Bath-based stationery and calendar manufacturer The Gifted Stationery Company has been acquired by a major player in the UK paper products market responsible for millions of Christmas crackers and billions of napkins.
Under the ownership of Swan Mill Group, better known by its brand name Swantex, Gifted will maintain its office in Bath from where it will continue to supply calendars, diaries and stationery products to UK retailers and charities, as well as for export.
Founded in 2007 by Nigel Parr, pictured, left, with Swan Mill CEO David Byk, Gifted has grown to have a turnover of £5m. Earlier this year it launched a children’s lifestyle range, Hey Hugo, with product lines including backpacks, pencil cases, meal boxes and water bottles.
Gifted’s takeover, financial details of which have not been disclosed, is Swanley, Kent-headquartered Swan Mill’s second of a Bath business following its 2015 acquisition of greeting card company Ling Design.
Swan Mill’s portfolio also includes Penny Kennedy, a luxury gift packaging brand it snapped up in 2004 and is now based in Bath, and Gloucester-based The Great British Card Company (GBCC), which it bought in 2019.
Swan Mill, which was established in 1892 as the Swan Mill Paper Company, said the day-to-day running of The Gifted Stationery Company would remain unchanged.
Swan Mill CEO David Byk said: “The Gifted brand is well-known for the more than 500 dated products they run each year which is absolutely new to us and, 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.
“In addition, we are excited about all the opportunities we can also develop together through our networks with Hey Hugo.
“In total they currently run over 1,000 SKUs [stock-keeping units] and we see this, and their expertise to supply these categories bespoke for our customers, as a real boost to our total offer.
“We really believe the very talented Gifted team can have a strong future within the group.”
Gifted founder and director Nigel Parr said he met David Byk at Heathrow Airport many years ago when they were both on their way to the Canton Fair, China’s largest trade fair staged in the city of Guangzhou.
Recalling that their flight to Hong Kong was cancelled, he added: “We are the only two mad people who I have ever come across who think it’s a good idea to land in Hong Kong and then take three buses into China and a taxi to a hotel in Guangzhou, arriving unshowered nearly 24 hours later in order to be at the fair as quickly as possible.
“We worked out we were both staying at the same hotel so decided to race each other to the hotel in China from Heathrow and the loser buys the beers.
“We still disagree about who bought the beers but at that point I worked out we have a business ethos in common.”
San Mill, which today has an office in Hong Kong, manufactures and imports products ranging from napkins and table coverings to Christmas crackers, party goods, gift wrap and greetings cards.
Its 250-strong workforce in the UK and Asia produce 4bn paper napkins, 40m-plus metres of gift wrap and 25m crackers a year.
