I recently met up with Vanessa Knox-Brien and Baukjen de Swaan Arons, the founders of online success story Isabella Oliver, at their office in north London.

With a day packed full of meetings, lunches and international conference calls, back to back and all timed to precision, I waited patiently for my time with the entrepreneurial pair.

In the few minutes I was sat in the waiting area, which is part of the open plan office, I could hear the creative team discussing the wording of the next newsletter.

As you would expect my 360 glance of the office uncovered every fashion company must-have; magazine and product cut outs plastered to the walls. Isabella Oliver’s office was everything people outside of the industry imagine the fashion business to be – glamorous, exciting and everything but dull.

But as we know fashion retail is a challenging business and whilst glamour’s good, it doesn’t get you everywhere.

As I moved into the meeting room to chat to Vanessa and Baukjen it quickly became obvious why Isabella Oliver turned over £800k in its first year when the company began in 2003.

Their shrewd business acumen blends well with their determination to build a brand that puts the customer first; Isabella Oliver always delivers above and beyond expectation. It’s this attitude that has driven the brand’s word of mouth appeal, something ever so crucial to the success of a start up brand.

During our meeting I asked where they would take the brand next, given that other big players in online retail have considered launching flagship stores, but this particular avenue it seems isn’t on the agenda.

Vanessa and Baukjen believe that whilst you can expand into other areas (like the non-pregnant collection they have recently launched), a brand must have some core values, and one of those for Isabella Oliver is online retail – and don’t they do it well.