Name of Business
Standout Socks
Who are you?
Christian Laing - Co-founder and assistant to the Sock father
What sets you apart from the competition?
We're brothers having a lot of fun but with a serious message.
Our bright, fun, crazy socks are designed to start conversations to highlight awareness for disability inclusion in the workplace.
How did the business come about?
Ross has always struggled to find any employment. To solve the frustration of the search. Stand out was the creation of a job for him.
What are your main targets?
Create a stable business and an income for Ross.
Create other job opportunities in Warrington within Standout for people in the same position as Ross.
Highlight the abilities of Ross so other companies create vacancies for disabled people.
How long has your business been in existence?
We launched last October in line with Down Syndrome awareness month.
What job or achievement makes you most proud?
Seeing a local company recruit a new team member with down syndrome beats anything else we've done hands down.
Although we also raised £3500 for Warrington food bank with the sale of our Christmas socks, which was a fantastic achievement.
Where do you see the business being in five years?
To think how far we've come in five months it's exciting to see where we're going to be in five years.
Tell us one interesting thing about the business that might surprise us?
Our brand colour Orange was a bit of a fluke. We had grey hoodies when we launched... not so STANDOUT.
Tell us one interesting thing about you that people might not know? (ie, hobbies, amusing fact, etc)
I served 7.5 years as an aircraft mechanic in the Royal Air Force... before becoming a Club 18-30 rep.
Fantasy dinner party – which six people alive or dead would you invite?
David Bowie, Paul Gascoigne, Bob Mortimer, Ric Flair, Gino D'Acampo, James Corden