12 Feb Two best friends from the Ukraine have started a candle business in the UK after fleeing their war-torn home country.
Two best friends from the Ukraine have started a candle business in the UK after fleeing their war-torn home country.
Ukrainians Anna Shturmak and Anastasiia Berest, co-founders of VIRA, appeared on GB News to tell how they managed to start a business with the help of their host family.
The pair who are staying with a family in Manchester told GB News: “When we came here, it was difficult for us in the beginning but in most cases, our host helped us a lot. It was huge work for them, I think. But we feel comfortable. Everything was perfect for us. They introduced us to a lot of people and they tried to help us with the English language.
“We are settled here with our dream and they support us a lot. We appreciate it and we are so happy that this family chose us.
“In the beginning, it was so difficult, we didn’t know how it worked, we didn’t know about taxes, or how we can speak with our post office or with our suppliers. But I don’t know, I think you just need to take a risk and try to do it.
“We make candles. We make everything here in this room. It’s our laboratory. So we pour in the box, we feel it, we choose our wax, we do everything.
“We test a lot but all the magic happens in this place. week so we do everything we tested a lot. Yeah, so like all magic happens in this place. In the beginning, we wanted to create products we would buy ourselves – everything like the tape, stickers, and packing, we wanted people to like it.”
Asked if they hope to take their business back to Ukraine once it is safe to do so, they added: “Our family is in Ukraine and we hope we will soon be back in Ukraine because every morning we wake up, the first act which we do is go to our news and read what’s happened. If it’s an alarm in our city we write to friends, family and close relatives.”
