About Us

Young, Fast and Dangerous

Love My Car was founded by Sally Dickinson who realized there might be a gap in the market for car gift sets when her two daughters passed their driving tests. Caught up in the excitement and freedom, they had no concept of quite how dangerous driving could be, both for themselves, and other road users:

Pretty soon there was a stream of panicky calls home, including;

Getting lost at night in thick fog
Running out of oil on a motorway
Running out of windscreen washer with no visibility
And worst of all, when a major accident had occurred

Sally explains: “The initial idea to find a gift to mark the occasion of their first cars now combined with the priority to provide them with basic safety tools from a female perspective. I needed to feel I was being a responsible parent." The concept of Love My Car was born.

Feeling strongly about the safety issue, Sally took up the challenge to move the idea forward and entered a competition in the Daily Telegraph run by Cornwall Pure Business and Business Link, resulting in business mentoring.

“I knew very little about cars so needed to know where to start. So I spoke to everyone I could, I carried out focus groups to develop a brand and wrote a business plan around the concept to enter into The Daily Telegraph competition.”

Facing the Dragons and Winning!

Sally found herself pitching her idea to Lord George, former Bank of England Governor, Sir John Banham, Daily Telegraph, IBM and Henry Ashworth of the Extreme Academy. This was like the Dragon’s Den! Love My Car was identified as the most marketable business with a high growth potential to achieve a turnover of £1m in five years. And as a winner of the competition Sally received mentoring from Sir John Banham, who gave invaluable advice and encouragement to turn the concept into a business.

Sally explains “I invested my own capital and spent a year putting the business together. This involved identifying what would go into a Love My Car gift pack, sourcing suppliers, designing the packs, thinking how to build a web site, undertaking customer research and considering how to get my products to my customers. It was a really exciting, yet a terrifying time, as I could see the potential but there was so much to do to make it a reality!”

Bringing in a Business Partner

Love My Car’s finances and experience received a welcome boost when a former business colleague, Alison Harrison, looking for a ‘life change’ decided to join forces.

The first Love My Car product is the “Make Me Safer” pack, which contains practical products such as a map book, oil, screen wash, advice sheet, safety hammer, emergency phone charger, air freshener, de-icer and ice scraper. Importantly they are packaged to be attractive to women and simple to use – no knowledge of cars need! Love My Car had come to life.

We hope you enjoy our products and welcome your feedback!