It's All Smiles for Northants Tooth Jewellery Company

15 February 2006

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Family firm Smilegems has plenty to grin about after securing more overseas orders for its dental jewellery, thanks to the continued support of UK Trade & Investment.

Mother and daughter team, Chrissie and Sally Atkins based in Long Buckby, Northampton, will ship over 18,000 of their fashion items to France, Austria, Spain, Italy, Germany and Switzerland over the next two months.

Smilegems has a lucrative contract with Claire's Accessories to supply their trendy tooth jewellery – gems that can be safely temporarily glued to the teeth – to its stores across the UK and Europe.

And thanks to Bernard Betrand Solamac, a French student who joined the company for the summer as part of UKTI's Student Placement Scheme, the company now also has a contract with Pimkie stores throughout Europe.

Chrissie Atkins said: "As well as supplying to retailers, we have distributors in the US, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Spain, Norway and Japan who sell our professional dental jewellery kits. I come from a beauty industry background and my daughter trained in hairdressing and nail techonology – we give lectures to beauty course students in colleges and in the past have also been approached by dentists for advice on fitting the jewellery!"

As she further explains: "In the early days, we assembled the kits ourselves – we did lots of hard work and experimentation, finding the right gems, a safe adhesive that worked effectively on the tooth and then getting the necessary insurance. Eventually we put together a very professional package that has proved to be a hugely successful product."

After beginning life in Chrissie's spare bedroom in 2000, Smilegems is now based in an office and warehouse on King Street with five staff and other outworkers. It aims to pick up more business with retail outlets across Europe and further afield.

And she believes its success so far is in no small part down to UKTI as Chrissie adds: "I can't sing UKTI's praises highly enough. We like to think of ourselves as a pair of very enterprising and resourceful businesswomen but it is still a steep learning curve for any businesses entering the export market. Therefore I would urge any business thinking of exporting to talk to UKTI as they have provided invaluable help and support."

UK Trade & Investment international trade adviser Bob Fisher, based in Northampton, said: "Smilegems recognised the need to develop the skills and understanding of international trade and so joined UK Trade & Investment's Passport to Export Programme. It is a fine example of what a company can achieve when supported by us and I pay tribute to both Chrissie and Sally for their boundless energy, enthusiasm and resourcefulness."

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