Shop Small and Buy British – Sounds Great but Is It Easy?

As a start-up business, and a start-up during a Pandemic here at OohBox we know just how hard it is to be seen and heard, and the seemingly impossible task of standing out against the gift box giants.  The good news is it can be done and there are vast numbers in the small business army.

According to the Federation of Small Business, at the start of 2020 there were almost 6 million small businesses in the UK collectively making up 99% of all businesses!  It’s a staggering figure but after the disaster of the last year it will be interesting to see how many remain.

One fifth of all small businesses are in the construction industry and just 9% in the retail industry so just how easy is it to “shop small”? Just over half a million business right across the UK around 242,495 km squared which equates to just 2 privately owned retailers per square kilometre, so given that these could be anything from food outlets to clothing the answer is that despite the numbers it is unlikely that you will find what you need on your doorstep.

Step up the world-wide-web.  This is the Utopia for small business especially businesses who specialise in hand-made goods or specialist items.

Here at OohBox we aim to champion the small business world in our range of gift boxes.

From our inception in early 2020 we have searched far and wide for the best gifts to include in all our just for you gift boxes.  Whether you are looking for a relax gift box, a birthday box for him or her or even a gift box for your cat or goody box for your dog we have included gifts sourced and often made within the UK.  We have mixed these with well-known brands hoping to achieve the best of both worlds in our gift collections.  For example our Party Time glassware gift box, the Wine O’clock, contains a deliciously decadent hand painted Lolita wine glass, Lolita is a well-known global brand and we have partnered this with a set of hand crafted copper charms from Little Doris.  Lizzie is a specialist in hand crafted eco-friendly charms, stoppers and stirrers.  We have also included the Stockholm wine stopper by Orrefor, a Swedish specialist glassware company founded in 1898 and a company who partners with some of the best of Swedish designers. Simply beautiful.

Another favourite is The Candle Brand of Norfolk.  We love the fragrances that Christina infuses through her hand poured candles.  We have selected several different scents which we have paired with other beautiful gifts throughout our collections.  We have focussed particularly on the Romantic gifts and the Relax and Pamper collections where you will find that we have included branded teas, luxury notebooks and self-help titles from well-known authors.

Rest assured we have also sniffed out some fabulous UK small food suppliers.  Whether it is the fabulous hand blended tea from Tea Mixologists Bird and Blend or chocolatiers to the Queen, Prestat, we have spared no expense in finding the best to share with you in our beautiful gift boxes.  Here lies the key to the success of small business over the giants.  It is care, it is passion and it is a pride in what we do.  It is personal.

We hope you enjoy our collections and if you wish to introduce a small business who produces quality gifts that could be included as a gift in our boxes then feel free to email us.