The Mundi Group was established in 2005 by Phil and Heidi Soulsby. They had each worked in the Finance industry for more than 15 years. Although they had got to the top of their professions, with both having board level positions at major institutions, they felt that they wanted to do something more meaningful with their lives.

It all started in early 2005 when Phil was in Edinburgh on an MBA course and was listening to the latest on the G8 Summit at Gleneagles. The focus was on the debt elimination of third world nations. It was then that he had an epiphany and realised that, if the position of the developing nations was to improve, they needed to be able to do it themselves in a sustainable way and to be able to do so, they had to be treated fairly and compete on a level playing field. It was not enough just to provide aid and forgive their debt, to have any chance of eliminating poverty they needed to be able to generate their own funds which could then be used to improve educational opportunities, which in turn would improve the economic opportunities of the countries as a whole.

The seeds of what became mondomundi were sown that day. Fair Trade is at the core of the business. However, from the start, the concept was not to sell an item just because it was Fair Trade. For Fair Trade to work, the products have to be as good, if not better, than those produced without such considerations. This was key to the brand and it seems that our customers like it. We now have a chain of stores, as well as the original website.

In 2006 ecomundi was established. As a geography graduate, Heidi had always had a keen interest in the environment and customers who came into our shops also spoke about being able to minimise their carbon footprint and reducing the amount of waste that is sent to landfill. Ecomundi, which sells products designed to help people live a greener lifestyle, was set up as a result.

Along with the m2m trade business and other ventures, The Mundi Group is now one of the leading businesses in the ethical world.