Geiger Buzz

FEBRUARY 2020

On February 6^th 2020, GeigerBTC held its inaugural showcase ‘Mad About Merchandise’ at The Athenaeum Hotel, a beautiful venue in the heart of Mayfair.

With a major focus on eco, sixteen suppliers exhibited their ranges across a wide range of promotional product categories including drinkware, tech and stationery. We also had dedicated confectionery and clothing zones.

Over 120 professionals from the marketing and events world enjoyed the opportunity to discover new and exciting merchandise ideas for their future events and campaigns, and see first-hand how the products could help their brands stand out.

“It was great to see so much merchandise in one place and being able to handle it.”
Macmillan Education 

All attendees were delighted with their goody bag which included tech, drinkware, stationery and confectionery gifts, giving them plenty of ideas to take back to their office.

Paul Beirne, Sales Director at GeigerBTC said: “We wanted to give promotional merchandise buyers the chance to see lots of promotional merchandise ideas under one roof and I am delighted that the showcase was well attended by our clients and potential clients. The commitment and enthusiasm of our suppliers and staff all led to creating a great showcase environment for our guests.”

GeigerBTC prides itself on truly understanding the culture, brand and values of our clients, to help clients maximise the impact of their promotional strategies through merchandise and corporate webshops/programs.

From left to right: Nicholas Martin, Jessie Wong, Frank Murphy

London, UK January 8th 2020: UK Distributor GeigerBTC, a subsidiary of Geiger, a multi-generational family-owned and operated company in the US, announced that the Berkshire based distributor, Lancewich, is joining Geiger as part of their continued expansion strategy to support clients in the UK and across Europe.

Lancewich, a highly respected name within the industry for more than 30 years had been seeking an ongoing solution to providing its many significant multinational clients with a continued high level of service.

Lancewich Director Nicholas Martin said, “finding the right company to continue giving our clients the same level of care locally, nationally and internationally was paramount.  Geiger shares exactly the same business principles as Lancewich “

“We are so proud that Lancewich chose to trust GeigerBTC“ states Geiger President Jo-an Lantz. “Nicholas and his team have wonderful customers and we’ll be sure to carry on with that priority service approach as part of GeigerBTC”

Frank Murphy, Managing Director of GeigerBTC adds “Lancewich is a long established and highly regarded name and I am delighted that Nicholas felt that we could continue to service his clients as well as he has done over many years” “We will continue to seek similar exciting opportunities throughout 2020 and beyond”.

About Geiger and GeigerBTC

Headquartered in Lewiston, Maine, Geiger is the largest family-owned and managed promotional products distributor in the world. Geiger operates from offices across the US and London, England and is affiliated with over 450 independent sales representatives. Geiger is a socially conscientious company, providing proactive, comprehensive marketing solutions to their clients. GeigerBTC was founded in 1977 and is based in Hayes, Middlesex and has a staff of 90. A full-service brand marketing firm, GeigerBTC offers on-site decorating, distribution, fulfilment, web development and customer corporate programs, and employee store expertise.

GeigerBTC welcomes Victoria Ferrer into the team, as Account Director.

Victoria brings a unique combination of experience and energy and will focus on building and maintaining client relationships in the UK & EMEA.

Victoria has worked within the promotional merchandise sector for over ten years, supporting the growth of global clients. She has also owned her own promotional merchandise distribution company in Dubai. 

Senior Account Director, Gary Gable commented: “We are delighted to welcome Victoria into our expanding team. Her wealth of experience in the industry will be an invaluable asset to our major clients, and her lively and outgoing personality is the perfect fit for our great team.”

GeigerBTC supplies branded merchandise and clothing to clients worldwide, creatively solving their marketing, promotion and motivation challenges through tailored, flexible solutions. In-house services include marketing, design, website production, print, embroidery, warehousing and fulfilment in the UK & Europe.

For more information contact us at [email protected] or give us a  call on +44 (0)20 8569 2250.

May 2^nd, 2019 marks the first anniversary of the merger of BTC Group, one of the most successful distributors of promotional merchandise in the UK, and Geiger, the largest privately held promotional products distributor in the world, to create GeigerBTC. 

