A FAMILY run business has expanded into its first warehouse after a “chaotic Christmas”.

Alex Gill, 31, from Tiptree started his own small business during the first Covid lockdown in 2020.

He began the Sweet Hamper Company in his dining room, where he would package sweet and chocolate hampers and sell them online.

He launched the company with 20 products on the online site and with experience working for a digital marketing agency he marketed the business himself.

Since the launch, the brand has expanded into the Awesome Hamper Company and has had orders from brands including Virgin Atlantic, Mcdonald's and Nando’s.

Now he has more than 600 different products for customers to choose from, with the majority supplied by British wholesalers.

Mr Gill said: “It all started during the first lockdown, I’m a co-director of a digital marketing agency so work had really quietened down because of Covid.

“I wanted to keep myself busy and I don’t know why I chose sweets, but I ordered them on wholesale.

“In the first six months it was slow and steady but at Christmas it went absolutely mad.

“I had my wife Jess, brother Ryan and mum Jackie all helping me.

“Initially we did sweets and chocolate hampers, but now we do alcohol and pamper hampers as well.”

He continued running the Awesome Shopping Group from his garage but as the company grew, the space began to feel small.

He said: “The garage got a bit full and my wife and I had a baby, so we thought we needed to expand.

“In January, a unit in Station Road in Tiptree became available, which was perfect to expand into."

He added: “When I first started it was mainly to keep busy as I was twiddling my thumbs during lockdown.

“I had no idea how quickly it would grow, it was chaos over Christmas.

“Now we have a bigger space and we’re more prepared, I am hoping to expand even further by taking on permanent staff this year.

“Now we have the space, we are looking to launch further websites and I hope to get involved in summer fairs in the area.”

For more information, go to 

https://www.sweethampercompany.co.uk and https://www.awesomehamperco.co.uk.

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