East Yorkshire lingerie shop in line for national award just months after launching

A “little lingerie shop” in East Yorkshire is hoping for big things at a national awards ceremony.

Local mum Lou Taylor only took over a “tired” lingerie business, then completely renovated it, in March. Now she is heading for London with her husband, Adi, to see if they can bring a “Best Newcomer” award back to Cottingham. Lou created Lou’s Loungerie from “an ageing lingerie shop that hadn’t been updated in roughly 20 years”.

“The owner decided to retire and me and my husband saw the sign, took the leap and purchased the business. Now our little lingerie shop is up against five other beautiful lingerie shops at the Stars Underlines Best Shop Awards.

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“Underlines is the biggest lingerie industry magazine available, so we were very proud to have been nominated in our first few months. However, to then be told we had reached the finals and were invited to the awards ceremony in London is absolutely immense.”

Lou said the category was “a tough one” and it would be “the icing on the cake” if they came home with the title. “I don’t mind if we don’t win, I already feel like a champion, it’s brilliant to be in the final six.”

Lou, 44, who lives in Cottingham, recalls going to the shop to be fitted with her first bra. She was out walking the dog with Adi last Christmas when they saw the business was for sale.

“We’d always talked about having our own business and like to take a risk,” said Lou. The venture was a huge shift for Lou, who spent 14 years in the prison service and was latterly head of year in the sixth form of South Hunsley School.

“I like to try new things, to be bit adventurous, and to just see how they go,” she said. “My husband was in the prison service too, for just short of 20 years; now he’s an estate manager in the NHS. He has really supported me in this.”

Lou said she had brought the shop “into the 21st century” and had built a large, new client base. She has encompassed a wide demographic, from young girls looking to be fitted for their first bra, to the older ladies wanting traditional undergarments.

“I know from living in Cottingham how much it has changed but it still has a huge older population who like to shop local and don’t mind spending a bit of money. There is nowhere else to go for underwear, now there is no M&S, and they love the fact they can come in for a fitting.

“There’s that new demographic as well, the younger yummy mummies and the teens from school. We love being part of this community and I am so proud to have my name above the shop.”