Explore our shop

Kat Mace, as well as being our Systems and Process Manager, is the curator of the compact but eye-catching Conference Centre shop. We asked Kat to talk us through what’s on offer.

Q: Hi Kat! Could you please tell us what was involved in setting the shop up, and give us an overview of the products.

Our little shop was a while in the making. I designed the bespoke shelving unit and oversaw the installation project, and it was ready to go just before Covid hit. It finally opened in April 2022.

I was very lucky to have worked closely with Kirstin Jee at the Wellcome Collection, who shared her invaluable sales experience and guided me on things like pricing structure, what sells well, how best to display items. As we have very limited space, I carefully curated a collection of products relating to the work that takes place on the Wellcome Genome Campus. This has a special focus on inspirational, science-themed gifts for children – games, books, stationery – as well as books on or by prominent women in science, today, and throughout history. We also stock a range of adult books on science and related topics, and bespoke artwork by Tanya Hudgell and Simon Spilsbury.

Q: Which items do we sell the most of?

The Giant Microbes fly off the shelves. They are fun, appeal to people of all ages, and are easy to pack in a suitcase. The microbes we sell are all relevant to the research that happens at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, on Campus, which is particularly nice. The kids’ books – for example the Little People, Big Dreams series – also sell well, as do the laptop stickers and pin badges.

Q: Please tell us more about the artists you mentioned.

Tanya Hudgell, who is our Conference and Events Administrator, has a parallel career as an artist! She works with acrylics, mostly, and did a large, beautiful painting of Hinxton Hall. The original has pride of place in our bar, and we sell print copies, as well as the image on a mug and mouse mat.

“It was a joy to paint Hinxton Hall – I’m lucky to work in such a stunning building, and it is an honour to have it placed in our bar for all to enjoy. I paint in acrylics and also love to add textures, bright and vibrant, bold and beautiful, precise and definite, a swipe here and a dot there. I’m always on the lookout for my next painting, whether it be a landscape, realistic bubbles, moons, churches… whatever is in my mind’s eye. I display my art locally in Saffron Walden, and online.”

Simon Spilsbury was commissioned by the organisers of a recent conference at the Conference Centre to do a series of illustrations around leading scientists. We have a couple of portraits of those linked to the deciphering of the genome for sale – they’re great fun.

“The ABI project was perfect for me. I work best fast, spontaneously, without fussy art direction. Having Nobel Prize winning scientists as my subject proved to be content-rich, both technically and visually, which helped with the speedy deadline. These cards and prints are a select few of the 22 illustrations I completed and compositionally some of the best. They also represent 400 years of Nobel Science Prizes.”

Q: Please describe the book selection available.

We sell the latest books by well-known British academics, such as Giles Yeo, Adam Rutherford, Georgina Ferry and Caroline Criado Perez. We make a concerted effort to feature books by female writers and writers from a range of ethnic backgrounds, and are constantly adding to our collection.

The Little People, Big Dreams series are children’s books featuring prominent historical people, and are very popular. We stock a good selection of science history personalities: David Attenborough, Charles Darwin, Hedy Lemarr, Stephen Hawking, Marie Curie, Emmeline Pankhurst, Florence Nightingale, Greta Thunberg, Helen Keller, Jane Goodall, Mary Anning, Rosalind Franklin, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Albert Einstein, Ada Lovelace, and Alexander Von Humboldt.

Q: How do you feel about the shop, two years on?

I love it! I’m really proud of it. I have focussed on making the display colourful, vibrant, and fun in order to catch our visitors’ attention, and try to engage both adults and young people who pass through our doors. I think it’s a welcome addition to the Conference Centre and the delegate experience.