A new West Midlands company is hoping to solve the problem of buying greeting cards which are truly personal - just in time for the Mother's Day rush.
Yoodoo, which is based at the University of Warwick Science Park's Business Innovation Centre in Binley, Coventry, enables customers to go online to create individual personalised greeting cards, have them professionally printed and despatched the same day.
The four-strong creative and development team moved into the Science Park around a year ago and has just launched its website www.yoodoo.com.
Managing director Bob Leslie said: "Customers can go to our website, select a card from hundreds of designs, personalise it by changing both the wording on the front image and by creating their own verse or wording to be printed on the inside.
"Cards are available in three sizes, with prices starting at £1.94 including first class postage in the UK.
"We print and despatch normally same day or on a date requested by the customer within the next 12 months and will send the card either to them or directly to the recipient.
"The unique cards are created by independent designers and illustrators and the production of the finished personalised card is under-taken using the latest digital printers each costing over £300,000.
"Yoodoo is all about personalisation and we have already decided to extend the greeting cards service to include fun gifts, posters and calendars which people can send with personalised messages."
Karen Aston, the manager at the Business Innovation Centre, said the complex had been set up to help fledgling companies like Yoodoo by offering all the services needed to run a successful business.
"More and more shoppers are buying gifts online and internet users can now create their own greetings cards containing their special messages," she said.
"It is an innovative idea and I am sure it will prove a huge success.
"The Science Park is the perfect incubator for firms such as Yoodoo to help them develop and grow."
