Stationary can make for a really beautiful (and functional) gift, and something that can be used year-round. Fortunately, Turl Street is home to Scriptum, a treasure-trove of pens, notebooks, and much, much more! We chatted to Azeem Zakria, Scriptum’s director and creative head.
Tell us about what you sell
The core of the business is stationery, and we specialise in selling hand-made paper, leather-bound journals, ink, inkwells, blotters, greeting cards, calligraphy sets, Folio Society books, antique prints, antique silver and a huge range of antiques including Swiss carved wood and Chinoiserie desk accessories. We also offer quite a number of services such as personalised stationery, wedding and social stationery, personalised ex libris stamps, personalised Victorian-style blind-embossing address stamps, Gold and Silver engraving on any leather items... the list is endless. We always have a huge selection of objets d’art to adorn your library or drawing room.
How long have you been going?
Scriptum opened its doors in Oxford in May 2003, and we were located in The Golden Cross shopping centre. Then, after two and a half years of trading there, we relocated to Turl Street, our current location.
What motivated you to start a business?
I had the opportunity to start a business and it had to be related to the art of writing. Everything worked very smoothly and within three months after writing my business plan, I had moved from Cambridge to Oxford. I spent a couple of weeks of visiting European cities to find suppliers and stock, before opening up.
What do you like best about being based in Oxfordshire?
In my opinion, Oxford is the country’s most beautiful city, and the quality of life here is second to none. I have a very loyal customer base who have supported the business from when I first started, and these customers aren’t only located in Oxford but are from all over the world.
Do you think Oxfordshire is a good place to run a small business?
I think Oxford is the perfect place to run a small business.
There’s never a quiet day in town, it’s always full of tourists who want to take a piece of Oxford back with them - in the form of presents! We only close the shop for three days a year, it really is worth opening seven days a week if you have the staff.
What's the best thing about running a small business?
Having the perfect team who care for the business as much as I do! We are a small team of five, and we work very well together. All my staff are over-qualified, but they take pride in what they do.
I think delegating is key to running a business successfully, and it is my job to make my colleagues’ work more interesting for them. They even get to travel abroad to source new suppliers or to get inspiration for new products.
What’s the biggest challenge?
The price to pay for living in an ancient and beautiful city such as Oxford is that there is often work to do on the buildings. At times this work requires scaffolding and noisy machinery. For most of this year, Scriptum has had scaffolding right in front of the shop, and this can be a bit of a challenge especially as we enjoy making beautiful window displays. All said, we have a very close relationship with our landlord Lincoln College and they keep us informed of any work that is happening in the future.
What's the funniest thing that's happened in the shop?
Not a day passes where something funny doesn’t happen in the shop, we’re always in a jolly mood here! I haven’t shared this with many people, but in 2006 I accidentally locked a customer in the shop while I was out for a long lunch. Back in those days I used to close for lunch as I was mostly working on my own. The customer was a Classics undergraduate, and we used to sell Greek and Latin books, so I guess there could have been worse places for him to be trapped. Naturally we gave him all of his books free of charge!
What’s your favourite product?
That is a really difficulty question - especially because we only stock products that we like ourselves. We are also at the stage in our business where we design a lot of our products, and there’s nothing more satisfying than selling something which you have designed yourself. My colleagues Holly and Paulina have designed boxed cards which we sell in the shop and the themes are Opera and British Wildlife. It makes me very happy every time we sell those.
Welcome to Daily Info’s 2023 Advent Calendar – 24 days of festive tips, free activities & local shopping suggestions!
This year's calendar offers a mix of Christmas suggestions, taking in traditions in Oxford and the wider area, and free activities & events in the build up to the big day.
