At Just Keyrings, we’re passionate about balancing ethical practices with economic realities, creating a business that serves local needs while connecting to a global market. Starting from humble beginnings, we’ve grown our brand around principles of quality & sustainability.
This journey has led us to expand thoughtfully—prioritising local production whenever possible and carefully selecting international partnerships that align with our values. Here’s a look at how we stay grounded in our roots while embracing global opportunities.
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Starting & Staying Small
As a small business that started in a living room study, Just Keyrings has gone through many changes, which have greatly affected both how we function as a business and what we produce and sell.
There was a time, when we would make every keyring by hand, from the printing and cutting of the inserts, to the pressing of the plastic and quality control before posting them to our (very first) customers.
Times changed and we expanded. While we did our best to control all our products first hand, it became obvious that to become a keyring specialist and expert in the field, we would have to expand our product range too much more than what we could produce ourselves.
Keeping it Local
We still like to keep everything as local as possible and our warehouses based in the UK still manufacture products such as our ‘Ad-Loops’, ‘Acrylics’ and ‘Plastic Cards’. Ad-Loops and Insert keyrings can often be the perfect answer for quick and effective advertising and promotional campaign’s. As free giveaways or as a method of ensuring your business details are always with your customer, I personally believe there is no better promotional item than the plane and simple Ad-Loop Keyring.
However, recent developments in synthetics and flexible plastics have opened up a whole new market and opportunity to use keyrings in a different way. Popular demand for customised designs and unusual materials has continued to rise and doesn’t show any signs of stopping. Indeed it has now become a very effective method of company branding to use recognisable key fobs that attract attention and sell for big money. From car manufacturers to fashion giants and world-renowned breweries everyone big business has a custom made keychain. No longer essential only for keeping your keys together, but for many people they are a fashion item and tell people who they belong to.
Thinking Global
We are a relatively small business and as such there are several reasons for sourcing goods from China. Inevitably price is a big factor but perhaps not for the reasons that first spring to mind. As a business that specialises in a niche promotional item it can be impossible for us to compete with better buying power and bigger volumes other brokers can offer. What we bring is expertise in our field and a friendly team that is dedicated to getting what’s best for you and your business. Rather than increasing profit margins by sourcing cheaper materials, we see our factories in the Far East as a means to provide the customer service we’re been so proud of, without raising prices to alienate most business.
In order to find what’s right for each and every business, we aim to have every option available. Sometimes this may mean getting back down on our hands and knees and doing it ourselves, but equally, it could mean sourcing a liquid filled pvc keyring that can’t be manufactured in the UK. As we have become increasingly used to dealing with lead times, fluctuating prices and shipping and duty issues associated with sourcing from China, we have been able to bring you a greater range of keyrings, without scarifying the efficient, customer friendly style of business that has always been a part of our company. Something we hope to always continue?
