Nicole Rosenberg and Leonie Henzell - Bockers & Pony, gift hampers

Remember the phrases "First Impressions Count", "Stand Out From the Pack" and "Quality is Better than Quantity"?

Well Nicole Rosenberg and Leonie Henzell, founders of Bockers & Pony, strive to live by these catch phrases every time a gift is sent out on behalf of you personally or your company. More than ever before companies are trying to 'give the right type of impression' in an extremely competitive environment - gifts that go the extra mile are undoubtedly appreciated and remembered.

The Designer Gift Concept business was surprisingly created by two health professionals, Nicole a qualified Occupational Therapist and Leonie a qualified Physiotherapist who meet whilst working in an Occupational Rehabilitation company in 2002. The two girls had a common passion for quality, innovation and unbridled enthusiasm and found a niche in the gift services market and so decided to start up their dream company in May 2004.

The business started off in May from Leonie's study at home and by Christmas 2004 they needed a larger space along with employees to cope with their ever-growing Christmas orders. To make this gift giving time even more manic Nicole gave birth to her first child Ruby in September whilst Leonie had to juggle family commitments with her two children, Mitchell aged 8 and Georgie aged 3.

The girls pride their business on distinguishing themselves from the other hampers companies and refuses to use out dated cane baskets, cellophane or salted peanuts! - Instead they opt for a more practical stylish option of either Smiggle re-usable storage boxes or tailored boxes each containing quality products rather than substandard products which may end up in the pantry destined to live up until their use by date and then invariably be thrown out. With their exclusive image the girls have managed to woo exclusive brand names such as Dinosaur Designs, Mandarina Duck, Simon Johnson, Eeni Meeni Miini Moh, Donovan's Restaurant, Circa Restaurant and the Westin and Lyall Hotels just to name a few.

Nicole and Leonie have also branched out into a specialised field of providing PR and Marketing companies with gifts that usually go to media whether it be for a product launch or a marketing campaign. They either provide assistance with the concept or share ideas on how to make the gift become a powerful communication tool. Companies that they have recently supplied marketing gifts for include Jockey, Birdseye, Dulux, Beringer Blass and CUB. They have showcased these services on their web site www.bockersandpony.com under the 'Corporate Projects' sub heading where you can see examples of these marketing gifts.

Paul Bassat, C.E.O of the on-line employment recruitment site Seek, used Bockers and Pony for their staff gift in 2004 - "Your service, creativity and superior product choice in keeping with the SEEK image was very impressive and we would most certainly use your expertise again. The feedback from staff was outstanding and they were extremely pleased to get a 'quality' gift as opposed to the standard, thoughtless hamper full of second rate products".

Nicole and Leonie are looking forward to what 2006 will bring their ever-growing company. With their enthusiasm, passion and creativity they will continue to aim to produce "the kind of gift that you will be confident to give and the kind of gift you would be delighted to receive". Every time.