning of lockdown in 2020, with the aim of creating a small business to keep them busy for a few days a week.

Now, just over two years on, the pair are opening their first physical shopfront in Fareham after the online business has grown significantly.

The Luxury Gift in a Box shop officially opened on Saturday, May 7, with Councillor Katrina Trott cutting the ribbon and cake to officially mark the opening.

It started from Rhona’s kitchen table at her home in Fareham, with just her and Jacquie running it.

The business quicky grew through lockdown, so they moved into a unit in Wickham Road, which has since been converted into the shopfront and they now have around eight team members.

Rhona said: ‘We didn’t expect it to grow like it has, but it has been an incredible journey taking it from something that we thought would keep us busy for a few days a week, to now working hard most days with an amazing team helping us.’

The shop offers a range of themed boxes full of hand-picked gift items, such as a pamper box, a new baby box and gardening lovers’ box.

It will be open from Monday until Friday from 10am until 3pm and will run alongside the existing online business, which allows people to order a box of their choice either to hand to a loved one themselves or get it delivered directly to them.

Rhona and Jacquie spend a lot of time choosing the items to go in each box, ensuring that the majority are from local or independent businesses and are as eco-friendly as possible.

The majority of its packaging is eco-friendly and uses recycled boxes.

The business is a member of Ecologi – a site that allows people to plant trees and Luxury Gift in a Box has planted 140 trees so far.

Next in the pipeline for the business is an online revamp, with a subscription service soon to launch, as well as bespoke build-your-own boxes with the option of personalisation via the website.

Both build-your-own boxes and personalisation is currently only available in-store.

Jacquie said: ‘Were really excited to be finally open after working so hard for the last few years to make the business a success. We’ve got lots planned for the future and will be making it even bigger and better, but for now, we’d love to invite people in the local area to pop down and see us. Everyone’s welcome in and we can’t wait to meet our lovely customers face-to-face!’

The shop will also support charity Acts of Kindness and will be a drop-off point for donations.