07_09_11-13_15_News Pages.qxp_9/11/13/15/19/23/25 19/08/2025 17:47 Page 2
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Cardfactory Acquires Funkypigeon.com for £24m Greetings giant is now UK’s second-largest online card and gift operator Cardfactory has expanded its industry reach through acquiring the Funkypigeon.com online personalised card and gift platform from WHSmith for £24million. The acquisition means the company is now the second-largest online card and gift retailer in the UK market as well as the largest bricks and mortar greeting card specialist, having recently opened its 1,100th UK store. "This acquisition marks a significant step forward in Cardfactory's strategy to build a scaled, competitive digital presence in the celebration occasions market, so supporting our ambition to become the leading omnichannel retailer in our sector,” said ceo Darcy Willson-Rymer of the Funkypigeon deal to buy the entire issued share capital of the business which has been run by a standalone team in Bristol and Guernsey. The move comes following WHS’ decision to concentrate on its Travel arm, selling the High Street side to Modella Capital for £76m – the stores are being rebranded as TG Jones as the name wasn’t included in the deal. At the time, in March, the group said it will “explore strategic options” for Funkypigeon, including a possible sale. Over the past two financial years, Funkypigeon.com on average generated around £32m in revenue per annum and £5m EBITDA and the £24m cash consideration is based on an enterprise
Above: Theo cutting the cake that Woodmansterne sent for Ryman Design’s Cheapside store’s first birthday.
Ryman Design aiming for 30 stores Above: The Funkypigeon.com platform has been acquired by Cardfactory. Below: Cardfactory’s opened its 1,100th store recently. Ceo Darcy Willson-Rymer (third right) was on hand for the milestone opening in Cheshunt.
value of £26m for the platform. Cardfactory’s plan is to unlock “operational synergies” by utilising Funkypigeon.com’s existing order fulfilment capability in Guernsey for personalised cards and Cardfactory's in-house manufacturing and fulfilment facility in Baildon in Yorkshire for greeting cards and attached gifting orders. In a trading update, Cardfactory said group sales for the five months to 30 June increased by “mid-single digits” year-onyear, while the decision to bring forward investment in an upgraded store point-ofsale till system will contribute to an adjusted profit-before-tax being “slightly behind last year”. The board’s expectations of mid-to-high single-digit sales and adjusted pre-tax profit growth in FY26 remain unchanged, and the update added: “With the strong H2 trading calendar ahead including Back To School, Halloween and the important Christmas season, we remain confident in our ability to deliver on full-year expectations, underpinned by additional efficiencies from the PoS upgrade and our Simplify & Scale efficiency programme in H2.” (See Cardsharp pages 18-19)
UOE’s recruitment drive UOE Stores is all set to expand its greeting card footprint, on course to be trading from 40 stores in the coming few months, by taking on another 30 post offices into the business, following the shake-up of the UK’s Crown Post Offices network. Having won The Retas 2025 award for Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer Of Greeting Cards - South, UOE’s ceo Elliot Jacobs said: “We’re serious about reinventing High Street Above: Elliot (back far retail and the Post Office experience but we don't right) and the UOE team showing they’re not take ourselves too seriously! too serious. “Two weeks ago we hired 40 new team
Retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis is planning to expand Ryman Design into a 30-outlet portfolio. In addition to the 198-store Ryman stationery and office equipment brand, Theo launched Ryman Design in 2023 which now has five branches in London, Edinburgh and Birmingham, stocking a large range of greeting cards alongside the stationery and gifts. “I think there’s 30 places it would work well in,” Theo told Retail Week. “It won’t work everywhere, that’s fine, I’ve got other stores that will be hybrids of Design.” He’s hoping landlords will work with the brand to launch more Ryman Design stores and improve the business’ general estate which is benefiting from innovations including an app which allows personalised greeting card printing from store, which is boosting footfall. And products from the Design arm are being taken into its original Ryman stores where appropriate, with Theo adding: “As we do that, it upgrades and elevates the existing stores, because they become more interesting and drive people over the threshold.” Having owned Ryman for almost 30 years, Theo got back involved with the running of the business in October 2022, and the development of the Ryman Design retail concept was his first step on the greeting card and design-led stationery front. Below: The Ryman Design store in London’s St Paul’s.
members – and we’re not stopping there! As our High Street network continues to grow, we’ve got some brilliant new roles open.” The UOE website shows a further 60 jobs available, from part-time retail and PO assistants through to manager level team leads, across the locations including London, Reigate, St Albans, Leighton Buzzard, Potters Bar, Northolt, Harrow, Milton Keynes, Windsor, Cambridge, Oxford and Chipping Barnet. “Over the coming weeks and months we’ll be transforming the existing Post Offices, onboarding and building out our teams and capability with the best talent around and creating something that has never been done before. “This is one of the biggest and most exciting chapters in UOE’s journey – and we’re so thrilled to be expanding our footprint across the country.”
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