02/03/2026
At the weekend we celebrated the 20th anniversary of Benchpeg.
Benchpegâs actual birthday is the 6th February, so a bit late, but its been busy.
Twenty years ago, a niggly idea that wouldnât go away took life when one dreary, grey, cold Saturday in February I went through the index of the jewellery making bible that is Oppi Untrachtâs âJewelry Concepts and Technologyâ to find a name. Obviously, because I am completely ridiculous, I started at âZâ. The index is quite comprehensive, so it took a while to get to âBâ and that is when âBenchpegâ was born.
I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew the âmechanismsâ that I had to undertake. We set up a limited company, bought a domain and trademarked and copyrighted Benchpeg and it took my whole monthâs salary.
This was after Iâd been told by someone in hierarchy that what I was doing was âneither wanted, required or desiredâ. And that is, of course, when the sheer belligerence kicked in and I did it anyway. Because it felt right for me to do it. I had no strategy, no plan. It just felt right.
In todayâs speak it started off as a âside hustleâ and today, as it has been for the last 15 years, it is my full time occupation.
I will not pretend that it has been easy, because it has not. The worry of running a business and employing people has kept me up at night and the pillow has caught more than a few tears.
But more importantly to me, Benchpeg has made a difference. I am privileged to be at the end of an email and constantly receive stories about how Benchpeg has made a difference in some small way to someoneâs life for the better.
So for me, this twenty year milestone is significant, not because Benchpeg still exists, but because it represents 20 years of helping individuals, micro businesses and SMEs in the craft, trade and industry - which was the driver for doing a mad, unthought-through thing one rainy Saturday in February.
This morning one of the emails that landed in the inbox today:
âI remember signing up for your newsletter at IJL many years ago. I'd like to think that it may have even been the first year :) Well, well done. You have helped me and many others in so many ways. Thank you!â
And that makes me incredibly proud of being utterly ridiculous and following what my gut told me to do, not knowing where it would lead, twenty years later.