As many of you know, MOO makes pretty printed things… like cute business cards, stickers and our favourite, postcards! They’re great, and have often partnered with Postcrossing in the past, giving away lots of lovely presents on our giveaways.
So, the minute we knew we were going to the UK earlier this year, an idea sprung to mind… weren’t MOO headquarters located in London? We’re always curious of knowing how things work behind the scenes – could they perhaps show us around and introduce us to Little and Big MOO?
Turns out, yes they could! :D Giddy with excitement and barely containing our smiles, we were shown around MOO headquarters by Simon Goble, MOO’s Head of Brand Communications, who took the time to explain how everything works and patiently answer our many questions. And of course, we brought the Little Mail Carriers’ cousin around for the tour… below is his report of the day!
Hello from MOO’s lovely reception area in Shoreditch, London! Can you spot me up there? :)
Boy, were we excited to be there… I couldn’t wait to meet Big MOO and see some postcards being made!
And what do you know, there are actually not one but two Big MOOs (aka, their printing machines), to cope with all the demand for postcards and business cards! The two digital offset HP Indigo presses are lightning fast and can print up to 68 four-colour A4 pages per minute!
They even let me take a peek inside… wow! So this is where the action happens…
All around MOO’s sunny warehouse, which takes their complete ground floor, people were focused on cutting, wrapping and packing orders for shipping. Huge mail bags lined a wall, ready to be picked up by their mailman.
Everything is done with productivity and waste reduction in mind. For instance, if an order consists of different products which aren’t all simultaneously ready, the ones that are finished earlier are put in color-coded bins while they wait for the other parts to be finished – this way they can be shipped together, saving on shipping costs! Smart, right?
Meanwhile on the upper floors, everyone was hard at work making sure everything is running smoothly and every single customer is happy. MOO was founded in 2004 and has since grown to be an award-winning company which employs 90 people in London, and in the US.
What makes people want to work at MOO? The perks include a birthday cake on your birthday, joint lunches on Fridays, fussball tables…
… and a fully stocked breakfast pantry! :D
In the end of the tour, there was still enough time to pop around the corner to MOO’s new shop on Boxpark. Here, MOO products are shown in clever displays so that clients can have a close look at them before ordering online. The shop is exquisitely done, and feels like stepping inside a real website, complete with sliders and menus! Here’s Simon pulling a menu to show us how it works:
I tried it myself, but I’m afraid I was a bit too light for the job…
And of course, this being just like a website, there’s a cookie policy as well (conveniently spelled out on a cookie jar)!
Thank you Simon for showing us around! I can’t wait to go back someday – and show it to other postcrossers! :)
YAY for MOO!
