FEATURE
It ’ s a
Wanderful life
Chloë Clover , recently crowned as the new Tees Businesswoman of the Year , talks to Peter Barron about the success of Wander Films – and discovering how much Teesside means to her
F or as long as she can remember , Chloë Clover has been running away from conformity .
Clover , as she ’ s known , always had to do things differently . Unable to cope with structure , she was so desperate to find freedom that she went around the world looking for it .
“ My mam had to march me into class , but I ’ d hide behind the door until she ’ d gone , then leg it to the park ,” she laughs . “ I even used to try to run out of nursery school .”
Now , as Tees Businesswoman of the Year for 2021 , Clover has come full circle . Together with partner Lou Tonner , she ’ s happy to be back home , running Wander Films – a business that ’ s proving to be successfully different .
And while the company might have taken its name from the couple ’ s shared wanderlust , their passion for travelling the world , it ’ s well and truly rooted on Teesside .
“ Teesside is part of us , and it runs through everything we do ,” says 29-year-old Clover , who grew up overlooking the sand dunes in Redcar ’ s High Street West .
She and her brothers , Calum and Olly , were raised by two “ incredible ” women : their mother Ruth , a social care support worker , and grandmother , Maureen Lowery – otherwise known as “ Grandmogs ” because of her love of cats – who lived over the road .
It was a happy childhood – climbing trees and playing football – but it quickly became clear that
PICTURES BY GRAEME ROWATT
Clover was going to push the boundaries . Even her name became symbolic of her wanting to be different .
Having initially hated the umlaut over the “ e ” in Chloë , she warmed to it when she realised it made her distinctive .
Fitting in to the structure of education was always difficult and it came to a sudden end at secondary school after she stood up for a girl who was being bullied .
“ The poor girl was being tortured ,” she recalls . “ One day , some mean girls ripped the bobble out of her hair , I got in between them , and a big scuffle broke out . I ended up getting kicked out of school , and never went back .”
Despite missing the last year , she still emerged with enough GCSEs to get a place at Cleveland College of Art and Design – now the Northern School of Art – though her fine art diploma course again ended prematurely .
“ I stuck it for two years , but I hated being structured , and being told it had to be done a certain way , so I left ,” she explains .
The turning point in her life came when she met Lou through their love of music . Clover played drums and Lou was a guitarist in a band that needed a drummer . Clover got the job , and it quickly became clear they were kindred spirits .
Lou had a degree in television and film but was working for the police at the time , and both girls felt trapped . They escaped to Australia and had a break while Clover was working as a barista in Sydney .
The voice of business in the Tees region | 21