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Red Letter Days

January 01, 1970

For other uses, see Red letter day (disambiguation).

Red Letter Days is a UK company which was an early adopter of the concept of giving experience day vouchers as gifts and corporate rewards, based in Farringdon, London in the offices of its parent company, Moonpig Group.

Red Letter Days
IndustryeCommerce
Founded1989
FounderRachel Elnaugh
Headquarters
Farringdon, London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
Key people
Rachel Elnaugh, Theo Paphitis, Peter Jones, Ronan Tighe (MD)
ProductsExperience days
ParentMoonpig Group
Websitewww.redletterdays.co.uk

The company is now owned by Moonpig Group, who offer also own the Buyagift, Moonpig and Greetz brands.

History edit

The company was founded by former Dragons' Den entrepreneur Rachel Elnaugh, who developed the idea for Red Letter Days after creatively packaging cricket tickets to give to her father.[1] She saw the opportunity for packaging intangible experiences as gifts and established Red Letter Days in 1989.[2]

The business began to take off after placing brochure inserts into national newspapers and magazines in the lead-up to Christmas 1990.[3]

Red Letter Days struggled after a "disastrous over-expansion in 2002."[4]

In 2005, Sir Rodney Walker was listed as chairman in anticipation of listing on the Alternative Investment Market, hoping to float on the stock market later that year.[5]

Administration edit

After expanding via supermarket distribution, Red Letter Days went into administration on 1 August 2005;[6] the remaining assets and inventory were bought by fellow Dragons' Den entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones.[7] They revealed on Alan Carr: Chatty Man that they made the decision to purchase the company whilst under the influence of alcohol. Following the acquisition, Jones and Paphitis said that all vouchers bought on a credit card or by corporate customers had been honoured.[8]

Although Elnaugh was at the helm before and at the time of the company's failure just days after the birth of her fourth child, she blames the problems on the actions of a previous CEO, Simon Vincent, whom she appointed in 2002 but who had left the company in early 2003, while she was in a non-executive role.[9]

ITV1's Tonight Programme offered a more critical explanation of the demise of Red Letter Days, citing unpaid suppliers and disappointed purchasers. The programme suggested that the business model failed to escrow or earmark supplier payment equity, instead using it for working capital. Elnaugh blamed the company's bankers, who placed £3 million in a bond they refused to release for use by the firm, despite the fact that some of it may have related to vouchers that had expired and were not recoverable against the business.[vague] It was the funds held by the credit card company under this bond that enabled the new owners to honour vouchers issued prior to the company falling into administration. Mrs. Elnaugh admitted in her book Business Nightmares that her finance team had lost track of the company's voucher liabilities and its debts to suppliers.[10] After Red Letter Days went into administration with a balance sheet deficiency approaching £9 million, Elnaugh left the Dragons' Den.[11]

Restart edit

Since 2005, Red Letter Days has continued to offer a wide range of experiences, including car racing, skydiving, white water rafting, hot air ballooning, paintball, bungee jumping, and spa days. Under Paphitis and Jones' ownership, the company went from administration to an annual turnover of over £20 million.[12] They sold the now profitable Red Letter Days to Buyagift for an undisclosed price, claiming that "the time felt right and the sale will ensure an exciting and progressive next chapter in Red Letter Days' evolvement".[13]

Buyout edit

Red Letter Days was bought by the French multinational company Smart&co S.A.S in 2017,[14][15] joining other brands like Buyagift,[16] Dakotabox[17] and Odisseias.[18] In June 2019, ownership of the company was transferred to Buyagift plc, and the limited company was put into voluntary liquidation with a declaration of solvency. SmartBox founder Pierre-Edouard Sterin and CEO John Perkins resigned, and a new CEO, Olivier Fajour, was appointed.

Moonpig Group edit

In July 2022, the Red Letter Days and Buyagift brands were bought by the Moonpig Group.

