Written by Alyson Jackson

Back in 1997, our little bakery in Whitby, North Yorkshire caught the attention of London's BBC when they asked the question: 'Will internet shopping ever take off?'

In the 1990's, former Managing Director - and trailblazer - Michael Jarman boldly led the company towards e-commerce, making Botham's of Whitby (a small fishing town in Yorkshire with only two fax machines!) one of the first companies in the country to sell products online using, what they call, a 'website'.

Jump forwards twenty seven years and this video is now a fascinating watch:

We caught up with Mike, who has retired from the business but has passed the baton onto his three daughters, to find out more:

Mike said: "Botham's has always been a successful business, but back in those days [1990's] it was difficult to grow your customer base: Whitby is surrounded by sea and moorland, and not everybody had a computer or had even heard of the internet - we only had two fax machines in the town! We had a loyal local following which also included holidaymakers, but I was always thinking about how to grow the business to address seasonal peaks & troughs. At that time, most businesses would produce Mail Order brochures and purchase mailing lists, all at great expense and with poor conversion rates of 1-1.5%. I remember thinking, there must be another way."

Thanks, Blue Peter

"So, one evening, as I sat with my three daughters watching Blue Peter, I had a light-bulb moment! During the programme they asked the children for their email address, and I thought, if the next generation is using email now, what technology will be available in the future."

"I found a website company in Teeside and we created a brochure and put it onto the World Wide Web with the hope that somebody somewhere would see it!"

Mike continues: "It worked - Botham's of Whitby was online and selling globally. Every time an order was placed, it created a buzz in the bakery. We were one of the first companies in the country to sell anything online. This caught the attention of the Government's Board of Trade, who were hosting a major event in London called 'The Information Society Initiative (1996)', the aim of which was to encourage trade & industry to embrace new technologies. Here we met some great companies and people, including English author and illustrator, Alan Snow. As my children had led me to the solution for our business growth, I felt strongly about valuing the next generation. So Alan helped us to develop a children's section to the website, including recipes and games. I wanted children to see the food industry as fun, and it was a great success. We had children and schools nationwide getting in-touch and using our website for curriculum support."   

Personal Touch

But what about the first emails? "When we first started capturing customer email addresses, we had very few so I used to email customers directly. Customers like to feel valued, so this worked - before long we had returning customers from all over the world, some so appreciative of our service that they used to send us gifts."

With Thanks

In conclusion, Mike said: "I think it's absolutely wonderful that my daughter, Anita, and the team have picked up the baton from me and gone so far with it. With tech in the palms of most hands these days, it's moving so rapidly and it makes me so happy to see the entire team embracing it. In the 1990's I couldn't have even thought about a Trade Ordering Portal and the Botham's To Go app! It's exciting to think about what else is around the corner." 

The Present

The business has taken a technological leap from 1997 to present day, with Anita Marshall, Mike's eldest daughter and Trade & Finance Director at Botham's, at the tech helm. Today, we have a successful website, online ordering portals for wholesale customers and our own shops, Square payment systems & touch screen tills in shops & Tea Rooms, Cybake software for baking processes, hand-held devices for stock control, electronic HR systems, barcode readers in the hamper packing department, and the Botham's To Go App! And, from a handful of email addresses in the 1990's, Botham's social media and mail shot customer base is now about to reach 50k!

Anita (pictured above), who is very passionate about all things tech & systems efficiencies, said: "Everything I do today is directly inspired by what Dad did!"