DAD | ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
IceKing celebrates its 25th anniversary
Last year the Gillman family celebrated the 50th anniversary of their electrical retail shop, Gillman’s, in Gloucester and this year they reach a quarter-century with their successful refrigeration brand, IceKing
F
ounded in 1995 by siblings Annabelle, Adrian and Robert, the brand originally entitled ‘King’, has gone from strength to strength and has a good reputation in the industry for its reliability and excellent value. “We started the brand to provide a wider range of energy-effi cient refrigeration with competitive pricing,” says Adrian. “We knew there was a demand, but sourcing our own products was new territory for us. We started out by visiting factories abroad and seeing the quality and production lines.” They initially offered a range of chest freezers and four under-counter models, all sourced from Italy and Denmark. “Our fi rst ever order was for 3,500 units. It was a big order for us at the time, and a substantial risk too. Thankfully, it was well received in the fi rst year, and by our third year of trading we had sold well over 10,000 units.” This growth persuaded the family to make their fi rst of three moves into larger premises alongside DAD. They went from a 7,000sq ft warehouse in 1995 and eventually ended up with 180,000sq ft of warehousing in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. IceKing now has its own dedicated wing, which was built in 2013.
Q & A
Q: What is it that makes IceKing so successful? Robert: We’re proud that it’s a product that does exactly what it says on the tin. As appliance engineers at the beginning of our careers, we knew we had a good eye for quality and reliability, and this is still paramount within the range today. That said, we still wouldn’t have guessed it would be as successful a brand as it is now. From those fi rst few products, our range has expanded to offer a full complement of refrigeration, including freestanding and integrated units, table-tops and our signature chest freezers. We now have 68 models in total that, once sold, are products we rarely hear about again, which proves how reliable they are.
Q: When were you aware that it was a household name? Robert: For me, it was when I saw
November 2020 ·
one in my local David Lloyd gym. And also in Heathrow Terminal 5! Adrian: I often spot them on the TV, be it a mini fridge on EastEnders, or a large chest freezer in a police drama. We even saw an IceKing fridge in the special Christmas episode of Gavin and Stacey last year.
Q: How are you celebrating this special occasion? Adrian: Earlier this year, we released a brand new white American style side-by-side to the range, the IK436W, which was a fi rst for IceKing. It’s been so popular that we have now added black and titanium silver models too, which are due to land very soon. All models produced this year have a special 25-year
sticker on them, and we have also run giveaways on our social media platforms. Unfortunately for now, Covid-19 has postponed our plans for a celebration. Some of our staff have been with us from the very beginning, supporting the brand, so it will be important for us to acknowledge this milestone with them when we can.
Q: What are your future plans? Adrian: To keep doing what we are doing – to continue understanding the market, listening to our customers and providing products they want and need, with quality, reliability and affordability at the core. We have a new website under way and have embraced social media this
year. It’s been a window to our products for our retailers as well as end users, which has been invaluable during lockdown. Our lifestyle images are really popular and our customers can share these on their own platforms and websites to show which products they stock. We are also now venturing into the territory of video, too.
To view the latest IceKing range, visit
www.ice-king.co.uk, and to follow us on social media check out Facebook @icekingdomesticappliances or Instagram @iceking_appliances.
13
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
