With the publication of the annual Sunday Times Fast Track 100 supplement on Sunday, Silver Cross was absolutely delighted to be once again announced as one of Great Britain’s fastest growing private companies, finishing at number 3 in the final list of the top 100 fastest growing firms.

The iconic British pram manufacturer has risen into the top 3 from 12th in last year’s listing, and this success has much to do with the company’s entrepreneurship and the ability to move nimbly and react to changeable market conditions. Silver Cross chairman, Alan Halsall was understandably thrilled by the result, stating:

“We are absolutely delighted with where we are in the list, although it has absolutely nothing to do with me but everything to do with the team we have at Silver Cross. Don’t forget this is a re-birth of a company; this is a fantastic brand and our appeal continues.”

With exciting developments and new products planned for 2009, Silver Cross looks set to consolidate the strong position developed over the last few years, and Mr Halsall (pictured below) went on to comment:

“Major investment is coming to fruition in 2009 with new products. This Yorkshire company is moving forward, and there are fantastic opportunities open to us because we have great brand name and a great team of people. We have to offer not only great British design, but also brilliant value for money. In the present economic climate offering value for money is more important than ever.”

Click on the links below to read more about Silver Cross and Fast Track 100:

This Christmas, the iconic Silver Cross Oberon Doll’s Pram looks to be the hot gift for little girls, as the classic design has appeared in the ‘Star Style Ultimate Christmas Gift Guide’ in popular celebrity magazine Heat.

The weekly celebrity favourite title featured the Oberon alongside a host of other stylish Christmas gifts in the feature, and it’s no surprise considering the list of celebrities who own Silver Cross Doll’s Prams. To read more about Oberon, click on the button below:

Silver Cross is certainly the flavour of the month for families in New York City who enjoy the finer things in life, as an article in The New York Daily News proved recently.

The ever popular daily newspaper set out to find New York’s most expensive and luxurious goods, and in the stroller category, they named the classic hand built Balmoral as the nursery product to own, mentioning the timeless British pram’s hand sprung chassis, leather suspension straps and hand spoked wheels.

With classic style credentials like these, it’s no wonder the Balmoral is seen as the height of luxury for babies everywhere! To read more about the Silver Cross Balmoral Pram, click on the link below.

The Great British success story that is Silver Cross once again appeared in the financial press at the weekend, with Financial Times writer Lucy Killgren interviewing Silver Cross Chairman, Alan Halsall.

The piece, intriguingly entitled “Man who pimped P. Diddy’s pram” tracked Mr Halsall’s meteoric progress with the iconic nursery brand; from receivership in 2002 through to the dynamic international business - with turnover in excess of 21M - that Silver Cross has become today.

The article also made reference to a number of celebrity owners, mentioning a host of A-list celebrities who own Silver Cross products. You can read the Financial Times article in it’s entirety by clicking on the link to FT.com below.

Following the fantastic announcement of Silver Cross as top nursery brand in the annual UK Superbrands awards, The Sunday Telegraph ran a Superbrands suplement featuring all that is good in British trade, industry and manufacture.

The suplement extensively featured Silver Cross as a a talisman of UK industry, forging into global markets and leading the world in the field of nursery design. Top business writer Kevin Coyd wrote:

“A UK heritage can be an advantage in more niche markets, as shown by pram manufacturer Silver Cross - a brand that has seen remarkable growth in overseas markets and a leap of 126 places in the Superbrands top 500, from 227 to 101. It’s British pedigree could scarcely be more impressive. Silver Cross is the world’s oldest nursery brand and it’s prams have been relied upon by the Royal Family for more than a century. More recently, celebrity owners have ensured that the company’s products have become a fixture in glossy magazines.”

Kevin went on to quote Silver Cross chairman, Alan Halsall, who stated; “Internationally, brands with our sort of heritage produce a warm feeling among consumers. We’ve developed over a long period of time, and people have a high regard for British workmanship.”

The expansion of the Silver Cross brand into international markets was the subject of a nice story in The Sunday Times at the weekend. The piece, featured in the business section of the perennial broadsheet favourite, focused on the burgeoning relationship with Chinese distribution partner Goodbaby.

Along with pictures from the recent Balmoral Pram photo shoot in London, business commentator Matthew Goodman wrote about the new Silver Cross presence in China through Goodbaby’s Beijing store and how it is hoped that the country will become a key market for Silver Cross in the future.

