Flashback Friday: 2019 in review

07 February 2020
Posted by Holly

As the first month of 2020 is now complete (how scary is that!), we thought we’d look back on some of the best memories and moments of the last year. It’s so easy to get caught up in the fast pace here in the office that we don’t often stop and take the time to review our small successes, but now that a new decade has begun, we thought this would be the perfect time to reflect on 2019…

Industry recognition

2019 saw our Nando’s gift range nominated as a finalist for the Best Brand Licensed Gifting Range at the Brand and Lifestyle Licensing Awards, the B&LLA’s.

As one of our longest-standing brands and one of the UK’s most-loved restaurants, we were delighted for our Nando’s gift range – full of the brand’s fiery PERi-PERi sauces, salt, and rubs, and our iconic hardware – to be recognised by the B&LLA’s. Of course, we’re a little biased, but we really do think the range is smokin’ (pun intended!)… 😉

“Scrumdiddlyumptious” new brand licenses

2019 saw us bring some exciting new customers and brands on board. Roald Dahl was a very exciting one for us, seeing us bring to life the infamous characters and memorable tales from Matilda with our Miss Trunchbull chocolate cake mix kit and our children’s drinking cup, complete with a sweet gummy newt!

We also began to work with Elf on the Shelf for the first time, creating several festive gift sets which share the timeless nostalgic appeal of the brand itself. Elf on the Shelf has grown exponentially in recent years, fast becoming the UK’s most popular Christmas tradition amongst young families as Santa’s magical helpers bring the magic of Christmas to life.

With more exciting new brands in the works for 2020, make sure to watch this space!

Exciting press coverage

Our Reese’s & Kellogg’s gift ranges spent the festive season in the limelight, featuring in Debenhams’ Christmas 2019 television and digital ad campaigns. As the first time our products have appeared on television to date, we were all very excited to see this – not to mention the advert also featured fabulous singer Fleur East!

A variety of our gift sets, including our range of gifts for pets and pet lovers, also made the window display of Debenhams’ flagship Oxford Street store which was fantastic to see.

A special visit

During the summer we were delighted to welcome a special visitor to our office: our local MP for Bedford, Mohammad Yasin. It was wonderful to host him in the office and show him the range of gift products in our showroom. The team were delighted to meet him and tell him about the work we do here.

Supporting charities close to our hearts

2019 was a great year for us in terms of supporting local and national charities. We baked up a storm, dressed up in crazy Christmas jumpers, donated surplus food stock to our local Bedford food bank, and then baked some more, raising money for Breast Cancer Care, Macmillan Cancer Research, Comic Relief, and Save the Children in the process.

We were thrilled to be able to raise money for these great causes both on a local and national scale (and enjoy a sweet treat while doing so with our infamous office bake-offs!).

Familiar favourites and new horizons

2019 saw exciting new developments with our historic brands, from coffee shop favourite Costa Coffee and American confectionery giant Reese’s, to iconic Coca-Cola, vintage Kellogg’s, and many more.

Aside from our gifting classics, we were delighted to launch our very first homewares range across e-commerce platforms in 2019, with our much-loved Kellogg’s vintage style range which was met with great excitement from fans and collectors of the nostalgic cereal brand.

2020 and beyond

This year Kimm & Miller turns 13 – unlucky for some, but not for us! With exciting brands in the mix, new product development underway, and our in-house designers at the cutting edge of all the latest trends, we’re looking forward to seeing what 2020 and the new decade will bring us. Happy new year!

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