University Supported Business Opens Unique Retail Venture
The Lincoln Imporium, a business based in the University’s business incubation centre, Sparkhouse, opened their new retail venture to the public this week. The shop will provide a unique experiential retail offering, immersing patrons in an old world where imps roam and need catching!
After spotting a gap in the market for a product that could represent Lincoln and draw people to the city, the co-founders moved quickly to develop the branding, launch social media accounts, and locate a physical location. When asked about the approach for the product, co-founder, Marcus Askam-Yates commented, “Each and every Imp that we produce will be unique, no two with the same exact pattern. We want every customer to feel like they have a fun and unique piece of Lincoln history when they catch their very own Imp.”
A limited edition run of Halloween-themed Imps were available for their opening but with demand and interest being as high as it is, you will have to move quickly to secure your own Halloween Imp. Fear not, avid collectors, as they have plans to launch an equally special and equally limited run of Christmas themed Imps for the festive season.
The co-founders, Marcus Askam-Yates and Tommy Atkins, both have experience in running successful small businesses in Lincolnshire. Marcus currently operates a property investment company and May Ventures, and Tommy is the founder and managing director of the Identity Agency. Both founders have also found the University’s business support ecosystem to be of vital importance to their journeys as entrepreneurs, with Tommy having started Identity Agency at Sparkhouse before moving through to Enterprise and now currently based at Think Tank.
On the support received from the University of Lincoln, Marcus remarked, “We were really happy to secure an office at Sparkhouse to base The Lincoln Imporium from, Tommy and I both know how important support can be for small businesses and there’s nowhere better for that in Lincoln than Sparkhouse. The team have been great, and supported us at every turn, we couldn’t recommend them enough for any small business looking for an office.”
If you are interested in getting your very own piece of Lincoln history, you can do so by visiting The Lincoln Imporium at 36 Steep Hill, Lincoln, LN2 1LU. You can find out more about the business or finding out more about the office space and business support offered by Sparkhouse, get in touch with us at Sparkhouse@lincoln.ac.uk and one of our team will be thrilled to get back to you.
Story submitted by Dominick McOmish
dmcomish@lincoln.ac.uk