Top end luxury nursery retailer Fragile is renowned for stocking the very best in baby products, and with the addition of Silver Cross Heritage to their range, Fragile look set to consolidate their prestigious reputation at the head of nursery style and fashion.

Fragile was established in 1995 in Paddington, Sydney and has since grown to become an Australian icon - the place to visit when shopping for all things beautiful, from gorgeous maternity wear to baby clothing, toys and of course, now hand-built baby carriages in the form of the classic British Silver Cross brand. The image above shows the exclusive Fragile boutique at Bondi Junction in Sydney, with a beautiful soft pink Silver Cross Balmoral Pram taking centre stage in the main window display.

The seventeenth of July saw the proud launch of the Silver Cross brand in China. The Shanghai Nursery Fair is China’s (and one of the world’s) largest events of it’s kind, attracting a wide spectrum of high profile buyers from across China. Silver Cross has teamed up with one of the most prestigious nursery and children’s product distributors: Goodbaby Group. Goodbaby have a range of Chinese nursery stores and currently hold exclusive distribution rights for the Nike Kids and Miniman Fashion ranges for China.

The event was a huge success, with the world’s oldest nursery brand attracting a new and excited Chinese audience. With China fast becoming one of the world’s superpowers, the blossoming middle classes are keen to embrace the cream of western quality and design. Mr Shen - International Brand Manager of Goodbaby commented; “We have had a wonderful reaction to Silver Cross products at the show and we’re confident that the brand will have a bright future in China.”

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Silver Cross has climbed an impressive 126 places to position number 101 on the prestigious Superbrands list ahead of such well known names as Pepsi, Orange and Walkers. Still the UK’s favorite nursery equipment brand, Silver Cross was the second highest Baby Brand after Pampers.

The Superbrand list is created through a robust and entirely independent selection process which seeks the opinions of experts and thousands of individuals administered by The Centre for Brand Analysis (TCBA) on behalf of the Superbrands organisation. Which is why we are so proud of the result!

The Silver Cross Dazzle stroller has once again set tongues wagging as the chic British design has scooped another award, this time winning the prestigious ‘Mom’s Best Award’ in the USA.

The Mom’s Best Network, who’s mission is “to be the BEST resource site in providing reviews and information specifically regarding products and services, as well as retailers that carry these products/services” awarded Dazzle their seal of approval after putting the stroller through the toughest test of all; being used by mothers and their babies. The testers were delighted with the stylish stroller, particularly the light weight and eyecatching fabrics. Here’s what moms had to say:

“The Dazzle is easy to fold and the recline is great for newborns through toddlers.”
“It’s so lightweight and such a pretty colour.”
“It’s very lightweight, easy to maneuver and the colours are great.”
“I really liked this product - nothing about it needs improving.”

Over recent months, we have been running competitions at the Pregnancy, Babies & Children’s Expos in Sydney and Brisbane, and we are now very pleased to announce the winners from the two shows:

Both Ali from Randwick, and Bec from South Brisbane  are the lucky winners of the super-stylish Silver Cross Dazzle Stroller. Congratulations Ali and Bec!!! The Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expos are a series of events held annually throughout Australia. the next show will be in Perth from the 15th to the 17th of August. Silver Cross Australia will once again be holding competitions to win more fabulous prizes!

For more details on forthcoming events, click on the Expo banner below.

On June 10th, Silver Cross and a gaggle of technical staff went on the road , all in the cause of fashion as we descended on one of the quieter corners of Islington for a photo shoot starring the classic Balmoral Pram.

Top fashion model Jen Dawson was on hand to provide the glamour, while London-based photographer Jonny Storey took the snaps. The shoot took place in a number of locations and included a host of great still images, along with some dynamic video. The results will be arriving on international Silver Cross sites in the next two months, so watch this space…

Following on from the successful showcases in Hong Kong, Silver Cross Asia is further developing it’s in store experience with a brand new display in the high-profile Forum Shopping Mall in Singapore.

The showcase, which sits in the main entrance lobby of the enormous mall, features standing space for Silver Cross strollers and a multimedia screen playing Silver Cross videos throughout the day. The stand will be initially used to promote the stylish Dazzle Stroller (pictured above), with plans to use it for the launch of POP & Fizz in July/August time.

