Former Great British Sewing Bee Star Threads New Growth into Birmingham Business

Lauren Guthrie, entrepreneur and former finalist on the first series of The Great British Sewing Bee, is stitching a bold new future for her Birmingham-based sewing business, Guthrie & Ghani, thanks to the strategic boost she received from the government-backed Help to Grow: Management Course.

Guthrie, a well-known figure in the UK’s sewing and craft community, launched Guthrie & Ghani in 2013 in Moseley, Birmingham with her husband. Since turning her lifelong passion for sewing into a thriving lifestyle business, Lauren has opened a retail shop, international e-commerce website and sewing school that has since grown into a hub for creative makers across the country and beyond. 

But it was in 2023, after enrolling in the Help to Grow: Management Course delivered by Aston Business School – a Small Business Charter accredited business school, that Guthrie took her biggest step yet – diversifying the business with the acquisition of one of her key suppliers. This allowed the business operations to expand into B2B operations as well as grow the strong B2C customer base she already had. 

Guthrie commented: “I didn’t have the right frame of mind before the course. Having gone through the Help to Grow: Management Course, I knew how to think about growth, what to evaluate, and how to structure the business to support it. It gave me the confidence to take the leap to propel Guthrie & Ghani forward.”

The acquisition, completed in November 2023, significantly expanded Guthrie & Ghani’s product range which Lauren was confident was ideal for the audience she had already built. Since then, the business has continued to evolve, growing its team to 15, including an operations manager, to help spread the workload and ensure sustainable future growth.

A mother of three young children, Lauren works three days a week – making strategic focus and strong management essential for success.

Guthrie added: “I absolutely love sewing and making my own clothes, and I want to help others experience that same sense of pride and creativity. The course helped me put the right structures in place to maintain my ethos and grow while balancing my family life. Now, I know that the limited time I have is spent on the things that really matter.”

Guthrie & Ghani now operates across three pillars: retail, education, and community. The business offers high-quality handpicked fabrics, haberdashery, sewing patterns, dressmaking kits, and a growing range of in-person and online courses for sewing enthusiasts.

Flora Hamilton, Executive Director of the Small Business Charter, said: “Lauren is a brilliant example of how small business leaders can turn passion into lasting impact. From Sewing Bee finalist to business owner, her journey shows what’s possible when creativity meets strategic support. The fact that she’s not only grown her business, but acquired a key supplier and created local jobs, all while balancing family life, is incredibly inspiring. Help to Grow: Management exists to empower leaders like Lauren to scale up, build resilience, and realise their full potential.

“Her success is also a great example of the economic and social value created when female-led businesses are equipped with the right tools and mentorship. We’re proud to support ambitious founders like Lauren across the UK.”

The Help to Grow: Management Course is a 90% government-funded leadership programme for SME businesses, delivered by a network of Small Business Charter accredited business schools. The course runs over 12 weeks and includes online and face-to-face sessions, 10 hours of 1-to-1 mentoring and peer networking. Its mission is to increase economic growth and productivity through improved management and leadership practice.