Prestigious King’s Award for North Devon gift company Letterfest

The success of a personalised gift business in Chivenor has earned it a prestigious King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.

Letterfest Ltd, based at Chivenor Business Park, is one of just 116 UK businesses recognised for overseas trade in the annual King’s Awards for Enterprise.

The company’s service offering a wide range of highly personalised keepsake gifts created by in-house artists and makers has seen its global trade explode, with a thousand-fold increase in its USA market during the past three years.

Current business owner and CEO James Reader said Letterfest provided products ‘made with love and designed to last’ – from hand-drawn family portraits to engraved terracotta pots and personalised storybooks starring the gift recipient.

Above: The Letterfest products such as personalised children’s storybooks have a huge following overseas and especially in the US. Credit: Letterfest

Letterfest was founded at Instow in 2011 by Wendy Harrison, moved to Barnstaple when a kitchen office became too small and was purchased by James when the original owners retired in 2022.

It relocated to Chivenor and now has offices there as well as at Frome in Somerset.

He said: “The team has expanded from 13 back in 2019 to 32 now and we have achieved 400% growth during that time, mainly driven by our international growth in the USA.

“Letterfest was founded many years ago to help our wonderful customers gift thoughtful, sentimental things made with love. The people who design and make our products have always been at the heart of this mission.

“Whether it’s Tom, who leads illustration with care and precision, or Tiff, one of our incredible pot artists who engraves every pot by hand, this award celebrates all of them. It’s a beautiful reminder that human creativity travels far and that real things made by real people matter.”

Above: Letterfest creates personalised gifts such as hand-drawn illustrations and storybooks. Credit: Letterfest

The King’s Awards for Enterprise – the UK’s most prestigious business honour – are awarded to organisations that deliver outstanding success and innovation. Recipients are permitted to display the coveted King's Awards Emblem for five years.

Soon after buying the business, James set up an employee ownership scheme to everyone in the team now has a small shareholding.

James added: “And this is just the beginning. With big plans for global expansion, new product lines, and deeper connections with artists worldwide, Letterfest is on a mission to bring a little more love into the world – one gift at a time.”