Our Story

Roll back to 1972 when Sue spent a year living in Norway whilst Philip had a scholarship to study ceramics. Meanwhile, Sue taught herself to machine knit and weave. With her entrepreneurial mindset she already had a plan that this would not just be a mere hobby but a business venture. By 1982 Sue had created her own knitwear brand ‘Sue Cutting’ and, with business thriving, she had built a team of knitters supplying shops across the UK and overseas. One of Sue’s largest accounts was Penny Plain and her eponymous mail-order company – with whom she can be seen standing side-by-side. She opened her first shop in 1982 on Lion St, Hay-on-Wye, to showcase her knitwear. Freya was captivated by her mother’s wool room, particularly the lurex yarn, and could often be found playing with wool cones!

The business was flourishing so Sue, alongside her brother Jonty, expanded the business by opening a second shop in Clifton, Bristol. They developed the product offering to include clothing, footwear, accessories and homewares alongside Sue’s knits. At this point, Freya was mainly found after school in the basement (playing in boxes or helping look after newborn sister Josie who even had a basket behind the counter)!

Sue missed Hay and her friends, so the family returned and closed the Bristol store and Jonty had coincidingly decided to have a career change and became a kitchen designer. One day, Philip spotted Tommy’s sweet shop looking low on stock and told Sue to pop in. He was retiring, allowing Sue to relocate to number two, the pavement, Hay: hence the new business name ‘Number Two’. Freya dipped her toe into retail life, becoming a Sunday girl before going to university. Sue made the decision to end the knitwear business in the 90s and concentrate on retail. Her love of knitting is still evident, though, as we still support and sell knitwear from various UK designers.

A fantastic opportunity presented itself. Sue was able to relocate to larger premises at 3 Castle St, Hay where she spent a happy 20 years honing her skills as a retaile

After beginning a PhD, and a later role in business analysis for a multinational company, Freya, feeling that her creative flare was supressed, left to join the family business, launching ‘Shoes@NumberTwo’ on Lion St, opposite Sue’s very first shop! Freya had a business plan to create a complimentary clothing, footwear and accessories store.

The business thrived and when 6 Castle St became available and we moved from the Lion Street location. A few years later we rebranded to ‘Number Two Collection’ and ‘Number Two Style & Home’ to reflect the shops’ identities. Stuart, Freya’s husband and a former deputy headteacher and business analyst, joined the business in 2013 to take the lead on business management.

Many a conversation over the past 20 years went along the lines of ‘wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could have all of our brands under one roof, like a mini department store’. But, alas, the right property never came up at the right time (until now). The HSBC bank was vacated and became available as a new and exciting opportunity that we could not ignore: this time to fulfil our ultimate business ambition. The bank building at 12 High Town was secured and the renovations began. Phase one was realised with ‘Number Two Collection’ relocating in 2020 (two weeks before the first lockdown) but we were in!

Move on 4 years and the second phase has come into action. After 20 happy and successful years at 6 Castle St, ‘Number Two Style & Home’ are on the move to join ‘Collection’ under one roof at 12 High town. We have rebranded back to simply ‘Number Two’, but retain the clear identities of both stores, still evident by the expansion of the retail space and zoning of our brands. Freya’s attention to detail and analytical skills have allowed us to plan the new store layout so that all our brands across clothing, accessories, footwear and homewares remain familiar to our loyal customers. Looking back to 1979, Sue and baby Freya on the market with Philip’s ceramics have come full circle – from outside to inside the old bank building with a combined 65 years of retail experience!