Former Moonpig MD Iain Martin joins My 1st Years to spearhead growth

My 1st Years, the children’s product personalisation company founded by Young Guns Daniel Price and Jonny Sitton, has announced the appointment of ex-Moonpig Managing Director Iain Martin as chairman.

Founded in 2010, My 1st Years sells unique products for everything from births to christenings, school trips to Christmas, such as clothes and footwear, silver keepsakes, teddy bears, blankets and storage solutions.

The company has attracted a number of celebrity fans including HRH Prince George, Harper Beckham, Luna Legend, Elijah and Zachary John and Jessica Simpson’s son Ace, and secured retail partnerships with the likes of notonthehighstreet.com, John Lewis, and Selfridges.

Martin joined Moonpig – the personalised greeting card business founded by Dragons’ Den star Nick Jenkins – as commercial director in 2006 before becoming managing director in January 2007. The company saw turnover grow from £1.8m to more than £60m before his departure in 2015.

Backed by a £5m Series A, Martin will use his experience to help My 1st Years embark on its next stage of growth, developing its personalisation proposition and scaling both in the UK and in key markets such as the US.

Commenting on his appointment, Martin said: “I was drawn to the business because it has such an excellent product range and a team that really seem to care about its customers.

“Whilst the personalisation technology that has been developed is interesting, a visit to the factory to see the care and attention that the staff put into making the product and the beautiful way the gifts are packaged demonstrated to me the very essence of the business and brand.”

Price added: “We have hailed Moonpig as a bit of a hero business when it comes to personalisation for a while, so we had our sights firmly set on Martin and managed to get an introduction via one of our investors.

“The chemistry was there instantly – what was supposed to be a 15-minute coffee turned into a five-hour meeting talking about brand positioning, customer acquisition, personalisation technology – but also about protecting our culture as we grow and so on. We couldn’t have picked a better Chairman for My 1st Years as we enter the next chapter – it’s going to be an exciting time.”