09/10/2026
🎩✨ 14 YEARS OF MAD HATTERS — AND WHAT A JOURNEY IT’S BEEN! ✨🎨
Today we’re allowing ourselves a little trumpet toot as we celebrate 14 years since Fiona Stevens first brought the Mad Hatters vision to life. 🥂
It began with a love of pottery, but Fiona’s vision was always about creating something more.
She saw the wonderful synergy between pottery painting, really good quality coffee and homemade cakes — a place where people could slow down, create, chat, celebrate, meet friends and feel at home. It wasn’t simply about painting a piece of pottery; it was about the whole experience surrounding it. ❤️
Fourteen years later, that little idea has certainly had a journey!
There have been incredible highs and some very difficult lows. There have been changes of location, reinvention, diversification, pivots, challenges and plenty of moments when determination and a little Mad Hatters magic have been required to keep moving forward.
And today, more than ever, we recognise just how fortunate we are to still be here.
Over recent times, we have sadly watched a number of wonderful independent pottery studios close their doors. We know how much passion, hard work and heart goes into running businesses like these, particularly in the current economic climate.
So reaching 14 years isn’t something we take for granted.
We feel incredibly blessed and extremely lucky that Mad Hatters has been able to remain established, continue evolving and keep moving forward. And we send so much love and respect to others within our pottery-painting community who have shared this industry with us. 💕
Because no business reaches 14 years because of one person alone.
A huge part of this story belongs to our incredible Kiln Fairy team, led by the wonderful Toni, and to the unwavering dedication of our Mad Hatters teams, past and present.
Their passion, creativity, loyalty, laughter and sheer hard work have carried Mad Hatters through so many chapters. Quite simply, we would not be here without them. ❤️
And perhaps one of the loveliest things about reaching 14 years is realising that the original vision is still growing.
The Mad Hatters brand has moved into its next chapter, with the growth of The Mad Hatters Club, our external events and wellness experience business alongside Lisa Hammond, and Mad Hatters Iver with Sophie Ames — taking that same spirit of creativity and connection into new places and new communities.
And as we look ahead, there’s another beautiful layer emerging too: creativity, connection and mindfulness — creating experiences and spaces where people can step away from everyday life for a while, make something with their hands, connect with others and simply feel good.
The world has changed enormously in 14 years.
Mad Hatters has changed with it.
But the heart of Fiona’s original idea really hasn’t:
Great pottery. Great coffee. Homemade cake. Creativity. Conversation. Community. And somewhere that feels a little bit like home. 🎨☕🍰🏡
So today we raise a glass to Fiona and her original vision, to every member of the team who has carried it forward, to every customer who has walked through our doors, and to everyone who has supported Mad Hatters through all of its different chapters.
14 years down… and we’re incredibly grateful that there are still so many chapters left to write. 🥂🎩✨
Happy 14th Birthday, Mad Hatters. ❤️
