AN entrepreneur who started producing labels for children’s clothing to keep track of her sons’ rugby kit is eyeing rapid growth after generating strong interest in the care home and luxury yachting markets.
Ann-Maree Morrison is targeting a 30 per cent increase in turnover, to £330,000 in the coming year, after receiving indications there is significant unmet demand for labels that can be used to help stop adults’ possessions going astray.
“The market for children’s products is well established but it’s not just kids who lose their belongings,” said the Australia-born Ms Morrison.
She added: “We’ve seen a significant rise in the number of care homes approaching us because of problems of residents’ belongings becoming mixed-up or lost, particularly in the laundry.”
With this market in mind Ms Morrison’s Labels4Kids has developed labelling for things like glasses and glasses cases, toothbrushes and watches to add to the range of products it supplies for clothing.
The Stirling-based firm has been approached to help address the challenges faced by firms that operate luxury yachts, which have to launder the uniforms of crews and the linen used by guests.
With the company also expecting to add more rugby and soccer clubs to its client list, Ms Morrison plans to invest £50,000 increasing capacity. The investment programme will include the development of a new web site with the capability of processing multiple orders and the launch of the Labels4Brands marque.
A chartered accountant by training, Ms Morrison has been pleased to find the business she started as a cottage industry-type venture in 2004 has developed into an e-commerce operation which has met challenges on a range of fronts.
She noted: “As well as the complicated work of fulfilling orders from several different sectors on time ... we’ve had to courier orders to different ports-of-call on cruise schedules around the world.”
Ms Morrison has said she decided to go into business for herself after suffering serious injuries in a road crash while visiting Australia in 1997. This prompted her to try to find a way to work that would allow her to spend more time with her family.
She had moved to the UK to take up a job with PwC.The idea for Labels4Kids came out of the frustration she suffered when replacing items her three sons lost at school
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