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TALKING TO: GREEN SHEEP GROUP Left: The iconic design and style of the SnüzPod4 makes it a top choice for both retailers and parents Below: Commercial director Donna Storey has made the most of her first year with the business.
Baby Bedtimes Established in 2006, Green Sheep Group specialises in top-end baby products which make sure everyone in the family has a better night’s sleep. Progressive Preschool spoke to commercial director Donna Storey to find out more.
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reen Sheep Group started almost 14 years ago, when university friends Paul Maurice and Mark Nicholls launched a range of organic mattresses, based on the simple idea of providing babies with the safe and natural sleep environment possible. Things were going well for The Little Green Sheep – as it was then – but it was the introduction of the multi award-winning SnüzPod bedside crib in 2013 which really saw things taking off. The new brand – Snüz – quickly established itself in the market as a premium range with a personal touch, offering retailers access to innovative and stylish baby products. The two brands were given their own identities and quickly established themselves in the market. “Since then, our focus has been on increasing the product offer across the board and establishing
our global distribution – but most importantly, on continuing to engage with and dedicate time to the independent trade,” Donna explains. “When I first joined the business it was made abundantly clear to me that the independents were our first supporters; there is a huge amount of loyalty to them that runs right through our entire company culture.” With a career history spanning Amazon, Tesco, Not On The High Street and Mothercare, Donna has a strong grounding in retail, particularly e-commerce. She joined the Green Sheep Group in January 2020, to focus on the brand’s online offering – just as Covid was first becoming an issue. “We could never have known what was going to happen just a
few weeks later,” she says, “but ultimately it was perfect timing.” Of course, the past year has been a time of change for everyone in the nursery industry, but Donna has been able to turn that to her advantage, focusing on making sure that Green Sheep Group’s website and e-commerce offering was as efficient and effective as possible. “The first thing I did was to make sure that there was clear differentiation between our sales channels, so we could protect both retailers and direct customers. For the website itself, I looked at how we attract, retain and convert customers – it’s so important not to forget the basics,” Donna adds. “I always say ‘retail is detail’, but that is multiplied by so many times online – especially when we really dig deep in the data. It’s absolutely fascinating to see how consumers move around the site and react to any little tweaks we make!” Green Sheep Group has made a number of other changes over the past year, with a restructured sales team now headed up by sales manager Sam Tyack, who previously looked after the independent sector. Hannah Cammock has also joined the Green Sheep Group team to work alongside Shaun Windsor-Turner looking after the independent sector, while Keiran Thompson has taken on the role of export and country manager for Ireland. “We have massively strengthened that team, specifically so we can
FACING THE CHALLENGE
“We know there will be a number of challenges to face in 2021 and we are looking to meet these head on. We will be ensuring continuity of supply, managing increasing demand and balancing costs to attempt to mitigate any impact on retail price for our customers. As a small business this is especially important given the high demand for products such as SnüzPod4. Managing the impact carefully so that we’re supporting our retailers and the retail position is going to be critical in the next 12 months.”
PROGRES SIVE P R E S C H O O L
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09/02/2021 14:08