SouthWestBusiness.co.uk

It’s not unheard of for micro-businesses to be built into larger, successful companies with multi-million pound turnovers.

But rarely do such enterprises manage to achieve this while retaining their sense of fun and independent spirit.

This singles Meri Meri out from the crowd.

Meri Meri’s success shows that business can be fun if you don’t lose the zest and zeal you had when you started up I went from making cards on my kitchen table to running a £5 million turnover international business Meredithe Stuart–Smith has done this with her greeting cards company Meri Meri – but without losing the creative drive and independent spirit she had from day one.

Meredithe, a former museum educator in Los Angeles, launched the business in the US in 1985 when she was, in her words, “a hungry, young mum”.

With her two-year-old daughter at her side she designed and made her first cards in her kitchen and sold them in local stores.

She gradually built up the business, recruiting other mums as outworkers.

Today the company has been transformed and is a respected player in the industry – but Meredithe is adamant the sense of fun included in its designs, as well as the zest, zeal and relaxed family atmosphere of its early days must continue.

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Having met her future husband, an Englishman, at a trade fair in New York she moved to the UK and, in a brave move, relocated the design element of the firm from the US to the UK in 1992 – leaving the administration and sales office back in California.

Today Meri Meri – the name comes from Meredithe’s childhood nick name – employs 20 people in its Cheltenham art department and a further 40 in California.

It sells several million cards in the US, UK and other markets. Its range, which stretches to more than 100 different designs, includes greetings cards, stationary, party invitations – mainly for sale under its own name although it has also designed for blue-chips such as Starbucks.

It has also won nearly 100 Louie awards – the greeting-card industry's equivalent of the Grammys – and is a five-time Card of the Year winner – more than any other company.

Keep innovating to stay ahead of the competition Meredithe admits the company has faced challenges – not least some caused by the split transatlantic operation – but says that zest and zeal keeps it “out in front in a highly-competitive industry, producing the finest stationery products in the world”.

She adds: “Seasoned with innovation and inspiration, we thoroughly enjoy leading the way.” Meri Meri was among the first businesses to hand-make cards and the first to use vellum paper.

“Everything we do is fun,” says Meredithe.

“Our customers want products that sing and dance for them; our niche has always been to produce just that.”

“We’re like a little engine going up a hill,” laughs Meredithe. “We are not a typical business but we know where we are going.”

Business Link advisor Suzanne Hall-Gibbins explains what makes Meri Meri a Challenger business:

• The freshness and originality of this business is reflected in the distinctive style of its products.

• It has a serious commitment to ensuring its products are always innovative and stand out, so giving the company a competitive edge.

• The management team realise that creating a fun environment stimulates the creativity and imagination of its employees, which give the company its appeal.