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Midlands Retail & E-Commerce StartUp of the Year 2026 - Regional Finalists | Free UK Tracked Delivery on All Orders
Best Business Startup of the Year 2026 - UK Small Business Awards National Finalists
OUR STORY
Built from Frustration.
Driven by Purpose.
Urban Cord Crafts wasn't planned.
It was built out of necessity, shaped by service, and brought to life by two people who care deeply about what they make.
StartUp Awards Finalists 2026 | UK Small Business Awards Finalists 2026
HOW IT STARTED
It Started With a Tactical Clip and a Length of Paracord
Urban Cord Crafts wasn't a business plan.
It wasn't a grand idea cooked up in a meeting room.
It started because Rob came home from service and hated putting his keys in his pocket.
Every keychain that clipped to a belt or belt loop was either cheap and flimsy or stupidly expensive.
Neither was good enough.
So Rob did what veterans do - he solved the problem himself.
He brought some paracord, dug out an old tactical clip from his kit, and built his own.
He wore it. It worked. Then his family noticed.
Orders started coming in from people around him - friends, family members - each one paying for something Rob had made by hand. That's when he realised he was onto something.
He listed on Etsy, but he didn't want to just sell under his name. He wanted a brand that told the world exactly what it stood for without you even having to look at the products.
Urban Cord Crafts was born in 2025 - built on the belief that too many people are wasting money on cheap, flimsy, bulk-batch paracord gear from faceless factories.
There had to be a better way. There is.
ROB - CO-FOUNDER
A Combat Medic.
A Veteran. A Maker.
Rob served as a Combat Medic, spending over two years on the frontline in Ukraine. He knows what it means to rely on your kit. He knows the cost when something fails.
That mindset - reliability first, no exceptions - is behind every single build that leaves Urban Cord Crafts.
But paracord crafting isn't just a business for Rob. It's something deeper.
Working with paracord brings him back to his Battalion. To his Squad. To the brothers and sisters who are serving, or who have come home and are finding their footing as veterans. And to those who didn't make it back to their families.
Every bracelet, every keychain, every fob carries that with it. Not as a marketing line - as a truth.
When Rob sits down to build, he builds with purpose.
He builds to remember. He builds to honour.
That's what makes Urban Cord Crafts different from every other paracord shop you'll find online.
2+ years frontline service
ZARA - CO-FOUNDER
An Artist from the Start. A Craftsperson by Nature.
Zara has been creating since she could hold a pencil.
Drawing, colouring, painting, clay making, strip paper origami.
Art and craft aren't hobbies for Zara, they're a language she's spoken her entire life.
When Urban Cord Crafts came together, Zara brought something Rob's functional mindset needed - a creative eye.
She scouts for new weave designs, brings fresh thinking to colour schemes, and gives her personal approval to every new accessory before it makes it into the shop.
Nothing gets past Zara.
Together they balance each other out perfectly.
Rob brings the reliability-first, field-tested perspective.
Zara brings the artistic instinct and the detail that makes every piece look as good as it performs.
Every Urban Cord Crafts build is better because of both of them.
2025 founding year
OUR MISSION
More Than Paracord.
More Than a Business.
Urban Cord Crafts exists to give the world handcrafted, heavy-duty, premium paracord gear that's worth owning. But it's also about the memories made along the way - the ups and downs of building something together, the conversations had over a workbench in Derby, and the hope that a piece of handmade gear built by a frontline veteran might bring people together to share their own stories.
Our story deserves to be heard. So does yours.
We also like to leave things a little better than we found them. Every order you place plants a tree through TreeApp, with another ten on top every month - so the gear we make doesn't just last, it gives a little back to the world it's made in. You can watch our forest grow right here on the site.
Made with Care
Built with Service
Made to Connect
Handcrafted by two people who given a damn about what they make.
Every piece carries the mindset of someone who served.
Gear that carries a story and brings people together to share theirs.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
Recognised in Our First Year
We're proud that what we're building by hand has been recognised at both regional and national level - all within our first year.
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