Promotional Gifts Guide
What’s It All About?

Promotional Gifts Guide! What’s it all about and more about me?

Hi, my name is Andrew Calver. I am from Orpington in the (sometimes) sunny ‘Garden of England’. In 1996 after nearly 10 years in the hotel and catering industry, I decided to set-out on my own into a career in sales. After a few attempts in various enterprises from home publishing (before the era of home desk-top publishing and e-books) to mobile phones and various MLM experiences, I founded a small business called Calver.

Initially focusing on designing and supplying small leather goods (wallets, conference folders, mobile phone cases, luggage tags, business card holders etc.) to the retail and corporate gifts market (mainly in central London).

Sourcing and Manufacturing Products in Turkey

I had been travelling frequently to visit friends in Istanbul, Turkey and had got to know a small factory. I really love Istanbul (in fact Turkey in general) and this was a great excuse to go there on a regular basis and make some money while enjoying the fun of travelling and meeting friends.

As time progressed, business and self employment became a more viable and serious proposition. My existing clients being very happy with both product quality and the personal bespoke service were asking me to source other corporate gifts, promotional products and clothing.

Full Range of Promotional Products

In 1998 I decided to offer a full range of promotional products and merchandise which I sourced from manufacturers and importers throughout Europe and across the globe. That year, with the help of my friend Dipak, a very successful entrepreneur and factory owner from Leicester, created the first glossy 100+ page brochure for Calver

My brother in law Iain built a website for us and we were up and running. The volume of advertising was increased, we got on the phone and the business took-off.

Benefit from over 16 years of Experience

After 16 years I am pleased to say that the business is as interesting and challenging as ever. Technology has moved on light years and has transformed our industry in a very positive way. However what was previously expected with a simple 1 or 2 colour print in 3 to 4 weeks, has now become a dynamic full colour print, now expected in 1 or 2 weeks (in some cases 2 to 3 days), which has increased expectations even further.

Although these demands can put additional pressure on the system, the technical advances such as digital printing, mean that we can now help more clients, more of the time.

Calver work with clients throughout the United Kingdom and further afield to France, Netherlands, Germany, United States and the United Arab Emirates. We have experience of supplying products to most industry sectors including healthcare, education, technology, agricultural, utilities, logistics, automotive, scientific research, hospitality, conference and events, construction, marketing and manufacturing.

The Launch of Promotional Gifts Guide

My aim with the Promotional Gifts Guide website is to share with you my experiences (both good and bad), of over 16 years in the fabulous promotional products industry. To provide you with a useful resource and show by examples, discussion, suggestions and recommendations, the very powerful benefits of using promotional gifts.

There will be case studies of solutions that have been provided to clients across the globe for a vast array of marketing campaigns, promotions, awards and events. I hope that these will help inspire you with ideas for your next promotion or event.

Feel free to share your experiences of using promotional gifts guide along with the results you achieved. Please do not hesitate to give me your feedback about information discussed here or any aspect of this website.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Enjoy,

Andrew

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