News

Francis Maude, left, with Touch of Ginger director Gary Moore

A small Cambridgeshire business is set to double its profits after winning a licence to sell Olympic souvenirs.

Francis Maude, the minister for the cabinet office, visited directors of A Touch of Ginger yesterday, to see how it was benefiting from London hosting the 2012 Olympics this summer.

The design company, based in Whittlesford, has been awarded a licence to supply London 2012 branded gifts, including a range of stainless steel wallet tools and limited edition stainless steel playing cards.

Gary Moore, co-director and designer at A Touch of Ginger, described getting the licence as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”.

He said: “The impact of the London 2012 licence on our business has been immense – and we’ve hardly started.

“We expect to grow our business by 50 per cent as a direct result of our involvement.”

The Olympic souvenirs designed by the company range from £5 games for children up to limited edition pieces that cost just under £2,000.

Adam Cash, also a designer and director of the company, added: “It is such a special event we think people will want to have a piece of it, so we have made the products obtainable for everyone.”

Also benefiting from London 2012 is the St Neots-based company Spearmark, which has won a licence to produce drinks bottles, lunchware and tinware for the Games.

The exclusive deal means only Spearmark will be able to sell the products with the Olympic branding up to the Games.

Mr Maude said: “I am delighted to see how local businesses are thriving as a result of the Games.

“It is essential that the economic benefits of London 2012 are felt throughout the country, not just in London, and that small businesses are given the opportunity to compete at a global level.

“I am very fond of Cambridge, having studied here, and there is a lot for tourists to see and do, so I can see the local economy benefiting immensely.”

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Business/Business-News/Design-company-is-on-to-a-winner-10012012.htm

Driver's Glovebox

Golden opportunity for growth from London 2012

Jonathan Edwards

This week Gary and Alison met Jonathan Edwards whilst on a tour of the London 2012 site in Stratford.

Fame at Last!

Cambridge First - 29th January 2011

Cambridge firm’s touch of success with Olympics contract

A thin metal ice scraper the size of a credit card was the idea that launched Whittlesford company Touch of Ginger. Now – just five years later – it’s won the race for an Olympic Games and Paralympic Games contract worth an estimated £1 million. “The ice scraper idea came out of necessity really,” said managing director Adam Cash.

Touch of Ginger MD Adam Cash and director Gary Moore Touch of Ginger retail accounts manager Abi Howe

“You get outside, you haven’t got a scraper and you end up using your credit card on your windscreen – and then you trash your credit card. “The idea was for something a little more robust than that – and it works as a great promotional tool as well because people keep it in their wallet.”

Hundreds of thousands of the scrapers have been sold and the company has grown from its original three founders to a workforce of 12 now. Wallet tools have followed on from the ice scraper – thin metal spanners, bottle openers and so on – as well as ‘metal origami’ models that begin life in a thin credit-card-sized sheet of steel. The company’s other core product is its lifestyle kits – plastic pods containing small useful accessories for travel, sports and a range of other leisure activities. These have also expanded into games sets – for example, travel chess and backgammon.

It means the product range now stretches from a £2.50 ice scraper to a £2,500 pack of stainless steel and gold playing cards. And now it has come up trumps and been awarded the licence to supply London 2012 branded gifts for next year’s Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. They include a set of five unique miniature metal origami athletes – covering track cycling, athletics, archery, weightlifting and fencing.

Touch of Ginger is keen to use UK manufacturers wherever possible – 90 per cent of its products are made in the UK. And it uses 70 per cent recycled steel.

The company expects to grow its business by 50 per cent as a direct result of its involvement in London 2012. But first it has to get over the hurdle of working out the likely demand for its 2012 products and making sure it turns in a winning performance. “One of the major headaches we have is how to plan – how much stock to build in preparation,” said director Gary Moore. “It’s like a firework – once you’ve lit it, you can’t go back to it. What you haven’t built, you can’t sell. And if you sell out, then you can’t rebuild.