Manchester-based Chatterbox Walls is celebrating its third anniversary this month and the Trafford Park-based gift company is now set to launch to an American market.
The company, which produces personalised, printed wall art with words and pictures, has helped customers to create thousands of unique pieces of art since it launched in 2013 and sales are up 40% on last year’s figures.
The idea for Chatterbox Walls was born when Jon Pritchard was looking for a unique gift for his wife’s 40th birthday. Struggling to find anything really personal which would fit the bill he teamed up with Manchester print and typography expert Simon Perry and together they created the first piece of Chatterbox Walls art.
Jon realised that he could combine his marketing skills with Simon’s design and print capabilities to create a market leading, high-quality, personalised gift service which is rapidly becoming a UK market leader. Customers choose a design they like and then add their own words, phrases, expressions and photographs to create a gift of their own making.
Commenting on the company’s growth Jon said: “The UK personalised gift market is worth over £1bn according to a 2015 survey by YouGov which showed that out of 1000 adults surveyed over 53% have sent a personalised gift. That’s 27m people with an average spend of over £36.00 per gift and that is in the UK alone.
“We already have significant traction in the UK market and we have now signed an agreement with a logistics partner which will allow us to do next day delivery to the States. We already have a number of international customers but, as we can now guarantee next day delivery, it opens up a whole new market for us.”
He added: “The company has traded really well for its first three years and what sets us apart from the competition is the level of investment we have made into our website technology. This includes a unique on-line preview function which allows people to see what they have created before they buy. That, coupled with the exceptional level of print quality we can achieve with our state-of-the-art presses means the finished product is of really high quality. We continually innovate with our product design and have recently introduced new box frames to create stand out pieces for really special occasions.”
“Peak trading times for the company are special occasions such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, birthdays and anniversaries and of course Christmas which are always popular. However, we get orders from people celebrating their divorce, listing their house rules, saying goodbye to their teachers, and occasionally some really rude ones which are always quite amusing !”
As part of its growth plans Chatterbox Walls is continuing to make significant investment in its website function and also into social media and digital marketing campaigns.
The firm now employs 6 people from its base at Wheel Forge Way at Trafford Park, including newly recruited digital print apprentice Ben Forrest, and will be recruiting in the run up to Christmas to support its growing business.
