75 PROFILE MOLLY MAE T: +44 (0)1455 557 115 www.mollymae.co.uk in-house and customers know that we will bend over backwards to meet their needs. We ship most orders the same day, sometimes throwing tasty treats in, we listen to requests of unique titles and value their feedback on how we can improve our services. How are you finding the current climate in the UK? Is it affecting business? Our stockists tell us that they are facing some of the most challenging conditions that they have witnessed in their own trading times. Staff recruitment and retention is challenging, as well as energy costs. However, they say that whilst they are sourcing high quality, innovative products, they are meeting the needs of their loyal customer base and are confident about the future. How do you view the future of independent retail? Buyers still enjoy the personal contact and buying experience that can only be delivered by independent retail. They are an asset to our communities and keep our market towns and villages alive. We support independent retail as much as possible by continually launching new designs, so they have fresh product to keep their customers coming back, engaging with their social media and being loyal to our stockists. Are you active on social media? How is this important for the business? In the last year we have increased our social media activity. We enjoy adding reels on Instagram as a way of sharing some of the ‘behind the scenes’ moments and promoting our new products. We also enjoy engaging with our stockists through social media, seeing their shops, their staff and generally getting to know them better! Do you have any advice for new businesses starting out in the world of gifts? Do something you enjoy, working for yourself is really hard work but doing something you enjoy makes the hard work easier and worthwhile. It’s a friendly industry, don’t be afraid to ask questions and take advice. What can we expect in the future from the company? This is a very exciting year for me personally. In the spring my original business partner chose to move on, and I had the opportunity to buy the business to run on my own. Whilst it’s been hard work and the hours put in feel similar to those in the early days, I have absolutely loved the creative freedom and feel immensely proud of what I, alongside the Molly Mae team, have achieved so far. We’ve just launched over 150 new designs and I was overwhelmed by the response, we think it’s one of our strongest launches ever. We also visited the licensing show this year and have been following up on a couple of new contacts. We’re hoping to launch some Molly Mae giftware later in the year.
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