Member Article

Young Tyneside entrepreneur sees growth in activity box venture

A young Tyneside entrepreneur says his children’s activity box business has experienced huge growth of around 230% since it was established last year.

Andy Stephenson says growth of his Weekend Box venture has been driven by personal referrals.

The company make healthy gift boxes for children, delivered on a fortnightly basis, and have even been commissioned to produce one-offs for the Prime Minister to give to visiting foreign dignitaries.

He said: “We started the year with a real passion to drive sales. It really was a case of ‘go big or go home’, and through a few really successful campaigns we’ve generated huge interest.

“A number of really good reviews have also given us that viral feel. People have been signing up friends and family.”

On Monday January 20, Weekend Box took more orders in one day than over the first three-month’s of the business’ trading.

Andy is operating from a self-storage unit in Newcastle city centre - an idea he got from a recent BBC article on micro businesses using the spaces as cheap premises.

He added: “The space is perfect for us at the moment - no business rates, flexible terms and everything is provided.

“I had intended to move into the current space in April, but the recent surge in demand meant I really had to accelerate that.”

Andy employs one full-time packer to service orders and is currently in the process of recruiting a second packer.

His vision is to employ another person to develop the business and help with the operational strategy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .