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Nick Jenkins. Nicholas David Jenkins (born 13 May 1967) is a British businessman, best known for founding the online greeting card retailer Moonpig.com, then as a "dragon" for the BBC Two TV business series Dragons' Den in the thirteenth and fourteenth series. [2]
Jul 10, 2015 · Nick Jenkins, 48, founded the first online personalised greeting card website Moonpig.com — named after his nickname at school — in July 2000 after a spell as a commodity trader in Moscow. In ...
Moonpig is an internet-based business whose head offices are situated in London and Guernsey. The company's business model is mainly selling personalised greeting cards , flowers and gifts. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index .
- He Has Been in The E-Commerce Space For Over 15 Years
- He’S Au fait with Raising Investment
- Moonpig Was His School Nickname
- Tipp-Ex Was Part of His Business Inspiration
- He Was Once Issued with A Death Threat
- He Has An MBA
- He Understands That Starting A Business Isn’T Easy
- He’S A Multi-Millionaire
- He’S An Angel Investor
- He’S Charitable
Jenkins launched online greetings card business Moonpig in 1999 – not long before the dot-com crash – but he was able to survive the collapse and grew the company to revenues of over £40m with expansion in the UK, Australia and US.
Moonpig has raised five rounds of investment from a number of private investors including Carte Blanche Greetings backer Duncan Spence. His experience of being an investee company will likely come in handy in the Den.
After spending four days struggling to find a domain name that had two syllables, was unique on Google and easily represented by a logo, Jenkins resorted back to his old school nickname – Moonpig. The name “ticked all the boxes” but Jenkins asserts that it was “sort of despite the nickname […] I would rather not have used my nickname but it worked....
With greetings cards, Jenkins always used to Tipp-Ex the caption inside a card and replace it with one of his own which led him to think about personalised greetings cards. After having the brainwave that this service could be provided over the internet Moonpig was born.
Jenkins spent eight years in Moscow working as a commodities trader for a sugar operation as part of Glencore. He decided to return to the UK after he had a death threat nailed to his door following the arrest of a client who had stolen $10m worth of sugar. Jenkins said of the threat: “The Russians are quite sensible […] if they give you a death th...
On his return to the UK, Jenkins undertook an MBA at Cranfield University to help him refine his business skills – “I’d had a very narrow experience of business in commodity trading”. He says that his MBA was extremely beneficial and that it was a “great environment to bounce ideas off other people”.
For the first five years of trading, Moonpig made a loss but Jenkins was able to turn things around by raising investment to keep the business afloat and thereafter made a profit – spending 12 years in total building Moonpig to exit. He knows that start-up success doesn’t happen overnight.
Moonpig sold to Photobox in 2011 and Jenkins was said to have received an estimated £45m when the business sold – money that he will be investing in promising businesses on the Den.
Jenkins has backed a number of early-stage UK businesses over the past seven years including energy management systems manufacturer Green Energy Options, Boomf.com, The Healthy Holiday Company, English heritage fashion brand Smart Turnout and Sheerluxe.com; a luxury goods e-commerce site. Although he has a bias towards e-tail his real skill has bee...
Following the sale of Moonpig, Jenkins spent a year running a children’s charity and has been “heavily involved” with three other charities in recent years. He also sits on the investment committee of Impact Ventures UK which backs social enterprises and charities.
This was when Moonpig was born. Family Life. Nick Jenkins is married to Amelia Freer, a top nutritionist in the UK. At the age of 41 she had given up on the hopes of having a child, but in 2017 she gave birth to a gorgeous little girl named Willow. If you are interested in having a look at her page, you can follow her on Instagram.
- Droitwich Spa, Worcester, England
- Nicholas David Jenkins
- 13 May 1967
- Amelia Freer
No matter where you are, celebrating the people you love has never been easier. With the Moonpig app you can upload photos directly from your phone, browse message inspiration, set reminders, and even add your own handwriting for that little extra touch. Either on the go, or from your sofa. Easy peasy. Creating Moments That Matter!
People also ask
What is Moonpig & why is it called a 'moon pig'?
Who is Nick Jenkins and what is his background?
When did Moonpig start?
Where is Moonpig based?
How did Moonpig become a millionaire?
Who owns Moonpig greeting cards?
Moonpig expanded into the Australian market in 2004 and then introduced new products, including flowers and custom mugs, in late 2009. The business was launched in the United States in 2010. Moonpig was soon selling more than 12 million cards per year and Jenkins’ dreams had come to fruition, after 11 years’ hard slog.
