GCA Podcast – Mark Callaby, Ohh Deer

GCA Meets – Mark Callaby co-owner and MD of Ohh Deer

GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson met Mark Callaby, co-founder and co-owner of Loughborough-based greetings card, stationery and gift company Ohh Deer. 

Mark, and partner, Jamie Mitchell, started their online shop, Ohh Deer, in one of their grandparents’ attics in 2011. Today, their business has grown into a huge success story – boasting 34 employees operating out of the Old Art College in Loughborough with a 25,000 sq ft warehouse in a neighbouring village.

Mark was elected to the GCA Council in 2019 and heads up the Diversity and Inclusion sub-committee. He spoke passionately at the GCA’s Conference in 2021 about what it was like growing up gay in a Daily Mail reading household.

Timeline

2011 November – ohhdeer.com launched as a blog and shop selling cards, cushions, prints and notebooks. Based in Jamie’s Grandparents attic.
2012 November – Mark joined the business full time
2013 January – First employee, sales manager, Laura Wells, joined the company
2013 February – First tradeshow, Spring Fair at the NEC
2013 May – Second employee – a full time Web Developer
2013 Sept – Jamie’s sister, Amy, who still works for Ohh Deer today, joined
2014 April – Subcontracted fulfilment and moved business into serviced offices
2014 May – First US tradeshow, the National Stationery Show in New York
2014 June – Moved fulfillment back in-house and employed two part time warehouse operatives
2016 Two years of rapid growth meant the expansion of the office space.
2016 May – Papergang, Ohh Deer’s stationery subscription box, launched
2016 July – Moved into own premises, with office and warehouse housed together, in Loughborough Town Centre. By now employing about 20 staff .
2016 September – Opened our first shop in the same premises, Loughborough.
2017 May – Opened our second shop, in Ipswich (Mark’s home town) and won 3 Louie Awards in the USA!
2018 May – Won a further two Louie Awards.
2019 June – Closed our Ipswich shop.
2019 November – Won our first Henries Award for Best Humour
2020 February – Launch of Artful, our Art School in a Box subscription box
2020 March – closed Loughborough shop due to COVID 19 lockdown and furloughed 52 members of staff, leaving just our team of 8 managers.
2020 November – We won our second Henries Award for our Father’s Day collection
2021 – We moved office again, to The Old Art College in Loughborough, and the warehouse to a neighbouring village where is now spans 25,000 sq ft. Our “Loughborough Shop” was also reborn and is hosted by the cafe on the ground floor of The Old Art College.
2021 November – Celebrated our 10 year anniversary in our old office block!
2022 November – We won our third Henries Award for Best Photographic Range
2023 January – We launched print on demand greeting cards
2023 July – Mark led a GCA ‘send a card with Pride‘ team at London Pride

Ohh Deer Ltd

Mark and Jamie met at Kingston University, where Mark was studying illustration and Jamie architecture. Ohh Deer was conceived as an business idea that took Jamie out of architecture, which he’d decided against as a career. Within a year Mark gave up his day job and joined as the business went from strength to strength.

Today Ohh Deer represents over 100 popular artists, collaborating with the likes of Urban Outfitters and supplying retailers across the world from independents through to major retailers such as Sainsbury’s and Barnes and Noble. 

Mark talks about how they grew their online shop, the key part played by social media, and developing their business into supplying retailers across the world.

Mark also reflects on the 2020 pandemic and the impact that had on Ohh Deer, how they managed that challenging period, and the changes they’ve made in their business as a result of that experience.

The move from digital printing to litho, along with other key steps in the growth of Ohh Deer are shared, with Mark offering his top tips and explaining why running your own business isn’t for everyone!

Reflecting with pride on the awards won by Ohh Deer, Mark speaks about the importance of the whole team, the company recruitment philosophy and the importance of involving their team in decision making. And the part played by the office dogs!

Importance of Community

Mark talks about the importance and benefits of giving back; talking about the charities Ohh Deer supports, and the about local entrepreneurs group he set up highlighting the benefits of networking and learning from others.

He also highlights the strength of community, and the ‘lovely people’, in the UK greeting card industry and how this contributes to our world-leading position.

Mark also explains why he stood for election to the GCA Council, talking with passion about encouraging diversity across the industry – and the importance of a sense of humour!

As chair of the GCA Diversity and Inclusion committee Mark secured a place for the GCA at London Pride 2023. Bringing together a fantastic GCA community to represent our industry on the day! Click here to see more on this initiative, and film from the day.

Further Information

Visit the Ohh Deer websites to see more Ohh Deer cards and to order!

Click this link for more podcasts and webinars

See our Meet the Member series for more insight into GCA members’ businesses.

Listen to the podcast

Available on Spotify, Amazon Music and other platforms. Just search for “Talking Cards with Industry Leaders“.