As a child, I had been enchanted by mermaids and now as an adult, I am delighted to have created this mermaid inspired gift shop.

Mini Mermaid Tails was formed in June 2020 during the first Coronavirus lockdown - it is a family business born from a mother's love and her daughters' dreams of becoming mermaids.

My two daughters, then aged 8 and 10 years, had been watching the TV series Mako Mermaids and H2O Just Add Water over and over again for years and they both desperately wanted their own swimmable mermaid tails.

During 2020, schools were closed due to the pandemic and whilst I lost my mind home schooling, the girls became increasingly frustrated, flopping around the house with 'nothing to do' despite having a bedroom full of toys.

We made DIY mermaid tails out of all sorts - blankets, paper, tape, straps, scarves, sand on the beach - but my personal favourite was always tin foil. Although it was pretty, it ripped as soon as they moved and it didn't fare well in the pool!

The weather was beautiful and we have a flat garden so I invested in a 12ft swimming pool by Bestway (literally the best purchase I've ever made!) We spent days lounging around in it soaking up the rays, even eating our lunch in it but evidently there was something missing; it was time to buy proper mermaid tails for kids!

I was staggered at how expensive some mermaid tails were. I actually bought a cheap one off eBay. It arrived 24 days later (good job I hadn't told the girls I had ordered one!) but it was such poor quality - thin with bad stitching and dull colours - that the old adage 'You get what you pay for' rang true.

I was that customer who didn't want to spend a fortune (after all we've gone through fads of My Little Pony, Frozen, LOL dolls, Jelly Cats that have since been discarded) BUT I still wanted a high quality item, from a UK company, that would look and feel good but most importantly survive my daughters' cosplay adventures.**

For 18 years, I had managed markets and concessions at some of the UK's largest music festivals. I have over 30 years experience in retail and for the last couple of decade I've also made and sold Wooden Ties at Christmas markets (check them out - probably the most unique present you could buy a man!)

2020 saw the events industry fall to its knees and all my events were cancelled. Contemplating my future, feeling scared, I decided to take the plunge (excuse the pun!) and start a business I knew I would be genuinely passionate about. I would source the type of quality mermaid tails and mermaid accessories I wanted to buy and sell them myself!

Mini Mermaid Tails was born!

Within 6 months I had over 1000 organic followers on Facebook. Spurred on by such a positive response, I increased the range of swimmable mermaid tails and added an ever-growing range of gifts suitable for any mermaid lover - from mermaid hair accessories to party supplies, jewellery, and everything a little mermaid could dream of.

Working from home in Bath, UK, my daughters help pack the orders and we're all very excited to see where this takes us. I love finding new mermaid-themed products and engaging with our wonderful customers. I'm unbelievably joyous now customers have started sharing photos of their little ones in their mermaid tails - and who knows, if festivals return maybe I can combine the two and we'll be in a field making a splash too!

The best thing is knowing that my daughters are happy. They absolutely love swimming and being mermaids.

Unlike previous passions this one is for life: both want to be professional mermaids when they grow up - me too!!