An historic manufacturer specialising in Christmas goods has acquired a Bath-based stationery and calendar business for an undisclosed sum. The Gifted Stationery Company, a firm with a turnover of £5m founded by Nigel Parr in 2007, is now under the ownership of the Swan Mill Group. Despite the acquisition, the day-to-day operations of Gifted will remain the same.
Mr Parr will continue to run the company from a Bath office, supplying calendars, diaries and stationery products to UK retailers and charities, as well as export customers. "The Gifted brand is well-known for the more than 500 dated products they run each year which is absolutely new to us," said David Byk, chief executive of Swan Mill Group. Earlier this year, Gifted launched a children's lifestyle range - Hey Hugo - including backpacks, pencil cases, meal boxes and water bottles.
"We are excited about all the opportunities we can also develop together through our networks with Hey Hugo," Mr Byk added. "In total they currently run over 1,000 SKUs and we see this, and their expertise to supply these categories bespoke for our customers, as a real boost to our total offer." This marks Swan Mill Group's second acquisition in five years, having added the Great British Card Company (GBCC) to its portfolio in 2019, reports .
Mr Byk added: "Whilst GBCC now has a strong stationery offer the Gifted one has a significant point of difference and will thus be incremental to the group." The Swan Mill Group was founded in 1892 .