Introducing Your Personal Shoppers
Hi there, I’m Kat Rutledge who, with my husband Gill, took over Made-To-Order in February 2012 from two talented ladies, Rachel Rodger and Chris McGill. They started the company in 2008 because they found it difficult to purchase a gift basket that was good value for money. Especially when off-the-shelf baskets had products in them that wouldn't necessarily suit the person for whom the gift was being purchased. So the idea behind Made-to-Order is to create personalised gifts that have been tailor-made for the recipient.
A Bit About Kat
With a background in banking, finance and IT, Kat is well able to keep the books straight and the website and facebook sites updated, along with other techy stuff. Her passion however lies in the creative fields, stemming from a childhood which included a mother who was a professional cake decorator (her cakes went all over the world, including Petit Fours for the Queen on one of her New Zealand visits). With six children, Kat’s mother taught them all the old-fashioned arts – sewing, knitting, baking and cooking etc while she was busy running her business. Kat inherited an eye for sourcing and creating gifts with an X factor, and a teaching manner which goes well with training their 8 year old daughter Emily as the company ‘go-fer’ (she may well be on the end of the phone when you call).
A Bit About Gill
Gill’s background in accounting and small businesses has lead more to an overview role within the company, keeping Kat in balance and ensuring she has a good sounding board for all those ideas. Gill takes care of the household and ensures there is a steady flow of coffee. He loves to spend quality time with Emily at the pool and the park indulging their love of sports. The home abounds with music – Gill on the ukulele and penny whistle, Emily piano, recorder and song, and Kat piano plus a mean whistle when working with music on. Gill ensures that all gift baskets are appropriately packaged and dispatched, and helps out with inbound deliveries (although he is banned from the chocolate ones!)
What We Do As A Company
Our aim is always to "Make Someone's Day" - both you as the purchaser, and the person who receives the gift from you. Our job is to take the pressure off you and help you source the right gift. We get a huge kick out of delivering our baskets and seeing each recipient light up with surprise and joy.
We believe that word of mouth is our best advertising, so we aim to be helpful and friendly whilst providing a relaxed, efficient service. We enjoy our work amd the satisfaction from knowing that we have given pleasure to another customer.
The environment is very important to us and we are conscious of the impact we make as a business. To reduce food miles and our carbon footprint we promote and use local Marlborough businesses first, closely followed by other New Zealand companies. We do not source our products internationally; any imported products are bought by us from local retailers. We also provide a recycling option for all our baskets and wrapping materials, as well as offering to reuse other baskets for donations to support community projects. We recycle all our business waste, which in Marlborough involves making a trip to the Resource Recovery Centre about once a month - there are no wheelie bins at the kerb for us!
Professional Associations
Made-to-Order Limited has been a member of the local Marlborough Chamber of Commerce (and we still receive their communications) and we attend networking events run by BNI, Her Business Networks and The Chamber. The new company Made-To-Order NZ Limited will be joining local associations and look forward to being an active part in the Marlborough community.
Raych and Chris helped us to design our own basket creation using a wide range of their top quality products. We have used Made-to-Order on three occasions and highly recommend the friendly, professional service they provide. 