About Us

What is Nanosphere? Who are we? What is it all about?

Once upon a time we ran a stationery retail business called Bureau. Some people knew it as Bureau Direct. We never liked that – it sounded too much like Sports Direct. Bureau existed in the days before websites came along, that’s how long ago it was set up. It then morphed into a website-only business. And then it was no more.

In the ashes there remained two elements that we wanted to retrieve before they were gone for good. First, our love for stationery and our ability to find unusual and interesting items to sell, to sift out the good from the bad. And secondly, we had almost accidentally created a newsletter that people loved. In fact they loved it so much that when we announced it was ending people started writing back to tell us how they sad they were. And kept writing. Until we had literally hundreds of personal replies, so more like a bereavement letter than anything else.

And so we got thinking, and came up with the idea of doing it all again. Except that this time we would focus on the bits we loved, and…well, let’s just say that we would do the bits we loved. And so the nanosphere was born, a new world where we could assemble all the stationery we desired. And maybe not stop there. We could assemble everything we liked. And talk about what we liked too.

So there you have it – the nanosphere is an online world of what we have assembled and shared with you. Mostly stationery but maybe more. Described in three words? Quirky, honest and friendly.

Who are we? Oh, I forgot that bit. We are Dominic and Jo. Brother and sister. Family. We have our own lives (Jo runs, I cycle) but we share a lot of the same interests and that makes life a lot easier in the nanosphere. Expect to stumble across references to Father Ted or The Mighty Boosh occasionally.

Finally, don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter. You can do so by clicking here. You won’t regret it – the best of what’s here plus lots more random stuff we put out. and tell people. Please. We really want more people to know about it.

Did you know that we also have a dedicated B2B branded stationery business? Ferrotype was launched in 2019 as a dedicated business focused on the corporate promotional market, mainly covering stationery but also gifts where we can find the right ones. We have always done this, going way back into the 1990’s so that means we have almost 25 years experience of providing the right promotional solution for our clients. You can find out all about it by clicking here.