TALKING BUSINESS
FAMILY-RUN FIRM IS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
Personalised Gifts Shop was launched by director JANE GOKGOZ with just £5.50 from her kitchen table only nine years ago. Jane explains how she has transformed her small family-run business into a major operation which is set to hit £8m turnover at the end of this financial year.
No one would blame the team at Personalised Gifts Shop if they were currently taking a well-earned rest. During 2019, the popular gift website delivered around
one million gifts to businesses of all sizes and people looking for the perfect presents for their loved ones. They have just finished their busiest Christmas on record, having fulfilled more than 150,000 orders for festive gifts. But there is no let-up for the busy team which is growing by 50% each year due to demand for its thousands of unique and personalised gifts which are available for all tastes and budgets from its popular website. The company is the brainchild of director
“We’ve grown enormously since then and now offer around
‘WE’RE VERY PROUD TO
COMPANIES’
Jane Gokgoz, who launched the firm from her kitchen table in 2011 after struggling to find personalised gifts for her two children who have unusual names. Initially, Jane signed up with a product supplier and her site
offered a limited range of gifts but it soon became apparent to her that she would need to take everything – from the design to the manufacture of the products – in-house if the business was going to thrive. “It was a big thing launching a new business from scratch but
after the first year when we brought our manufacturing in- house I knew we could take our firm to the next level,” explained Jane.
RECEIVE ORDERS FROM SO MANY FLAGSHIP
14,000 different products and that figure’s growing every week. “We’ve gone from me working at my kitchen table to a team of about 70 members of staff, although during particularly busy periods, such as Christmas or in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, our workforce doubles in size to meet the demand from our customers. “We’ve had several staff complete
apprenticeships with us and we’re currently looking to hire five more to work within production, using high-tech machineries such as lasers and printers. “We’re proud that we’ve created so many more jobs in Wellingborough – not just in our company but by working with other local firms, including courier companies and suppliers, which has
in turn enabled them to grow. “We also have two 15,000 sq ft warehouses and in 2018 we took
the exciting step of automating all our system, from purchasing through to manufacturing, so our customers can see what their gifts will look like online. We’re one of the few companies that enable our customers to do that which makes us very popular.” Another source of pride for the firm is its corporate offering to
businesses and it now supplies corporate gifts to a wide range of flagship firms, including Manchester United, Baylis & Harding, Marriott, British Gas, TSB, Lloyds Bank, Vodafone and Ramada.
The team at Personalised Gifts Shop 34 inbusiness FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020
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