“The first year of GeigerBTC has exceeded our expectations,” said Managing Director Frank Murphy, “allowing us to expand our resources and services to better serve our clients in the UK, EMEA and beyond.” Growing our talent pool by hiring more than 20 new staff in the past year has enabled us to increase our business by 40% when 10% was the goal at the outset. 

GeigerBTC continues on the expansion trail through organic growth and by actively seeking new opportunities,  we welcome approaches from interested parties.

Our team welcomes Nicole Armstrong as Business Development Manager.

Nicole comes with a wealth of experience within the Marketing and Advertising sector and brings over six years experience in the promotional merchandise industry, having developed strong working relationships client side and overseen the implementation of many new client programmes.  Nicole will focus on growth as the business continues to make waves in the market through the provision of exceptional service, delivered by some of the best people working within the industry.

Nicole said: “This is a really exciting time to be joining GeigerBTC.  BTC Group’s merger with Geiger in the USA makes us one of the largest branded merchandise companies in the world, with over 800 employees managing over 330 corporate merchandise programmes, giving us greater scale, scope and resource.

There are so many reasons to work with GeigerBTC, from our strong Account Management and Customer Service teams, who have a wide variety of specialisms and collective experience, through to our in-house production facility and 30,000 square foot distribution centre and warehouse, giving us complete control of quality, timelines and costs.

It’s a business that is really going places, and I’m looking forward to being a part of the business growth over the coming years.”

Nicole will be working closely with Paul Beirne, GeigerBTC Sales Director. He said: ‘Nicole is a great addition to our growing team. I am confident that Nicole’s expertise and can-do approach will be vital to supporting our future plans.”

GeigerBTC is the largest privately owned promotional products distributor in the UK. We deliver global merchandise programs and clothing, enhancing customers’ brands worldwide, with a large in-house print and embroidery division. For more information visit https://www.geigerbtc.com or call +44 (0)20 8569 2250.

Laura Brannan has taken up the role of Supplier Relationship Manager at GeigerBTC and will be working closely with Jason Darbyshire who joined the company as Marketing Director in 2018.

Jason commented: “We have great suppliers who give us amazing support and with Laura on board we can now take our supplier relationship to a new level”.

Laura brings more than 6 years’ experience in the promotional merchandise industry and will focus on building and maintaining stronger supplier relationships for GeigerBTC. 

Commenting on her new role, Laura said ‘I am excited to join the team during this period of growth. I look forward to building collaborative relationships with our suppliers so that GeigerBTC becomes a company which, through its practices, positions itself to receive the best access to ideas, resources, and innovations from its suppliers, and that will ensure that we continue to offer the best service to our clients’. 

GeigerBTC is the largest privately owned promotional products distributor in the UK. We deliver global merchandise programs and clothing, enhancing customers’ brands worldwide, with a large in-house print and embroidery division. For more information visit https://www.geigerbtc.com or call +44 (0)20 8569 2250.

March 2019

Meet the new recruits! 

Our rapid expansion continues, with no less than ten staff joining us since our successful merger with Geiger last year.

Managing Director Frank Murphy said “GeigerBTC is on the expansion trail through client growth and by acquiring like-minded companies in our sector, so adding great staff to our team is essential. We will continue to seek out new opportunities and welcome approaches from any interested parties”.

Pictured below are 10 of our latest recruits, including Anna Turchenko as Marketing Executive, Chloe Churchward as Digital Print Technician, Chloe French as Account Coordinator, Lily Fawssett, Millie Beswick, Olivia Steven and Rebecca Wheeler as Production Coordinators, Nicole Cashman as Account Manager, Rebecca Duffy and Tiffany O’Neil as Merchandise Programme Coordinators. 

Here at GeigerBTC we deliver global merchandise programs and clothing, enhancing customers’ brands worldwide, with a large in-house print and embroidery division. For more information visit https://www.geigerbtc.com or call +44 (0)20 8569 2250.