References edit

  1. ^ . 11 August 2007. Archived from the original on 14 October 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  2. ^ Interview with Rachel Elnaugh, Founder of Red Letter Days Tyler Publishing, November 2004
  3. ^ "My First Million: Rachel Elnaugh of Red Letter Days". MoneyWeek. 2006-08-01. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  4. ^ James, Laura (2019-06-28). "Rachel Elnaugh lifts the lid on her failed multi-million pound business". birminghampost. Retrieved 2020-03-26.
  5. ^ "Gift firm calls in administrators". 2005-08-01. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  6. ^ Osborne, Alistair (2005-08-01). "Red Letter Days experiences a plunge into administration". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  7. ^ Brodie, Sophie (2007-05-28). "Red Letter Days £7.2m in red despite TV dragons' efforts". Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  8. ^ "Rescue plan for Red Letter Days". The Guardian. Press Association. 2005-08-02. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  9. ^ "Dragon still has fire in her belly". The Guardian. September 29, 2005. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  10. ^ Page 169 of Business Nightmares by Rachel Elnaugh
  11. ^ "The City Diary: The Midas â€" or Maddison â€" touch". The Independent. 2010-05-09. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  12. ^ "Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones sell Red Letter Days". The Retail Bulletin. 1 December 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  13. ^ "Red Letter Days sold to Smartbox Group – Travel & Leisure Executive Search". The MBS Group. Retrieved 2017-12-28.
  14. ^ "We're out! TV Dragons sell Red Letter Days". 2017-11-30. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  15. ^ "Dragons' deal for Irish-based gift company Smartbox". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2019-02-07.
  16. ^ "Company Overview of Red Letter Days Ltd". Bloomberg. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  17. ^ "Company Overview of Dakotabox Regalos y Ocio, S.L." Bloomberg News. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  18. ^ Hamilton, Peter. "Gift company Smartbox plans addition of 100 Dublin jobs". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2019-01-25.

