Celebrating 25 years of Lyco Group

This year, we’re celebrating the 25th birthday of Lyco Group. What started out as just four enthusiastic employees, has grown over the past quarter of a century beyond our wildest imaginations. Many things have changed since then – new websites, offices, colleagues, and even new businesses have joined the Lyco Group since we first started out.

Today we thought we’d take a look back at Lyco Group’s transformation over the past 25 years, and remember some of the changes that have made us who we are today.

Welcomed new colleagues

Out of the four original members of staff, we’re so proud that one of them is still with us today – albeit with slightly less hair than when he first started.

25 years on, we’ve grown to become a team of over 50 wonderful lighting experts, buyers and customer service members – and some of our team now are even younger than Lyco Group itself!

We’ve welcomed new colleagues and said farewell to old ones, but one thing will never change. We are just as committed to providing our customers with the very best service today as we always have been, both online and offline.

Launched new businesses

Back in 2010, we acquired the Lighting Direct website, where we provide quality lighting directly to customers. Since we launched this part of our business, it has grown to become one of our biggest assets to our portfolio.

Recently in 2018, we purchased Online Lighting as well. The site already had a loyal customer base, but they were struggling to take the next step. We have brought it in-house and together, utilising the skills of our talented workforce, we’re growing this new side of the business into what we hope will become the UK’s leading lighting supplier for your home.

Lyco Group has grown considerably since we first started, and it continues to grow all the time. In fact, we already can’t wait to see how much further we can go over the next 25 years.

Moved home

There always comes a time in life when you outgrow your old digs. With two new businesses on board and a great deal more staff, we realised the time had come for us, so we packed up and moved out of our premises in Bletchley.

We found a fantastic new home for Lyco Group in Crownhill Milton Keynes. It has given us scope to continue growing and to increase the number of lights we can stock. This means we can now get products out to our customers the very next day.

Our new office space means we can keep growing over the next decade and continue to increase our range of products while offering the best service possible.

Embraced the latest technology

Over the past 25 years we’ve seen a lighting revolution with the introduction of LED bulbs. Back when we first started, we were selling halogen bulbs that needed constantly replacing every 1,000 hours. The LED bulbs we stock now have a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours – a dramatic step forward creating huge savings for our customers.

But it isn’t just lighting technology that’s changed over the past 25 years. When we first started we were a small mail order company with paper order forms. Now, you can simply place an order on our website in minutes.

As technology continues to progress, so will we. We have big plans for 2020, but we can’t let you in on those secrets just yet.

But some things never change…

Despite all the incredible, challenging and unexpected changes that have occurred over the years – there are some things that will never change.

We are still committed to our mission statement: to provide lighting products of supreme quality, from world-class suppliers, coupled with unbeatable customer service.

Despite the world moving online, we’ve maintained our fantastic in-house support team who are always available at the end of the phone to serve our customers and answer their questions. We also continue to offer an annual printed catalogue with our new and bestselling products. While many companies have forgotten the art of direct mail, we continue to hear powerful stories from our customers who treasure these printed publications. It is our hope that while we continue to improve our online offering, we also continue to offer the best-in-class service to our customers – whether that’s online, over the phone or face-to-face.

It’s certainly been a rollercoaster two and a half decades, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be slowing down any time soon.

Thank you

We’d like to thank you for all your custom and continued loyalty over the past 25 years. We hope we can continue to support your lighting requirements for the next 25 and beyond.

Please don’t hesitate to send us your feedback on our products or the service we provide. We’d love to hear from you – drop us an email at customerservice@lyco.co.uk

Very best wishes,

Charles Barnett, Managing Director.

Charles Barnett Managing Director

Charles started Lyco in 1995 with just 4 enthusiastic employees and has grown it considerably over the past 25 years. Charles is also the Managing Director of Lighting Direct and newly acquired Online Lighting. He now has a team of 50 lighting experts working on growing Lyco Group to be the UK leader in lighting for both businesses and homes. Away from the office he is a keen cyclist and is proud to have cycled 1017 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats to raise money for a new residential centre for adults with multiple learning difficulties.