A Broughty Ferry couple have created a range of candles celebrating Dundee’s heritage through scents inspired by the city.
The couple behind Dundee Candle Works have a range of six locally-inspired scents they hope will appeal to locals and tourists alike.
Marmalade & Lime, Jute & Tobacco and Firs & Fairways scented candles are the creations of Alistair Drever and Katie Watson.
“We like the idea of championing Dundee and its history, particularly with marmalade,” says Alistair.
“It’s well known by us Dundonians, but I’m not sure it’s well known by others.
“We want to shout it from the rooftops.”
From hobby to full-time job
The scented candle business started off as a creative escape and hobby during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
Trainee doctor Katie needed a distraction after work in the NHS and furloughed Alistair had time to help.
“Katie said she’d always wanted to have a business like this and it seemed like a good opportunity to get stuck into something,” 41-year-old Alistair adds.
“I just threw myself into it and in the space of a year, we were up and running.
“It was a good distraction from what was going on at the time for both Katie and me.”
The couple came up with the name Dundee Candle Works first and created the scents around it.
While there are many candle companies out there, they had yet to find one with scents inspired by Scotland’s east coast.
Marmalade, jute and fairways
Fearing redundancy after furlough and not wishing to enter a competitive job market, he made Dundee Candle Works his new job.
Self-taught candle maker Alistair hand pours every candle in their Cowgate workshop.
He now takes care of the day-to-day running of the firm while Katie helps to develop new scents.
“After a brainstorm of what the region is famous for, we had the bases of our core scents to launch with,” Alistair says.
“The city is synonymous with marmalade, so that was an obvious start for us. We embrace the city’s ties with jute and we also package every order in its own jute bag.
“Dundee is a place of cultural significance and we can’t wait for customers to explore.”
Alistair and Katie’s candles are stocked across Tayside and Fife including at Eduardo Alessandro Studios in Broughty Ferry, St Andrews’ Old Course Hotel and The McManus.
The couple has also just landed a deal with website Not On The High Street.
Dundee Candle Works reaching beyond the city
With tourists visiting the city over the summer, Alistair hopes Dundee Candle Works will grow even further.
He admits starting a business from scratch has been challenging and stressful, but also rewarding.
“This has been a really big test in our belief in what we’re doing.
“But we’re now stocked in places I would have never imagined, so it has been fantastic.
“It’s happened very quickly, but it also feels like quite a long time since the start.”
In the summer heat, the couple have already started experimenting with new scents for Christmas gift sets.
While the firm’s name limits them to local scents, Alistair hopes to take the firm as far as it can go.
“We’re not sure how far it could go, but we’re willing to run with it and put everything into it.
“I don’t know what people make of Dundee, but we’ll soon find out with Not On The High Street and where sales come from.
“The dream would be finding a stockist in America. I’m not sure how many people want to smell like Dundee, but we have to hope there’s some interest.”
Conversation