45 Years of Bringing Joy to Gifting with hampers.com – From their humble origins to the present day, the hampers.com mission has been unwavering: to bring joy and wholehearted togetherness to gifting, evoking heartwarming memories that last a lifetime.
With corporate and personal gifting experience reaching back to 1979, they are experts at delivering carefully curated hampers featuring responsibly sourced, artisanal foods and estate-bottled wines. Each gift sent from them is hand-picked and packed, then delivered with care, as if being sent to your own loved ones.
They have grown steadily to become one of the largest privately owned gift hamper companies in the UK and have proudly delivered over 3.5 million hampers from their HQ in Oxfordshire during this time.
Their story began in 1979 with a simple, yet heartfelt mission. After arriving home from their honeymoon, Founders Peter and Rachael Austin were inspired to establish a fish farm in East Hendred on one of the chalk stream tributaries of the River Thames. Captivated by the crystal-clear water, they set out on a journey to farm and market trout. In the same year, they began to sell organically caught, fresh fish and wild smoked salmon to the local community by mail-order.
Throughout the 1980’s, they saw an opportunity to expand their business into mail-order gifting of the finest Smoked Salmon, exclusively imported champagne and truffle chocolates for the Christmas season. Over time, they began to deliver hampers throughout the year – a significant milestone in the origin story of Clearwater Hampers, and what would later become hampers.com.
Alongside predicting the digital trends of tomorrow, the couple set their sights on the international food scene, delivering food and wine hampers to ex-patriates wishing to send gifts to their loved ones back in the UK. Beginning a legacy of dedication to quality treats and alcohols, they also began importing exclusive fine foods and wines to the UK.
In 2019, Patrick Gore conducted a management buy-in to purchase the business becoming the Managing Director of hampers.com. With his trusty sidekick, stepdaughter and skilled Operations Director, Hannah Lia, by his side, their vision was to breathe new life into the business.
It was a moment of kismet that sparked the idea – both Hannah and Patrick were at a crossroads in their career, looking for an exciting new challenge. For Hannah, building the business into a force for positive change was a huge driving force.
“I could see tremendous opportunities to drive sustainability through cultivating innovative approaches to our supply chains and supporting our local communities. In addition, through leveraging my experience in building strong cultures, my goal was to place people at the forefront of our efforts and transform our business into a force for positive change. Since joining the company, we have achieved significant milestones: earning Best Companies recognition within two years and achieving 100% carbon neutrality, whilst actively working towards B-Corp certification.”
Hannah Lia, Operations Director at hampers.com
Patrick and Hannah quickly got to work with digitising operations, streamlining processes and brainstorming creative new hamper ideas. But this couldn’t have been done without Becky, hampers.com’s expert foodie and Head of Product and Marketing. At the forefront of taste-testing and carefully curating their hampers, Becky’s vision was to source the most delicious, sustainable snacks and drinks available.
“My vision was to increase the quality of the hampers and source the best of British artisanal foods and drinks. It was really important to us to source sustainable suppliers who aligned with our vision for hampers.com. We also wanted each gift to have an essence and something we always think about is how the gift can be enjoyed, making the gifting experience extra special for the recipient.”
Becky Tookey, Head of Product and Marketing at hampers.com
Fast forward to 2020, when they unveiled a brand-new look for hampers.com, accompanied by an array of delicious new gift hampers.
Whilst their appearance transformed, their core values remained the same. Rooted in the belief that gifting is a gesture of love, joy and togetherness, they embarked on a journey to enhance every element of their offering.
Driven by a commitment to enhancing the gifting experience, they reimagined their website, infused it with vibrant colours and adorned it with a fresh logo and branding. Their goal? To create a space where finding the perfect gift for your loved ones is just as delightful as receiving it.
As they raise their glasses to their 45-year milestone, they are filled with gratitude for the countless moments of connection, celebration, and love that they have experienced along the journey.
And most importantly, they are proud to have stayed true to their pledge to be a business for positive change.
Poppy Watt