Independent greeting card and gift retailer Beverley Heyworth, owner of Blue Rose Gifts & Balloons in Heywood, has a gift for coming up with initiatives and ways of expanding her business – and now her own brand of personalised chocolate has made the shortlist for Gift of the Year. Her Personalised Pieces of Pleasure chocolate range is in the finals in the Food and Drink category.
“I was ecstatic to be shortlisted, especially with the product being in its infancy – only just being launched in late last October,” says Beverley. “It is a massive plus to the shop and brings new people in. To be able to use the GOTY logo on our branding and in the shop is a tremendous help as it is a recognised accolade, just like being a finalist last year in The Retas.”
Beverley branched out into chocolate a few years ago with a basic range, but found she was continually being asked for personalised bars. “Chocolate is a big seller for the shop, I added chocolate bouquets in 2016 and shaped chocolate (spanners, paint brushes, taps etc), but our Personalised Pieces of Pleasure is the main event,” says Beverley.
The shop is known for its personalised products from cards, posters, banners for parties, personalised mugs, cushions and various gifts. Beverley explains how she came up with the idea: “I had seen a company doing giant basic moulded letters and took it one step further, designing my own pieces in rainbow colours. The concept is simple and sometimes that works! You walk in, buy an 8 year old card and balloon, and now you can have ‘Happy 8th Birthday Robert’ in a chocolate message that is made while you wait.”
Beverley and the team came up with lots of other messages including ‘I love wine’, choc, beer and many other messages. “We sold over 3,000 pieces in two months, which for a launch was amazing! I’m so very happy with the response. All in all it has been an eventful few months and this year will prove to be just as busy. We’re currently making up ‘Will You Marry Me?’ products for Valentine’s Day – so many ideas to showcase!”
Beverley will be taking her new chocolate to Ramsbottom Chocolate Festival in March, which attracts over 30,000 people. “It is only a few miles from here and will point lots of new people to the shop,” says Beverley. “All these things are done to drive people to the shop and then they become regulars and so our bread and butter and help build the future of the business, keep staff in jobs and promote business within the town.”
*On the back of the success of a Christmas card design competition the shop ran with local schools, Beverley is now looking to run another competition with the local schools and Scout group to design a wedding card for the Royal Wedding this year.
