Personalised Favours in the AFR Fast

Personalised Favours in the AFR Fast 100 Club

WEST GOSFORD ONLINE wedding and special occasions personalised gift store has joined the elite AFR Fast 100 club being placed 61st among Australia’s fastest growing businesses in 2021.

What started off ten years ago as a good idea has mushroomed into a $10 million business with over 60 employees that is as much an online retail business as a manufacturing business.

Melissa Wilkinson, an industrial designer, was looking to buy personalised wedding gifts for some friends who were getting married and found there was nothing on the market that fitted her ideas for such a special occasion. he started by sourcing suitable products and embellishing them by engraving or adding personalised artwork thereby adding value, then selling them on eBay.

That was in 2010 and she soon found that she had hit on a niche market and established Personalised Favours online wedding and special occasions store with a well-designed website.

The business took off and it wasn’t long before the workload necessitated additional help and Ms. Wilkinson brought her brother-in-law Matthew Mosse-Robinson, a corporate banker for eight years, into the business.

Personalised Favours won the

Australian Bridal Industry Academy Awards in 2014 and 2015.

The last financial year saw Personalised Favours’ turnover increase by a whopping 25% due to changes bought about by COVID and the numbers of people in isolation buying online.

However, initially business dropped right off as weddings were cancelled overnight and a new range of products had be thought through and introduced to a new market.

Right from the start Mrs Wilkinson and Mr Mosse-Robinson have had a total focus on product innovation and customer service.

With the benefits of high-speed broadband their customer reach enables them to reach a global market. They now count around 100,000 customers worldwide including a strong customer base in the United States serviced through a dedicated US website.

With a focus on customer service and innovation, Personalised Favours now has a product range of over a thousand items, and new products being constantly introduced, and a turnover time from order to shipping of a maximum of two days.

When interviewed by CCBR the pair had just ordered a new laser engraving machine and three embroidery machines – a substantial investment.

A few years ago, Mrs Wilkinson’s husband and co-founder of the business, also an industrial designer, joined the business as National Sales Manager.

With a workforce of over sixty people employee satisfaction and health is of prime importance and

Mrs Wilkinson said that with mental health in the workplace always an issue they are constantly on the alert to provide

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Melissa Wilkinson and Matthew Mosse-Robinson support to all staff. “We see that we also need to offer a career patch for our people and this includes upskilling, team building and a leadership programme.” “We employ people from school leavers to mums with special time needs,” she said. As the company’s workforce has increased they now employ a Human Resources Manager and Production Manager. Argyle Estates Business Brokers EST. OVER

40YEARS

argyle@argyleestates.com.au Graham McMullen – Licensee F.A.I.B.B. 0419326555

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