Family-run toy business Mulberry Bush is celebrating its 25th birthday. Founded in 1996 by Jonathan and Shirley Copeland, the company specialises in traditional and innovative toys, gifts and games for children up to the age of around 12. Now led by Jonathan and Shirley’s son Paul Copeland, over the past quarter-century Mulberry Bush has despatched over two million toys to children across the UK and beyond.
The family puts “good old-fashioned service” at the heart of its offering. “Everyone in our team takes great satisfaction in this,” says Paul. “[They] know our broad product range well and are always happy to help customers find the right gift for our customers’ children.”
The company has grown steadily over the years, acquiring a number of businesses along the way, including Letterbox in 2013. Having begun in a spare room in the Copelands’ old family home, the business today operates from a dedicated office and warehouse in Sussex.
“Our guiding principle has always been to select the type of toy and gift that parents remember with fondness from their own childhood and that grandparents will want to buy for their grandchildren,” says Paul. “We specialise in colourful, well-made toys, many of which are wooden and often hard to find. Our range of personalised gifts for children has been a major focus for us recently, children just love to receive items with their names on them.”
The company’s celebrations included a birthday cake made by Tania, Mulberry Bush’s Buyer (and chief in-house cake-maker), complete with scaled- down icing sugar ‘toys’.
“We’d like to thank all our customers and Team Mulberry Bush for 25 wonderful years,” concludes Paul. “Here’s to many, many more!”