External links edit

  • Official website

January 01, 1970
letter, days, other, uses, letter, disambiguation, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, notability, guidelines, companies, organizations, please, help, demonstrate, notability, topic, citing, reliable, secondary, sources, that, independent, topic, provide, s. For other uses see Red letter day disambiguation The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guidelines for companies and organizations Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources Red Letter Days news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2015 Learn how and when to remove this message Red Letter Days is a UK company which was an early adopter of the concept of giving experience day vouchers as gifts and corporate rewards based in Farringdon London in the offices of its parent company Moonpig Group Red Letter DaysIndustryeCommerceFounded1989FounderRachel ElnaughHeadquartersFarringdon London United KingdomArea servedUnited KingdomKey peopleRachel Elnaugh Theo Paphitis Peter Jones Ronan Tighe MD ProductsExperience daysParentMoonpig GroupWebsitewww wbr redletterdays wbr co wbr uk The company is now owned by Moonpig Group who offer also own the Buyagift Moonpig and Greetz brands Contents 1 History 1 1 Administration 1 2 Restart 1 3 Buyout 1 4 Moonpig Group 2 References 3 External linksHistory editThe company was founded by former Dragons Den entrepreneur Rachel Elnaugh who developed the idea for Red Letter Days after creatively packaging cricket tickets to give to her father 1 She saw the opportunity for packaging intangible experiences as gifts and established Red Letter Days in 1989 2 The business began to take off after placing brochure inserts into national newspapers and magazines in the lead up to Christmas 1990 3 Red Letter Days struggled after a disastrous over expansion in 2002 4 In 2005 Sir Rodney Walker was listed as chairman in anticipation of listing on the Alternative Investment Market hoping to float on the stock market later that year 5 Administration edit After expanding via supermarket distribution Red Letter Days went into administration on 1 August 2005 6 the remaining assets and inventory were bought by fellow Dragons Den entrepreneurs Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones 7 They revealed on Alan Carr Chatty Man that they made the decision to purchase the company whilst under the influence of alcohol Following the acquisition Jones and Paphitis said that all vouchers bought on a credit card or by corporate customers had been honoured 8 Although Elnaugh was at the helm before and at the time of the company s failure just days after the birth of her fourth child she blames the problems on the actions of a previous CEO Simon Vincent whom she appointed in 2002 but who had left the company in early 2003 while she was in a non executive role 9 ITV1 s Tonight Programme offered a more critical explanation of the demise of Red Letter Days citing unpaid suppliers and disappointed purchasers The programme suggested that the business model failed to escrow or earmark supplier payment equity instead using it for working capital Elnaugh blamed the company s bankers who placed 3 million in a bond they refused to release for use by the firm despite the fact that some of it may have related to vouchers that had expired and were not recoverable against the business vague It was the funds held by the credit card company under this bond that enabled the new owners to honour vouchers issued prior to the company falling into administration Mrs Elnaugh admitted in her book Business Nightmares that her finance team had lost track of the company s voucher liabilities and its debts to suppliers 10 After Red Letter Days went into administration with a balance sheet deficiency approaching 9 million Elnaugh left the Dragons Den 11 Restart edit Since 2005 Red Letter Days has continued to offer a wide range of experiences including car racing skydiving white water rafting hot air ballooning paintball bungee jumping and spa days Under Paphitis and Jones ownership the company went from administration to an annual turnover of over 20 million 12 They sold the now profitable Red Letter Days to Buyagift for an undisclosed price claiming that the time felt right and the sale will ensure an exciting and progressive next chapter in Red Letter Days evolvement 13 Buyout edit Red Letter Days was bought by the French multinational company Smart amp co S A S in 2017 14 15 joining other brands like Buyagift 16 Dakotabox 17 and Odisseias 18 In June 2019 ownership of the company was transferred to Buyagift plc and the limited company was put into voluntary liquidation with a declaration of solvency SmartBox founder Pierre Edouard Sterin and CEO John Perkins resigned and a new CEO Olivier Fajour was appointed Moonpig Group edit In July 2022 the Red Letter Days and Buyagift brands were bought by the Moonpig Group References edit Rachel Elnaugh interview 11 August 2007 Archived from the original on 14 October 2007 Retrieved 17 January 2019 Interview with Rachel Elnaugh Founder of Red Letter Days Tyler Publishing November 2004 My First Million Rachel Elnaugh of Red Letter Days MoneyWeek 2006 08 01 Retrieved 2019 01 28 James Laura 2019 06 28 Rachel Elnaugh lifts the lid on her failed multi million pound business birminghampost Retrieved 2020 03 26 Gift firm calls in administrators 2005 08 01 Retrieved 2019 01 28 Osborne Alistair 2005 08 01 Red Letter Days experiences a plunge into administration The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 2019 02 07 Brodie Sophie 2007 05 28 Red Letter Days 7 2m in red despite TV dragons efforts Daily Telegraph ISSN 0307 1235 Retrieved 2019 02 07 Rescue plan for Red Letter Days The Guardian Press Association 2005 08 02 ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 2019 01 28 Dragon still has fire in her belly The Guardian September 29 2005 Retrieved 8 July 2009 Page 169 of Business Nightmares by Rachel Elnaugh The City Diary The Midas a or Maddison a touch The Independent 2010 05 09 Retrieved 2019 01 28 Theo Paphitis and Peter Jones sell Red Letter Days The Retail Bulletin 1 December 2017 Retrieved 28 January 2019 Red Letter Days sold to Smartbox Group Travel amp Leisure Executive Search The MBS Group Retrieved 2017 12 28 We re out TV Dragons sell Red Letter Days 2017 11 30 Retrieved 2019 02 07 Dragons deal for Irish based gift company Smartbox Independent ie Retrieved 2019 02 07 Company Overview of Red Letter Days Ltd Bloomberg Retrieved 25 January 2019 Company Overview of Dakotabox Regalos y Ocio S L Bloomberg News Retrieved 25 January 2019 Hamilton Peter Gift company Smartbox plans addition of 100 Dublin jobs The Irish Times Retrieved 2019 01 25 External links editOfficial website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Red Letter Days amp oldid 1205101447, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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