Hannah Sanusi, the founder of Amurelle, a high-end bedding company, launched her career in retail through various part-time positions at renowned stores like Swarovski, The Kooples, and Brown Thomas during her college years in Dublin. While studying film and broadcasting at TU Dublin, she developed a passion for the retail sector. Following the conclusion of her studies, she joined Primark as a trainee buyer for homewares.
The bed linen was one of the regular purchases she made, sparking an entrepreneurial idea. As she climbed up her career ladder, she started contemplating launching her own luxury bedding company, centred around comfort and sustainability. The lockdowns during the Covid pandemic provided her with the time and space to turn this idea into a reality.
Today, Amurelle provides 100 per cent natural fibre cotton and linen sheets, along with pillows and duvets painstakingly crafted in Ireland, to an international customer base. “About a third of our lives are spent in bed, either sleeping or trying to sleep. My objective was to produce top-quality bed linens that not only offer comfort but also significantly upgrade sleep quality,” Sanusi explains.
Their products, which are Oeko-tex certified, devoid of chemicals, and environmentally friendly, undergo prewashing to guarantee softness. Her cotton sheets are expected to last five to ten years while the linen ones could last a lifetime. Amurelle’s pricing is fair, reflecting the benefit of direct customer sales with no intermediaries.
Sanusi was also a buyer with a large corporation for more than four years. She then formed the decision to get a taste of small business life where she could gain more hands-on experience in its various facets. She moved to CA Design, an interiors company in 2019. She gained a wealth of knowledge about the workings of a successful ecommerce business during her tenure there. A little over two years later, she decided to establish Amurelle.
Her recent partnership with UK-based interior designer Bee Osborn has led to a dramatic increase in businesses from the UK region.
Struggling to find an Irish business that could offer the level of quality she desired, Sanusi resorted to using her purchasing expertise to procure what she required. Portugal, a country renowned for crafting premium-grade textiles, emerged as her preferred vendor. She partnered with a small, family-led manufacturer whose business ethos synced with hers. Run by the original founder’s grandson, this enterprise met her specifications without enforcing enormous production orders. By this approach, Sanusi cleverly avoided the financial risk of surplus inventory.
Identifying the growing popularity and durability of linen, she incorporated it as one of her central products. Following suit, she was swayed by the comfort of 100% cotton to make it another of her core products. Not limiting herself, she expanded her range to include baby bedding, linen robes, and more recently, pyjamas.
Sanusi’s initial costs were estimated around €60,000, a combination of personal funds and support from the local Wicklow enterprise office. In her view, Amurelle’s potential is still in its budding stage as there are vast scopes for extending into new products and colour themes.
With a clientele spread across the globe, a recent partnership with Bee Osborn, a Cotswold-based interior designer, boosted her UK business significantly. Her company has witnessed a 26% surge in sales compared to 2023, and over half of her website traffic stems from the UK. Post-Brexit trading convenience has been facilitated by operating their fulfilment orders from Northern Ireland.
For a significant leap in the UK market, Sanusi presently aims to raise around €200,000, which is intended to bolster marketing, events, PR, and amplify her presence on social media. She harnesses influencers and content creators to fortify her marketing initiatives, predominantly focusing on the age bracket of 28-40.