32. 3 Blonde Bears

Founder: Jo Jenners
Founded: January 2011
Website: www.3blondebears.co.uk

Jo Jenners’ high-end personalised gifts retailer is now part of a select group of start-ups to make our list for the third time running following another successful year. The company has been able to ramp up its production since moving to a new 1,200 square foot warehouse, with its hand-designed ceramics, aprons and more continuing to grow in popularity. The company generated revenues of £642,000 last year, turning a healthy profit in the process, and expects to grow this to £801,000 in 2014 – extremely impressive for a business grown from just £5,000 of savings.

Well-heeled ABC female customers continue to serve as its key demographic, with ‘empty nester’ buyers developing into another strong market and a new ‘corporate arm’ gaining solid traction. To continue its strong growth trajectory, the brand has undergone a recruitment drive to hire some key management and technical members of the team. All the signs point to another strong year for 3 Blonde Bears; with the business moving ever closer to achieving Jenners’ mission to offer “the fastest turnaround of high quality, stylish, personalised gifts in the UK.”