Partner Article

Spark hot-foots it out of the recession

One of the fastest growing footwear fads on the planet has helped Gateshead’s Spark Response march through the recession unscathed.

Meanwhile, the contact centre operator is also celebrating two new major contract wins and is set to invest £100,000 in new technology to boost its efficiency.

They keep people fit and look similar to flip-flops – hence the name FitFlops – but they have also helped Spark tone up its order book considerably.

The £10.4m-a-year call centre operator, that also holds internet and home shopping contracts, has handled over a million orders in two years for the footwear – which is medically engineered to tone and tighten leg muscles during walking.

Through its contract with brand owner BrandHandling, the company now expects to double that in the next 12 months as the footwear’s popularity continues to spiral, while it is also celebrating two new lucrative contract wins.

The firm, which employs 180 people, has signed a contact centre and fulfilment deal with fellow Tyneside business Ethicalsuperstore – the fast-growing online retailer of fair trade and organic products.

Meanwhile it has also landed a contract to handle trade fulfilment for cosmetics brand Soap & Glory, which is also owned by BrandHandling.

Speaking to bdaily at the North East Business Exchange event in Newcastle yesterday, managing director Peter Slee said: “We are becoming more and more successful at attracting pure e-commerce retailers. People who don’t have a traditional bricks and mortar environment.

“Our strategy is to grow the business through partnerships with other North East businesses. We have exhibited at national trade shows for a number of years but there must be businesses in the North East who we can work with.

“Right now we are benefiting from £250,000 of investment we made into our IT infrastructure last year and there’s a further £100,000 planned this year to improve our telephony infrastructure.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .