A highly reputable and rapidly expanding gift publisher, supplying emotive gifts under its trademarked brand, to trade retail sectors within UK and international gift and book markets (independent gift shops, department stores, national accounts, bookshops & book wholesalers, online retailers, and specialist retailers like nursery & garden centres) as well as through established international ecommerce channels and lucrative international licensing agreements. The company’s unique and highly scalable proprietary software has automated many internal processes, from warehousing, trade & consumer customer order creation and order tracking; to facilitating an end-to-end print-on-demand & personalised gift production service tracked to the customer’s delivery address worldwide. Operating across the B2C and B2B markets, the company supplies the trade throughout UK and USA from its two warehouses, and leverages its robust network of global distributors and print partners to supply its rapidly expanding international client base, with products available in a range of languages. The company has been primed for further expansion and, with additional resources, could capitalise on all the available opportunities globally and efficiently.
Key Aspects
• Experienced 90% growth in 2020/21 due to heightened e-commerce trends as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and an upswing in demand for alternative means of staying connected.
• An optimised bespoke software system and additional APIs automate many of the company’s sales operations, including sales order processing, product creation, warehouse management, order tracking and integrates with printers & product creators to ship worldwide.
• Engages a range of sales channels and operates across diverse markets (B2B and B2C), positioning the company ahead of many competitors who focus on singular markets.
• International footprint with distributors in Canada, Oceania and with growing export and licensing markets worldwide representing key growth opportunities.
• Markets products to trade clients in the UK and US as well as retail consumers through multiple international websites and fast delivery from UK & US Warehouses enables trade customers to efficiently replenish stock without storage requirements for excess goods.
• Personalisation functionality is facilitated by the Company’s bespoke software, allowing access to the lucrative personalised gift market. The global market was estimated at £19 billion during 2020, growing to £32 billion by 2027.
• Product design process optimisation enables the Company to quickly develop, test and introduce new products to the market and remain ahead of emerging trends including a recent diversification strategy and agreed production arrangement to introduce new product lines in line with the brand.
Key Opportunities
• Implement a dynamic and innovative marketing campaign, using proven tools such as search engine optimisation, to target the Company’s growing UK and US markets and, in particular, a larger range of diverse retailers.
• License the Company's bespoke and highly advanced personalisation software and printing distribution software to other agencies within the marketplace to secure an additional stream of recurring revenue.
• Capitalise on rapidly growing demand and leverage the Company’s scalable business model to grow international footprint via additional license deals in untapped global markets.
• Augment current distribution by developing a robust network of international distributors to strengthen export markets in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland.
• Replicate licensing partnership model around the world to offer the Company's products in a range of languages, such as Spanish and French.
• Continue expanding the Company's product range, such as introducing personalised stationery, as well as developing book titles alongside new authors, in order to exploit prevalent and emerging growth opportunities.
• Further automate the Company’s personalisation and printing software to secure additional cost savings and streamline internal processes, with a view to capitalising on growing demand for these products - in market valued at £20bn in the UK - and yield stronger profit margins.
• Diversify target markets by enabling consumers direct access to the book pricing software to design and print their own products.
Synergistic Gains
• Opportunity for an acquirer, operating within the publishing or gifting markets, to access the Company’s established and diverse sales channels (both in the UK and overseas), as well as secure a lucrative and highly automated print-on-demand and personalisation service.
• Represents an opportunity for a complementary acquirer to diversify its existing product and service offering, and capitalise on significant cross-selling and up-selling opportunities across a combined client base.
• Opportunity for an international acquirer to secure an established route into the UK marketplace and benefit from the company’s international license agreements, with a view to growing its existing client base and market share, and selling the company’s unrivalled product portfolio in its own markets.
• Opportunity for a US-based acquirer to attain the company's established and profitable business model, leveraging its own sales and distribution channels in the US to dramatically increase uptake for the Company’s products in this rapidly growing market.
• Ideal opportunity for an international manufacturer of books and gifts to obtain the company's established and profitable business model, leveraging its own local printing contacts to reduce printing costs, improve efficiencies throughout the supply chain, and yield more favourable profit margins.