For most parents, making sure that their new baby is kept safe usually means a shopping trip to get hold of all the latest, safety-conscious prams, highchairs and car seats, but for parents in Northern Spain, keeping baby safe means something completely different!

In a bizarre festival known as El Salto del Colacho (Spanish for ‘the jump of the devil’), babies born in the previous twelve months are dressed in their Sunday best and laid on mattresses in the streets of Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos. Then men dressed as devils, carrying whips and truncheons, jump over babies by the dozen. This outlandish practice is said to protect the babies from evil spirits and illness. The festival, which originated in 1621, occurs every year on the Sunday following Corpus Christi, a Roman Catholic holiday observed across Spain.

The pictures above show the aerobatic devils in flight over unsuspecting tots. ‘El Colacho’ is pictured below in full diabolical regalia.

In addition to recent reviews in Babyzone, Babygadget and Coolmompicks; the new Silver Cross stroller, Dazzle has recieved even more positive feedback thanks to further reviews in Gurgle, Kidstyle File and Growing Your Baby.

Top UK parenting website, Gurgle.com, described the Silver Cross Dazzle stroller; “Designed for the modern urban parent, it has a gorgeous unique design and will be popular with anyone who wants a buggy with a bit of extra va-va voom!” In their ‘travelling with kids’ review, the Growing Your Baby tester said; “I personally like the soft, bold fabrics the stroller is offered in. With names like Blueberry, Cosmic Black, Grape, Pumpkin and Silver Grey, it almost makes you want to head to the bakery for some pie!” And in the last of the latest reviews, top Australian style site Kidstyle File had this to say; “Silver Cross have really updated in the last few years. Their latest model, the lightweight Dazzle stroller, is an iconic design - fresh, stark and simply beautiful. This is a stroller that really will become a modern classic.”

Even more on Dazzle at Swanky Moms.

The Silver Cross Dazzle Stroller is the star of a new showcase window display at Planet Kids in New York City.

The display echoes Dazzle’s celebrity credentials, with the iconic British stroller taking centre stage in front of a horde of eager paparazzi, desperate to get the best shot! The addition of a red carpet underneath the Dazzles finishes off the glamorous scene nicely. The showcase is the first in a series of similar displays scheduled for New York kids boutiques over the next few months.

Sunday 18th May proved to be a great day for Silver Cross’ own Tamzin Hawkins (pictured above at the Christmas party!). Our fabric designer took to the streets of Manchester to take part in the Bupa Great Manchester Run.

In sunny and dry conditions Tamzin, running for this year’s Silver Cross charity, the Meningitis Trust, managed to complete the ten kilometre course in a sensational time of 53m32s, finishing in a fine 7,397th position out of 31,000 entries! Well done Tamzin!!!

One of the most difficult decisions all parents down the ages will face is what name to choose for their new arrivals.

While some parents will wait until baby arrives to make a decision (putting it off in other words!), many will have chosen names in advance of their due dates (mainly for nursery decorating and baby shopping purposes!). Nevertheless, actually coming up with a name that meets all the ‘relevant criteria’ can cause much anxiety. Here are some baby name ’criteria’ the Silver Cross team regard important :

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Thanks guys! Certainly one of the best places to start is the most popular name rankings. National statistics are published every year and in the UK in 2007, Jack was the most popular boys name (again) and Grace the most popular girls name. In the United States however, the story is substantially different with Jacob the number one name for boys and Emily the top girls name. You can take a look at a multitude of historical baby name information from the US by visiting the Social Security Administration baby name statistics page.

Finally, our friends at babycentre have a neat little resource to help with the naming process - their baby name finder will give you plenty of suggestions and name meanings to help you on your way!

Silver Cross supports both the Princes Trust and The Meningitis Trust with regular donations and staff events.

As part of the recent work with the Prince’s Trust Silver Cross made a large donation during a musical event supported by top songstress Katie Melua and Welsh crooner, Aled ‘Walking in the Air’ Jones. As a thank you Katie very kindly donated her guitar which she used during the evening and put the icing on the cake with a great inscription on the instrument. The guitar is now on display in the Silver Cross reception area for everyone to enjoy.

Oh, and by the way Katie, we thought you were fab last night and you definitely have a loyal fan club up here in Yorkshire. x 

(Ms Melua is pictured above with Silver Cross Chairman Alan Halsall, CEO Nick Paxton and Head of Design Phil Taylor, her guitar is pictured below)