This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/business/2013/nov/24/whitechapel-bell-foundry-swedish-tictail
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Britain's oldest manufacturing firm rings in changes with online launch | Britain's oldest manufacturing firm rings in changes with online launch |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| It has cast and sold bells to Britain and beyond since 1570, but now the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, Britain's oldest manufacturing company, is ringing in the changes by launching its first online store, selling handbells and doorbells direct to the consumer. | It has cast and sold bells to Britain and beyond since 1570, but now the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, Britain's oldest manufacturing company, is ringing in the changes by launching its first online store, selling handbells and doorbells direct to the consumer. |
| The foundry has set up a store using the Swedish service Tictail, a startup that began 18 months ago in Stockholm, 442 years after the foundry began trading. Since its launch, Tictail has grown rapidly and runs 30,000 stores world wide, with the UK the site's fastest-growing market. The company, which Wired magazine called "Tumblr for e-commerce", lets business-owners set up an online shop for free. | |
| Kathryn Hughes, a director of the family-run Whitechapel Bell Foundry, says she had discussed setting up an online store with her husband many times over the years but had no idea how to go about it. "Tictail approached us and said they were a new, free online shop, and I thought 'nothing to lose really'," she said. | Kathryn Hughes, a director of the family-run Whitechapel Bell Foundry, says she had discussed setting up an online store with her husband many times over the years but had no idea how to go about it. "Tictail approached us and said they were a new, free online shop, and I thought 'nothing to lose really'," she said. |
| "The sort of things we're selling start with our smallest bell, which can be used for ringing for tea, that sort of thing," says Hughes. "Then there's our table bell, our bracket bells – the sort used in school playgrounds – and door bells. People are into doorbells at the moment, real ones, not buzzy ones." | "The sort of things we're selling start with our smallest bell, which can be used for ringing for tea, that sort of thing," says Hughes. "Then there's our table bell, our bracket bells – the sort used in school playgrounds – and door bells. People are into doorbells at the moment, real ones, not buzzy ones." |
| Tictail operates on a "freemium" model, letting retailers make as many sales as they need without taking a cut, but offering functionality such as voucher codes, mailing lists and analytical tools for a price. | Tictail operates on a "freemium" model, letting retailers make as many sales as they need without taking a cut, but offering functionality such as voucher codes, mailing lists and analytical tools for a price. |
| "Our mission as a company is to democratise selling online," says the company's co-founder, Carl Waldekranz. "To make it available for people who don't care about e-commerce but just want to sell the best thing they can. | "Our mission as a company is to democratise selling online," says the company's co-founder, Carl Waldekranz. "To make it available for people who don't care about e-commerce but just want to sell the best thing they can. |
| "There's so many things about the UK market that's right for Tictail, and one of them is that Napoleon was right: it's a nation of shopkeepers, and it fits us really well." | "There's so many things about the UK market that's right for Tictail, and one of them is that Napoleon was right: it's a nation of shopkeepers, and it fits us really well." |
| When the foundry was established in Whitechapel in 1570, Elizabeth I was on the throne. In 1752, it cast the Liberty Bell, an iconic symbol of American independence, and in 1856 it cast Big Ben, although the bell cracked while being tested and had to be recast in 1858. Specialist sales, largely church bells and musical handbells make up the majority of its turnover, but Hughes hopes that will change once the store goes live. | |
| Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. | Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning. |