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Baskets and blooms at Basgedi
As co-founder and former director of award-winning Equinox Public Relations in Cardiff, Heather Gifford is known throughout South Wales as a serial entrepreneur.
And with an eye for a marketable product, Heather returned home from a holiday to the USA and Canada in 2001 with an idea which has since seen her make a new name for herself as a floristry and gift expert.
Awe-inspired by the innovative packaging techniques used in America’s gift basket industry, Heather immediately recognised the opportunity to introduce the concept into the UK.
She said: “The gift basket market is America’s third largest industry, making over $15 billion every year. Back in 2001 though, there were only half a dozen companies offering gift baskets throughout the whole of the UK.
“As soon as I returned from my trip, I began researching the idea, found premises in the basement of a delicatessen in Cardiff and launched Basgedi.”
Rapidly moving the company on to a larger industrial unit in the Welsh valleys, Heather began testing products for the corporate gift market.
And after selling over 3,000 baskets in the space of just four years, to companies including Lloyds TSB, Specsavers Opticians and Corrs Brewers, Heather decided that the time had come to expand onto the high street.
She knew, however, that gift baskets alone would not stand up as a retail concept and a more accessible route to market was required.
Flowers were the obvious solution.
“Up until this time last year, I had no previous experience of floristry whatsoever, but it made sense that people would appreciate the opportunity to purchase supplementary gifts alongside floral ones,” said Heather.
“I knew that, as the managing director of Basgedi, I would need to develop a comprehensive overview of the market in order to compete, so, before launching my concept store in Lakeside, Cardiff, last September, I booked myself onto an intensive two-week training course.”
The Lakeside store is now managed by a fully qualified, experienced floral designer, as is its sister store in Cardiff’s Whitchurch area, which opened just two weeks later.
The modern, airy stores are designed to escape the traditional image of the cold, dirty, ‘cave-like’ florist’s, with wooden floors and raised consultation areas in the style of high-end lifestyle stores.
Heather explained: “We undertook quite detailed research into how consumers view florists and went out of our way to avoid the stereotypes and offer something different.
“The plan is to roll out into major cities across the UK so we have developed a certain unique style which defines each store as a Basgedi Florist’s.
“Equally important as image, though, is the level of service. Our research findings highlighted bad customer service as a pet hate of consumers so all of our staff are trained in customer handling skills.”
To complement its successful range of corporate gift baskets, Heather has recently introduced wedding baskets into Basgedi’s stores, providing a one-stop shop for the entire day.
“Our wedding baskets cater for everyone in the bridal party, from the page boys to the mother of the bride.
“The typical father of the bride basket is actually a top hat containing an inscribed glass tankard and t-shirt, but each one is bespoke and can be altered according to the customer’s requirements.
“The gift baskets have gone down extremely well and sales are split fairly evenly between those and flowers but, above all, our dual offer has given us the kind of stability missing in floristry since supermarkets began to encroach on the industry.”
Indeed, in the first quarter of 2006, demand for Basgedi’s products far exceeded expectation and, just six months after opening, the shops are already well on their way to achieving their first year turnover target of £250,000.
“This whole process has been a very steep learning curve for me and there is still so much I want to achieve with Basgedi,” said Heather.
“In an industry that is changing on an almost daily basis, we have managed to hit on something unique and special for which there is a growing market.”
So with Heather’s proven business savvy and the company’s forthcoming developments, including opening stores in other UK cities and further expanding the e-commerce website, you would not bet against Basgedi soon becoming the name on everyone’s lips for both flowers and gifts.
And for those who might be wondering what ‘Basgedi’ actually means…
‘Baskets’, of course!
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