Scottish Export Index Nominee: Articulate Gallery
Inspiration
Hear from Articulate Gallery one of our nominees for the Scottish Export Index 2022.
What does your company do?
The company is mainly concerned with the design, manufacture, import, export, sales and distribution of ‘The Articulate Gallery’ which is a multi award-wining range of slot-sided picture frames especially for the display of 2D and 3D children’s artwork. It takes the children’s pictures off the fridge door and places them in their rightful place, in a frame, on the wall, in an instant.
How important has exporting been to the growth/ongoing success of your company?
Export is everything, I aim to have a global brand and that's not possible without export.
What does your company export, and where to?
I export The Articulate Gallery picture frames. I export to USA and all over Europe and have exported to New Zealand, Canada, Nigeria to name but a few.
What’s next for your company?
Growth is constant over the past few years at 65 - 75%. I expect that to continue. I would like to company to become recognised for the way in which it seeks to improve the way we educate our children by making creativity as important as literacy and numeracy.
What would be the main lesson learned/piece of advice you would give to companies starting their export journey?
There may be obstacles, you just have to learn how to get around them. None of this is rocket science.
What inspired you to export?
I am ambitious and I knew my products would be popular. Picasso said "every child is an artist" and he was right. That means we need some way of displaying all the art that children produce. The Articulate Gallery is it.
What support have you had along the way?
I have had a few grants from various government funded organisations to help with the cost of exhibiting at tradeshows abroad. That was helpful as they are really expensive.
What have the main challenges been and how did you overcome these?
Main challenge was getting around the new Brexit border. Being in the EU was like having a door open to 300million people, Brexit closed that door so I got VAT registered in France and opened a third party fulfilment centre there. It took me over a year to find one.