Moonpig stars in BBC’s We Are England docu-series
If you’ve ever wondered just how Moonpig does it, the BBC has the answer – a 30-minute documentary on the online greetings giant as part of its We Are England series.
Greetings From Guernsey is specifically within the Made In England section and explains just how the Moonpig factory on the island operates, getting each personalised card printed, cut, folded, and ready to post within 45 minutes of the order being placed.
But there’s a daily race against the clock as the team has to make sure its products get to the island’s airport in time for the last plane to the mainland each evening – all helped by the unique barcode on the back of each card detailing the correct address for the computerised system to print on the envelope.
On its LinkedIn post, Moonpig said: “The episode focuses mainly on our incredible team in Guernsey, you get to know some of the people working there, their lives and how they work tirelessly to please our customers.
“Every single card they print is unique and made to order. In fact, on average, all cards are printed, in an envelope and ready for pick up by the post within 45 minutes of the order placed. We think that’s damn impressive, so a massive well done to the whole Guernsey team!”
As well as looking at life on the island there’s also a peek inside Moonpig’s London offices where the pet-friendly atmosphere and surge in demand over Covid has seen the team design a range of cards to send to, from and about your furred, feathered and finned friends, and you see the inaugural one, to Walter the office dog for his first birthday, go through the system.
Operations director Alan Rimington reveals the company’s personalised gifting side has now grown so much they’ve opened a warehouse and factory in Tamworth which is five times larger than the island space and should cope with 40,000 gifts a day at peak times such as Valentine’s.
The programme is peppered with interesting facts, such as that the Guernsey factory’s machines can handle up to 18,000 cards an hour during peak times, with an average of 3,500-4,000 at normal levels, there are 30,000-plus designs on the website, and each morning there are around 30,000 orders waiting. The episode can be watched on this link.
Top: Moonpig’s Guernsey factory is the heart of the business
Moonpig’s charity range helps young designers
Proving Christmas really is a time for giving, Moonpig has just launched its 30-design charity festive range including cards from aspiring designers supported by End Youth Homelessness.
The first charity set up to tackle to issue of increasing youth homelessness, which has grown by 40% in the past five years, EYH and its member organisations now help 40,000 16 to 25 year-olds every year by ensuring they have access to housing, education, employment and support.
And Moonpig has teamed up with this very worthy cause, pledging a £50,000 donation in connection with the Christmas card sales, as well as giving six young designers who use the charity’s services the chance to show their artistic skills in the range,
With assistance from the Moonpig design team, Megan Sheppard, 18; Emma Little, 23; Chloe Emslie, 21; Courtney Brown, 22; Megan Downie, 23; and 19-year-old Natasha Harrison have come up with a mixture of bold and bright festive colours combined with classic Christmas characters including reindeers and robins, with the option to personalise the cards using the photo upload function.
Emma said: “Being creative and artistic is something I’ve always enjoyed doing, I spend a lot of my spare time doing arty activities so, when I heard about this opportunity, I thought it would be an amazing experience to put my skills to the test and create a card for Moonpig.”
Each card features a credit to the individual young designer, explaining how the charity’s services helped them turn their life around, while there is messaging supporting EYH and information on the cause on the wider range of 30 Christmas cards which feature personalised, photo upload and standard designs.
Having been key to finding all the girls a safe place to live, EYH is also supporting them in education and life skills, and Courtney is already selling her own artwork with the aim of a career in art or design, while Chloe is hoping to find a job where she can put her artistic skills to good use.
Sarah-Jane Porter, Moonpig’s global design and licensing director, commented: “We admire the support End Youth Homelessness provides to so many young people across the country, so it was really important for us to not only put together a great Christmas offer from our existing range, but also to create an opportunity for six young aspiring designers to learn from our expert designers and turn their drawings into brand-new cards that became part of the range.”
The designs are available to buy until 21 December here, and every card sold supports EYH’s mission to end youth homelessness on a national scale and give vulnerable young people a future.
