Gift team grows by three and welcomes ex-Rams skipper
DERBY gift company Colleague Box has welcomed three new members of staff – and moved into a bigger warehouse – as it continues to go from strength to strength.
Chrissy Law, an experienced head of marketing with 15 years’ experience, joins as marketing manager, Katie Lowe has been appointed order fulfilment specialist while Gemma McHarg, who has experience working with companies including Jaguar Landrover and, more recently, Pattonair, is the new commercial sales director.
The trio join husband-and-wife founders Adam and Natalie Bamford, order fulfilment manager Carly Dainty and accounts manager Hannah O’Brien at the Derby company’s new home, a 4,000sq ft warehouse – called The Smile Factory – in Northedge Business Park.
Adam said: “We are delighted to welcome Chrissy, Gemma and Katie to Colleague Box.
“Chrissy has a wealth of marketing experience; Natalie and I have known her for several years, having worked with her at Selenity, our previous employers. Chrissy helped us in the early days to get Colleague Box up and running and will be instrumental in pushing the business on.
“Katie also has previous experience working on a temporary basis for Colleague Box and we’re delighted to be able to appoint her on a permanent basis, while Gemma’s portfolio is pretty impressive; she also set up a business – Active Toddler Clothing – during the pandemic and joins us at a really exciting time with a brand-new website launching soon and Christmas on the horizon.”
As marketing director, Chrissy has been busy developing marketing campaigns – with a big push on the festive period.
She said: “We are so excited about Christmas here at Colleague Box and have received several enquiries about our range of personalised gift boxes already.
“The products are starting to arrive at the warehouse and I’ve been busy putting the finishing touches to the Christmas campaign, which promises to be extra special this year.
“I have loved watching how Colleague Box has taken off over the past 18 months and am thoroughly enjoying working here; there is a great team spirit and it’s exciting to see where the future takes us.”
The new appointments mean that the workforce has more than tripled over the last year and Natalie – who has taken on the role of managing director to help grow the business – has big plans for the festive period and beyond.
She said: “Christmas promises to be a busy time of year again for us, so we’re launching early bird offers in September as companies look for that perfect gift for their colleagues and partners. Last year, we completely sold out of our Christmas range, so it’s best to get your order in early.
“We’re also growing other areas of our business, collaborating with others – we see collaborations as key to our success – and it is fabulous to see how our Beers and Business Club is taking off.”
The Beers and Business Club is the brainchild of Adam. The monthly online get-together is aimed at fellow entrepreneurs and business leaders to give them time to network and have a chat.
At the heart of the event is a chance to sample some of the latest craft beers, which will have been carefully chosen by Adam and his team and sent out to participants before the start of the meeting, along with selected snacks.
The venture is being launched as a subscription-led model with the attendees paying £16 each month for the service. Each month the club welcomes a guest speaker, with former Derby County captain and Danish international Jacob Laursen being the most recent guest.
Adam said: “I have longed to have a podcast but I didn’t think that was suitable for me; I don’t think that my monotone voice is really suitable, so I created a platform whereby I can enjoy a few beers responsibly, we can all relax and chat about anything we want to.