A retired university lecturer has seen her online garden clothes business based in Gloucestershire boom during lockdowns.

Turnover for Genus Gardenwear which sells clothing and accessories exclusively online has gone up 160% year on year.

Sue O'Neil was inspired by gardening at her farm cottage near Cirencester to combine this with the knowledge she had built up as a lecturer in business at Westminster University to start her own company in 2013.

But this last year has brought together a number of factors that worked well for the business. People were spending more time in their gardens and more time online.

She said: "A lot of things came together very well. It was a very good year for the business."

Her turnover went from £225,000 to £600,000 and the profits jumped from £20,000 to £50,000.

She uses an outsourcing model. Clothes are made in China and Vietnam as well as the UK.

Genus Gardenwear has a quality website and has a gardener Josh Elphick based in Cirencester who raises the profile and generates interest in the brand with his regular blogs.

Sue uses The Fulfilment Warehouse in Staverton to handle the packing and dispatch.

She has had support from business mentor Jonathan Nicholls, based in Cheltenham, and says GFirst LEP provided valuable assitance.

Sue said: "Now I just want to see the company get bigger and better. The acid test is how much of that growth we can sustain and so far the outlook is good."