CELEBRATIONS all started in Oldham, just north of Manchester. Our birthplace was WIDDOP and Co. a family run home accessories and gifts supplier, to shops around the UK and Ireland. For over 100 years WIDDOP has been one of the most well respected names in the industry, founded on family values and quality.
Since the late 80s WIDDOP had sourced an increasing amount of its product from China, working with the Chinese factories to create gifts for a variety of occasions and recipients.
But by the early 2000s everyone from other suppliers to large shops themselves, like B&M, John Lewis, Home Bargains and many more household names, had started to use the same factories. So, finding and developing anything new became harder and harder, using China alone.
We needed to bring the responsibility for newness home. As well as creating exclusive product, this would mean we could extend the range to cover all occasions and recipients. We recruited a team of designers, who shared our vision of creating great and unique gift products that stood out from the crowd.
The new team brought new ideas, new creativity and the need for a new identity. And so CELEBRATIONS was born. The home of gifts for all occasions.
In 2005, technology was limited, so we started with pencils and paper.
Some very early hand drawn sketches of Ted from the Button Corner by CELEBRATIONS baby collection. Courtesy of our designer Lucy.
Through the years we have moved on, using graphics tablets and computer design software. But the foundations have remained. Our dedication to creating great products which do more than just give you something to give someone else on a big day.
The dictionary definition of a gift is: a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present.
But a great gift is so much more than this. It becomes intrinsically linked with the joy, love, happiness or other sentiments of the day, event or occasion.
That's why CELEBRATIONS' motto says - more than just a memory. Because a special occasion shouldn't just fade to memory. And with a great gift, it doesn't have to.
Our colourful logo
The CELEBRATIONS range now has over 2000 products in it. Gifts for Valentine's, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Thank You Teacher, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, engagements, new babies, graduation, Christenings, other religious occasions and gifts for friends and family. Across 23 collections, we really are the ultimate one stop shop.
And The Home of Gifts is the only place where you can shop the entire collection. Where every single product is designed exclusively in the UK with love, care and joy.