As part of its ambitious expansion plan, this Sunday (June 16) will see Budget Greeting Cards open its Nottingham branch, meaning the greeting card, partyware, stationery and gift wholesaler will be trading from nine branches in the UK and Eire.
The opening of the new branch comes three months after Canadian private equity company Ardenton Capital Corporation bought a 51% stake in the wholesale business that co-founded by brothers Paul and Martin Lavery back in the 1970s.
As revealed by PG Buzz, the opening in Nottingham is the first of five new branches that BGC has set its sights on (https://www.pgbuzz.net/budget-greeting-cards-gears-up-to-open-five-more-branches/), though the other locations have yet to be announced.
Commenting on the new Nottingham branch, Paul, who remains very much at the helm of the business told PG Buzz that he is “very excited about the future of this new branch” and states that the launch of the Nottingham site is the first step in its plans to establish a ‘bricks and mortar’ presence in geographic areas that have not had a BGC branch local to them in the past. “Nottingham was an obvious choice for this first additional branch as we are aware of the size of the existing market from the number of our customers who already travel to our other branches. This location will offer greater reach into the East Midlands and beyond, enabling customers who haven’t had access to the quality of our exclusive product offering before,” said Paul.
The new 40,000 sq ft premises (on the Centurion Business Park) will house an extensive greeting card offer (both from BGC’s own brand collections as well as from other wholesale publishers) as well as a wide selection of partyware, stationery, toys, homeware and gifts.
In common with its other branches, the Nottingham branch will incorporate a dedicated area that will be used for balloon training.
The honour of official pronouncing the new branch open for business by ‘cutting the ribbon’ at 8am on Sunday morning will go to the business’ first customer, who will receive a special commemorative goody bag.
BGC is to run a special promotion in the Nottingham branch from June 16 to September 1 offering a generous 50% discount off ‘current’ greeting cards on its shelves.
When asked how significant investment-wise the opening in Nottingham represents, Paul response was “It’s huge!Ardenton Capital’s investment represents a new chapter for BGC. It’s great to be working with new partners who bring new expertise and a fresh vision for the future,” he said of Ardenton. “Our Nottingham opening, our Dunstable re-launch in July and continued efforts to open up new routes to market are all positive contributions to our continued growth. BGC’s aim, as always, is to offer the very best products, pricing and service to our loyal customers. This commitment is what attracted Ardenton’s investment, and will continue to be at the centre of what we do,” he added.
The new Nottingham branch joins Budget’s current eight branches, which are in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Dublin, Dunstable, Gateshead and Manchester.
Top: The new Nottingham branch is readying to open on June 16.
