Mel launched Personalised Favours from her garage back in 2009 when she started making personalised wedding and engagement gifts after she couldn’t find any to her liking for her own wedding.
Fast forward to 2023 and Personalised Favours offers personalised gifts for all special occasions and is the flagship brand of the Foresight Online Group, which has grown to incorporate six successful e-commerce businesses.
Based in West Gosford, they now employ more than 50 staff and dispatch more than 100,000 orders across Australia, Asia-Pacific and the US every year.
In 2021, Mel and Matt were named in the Australian Financial Review Fast 100 list. They continue to innovate and grow in the online space and are a true local success story.
Back to 2009
So let’s take up the story from the ‘fun’ company web site turn back the clock.
“Picture this: it’s 2009, and our Managing Director Melissa Wilkinson has just gotten engaged to her hubby-to-be, Mark.
Crack the champagne! Circulate the spreadsheets! It’s time to plan a wedding.
The number one item on Mel’s wedding wish-list were favours with a unique, sentimental twist, but when a Google search turned up only cookie-cutter offerings, she knew it just wouldn’t do.
It was her wedding, after all and this time she wanted it to be personal.
Recognising that there was a Mel-sized gap in this lucrative market, she quickly established her own online store, and filled it with personalised, affordable products for all of life’s celebrations.
My, how we’ve grown!
With a background in Industrial Design, Mel had worked with big and brainy brands like Disney and Adidas, and she knew exactly what she wanted her business to be.
What started as an eBay side-hustle operating from the dingiest corner of her garage soon turned into a full-blown juggernaut, with Personalised Favours becoming one of the most dominant players in the Australian wedding industry.
From the garage to the global marketplace
Then, in 2013, Melissa joined forces with the brains trust that is her brother-in-law, Matthew Mosse-Robinson, and together, they transformed their backyard operation into a multimillion-dollar international enterprise.
Although it all started with wedding favours, PF’s immense product range now covers gifts for birthdays, kids, corporates, pets and every recipient or occasion in-between.
Today, Personalised Favours is the flagship brand of the Foresight Online Group, which has grown to incorporate six successful e-commerce businesses operating throughout Australasia and the US.
Service with a smile (that goes the extra mile)
And because it’s all about the personal touch, our customisation happens right here in our warehouse on the Central Coast, from a team that’s dedicated to making sure they get it right for you every. single. time.
When you submit your design, it’ll be turned around in no time by our tight-knit team, who work hard to dispatch more than 100,000 orders across Australia, Asia-Pacific and the US every year!
Big-time capabilities, small business heart
"We’re already taking gift-giving and product personalisation to a whole new level and with a range that’s constantly evolving, our team is only just getting started.
"In 2021, we were featured in the Australian Financial Review Fast100 list – a really proud moment for us and a testament to everything we have achieved.”
"Now that’s one great story and Mel and Matt are inspiration for all the budding entrepreneurs out there with a great idea and wondering what to do next."
And just goes to show the potential of the Central Coast to be an e-commerce powerhouse with the right support and planning.