Wireless Charging is an amazing phenomenon simply on the basis that the execution of this technology has been around for a while now in many of our houses; we just never questioned it before.  Electric toothbrushes have been using inductive charging for quite a long time, but because of low efficiency rates, it was limited to these bathroom appliances due to the fact that nobody really cared if it took an excessive amount of time to charge their electric toothbrush. Over the last decade or so the technology started gaining traction, more research was being done in this area and it was introduced in more and more devices. Exactly ten years ago the Wireless Power Consortium was established and they introduced the QI standard for wireless charging.

The introduction of a standard was a key boost the technology needed to start gaining mainstream traction, and we started seeing it appear in a variety of products on the consumer electronics market, especially in smartphones. Fast forward to 2017 and some of the largest smartphone manufacturers are already using QI standard wireless charging and have been for a couple of years, but the key shift to mainstream comes through the introduction of wireless charging in the Apple iPhone devices. You can think what you like about Apple, love them or not, they know mobile peripherals and since the inclusion of wireless charging on the iPhone we have seen this technology take off not only in the consumer market, but in the world of promotional products also.

Like I said earlier we are seeing an influx in the promotional products industry of requests for wireless charging devices, and why not, they are new, topical, make for a great gadget and they have a fantastic branding surface. Our warning to those who have been offered ‘affordable’ options please check with your supplier whether these products are QI certified. QI certification does slightly increase the price in a product, but at the end of the day that slight increase in cost, is much less that the price you will pay ultimately if a non-compliant device malfunctions.

Our very first BTC Buzz provides a good-humoured tip of the hat to the promotional products in our industry that just emanate a sense of British-ness. Hopefully you’ll agree that our product selection is far from a damp squib, and definitely would be considered as the bee’s knees!

1)      Bone China Mug

Following a survey known as the ‘Britishness Audit’ when asked what should be the British national emblem, the grand majority of people answered with a ‘cup of tea.’ Not many things in this world get can be considered more British than sipping some of the finest Earl Grey from a luxurious bone china tea set. Promotional bone china mugs are a definitely a popular selection for those who are after a bit of quali-tea

2)      Multifunction Weather Station

Did you know almost 70 percent of the British population check the weather forecast at least once a day? But what is our obsession with the weather? Is it its pure unpredictability? 1 in 4 people use the weather as a way to start polite conversation with the general public, discussing what we in England like to call the ‘niceties’. Whatever the reason is, a multifunction weather station should definitely be a staple hold on every British desk, providing you with, not just the time or today’s weather, but a plethora of ice breaker subjects such as wind speed, humidity, cloud coverage etc.

3)      Promotional Umbrella

Nothing says welcome to the great British summer like the absolute need for an umbrella when you’re leaving your house! It is this chaotic rainy nature that makes the UK world renowned for being land of the drizzle. Don’t get us wrong, we do sometimes have gorgeous summer days but it does seem to rain a tad more than average in jolly Great Britain. But every grey cloud does have a silver lining, giving us a new and innovative ways to promote our businesses! Promotional umbrellas work because the branding area is large enough to see from a distance, and when in use, is always at eye level. All you need to do now is put your branding on a red, white and blue panelled umbrella, and Bob’s your uncle British branding at its finest

4)      Red Bus Tin Filled with British Confectionary

When you picture the old British high street, you always imagine the little old sweet shop, where you’d spend all your hard earned pocket money on a handful of sweets you’d take to the park and devour. The United Kingdom is world renowned for having amazing confectionary choices, now if you combine this with the iconic London red bus, how much more British can you get?

5)      Christmas Jumper

Its funny how new trends find their way onto the market, and then out of nowhere become a fundamental part of everyday British life. Although it may not be every day, but during the most wonderful time of the year, you cannot escape the Christmas jumper! For many years the Christmas jumper was shunned and considered a terrible present generally given by an older relative, but in recent years the Christmas jumper has become a bold fashion statement, the wackier the better! Now in the promotional industry we are seeing more and more companies wanting Christmas jumpers for their staff as they are a great way to show your festive spirit, and show a human side to your company!

This is just a small selection of what merry old Great Britain has to offer, we also offer a great amount of Promotional Products manufactuered in the UK, if you have interest in any of these products, please give us a call and let us know!