A husband-and-wife team who launched a personalised gift box service for workers during lockdown are getting close to their 100,000th sale.
Natalie and Adam Bamford launched Colleague Box, a letterbox gift company, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak.
The boxes are aimed at bosses and colleagues wanting to put a smile on the faces of team members returning to the office or on furlough.
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The couple, from Spondon, in Derby, say the venture has proved a huge success, turning over £1 million in its first five months.
Customers can choose from a variety of parcels, including craft beer boxes, “ultimate” chocolate boxes, summer picnic boxes and movie night sharing boxes.
Each comes complete with company branding and a personalised message and while they have been popular with businesses welcoming colleagues back, the gift boxes have also been a huge hit for special occasions – the gin box contains two miniature bottles of Gordon’s Gin, tonic water, plus Green & Black’s chocolate, and nibbles, which could be just right for a Friday night Zoom catch-up.
Colleague Box recently extended its range – including an escape room style puzzle box to enjoy at home, with two who-dun-it themes and a choice of either craft beers, miniature Prosecco or soft drinks, crisps, nuts, and treat bags of chocolate, sweets and popcorn.
Natalie, who founded the Derby Days Out events listings website for parents and carers in 2015 and sold it three years later, said they were now preparing to move into a bigger warehouse which will help accommodate its growing staff. The permanent team is now five but the business has also recruited temporary staff from the University of Derby.
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She said: “The new place, on the Northedge Business Park, in Derby is a modern, new unit and we have been using the warehouse space there since December – in addition to our smaller warehouse at Sawley Park – to cope with demand for our boxes, particularly around Christmas.
“There is much more office space there, which is just what we need, and we’re excited to move in there.
“We’ve installed new flooring which is the same colour as our logo and commissioned new signs for the place, too. It’s the perfect place for us to continue to grow the Colleague Box brand.
“It incredible to think that, 12 months ago, Colleague Box was just an idea we had so that employers could stay in touch with staff who were either furloughed or working remotely due to the first coronavirus lockdown.
“I, too, was furloughed and, together with Adam, we took the initial idea for Colleague Box and turned it into similar to what you see today, working initially from our kitchen table.”
There are now more than 40 different Colleague Boxes available to purchase on their website which she said are suitable for occasions ranging from virtual quiz nights to awards ceremonies.
Keen sports fans Natalie and Adam have sponsored Derbyshire County Cricket Club’s Billy Stanlake for the forthcoming season and recently became one of almost 87,000 海角视频 food businesses to sign up to Too Good To Go – an app which lets companies sell surplus stock straight to consumers to help reduce waste.
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They also donate surplus stock to Derby charities including Derby City Mission, Doorways, Safe and Sound and Macmillan.
Adam said: “The way in which people are using the Colleague Box is so innovative.
“We love it when the phone rings and it’s a company that wants to do something completely custom. We also like to be completely flexible when it comes to contents and work with companies to create their own bespoke box, even sourcing them branded merchandise.
“There have been challenges – we’re a family and have had to endure months of home-schooling our children which has been a balancing act.
“However, we’re in a good place to push the business on post-pandemic and have collaborated with several local, small independent businesses – including cocktaildelivery.co.uk, beauty business Divine Box – another Covid success story – and Mr Shaw; a Derby-based clothing company – to ensure that Colleague Box is constantly evolving.”