Meet Professional Gift Wrapper Aoife Forbes
Finishing touches are always important, especially at Christmas
Aoife Forbes is originally from Ireland and now lives in Whitley Bay with her husband and two children. ‘I love being by the sea, and my favourite thing about living in the North East is the people,’ she says. After studying History of Art at university, she worked in PR for nearly 25 years. ‘I enjoyed lots of aspects of my career,’ she adds, ‘but have always longed for a creative role where I could use my hands, think of ideas and collaborate with exciting organisations.
‘When I took a break from working last year, my friend asked, “what’s your dream job?” and I answered, “driving around in a customised ice-cream van, wrapping people’s presents all day”, and the seed was sown!’
Aoife completed a professional gift wrapping course to learn the tricks of the trade. ‘I absolutely love everything to do with gifting and wrapping,’ she explains. ‘The smile when people receive a thoughtful present, creating really personal finishing touches and making something tactile – all important ingredients in a life where AI and screens are such a focus.’
Forbes Finishings launched in September last year when Aoife registered as a sole trader. ‘Working for myself gave me the flexibility and creative space I craved,’ she explains. ‘I matched this to a gap in the market I had identified.’
Aoife wrapped gifts for friends, and a lot of empty boxes, so she could build up a presence on Instagram. ‘This really helped me practice and build a portfolio,’ she says. ‘Then I asked friends to come to my house for some wrapping workshops and held a couple more in the fab café No Fret in Whitley Bay. Again, this gave me practice and helped me get feedback and photos. I built a basic website, did a photoshoot, got some branding done and slowly started building it all up. I was lucky to have had a PR and marketing background, so knew how to go about these tasks myself. Then Christmas came and I started getting busy!’
With Forbes Finishings, Aoife is determined to create a business that is viable all year round, so she’s developed two main sides to what she offers. ‘One side is the beautiful, luxury wrapping,’ she says. ‘I can wrap people’s gifts for them and create a gift within a gift. Or I can train retail staff to do this to then offer as a service to their customers. I can also give Santa a helping hand when he is feeling overwhelmed – I go to workplaces and houses and “speed wrap” up to 30 gifts in an hour for clients. This service is similar to a cleaner or ironing service; why do it yourself if you hate it or simply don’t have the time?
‘The other side is my gift wrapping workshops, including corporate team building and social events for friends/hen parties etc. These work as brilliant conduits to connection, conversation and creativity. Plus everyone learns a new skill. I really enjoy using sustainable elements such as comics, maps and wallpaper for these. I never use sellotape, so these are perfect events for organisations that aspire to be a force for good and B Corps.’
Aoife has received plenty of support since setting up her business, not least from her family. ‘My husband has been incredible and is my greatest cheer-leader,’ she says. ‘He celebrates my wins (even more than me!) and makes me laugh when plans go pear-shaped. I simply could not have done this without him. I think my kids are proud too, although they found the empty gifts everywhere really tempting at the start!
‘I’ve had some great practical support from The Business Factory at North Tyneside, the Rural Design Centre and the NatWest Accelerator, and the emotional support from the start-up and business community in the North East has honestly blown me away. I wasn’t expecting people to be so encouraging and generous with their time. I am so grateful for every ounce of support.’
Aoife started planning for this Christmas in September. ‘I’ve a special Christmas workshop available to workplaces and groups of friends, which includes a gift for everyone to wrap and take home,’ she says. ‘I source these gifts from the indie shop For the Love of the North – buying from other small, local businesses is really important to me. I will also be rolling out a marketing plan highlighting my “speed wrapping” service. As far as I can tell this is a unique offer and I hope it will be popular, especially in the weeks coming up to Christmas Day.’
Clearly an adaptive business, Aoife says she thinks of something new every day. ‘My plans include producing and selling my own range of wrapping paper, an improved website with a store for the handmade accessories and super-sized bows I’m developing, creating digital content and online workshops for hybrid teams, collaborating with corporate organisations which specialise in team building and connecting people – and of course, buying that ice-cream van to customise!’
What are your top tips for gift wrapping?
1. Never wrap on the floor. Save your back and always use a table or even an ironing board.
2. Try not to use too much paper, this helps your gifts look neater and creates less waste.
3. If you do have waste paper, keep it and use it for gift tags, little bags or add it to plain brown paper for some pops of colour.
How will you be spending Christmas this year?
Hopefully working right up to Christmas Day, when I will have very tired hands! Then I will be getting cosy with my family and resting up.
Yorkshire puddings on a Christmas dinner – yes or no?
YES!
What’s your favourite Christmas film?
The Muppets Christmas Carol.
What’s your favourite Christmas song?
Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses, of course!
