Hello, I’m Sarah — the creator and owner of The Vintage Tea Service, a boutique vintage china hire business built from my love of beautiful things, nostalgia, and the joy of bringing a little “wow” to special occasions.

​

I was a full‑time secondary school teacher in Cheshire up until July 2026.  I started my teaching career way back in 1993, with Business my specialty.  I had some wonderful opportunities through my career and am proud of the students and families I have have worked with and helped.

​

I was nominated and went through to the North West Finals of the Teacher of the Year.  This was for my work in Enterprise - developing it through the curriculum and primarily for opening a school shop, selling everything from stationery to greetings cards, hair products and chocolate ( we actively supported Free Trade).  The students ran the shop, did the stock checks, cashed up, ordered stock or went to a warehouse to buy stock.

​

The three proudest moments of my career were (in no particular order) being a Head of Year, being the Extended School Coordinator (responsible for everything outside of the curriculum and pastoral) and finally setting up and running the New York/Washington DC trip, which ran every other year.

​

At heart I am a South Coast girl, growing up in Fareham, Hampshire, and came to be in the North West to do my degree, I returned home for a while and worked at Southampton Technical College, and eventually found myself back in Cheshire......where I have stayed ever since.

​

A few years ago, I pressed pause on teaching to take part in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race — an experience that completely changed my outlook on life. When I returned, I felt ready for a new challenge. I reduced my teaching hours so I could dedicate one day a week to building a business. What I didn’t know was that I’d chosen the month right before the pandemic to begin. With no furlough support, the funds I’d saved to launch the business ended up supporting me through nine months without income. Eventually, I had to return to full‑time teaching and put the idea aside.

.

One Saturday evening, out of nowhere, a thought popped into my head: “I’m going to hire out vintage china.” And that was it — the spark that brought The Vintage Tea Service to life.I’ve always had an eye for gorgeousness. Vintage china became my retail therapy, my creative outlet, and my way of sharing beauty with others. I adore pretty things, I adore nostalgia, and I adore helping people create unforgettable moments — so I combined all three.  Little did I know that I would become addicted to vintage china!!

 

​I’d love you to follow along on social media and keep up to date with everything happening at The Vintage Tea Service.

 

If you want to find out a little more why The Vintage Tea Service could be the provider for you, or you want to find out more about how it works click here.  If you have any questions or just want to find out a little more about hiring from The Vintage Tea Service, please do get in contact with me, 

​

Now that you've found out a little

 

I'd love you to follow my social media accounts and keep up to date with The Vintage Tea Service.

Facebook

Instagram

Sarah