Christmas time all year

An online company operating from a farm in Fillingham has supplied festive decorations to a range of shows including Kirstie’s Homemade Christmas, Nigella Lawson’s Cookbook and Celebrity Family Fortunes.

ChristmasTimeUK is part of Fizzco Ltd, based at W and A C Rose Farms.

Brothers William and Alfred sell Christmas trees grown on the farm and had a shop selling decorations.

But in the late 1990s they realised the potential of online shopping and registered the name ChristmasTimeUK.

The business expects to be shifting over 1,000 orders a day in the next few weeks.

Director Wendy Clarkson joined the company in 2006. She said: “When someone Googles Christmas decorations we are currently second on the list behind Amazon, which is no mean feat.”

“We have 8,000 stocked lines, everything from a single bauble to an entire Christmas package.”

“We’ve also been selling on Amazon for the first time this year which has been a good vehicle for us.”

Another first wil be the company’s stall at Lincoln Christmas Market, beginning its four-day run today.

The company will be promoting its own range of hand-crafted decorations, called Squared Rose, created by designer Suzanne Tsang.

She said: “They include bespoke handblown glass from Sunderland, fine bone china from Staffordshire, laser cut card, wood, and some traditional origami.”

“We are promoting that they’re made in the UK and that they are something different, traditional but with a modern twist.”

Suzanne has been working in collaboration with product design specialists at Lincoln University.

Jules Nelson, who works in marketing for ChristmasTimeUK, said: “We wanted to create something more like you would find in gift shops, something to treasure for years.”

Christmas has almost become an all-year round event for staff, particularly for Wendy who is a buyer.

She has already been to the Far East looking at stock for Christmas 2012 and will be attending her first trade fair of the new year at Harrogate on 12th January.

She said: “One year I spent Christmas on a buying trip to Thailand. Christmas is our business so we’re always looking at either buying or selling.”

“We do our photo shoots in July so we were decorating Christmas trees and getting covered in glitter in the middle of summer.”

Fizzco also incorporates WeddingTimeUK and CelebrationsTimeUK. So when staff aren’t knee-deep in baubles they are busy providing high-end decorations for weddings and other special events.

Just like fashion, Christmas decorations are subject to trends. This year’s new colours are baby pinks and blues, part of the Sugared Almond package, and the most popular item so far is a giant paper ball which comes in various colours.