Monday, June 30, 2025

Cosy CEO “honoured” as UK Chancellor pays a visit

The founder of a Midlands firm has spoken of his company’s pride after it was hailed by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves MP as a shining example of the country’s medium-sized enterprises.

Peter Ellse, CEO of Cosy Direct, made the comments following a visit by the Chancellor to his company – which supplies sustainable, open-ended educational resources for schools and nurseries – to officially launch the Government’s Trade Strategy.

During her morning-long visit, Ms Reeves was given a tour of Cosy’s premises, located on the Derbyshire/Staffordshire border near Tutbury, for a behind-the-scenes look at its operations.

The visit included a meet-and-greet with staff, including the firm’s managing director David Hook and co-founder Amanda Ellse, as well as a tour of the warehouse, an introduction to Cosy’s product design capabilities, and demonstrations of its use of technology and AI.

She also enjoyed tea with employees, including apprentices and former prisoners employed through the Jobs on Release scheme, and was presented with her very own pot of Chancellor’s Honey, harvested from the company’s own beehives.

Founded in Derby in 2011, Cosy now employs 110 people and sells more than 6,000 products. It exports to 45 countries and has seen the value of its overseas business rise to £3.2 million this year.

This international success earned Cosy a King’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2025, adding to its Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development, which it received in 2022.

During her tour, Ms Reeves praised the company’s success and operations and holding it up as the kind of company the new Trade Strategy is designed to benefit.

Peter Ellse said: “It was an honour to be chosen to host a visit from the Chancellor for the launch of the Government’s industrial strategy, featuring a focus on our favourite subject – export.

“Among the subjects we discussed during her visit was our story of export hyper-growth, of both the goods we sell overseas and the increase in the tech-led services we are using to increase that activity across North America and Europe.

“At the same time, we’ve created a low-carbon network of 70 suppliers, who we care for and offer free finance in order to protect them, and us, and we have built a COSY family of incredible hard-working staff from across the social spectrum.

“We strongly believe that our approach as a medium-sized business which is large enough to make an impact but remains close enough to connect with its community, is a model other companies could follow and can create export opportunities which will help the UK to pay for itself.”

Ms Reeves said: “Cosy is a great success story and I want more businesses to take that plunge and to export and to grow jobs and to create investment here in Britain.”

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