When multititle mailer Findel announced in April 2009 that it was
disposing of one of its “noncore assets”, the
Cotswold Company home shopping business, it was believed to be
the end of the furniture and home furnishings cataloguer.
But like its former sister brand Letterbox, which found a home
with toys and novelties cataloguer/retailer Hawkin’s Bazaar just
after Findel went public with its intentions, the Cotswold
Company has been revived and relaunched.
In August 2009, Findel sold the brand name, web URL, and customer
database of the Cotswold Company to Norfolk-based Blackbird
Retail Holdings. Blackbird Retail Holdings also operates Pine
Solutions, an online furniture retailer that was founded in
Norwich in 2003 and is still run by Kevin Johnson.
Under the radar
The Cotswold Company’s new chief executive is James Birtwhistle,
who founded IT firm Surf2. Initially, says Birtwhistle, he was
looking for “something in the venture capital field, but
through a couple of mutual friends I heard about the acquisition
and decided to get involved”. Now he says he feels like a
brand ambassador, with a focus on “getting operational
efficiencies right in the business, to give it the best possible
chance of being a long-term success story”.
One of Birtwhistle’s main goals for 2010 is to bring product
availability to 95 percent. The Cotswold Company did not acquire
any stock from Findel, but says it is working with “a
number of historical suppliers” to bring back its popular
traditional ranges. Looking at the website, which went live in
late 2009, the merchandise looks similar to the lines the
Cotswold Company marketed whilst with Findel. There are
large-ticket items such as wooden and rattan chests of drawers,
oak tables and chairs, desks, and sideboards, alongside smaller
items such as rugs, cookware, and mirrors.
So far, the company has kept a low profile, with Birtwhistle
avoiding “huge press events” to promote its relaunch.
Instead, it has held one event in January and begun trialling
inserts in consumer titles including the Sunday Times, Easy
Living, and House Beautiful to gradually generate
awareness and further drive traffic to the website. At press
time, the Cotswold Company was yet to finalise the rest of its
management team and was actively looking for a marketing boss to
head up marketing activities across its channels, including
ecommerce and direct mail.
Client wins
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