Opal Products- The Story (Case Study)

BROUGHTON ASTLEY, U.K. - Sept. 1, 2015 - PRLog -- How do you define a ‘successful business’? Is it simply via the bottom line profit at the end of every financial year? Or is it defined by hard-work, passion and a determination to provide an excellent service to your customers.

In the case of Leicester based company Opal, it’s a combination of the two philosophies. ‘‘Obviously for any business to be classed as ‘successful’ there needs to be a certain focus on the financial performance, however you have to find a balance between fiscal frugality and the quality of your service’’ commented James Newcombe, Director at Opal. ‘‘Our own business has been built over the years on strong values, ensuring that our customers receive the best possible service- and that is where our passion lies’’.

Opal was created back in 2008 by Zoe and James Newcombe, who were initially a UK distributor of the popular California Scents air fresheners. However, as the years have passed, and the business grew against the backdrop of the credit crunch, Opal have expanded their product portfolio and distributed their products to some of the biggest retailers across Europe. Below is their story, direct from James Newcombe, on how Opal started and their vision for the future!..

‘’Remarkably it’s quite a lucky story as to how we became involved with California scents, we first stumbled across the California Scents air fresheners when we went on holiday to the USA back in 2008 and the house we were staying in smelt amazing. Naturally we both wanted to find out what made this house smell so great, and it transpired that in all of the closets were the California Scents tins. Immediately we asked the owner where they got them from and they directed us to the local Walmart so we bought a box and took them home with us! When they had all ran out we looked on the internet about buying some more and contacted California Scents directly. They told us they were looking for a distributor in the UK and would we be interested? At the time we had a domestic cleaning company and thought that it would be a natural fit to sell to customers for their houses as a starting point, so we placed an order and decided to take up the quite daunting challenge of becoming distributors. Needless to say that once we got the products and started promoting them we ended up selling the cleaning company and concentrated solely on our distribution of California Scents. In the beginning this was mainly to fuel stations and convenience stores, but over time we have developed the business to a level where we are now providing California Scents to some of the biggest retailers in the country, including ASDA and The Range. It’s been a whirlwind few years, however we have enjoyed every second of it!’’.

James continued, to talk about what the plans are for Opal going forward over the next few years:

‘‘California Scents have long been our core brand of products, but 2015 has marked the addition of several new exciting brands, a rebrand and a new website. Our plan over the next few years is to keep adding to our portfolio of air fresheners and car care brands and become a one stop shop for these types of products. The sky is the limit really as to what we can distribute and we are always looking for new and exciting products to add to our range. We will continue to grow and supply to the national chains and hopefully we can extend our reach even further across the European market, which has huge potential and over the next ten years we will hopefully see Opal becoming a large distribution operation’’.

You can find out more about Opal, by visiting their brand new website www.opalproducts.co.uk or by following them on Social Media. Just search ‘Opal Products’.