Now that's Magic!
Albion House Opening Ceremony
The sun shone and legendary magician Paul Daniels kept the crowd
entertained with some of his tricks before being joined by his assistant / wife
Debbie McGee to officially open Albion House – Mask-arade’s new
headquarters.
It was another momentous day in the history of the party mask
manufacturers, hundreds of well wishers joined the Maskateers to celebrate their
move to the company’s fantastic new premises. Everyone was given a guided tour
of the building, including the 500,000 stock masks in the warehouse, the
manufacturing plant and the most popular feature of Albion House the ‘Wall of
Fame’ featuring 600 framed, autographed masks of celebrities which adorn every
inch of the walls of the first floor showroom. Mask-arade have been collected
signed masks for the past two years and their unique collection now includes
autographs from the likes of David Cameron, Elton John, Vera Lynn, John
Travolta, Judi Dench and even former US President George W Bush!!
Director Ray Duffy presented the adults with a brief history of Mask-arade
whilst ‘Masky’ the company’s giant raccoon mascot kept the children in the
audience amused. After the unveiling of the bronze plaque everyone was
encouraged to don a Paul or Debbie mask for a commemorative photo. Duffy said
“It has been a fantastic day, I think that everyone has enjoyed themselves. Our
staff have worked tirelessly and put on a great buffet lunch for the entire
crowd”
From an idea from founding Director Chis O’Nyan many years ago, Mask-arade
began life in May 2008 initially operating from Chris’s bedroom selling
personalised masks on line, they then moved to Ray’s garage before renting
premises at Ford Farm in Southam before purchasing Albion House last month, it’s
an incredible story as fellow Director Dean Walton told us “ Since our
appearance on Dragons’ Den our feet haven’t touched the ground, Kate and
William’s wedding was also a huge turning point when the demand for Royal Family
masks saw us stretched to the limit as over 250,000 masks were despatched around
the world” Walton added “The Dragons admitted that they got it wrong and we will
be seen on TV again in the next few weeks as a ‘one that got away’ feature on
the new series How to Win in The Den”
The business now employs nine staff and numerous local homeworkers, their
licensed celebrity party masks are now on sale in leading High Street stores
including Clintons, WH Smith, Cards Galore, Selfridges and the latest store to
stock Mask-arade’s masks.... Harrods of Knightsbridge!!
With their horror collection currently selling well in the build up to
Halloween, a new Christmas collection hitting the shops next month and the
Diamond Jubilee to cope with next year, exciting times lay ahead for this unique
business. The company’s strapline ‘Endless Fun’ sums it up perfectly.
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