Craft Focus - February / March 2021 (Issue 83)

60 Learning thr ough craft Damien Collett, head of sales – UK and Ireland for SES Creative tells us about SES Creative, the company with an ethical, educational product range to get children into crafting from year one! Tell us a little bit about the history behind SES Creative. Where are you based? Who started the company and when? SES Creative is based in the south-east of Holland in a town called Enschede. The company was founded in 1972 by the parents of the current owner, and was initially focused on supplying educational products, and over time as the business grew, and after several business relocations, settled in Enschede in 1992 to support its continued growth. How has the company evolved? How are you expanding worldwide? Over the last 48 years we’ve expanded our range covering a wide array of arts and craft, pre-school, nursery, outdoor, STEM and roleplay products. We also design, develop and manufacture our entire range at our 20,000m2 facility, and our products are available worldwide in more than 75 countries. What company values do you hold? Our core values are based on three principles that all our products are fun, safe and contribute towards a child’s development. We believe that as a company, we have an obligation to our customers to ensure our products are not only safe but don’t negatively impact the environment. Our purpose-built laboratory at our facility tests all our products as they’re produced to ensure we meet all legal requirements for child safety. As of 2021, we’ll be 100 per cent carbon neutral ensuring the business and manufacturing processes are carbon neutral by a combination of lowered carbon output and by the purchasing and management of company owned forestry. What do you specialise in? We specialise in a wide range of products covering arts and craft, pre-school, nursery, outdoor, STEM, roleplay, and more. "We bel ieve that as a company, we have an obl igation to our customers to ensure our pr oducts are not only safe but don’t negatively impact the envir onment."