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In the six years since it first began trading, Freshman has achieved more than many companies manage in 20. As a brand, it has gained a reputation for quality, top-notch customer service and, most importantly, guitars that look, sound and play beautifully. Thanks to the forward thinking attitude of founder and Freshman MD Sean Kelly, the future is looking increasingly rosy for the Scottish firm.

The last year alone has seen Freshman experience dramatic growth and with a number of new employees on board, 2009 has been something of a landmark year. “We’ve experienced growth across the company and we’ve tried to keep with it,” comments Kelly. “We’ve employed two brand new admin staff in the office in order to keep up with account enquiries and that side of things and three new account managers out in the field.

“It’s no secret, what’s going on in terms of the industry and the economy. Many are battoning down the hatches, but if we don’t take the initiative, we won’t grow,” he points out. “We have to invest and as growth has been consistent over the last few years, now is the right time to do it. In terms of our brand awareness and sell through, the last few years have been a really significant time for us.

“We measure our success in terms of what is selling through and that tells us that we are on the right track. Part of what we are doing is dealing with that growth while also investing in the future.”

The real question here, then, is how has the company managed this impressive feat.

“There are three main areas that we concentrate on,” explains Kelly. “First is our brand awareness. We’ve worked hard at raising our profile with big media campaigns. We’ve recently been featured in a Smart Car international marketing campaign, for example – it’s things like that that have helped get the brand known. Also, I’m a great believer that you make your own luck and we have worked very hard in this respect. We have some good contacts as well as some big endorsers and have managed a lot of tabloid exposure. Although that doesn’t sell more guitars tomorrow, it builds the brand. The job isn’t done yet, but the harder we work, the better we perform.”

“Second, we have always been proud of the quality of our products. I design the guitars, we source the best woods and materials and ensure high standards all round, which ensures the guitars sound brilliant. We have a 16-point QC check here and we also set the guitars up before they leave the factory, which makes sure the quality of the guitars arriving at stores is of a much higher standard than many of our competitors.

“Finally, we are a profitable brand,” he continues. “We’re not greedy, so margins for stores are excellent. We’ve seen a significant increase in account enquiries recently, and it would seem that a lot of this is down to the fact that retailers can make money with Freshman, so it makes the decision very easy.”

With these key tenets of the Freshman way of thinking in place, success has come naturally to the company and if all goes according to plan it will continue to do so. The next twelve months will see a brace of new guitars that look sure to continue this tradition of great sounding guitars with affordable price tags.

“There are a number of new guitars this year,” says Kelly. “We have a brand new line of solid tops for under £200 with A-grade sitka spruce tops. This will be out in the autumn as part of the FA1 series. We also have a limited edition range of national flags – featuring Irish, English, Welsh and Scottish designs – on acoustics, which will have a big media campaign.

“There will be additions to the Apollo series, which has performed brilliantly for us in last 12 months. We’re adding to that with the Apollo 3, which will be launched in autumn this year.”

All indications point towards the unveiling of the 600 series, following on from Freshman’s 500 series, which features some of the best high-end guitars to come out of China.

While there is still work to be done, Freshman is on a sure footing and given past form will no doubt continue its rapid rise to the very top of the business. With the driven and determined Kelly pushing things forward, expect a whole lot more from this young company as it makes waves across the market.
Freshman: 01355 228028