Wiltshire sustainable homeware business lands investment
Holly Branson, in collaboration with the Conduit EIS Fund, has backed a British homeware venture that repurposes industrial waste, diverting it from landfills and transforming it into recyclable homeware at a facility in Melksham.
Branson discovered ReBorn through Virgin StartUp’s not-for-profit business incubator, which features a dedicated accelerator program, Collective Impact, for purpose-driven businesses.
ReBorn, founded by former Johnson & Johnson executive Brian Walmsley, used an oversubscribed seed round to expand its operations and address the issue of the UK’s unsustainable ‘fast homeware’ practices.
Many plastic homeware items, such as draining racks, coat hangers, and washing-up bowls, are typically made from virgin plastics imported from the Far East.
This process involves extensive use of fossil fuels in both manufacturing and transportation, posing significant environmental costs.
Additionally, these products are often “co-moulded,” comprising mixed materials that cannot be recycled, leading to their disposal in landfills where they never decompose.
ReBorn aims to reduce dependence on virgin materials by giving a new life to discarded items. In collaboration with Biffa, the UK’s leading sustainable waste management company, ReBorn transforms waste materials—primarily consisting of discarded food packaging collected from British factories—into stylish and functional homeware at its Wiltshire factory.
