Huge Growth as The Handmade Christmas Co secure 47 premium pop-ups
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Luxury retailer The Handmade Christmas Co is set for its biggest festive season yet after securing 47 pop-ups for their personalised sacks, baubles and wrapping paper at premium locations across the UK.
Up from just two pop-ups last year, the expanding company has invested £500k in technology and staff at retail operations inside stores including John Lewis, House of Fraser, Hamleys and Marks & Spencer.
The pop-ups will be equipped with printing technology to offer instant personalisation on present sacks, baubles, stockings and wrapping paper.
Co-founder Tom Coleman, from Beckenham in Bromley, said: “Demand for our festive products has grown massively in the three years since we launched, and last year we enjoyed record-breaking sales.
“At the heart of our business remains the commitment to quality which has helped us win and retain customers, which is why taking on our own team who are as dedicated as us is extremely important.”
The Handmade Christmas Co’s first pop-ups will launch late September at John Lewis’s Oxford Street and Peter Jones stores in London. The remainder are scheduled to open during October.
Tom, 28, and Louis Porter, 21, are co-founders and directors of The Handmade Christmas Co, which they started in 2014 using credit card debt to finance their first orders.
Initially the duo outsourced all production, but as demand grew they began recruiting in 2015. They also retail from their website.
Now in their fourth year, Tom and Louis are set to employ more than 100 workers – a huge increase on the 22 employed last year.
17 people will be based at the firm’s London premises while more than 90 will be stationed across 47 pop-ups including 30 at M&S and nine John Lewis shops, where festive products will be personalised while customers wait.
Louis, from Corby in Northamptonshire, added: “We use the latest technology and the finest materials to ensure our Christmas products are of the highest standard, so it’s natural we want to hire the best team too.”
