Russians in search of the elegant English lifestyle are being drawn to the talents of two Oxford entrepreneurs. Richard and Ying Groves run Silk Cocoon, which designs, manufactures and sells tasteful pure silk nightwear and bedding to clients wanting to bring a touch of luxury into their life.

The range of nightdresses, pyjamas, sheets and duvets, combines a fusion of classic English designs and the highest quality Chinese silk with delicate embroidery and hand-painting.

The couple have already attracted a large number of stores and individual clients in the UK, due to the quality of the silk used, the affordable prices and their first-class service.

And the Oxford-based firm has recently expanded its export market, thanks to a meeting with a Russian consortium at a trade fair in Paris.

Mrs Groves said: "The Russians have 50 shops and took 350 of our most expensive hand-embroidered products to try out in five of their outlets.

"The garments have gone down a storm and we have just received a message to say they will be ordering more."

Silk Cocoon was set up in May 2003 by the Groves, both of whom have a wealth of corporate experience.

Mr Groves, a chartered accountant, worked in the banking industry for 32 years before retiring as first vice-president and chief operating officer in mainland China for Credit Agricole Indosuez.

Mrs Groves, who has a PhD in Agroforestry from Cranfield University in Bedford, has held a number of high profile consultancy posts for the Dutch Sugar Corporation, Cosun, and then developed new products for Proctor and Gamble.

She was later head-hunted by the world's biggest palm oil producer, Sinar Mas, as a marketing manager in Shanghai, before joining the world's biggest agrochemical company, Sygenta, as director of business developments for China.

Mrs Groves returned to England in 2001 and her husband took early retirement from banking to come home.

The couple settled down in Oxford, where Mrs Groves soon found it difficult to find quality silk products. The 43-year-old suffers from an allergy to man-made fabrics.

She said: "I come out in a rash after just one hour of wearing polyester and within a day and a half of putting on viscose.

"More and more people have sensitive skins and a lot suffer from skin conditions.

"I have one customer who was delighted to find us, as she wanted silk pyjama trousers to wear underneath her everyday clothes."

Once they had decided to set up a business to wholesale and sell sensual silk attire and bedding, the couple were very particular in choosing the correct factory to produce their designs.

The factory they opted for is used by many of the top lingerie brands and workers there are well trained and paid a good wage.

Silk Cocoon uses environmentally-approved dyes, which are ten times more expensive than the generic ones often used in poorer quality materials.

But this means the garments still look as good as new after being washed.

In 2003, the couple approached their local Business Link for help in setting up the company and were given details of trade fairs, regulations and networking events.

Through the Business Link supplier matching service, which matches companies with the providers of the services they need, they discovered photographer Terry Lee, a former Newsquest press photographer, based in Bloxham, near Banbury.

They also won a £3,000 Passport to Export grant from the Government, which was used for printing international marketing materials and marketing trips to France and Dublin.

A further £1,800 grant was then used for the Paris trade fair last February, which led to the Russian link-up.

Mrs Groves added: "We have grown rapidly since our products were launched two years ago and now supply to exclusive lingerie shops, such as Joy in Summertown, Oxford, and we also retail online to individual customers.

"Our export sales have quadrupled and, as well as Russia, we are selling in shops in places such as Ireland, "Apart from Russia, our silk nightwear is also stocked by some selected lingerie shops in southern Ireland, Quatar, France, Switzerland and Canada."

n Contact: Silk Cocoon, 01865 311505, www.silkcocoon.co.uk e-mail: info@silkcocoon.co.uk