The Sunday Times
10 December 2006

The Two of Us: Clare Thommen and Fiona McLean, directors of Boudiche 

Fiona: My first impression of Clare was that she seemed serious and businesslike. I met her in 2004 when she interviewed me for a job at Scottish Life. I was a chartered accountant, she was finance manager. She kept the interview very straight and professional all the way through. I’d just come back from a year’s travelling, so I probably came over as very laid-back. I got the job and reported directly to Clare on a daily basis.

It became obvious we had the same attitude to work, and ended up doing similar early starts and late finishes. It was pretty intense, but we always got on well. One night we went for a drink after work and started talking about resigning our jobs and opening a lingerie boutique.

We’d both been thinking about exactly the same idea without realising it. I’d seen plenty of specialist shops when I was travelling in Australia and thought there seemed like a gap in the market for an Edinburgh niche boutique. That’s where Boudiche came from.

Ten months after drawing up our beer-mat business plan, we opened the doors of Boudiche. On the day of our press launch things were pretty frantic. We’d been running on empty for weeks and emotions were high. Clare insisted I go to the beauty salon around the corner to pamper myself and relax. I just remember thinking: “I don’t have time for a bloody facial.” She practically had to push me out the door, but I went. It was bliss, but when I turned my phone on afterwards I got this panicked voicemail saying: “Help, come back! There’s so much left to do, there’s hundreds of bras to tag.” We’re pretty lucky, though; we never seem to have our tantrums on the same day.

Clare is a workaholic and it’s hard to get her to turn off her laptop at the end of the day. But I admire how professional she is. She comes over very well and is good at negotiating and getting what she wants. She’s not scared to say what she thinks and won’t take no for an answer. I’ve learnt a lot from her.

We’re both very competitive and there’s a healthy rivalry between us. It drives us and it’s good for business. We recently decided to split the business in two, with Clare in charge of our new online boutique and me in charge of the shop. It’s already turned into a challenge to see which side is doing best. I used to catch her stealing my customers on the sales floor, although she denied it. I got her back by selling the bras she had sneaked away into a drawer to keep for herself.

Sometimes I wish I had Clare’s ability to think outside the box. She’s very creative in her approach to the business and loves coming up with exciting ideas. She’s the kind of person that likes to make every day count. On her day off she’ll jump in her car and hit a few golf balls or have a go at gliding. She adds adventure to what she does and she’s fun to be around.

Clare: Fiona and I clicked straight away. It was obvious from her CV she had all the technical skills for the job, but personality wise I knew this was someone I was going to get on with. That was the main thing. She just seemed like a really switched-on girl. I hired her.

One evening, a few months after she’d started in the office, we got talking about our plans for the next five years. I’d just come out of a relationship and sold my house. I was asking myself what I wanted from life.

I had this vision in my head of an amazing boutique, somewhere relaxing with crystal chandeliers and the most gorgeous lingerie, where you walked in and just went “Wow!” There was nothing like it in Scotland. We just figured if we didn’t try it, someone else would jump in and do it anyway.

Setting up the business has been hard work and sometimes we feel like we’ve got so much on our shoulders; building the brand in Scotland and creating something high quality and unique. But when we’ve got loads on, the other one is there to say: “What can I do to help?” We both have a strong protective streak towards each other. We get cranky if we forget to eat, so I often hand Fiona some chocolates or she’ll ask if I’ve remembered to eat lunch. We work very hard, but sometimes it feels more like a hobby or a passion rather than a job.

Working with a friend makes the whole thing so much more fun. If we go to trade shows or meetings abroad, we can at least travel together, have dinner in a nice restaurant and share a hotel room.

A few months before we opened, we took a holiday in Spain. We were conducting these important board meetings about company structure by the pool with our laptops and mobile phones.

Working with lingerie also happens to be lots of fun. We only ever pick pieces we love. Fiona and I have the same taste and, luckily, what we like seems to sell.

We’ve had a lot of good times in the past year or so, but my favourite moment was probably winning newcomer of the year at the Scottish Retail Awards. It meant so much to us and we were so excited when we collected the award from Lorraine Kelly. I saw a photo afterwards of us standing there on stage hysterically pointing at my dad to get our picture with her. Lorraine is standing in the middle and she just looks absolutely terrified.

Fiona and I can get stressed, but we calm each other down. I admire Fiona’s level-headedness and ability to take control.