My Gifts Trade describes life in lockdown and looking to the future

British family business, My Gifts Trade, started out life as the Music Exchange in 1966 and since 2014 has successfully diversified into home and giftware, employing 32 people and operating from a 1,200m² warehouse facility near Manchester.

Director Nikki Courtney gives an honest account of the life of a business in lockdown, saying: “As we approached March 2020 our company was coming out of a difficult year due to apprehension about Brexit and a weaker pound. As My Gifts Trade and ECP Design, we had just unloaded our vans from our most successful trade fair in our 5-year history supplying gifts and home ware to retailers. We were hugely optimistic, had a massive order book and stock arriving by the pallet for all types of retailer. News of the pandemic felt a long way away in our busy warehouse.

“Then press briefings began and each day the anxiety started to increase. Those who were saying it would blow over in a week became a little more muted. Then we were told non-essential businesses had to close one evening at 5pm. Our employees understood this as it was too unsafe to come to work. We supplied gifts so surely not essential. Some were willing to work but as we understood more about the virus, the building suddenly felt smaller. We had 32 employees to keep safe. Most are local residents to the warehouse, quite a few related.

“We took the very difficult decision to send our employees home even though we weren’t forced to. We felt until we had made some changes in how we worked, we couldn’t ensure everyone was safe from the invisible virus. We were under immense pressure to stay open. Some customers told us they would move their business if we didn’t stay open. Those days were dark, struggling with the dilemma of commercial pressure and the longevity of the business and safety for our staff and also ourselves and our families. Deliveries to garden centres were coming back faster than we could cope with. Retailers refusing what we had worked so hard to achieve. Cancelled orders from retailers who didn’t have the decency to call and tell us.

“The pressure mounted as each day there was little support for our small business. No Business Rates holiday, we were over the threshold on rateable value. The loan looked difficult. Years of investing our profits in diversifying our family business with over 50 years heritage into a wider product portfolio. It felt like we were slipping through the cracks.

“Finally the word we hadn’t heard of and a word we now say at least ten times a day. Furlough. There was a lifeline, this could keep us going whilst retailers were shut and not buying. We closed our doors. My father packed his briefcase, aged 72 and said goodbye to his office of over 30 years. How could something so unprecedented take the life from our business? Our buzz, our energy… which everyone who knows us sees at the trade shows.

“Three weeks went buy, our customers agreed we should close, it took time to recover. The anxiety immense. We worked tirelessly to secure a loan and claim furlough over these weeks.

“The conversations between the management staff started to turn to how do we open again, without any real direction. A group volunteered to clean the warehouse, a job not really done for a long time. We always seemed too busy! Bleach was sprayed everywhere, years of dust removed under benches and pallet bays. Demarkation areas all over our warehouse, one-way systems implemented, supplies of bleach and sanitiser secured.

“We opened against last week and this week, pray the news of garden centres opening safely means we may be able to sell again. There is a lot of stock and we need help moving it. We are still here to serve and please our customers”.