Founder of online drinks gift business ‘A Toast in the Post’, Jane Charnley from Blackpool, has been selected as one of the top three small businesses in the country by Ann Summers’ founder Jacqueline Gold CBE.
Last week, Jane Charnley was invited to a business mentoring lunch at the Ivy in London with the famous Chief Executive of Gold Group International, selected as one of her annual top three small business winners of the celebrity entrepreneur’s Women of Wednesday (WOW) Award.
‘A Toast in the Post’ has grown from strength to strength since setting up in the pandemic, allowing people to celebrate the special moments in life when they cannot be together by sending a drink of your choice through the post together with a personalised photo message card.
“Being acknowledged by one of the leading female entrepreneurs in the country out of a pool of more than 150 small businesses has been an incredible boost for me. Jacqueline was kind and approachable and is an inspirational entrepreneur. We discussed lots of ideas on how to grow ‘A Toast in the Post’ further and as part of the win, I’ll be invited to Ann Summers’ headquarters later this year to get business support,” says Jane Charnley.
Together with husband David Charnley, they have sold more than 14,000 toasts since launching their online business in 2020, when the pandemic put an abrupt halt to their thriving exhibition business. Today nearly a quarter of their sales come from corporate clients, who are keen to reward and make their employees feel special and show appreciation to their clients. The personalised toasts are also popular for business awards, anniversaries and corporate event giveaways.
When selecting Jane Charnley as her female entrepreneurial WOW Award winner of the year, Jacqueline Gold CBE said: “Jane has done an amazing job during the pandemic, turning a fantastic idea into reality. It is creative, fun and engaging. When I received my ‘Toast in the Post’ to celebrate one of our ambassador’s 30 years at Ann Summers, I was really impressed with the level of detail and the quality of the product itself. Jane’s hard work and passion is clearly evident and this has enabled the current success of ‘A Toast In The Post’. I can see the potential in this company’s continued growth and for these reasons Jane deserved to be one of the top three 2021 #WOW winners.”
Today Jane and David Charnley split their time between the successful drinks gift business, and their exhibitions business, Love Expo, building bespoke stands for national and international clients at large trade shows, after COVID restrictions have lifted. They employ a team of 6 and operate from their purpose-built premises in Blackpool.
The other two annual WOW Award winners include entrepreneurs Erin Moroney from London and Holly Moore from Cheshire. Besides Jacqueline Gold’s award, ‘A Toast in the Post’ also won Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis’ national Small Business Sunday (SBS) award last year.
