A FURNISHINGS company which began life in the loft of a family home has overcome Brexit uncertainty after demand for its products went global.

PCJ Supplies, based on Belmont Industrial Estate, near Durham City, has outgrown its original base from a house in Washington and now distributes more than 100,000 products a year.

The company, which employs 13 people, was founded a decade ago by Cheryl Duffy.

“I was working for an upholstery company and they were throwing away all their off cuts.

“I suggested selling them on eBay and they said no, so I did it myself and made the company £5,000 - so then I thought I’ll try it myself.

Mrs Duffy started the business in her living room, and even converted her loft into storage space, before moving to the 15,000 sq ft unit where she is now based.

“I had my dad packing in the kitchen, and my husband would help out when he came home from work at night.

“The post office hated us” she said.

The company distributes its products all over the world, including Germany, Australia, Canada and the USA, and even has a regular customer in the Maldives.

“She likes our bedding and cushion covers” said Mrs Duffy.

“She buys from us at least five or six times a year. We are also working on an order from Puerto Rico at the moment."

PCJ said they now had “no worries at all” over Brexit, after deciding previously to undergo a rebrand in order to deal with the uncertainty surrounding the EU referendum.

“We were thinking about a rebrand anyway, but we were a bit nervous about things before Brexit” said Mrs Duffy.

“It worked in our favour, it turned out to be a good thing. Sales have gone up by five per cent, and customers can buy in Euros or dollars, and we can convert back into pounds."

Mrs Duffy believes PCJ, which gets its name from the first initials of her husband Patrick, herswld and her son Jack, can challenge major online retailers such as Amazon.

“You just have to compete. We try to find smaller sellers that aren’t involved with the wholesalers.

She added the company is looking to expand into other markets, including hotels, hospitality and children’s nurseries.

“We want to realise they can come to us and buy, they don’t have to go through the website.”

“It was tough in the summer when people don’t tend to shop online, but we had 1,500 orders over the weekend, so hopefully the Christmas period can make up for the sales in June, July and August.”

PCJ is open Monday to Friday between 10am and 3pm, with late night opening on a Thursday in December.