"I received one of your soaps for Christmas, I love it!" is one of the nicest starts to a phone call we can think of.
But it gets even better when the sentence is followed by "and I'd love to stock the whole range in my shop!"
And so went the conversation with Tracey Jaggers, who manages Tewkesbury Abbey's gift shop. Luckily for us, Tracey's friend Lynne who manages Gloucester Cathedral's gift shop had sent her a College Green soap for Christmas.
When Tracey took over the shop at Tewkesbury Abbey, just like Lynne she was keen to stock locally made, high quality products.
"We are so happy to have College Green soaps in our shop. It is lovely to be able to sell something made so close to home," said Tracey.
"We’re especially pleased with the natural soap for dogs, as we are a dog friendly abbey with lots of four legged friends coming to visit," she added.
Our natural dog soap, loaded with skin soothing kaolin clay, and essential oils that have natural flea and tick repelling properties, now has pride of place in the gift shop's section devoted to doggy delights.
Many of the ingredients in our soaps would have been used when the abbey was first built as a Benedictine monastery- lavender, rosemary and peppermint for example, were prized for the very same reasons we use them today and the pure essential oils make College Green soaps smell amazing, which visitors notice as soon as they enter the shop.
So if you happen to be in Tewkesbury then make sure you call into the abbey gift shop. Your dog will love you for it!