Picture story: Did you help furnish the set of Downton Abbey?

Maria Hopwood set up her online fabric business The Stripes Company in 2007, after spotting the striped fabric business opportunity while on holiday. “After years of French-influenced neutral designs, Britain was just ready for the bright stripes,” she said.

Fast forward to 2015 and the striped fabric movement has become so popular that last year, The Stripes Company supplied delightful deckchairs and sun shelters to the set of Downton Abbey. Fans of the show might remember the scene in the series 4 finale when Molesley takes a quick break!

Like the cast of Downton Abbey, Maria has set her sights on America and recently expanded her ecommerce site across the pond. To help continue IT development to service UK and overseas expansion, The Stripes Company has borrowed more than £175,000 across 3 Funding Circle loans since January 2011.

In April we met Maria to find out how the loan has helped her business. In this picture story below, Maria discusses her experience of Funding Circle:

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