Self-Made entrepreneur: Ria Thomas develops bedroom project into successful high street shop

BALA, Wales - Nov. 10, 2014 - PRLog -- Siop Ria is a great story of a self-made entrepreneur developing a bedroom project into a successful business.

Welsh born Ria Thomas graduated from Manchester Metropolitan in 2002 with a first class degree in Contemporary Crafts. Upon returning home to her parents' house in Bala, North Wales, she found herself unable to find a graduate job in a bleak economic climate. Ria had a passion for making things and didn't want to lose sight of her dream so she started designing handmade greetings cards from the comfort of her bedroom.

Ria's talent was obvious and these cards were hugely popular among friends and family. She supplied local shopkeepers who found that her cards would fly off the shelf. Demand was growing. Word spread and soon everyone wanted her crafts. This self-run business grew enough for Ria to move out of her bedroom and open a shop on Bala high street.

In her store, Siop Ria, she sells a variety of handmade arts and crafts alongside other unique items she has discovered from around the world. Her shop has its own studio allowing her to give full reign to her creative nature and make a variety of bespoke cards, jewellery and personal gifts.

In 2013 Siop Ria expanded even further, this time into the online market. There are a number of obstacles to overcome in becoming an online retailer. With online card fraud totalling £110 million in the first six months of 2014 alone*, it is more important than ever for retailers to exercise vigilance when accepting payments.

Ria set up a merchant account with payment processor Nochex who dealt with the tricky business of handling transactions allowing Ria to focus on running her shop. Nochex set Ria up with an account within a couple of days enabling her to start accepting payments securely in no time. A year on and business is booming. Siop Ria is a bustling part of Bala high street and the online store is thriving.

###        END       ###

About Nochex
Nochex is a UK-based provider of online payment solutions that is trusted by businesses and consumers around the world to process their payments. Small and medium-sized enterprises use the Nochex payment solution to simplify how they accept and settle online credit and debit card payments. The Nochex payment service helps businesses start trading quickly and safely. Being an independent provider has allowed the company to support tens of thousands of merchants around the UK across a wide range of industries.

For more information about Nochex visit www.nochex.com

Notes to editors

1.       For more information contact Alistair Mason, Marketing Coordinator at Nochex. Telephone 0113 346 6205; Email: ali.mason@nochex.comor marketing@nochex.com

2.       Address: 103 Clarendon Road, Leeds, LS2 9DF

3.       Nochex Limited (and its trading name Nochex) is privately held and a registered Electronic Money Issuer with the Financial Conduct Authority

4.       Established in Leeds, West Yorkshire in 1999, Nochex processed its first payment in 2001

5.       Nochex operates 24/7. Office hours are 9am-5:30pm Monday – Friday

6.       Use of our standard merchant account plus payment gateway product is charged on a pay-as-you-go basis of 2.9% + 20p per transaction

*Financial Fraud Action UK: “Customers urged to be vigilant as fraudsters increase scam attacks”, 12 September 2014