288 GROUP LIMITED

What 288 GROUP LIMITED does

288 Group Limited is a UK-based, family-owned holding company operating two trading divisions: Collectables and Sitters. Founded in 1945 as a wholesale stamp business by Harry Allen and now led by third-generation Allen family members, the group reports annual sales in excess of £40 million and employs approximately 250 people across its Poole, Dorset headquarters and Bournemouth registered office. The Collectables Division is the primary business, operating as the official design, production, marketing and distribution agency for commemorative coins from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and as UK distributor for The Royal Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint and Monnaie de Paris. Brands within this division include The Westminster Collection (mass-market commemorative coins and stamps), CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins (premium/affluent segment), Change Checker (digital community platform with 1 million+ collectors) and Collectology. The Sitters Division operates a nationwide UK childcare platform covering 95%+ of babysitting requests, merged with Childminders of London in 2006.

The company's commercial model is direct-to-consumer across both divisions, monetised through transactional sales rather than subscriptions. Revenue is generated from one-off collectable purchases (mass-market programmes tied to events such as the World Cup, Olympics and Royal events, plus premium gold/silver editions), licensing and distribution fees from sovereign mints, and transaction-based childcare service fees. Go-to-market combines direct marketing (4 million+ direct mail pieces annually, national press and TV advertising), digital channels (paid social, paid search, email), a community-driven Change Checker platform, and a commission-based Sales Consultant team with no cold calling. The technology stack is a hybrid of a 30-year-old COBOL core system and a cloud-native microservices architecture on Microsoft Azure with C# development, supporting approximately 2 million transactions and 18 million online sessions annually.

Customers are highly fragmented: the Collectables side serves 200,000+ customers per year from a 1 million+ collector database, while Sitters serves parents across the UK. The competitive moat rests primarily on long-standing sovereign-mint distribution rights and 75+ years of brand heritage in commemorative collectables. There is no disclosed AI/ML capability, no external institutional investors, and no public-market presence; the business is wholly family-controlled with Stephen Allen as Chairman and controlling shareholder.

Name

288 GROUP LIMITED

Legal name

288 Group Ltd

Website

https://288group.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

288 Group Limited is a UK family-owned holding company operating two divisions: a Collectables business (commemorative coins and stamps via The Westminster Collection, CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins and Change Checker, serving over 1 million collectors) and Sitters, a nationwide UK childcare platform. The group reports £40m+ annual sales and 250 employees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Collectables Distribution and Childcare Services

NAICS

Jewelry, Watch, Precious Stone, and Precious Metal Merchant Wholesalers (42394), Stationery and Office Supplies Merchant Wholesalers (42412)

SIC

Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYCRAOAMAC

Collectibles & Trading Cards Distribution

Consumer Products & Retail/Wholesale, Distribution & Category Management/Toys, Games & Hobby Products Distribution

SECONDARYCRALAGAG

Stamps & Postal History Collectibles Retail (Philately)

Consumer Products & Retail/Specialty Retail (Hobby, Books, Office, Pet, Toys)/Collectibles, Trading Cards & Memorabilia Retail

Keywords

• Commemorative coin distribution
• Collectible stamp sales
• Direct marketing collectibles
• Childcare services UK
• Premium gold silver coins

Headquarters

HQ city

Poole

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Collectables Sales: Sale of commemorative coins and stamps to individual collectors through direct marketing channels including national newspapers, TV advertising, direct mail, and e-commerce. Revenue generated from both mass-market coin programmes and premium gold/silver coin collections for affluent individuals.
2. Childcare Services: Sitters provides evening babysitting and daycare services through a nationwide network of vetted childcarers. Revenue generated from service fees for childcare appointments arranged through the platform.
3. Licensing and Distribution Rights: As official design, production, marketing and distribution agency for new coins from Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man; UK distributor for Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint and Monnaie de Paris; produces Royal British Legion's official annual Poppy Coin

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

288 Group distributes commemorative coins, stamps and collectables to individual collectors through its Collectables Division (The Westminster Collection, CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins and Change Checker), and provides paid evening babysitting and daycare services nationwide through its wholly owned Sitters brand. The Collectables Division operates as the UK's leading independent distributor of new-issue coins, holding official design, production, marketing and distribution rights for new coins from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and serves as UK distributor for the Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint and Monnaie de Paris.

Product overview

288 Group operates two main trading divisions: Collectables and Sitters. The Collectables Division is organized as a platform-plus-sub-brands architecture featuring The Westminster Collection (core brand for commemorative coins and stamps), CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins (premium sub-brand for affluent collectors), Change Checker (digital app for casual coin collectors), and Collectology (additional collector brand). The company acts as official distributor for Royal Mint, Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint, and produces coins for Jersey, Guernsey, and Isle of Man. The Sitters Division operates as a separate childcare brand offering babysitting services. Together these divisions serve over 200,000 customers annually with products ranging from everyday 50 pence coins to exclusive gold coins issued in editions of fewer than 25 pieces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• The Westminster Collection: Leading distributor of commemorative coins and stamps, official design, production, marketing and distribution agency for coins from Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man. UK distributor for Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint and Monnaie de Paris.
• CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins
• Change Checker
• Sitters
• Collectology

Products and services

• The Westminster Collection Core brand of the Collectables Division; official design, production, marketing and distribution agency for new coins from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man and UK distributor for the Royal Canadian Mint, Royal Australian Mint and Monnaie de Paris. Sells commemorative coin and stamp collections to mass-market individual collectors via e-commerce, national press, TV advertising and direct mail.
• CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins Premium gold and silver coin brand for affluent individual collectors, offering limited-edition and investment-grade coins including pieces issued in runs of fewer than 25 units.
• Change Checker Web and mobile app for hundreds of thousands of casual British coin collectors to identify, swap and collect coins they find in their change; serves as a community-led discovery and collection-tracking tool.
• Collectology Brand operating within the Collectables Division, sitting alongside The Westminster Collection, CPM Prestige Gold & Silver Coins and Change Checker as a brand in 288 Group's collectables brand portfolio.
• Sitters UK childcare service that arranges evening babysitting and daytime daycare in the family home through a nationwide network of vetted, experienced childcarers, serving parents and families across the UK including celebrity households.

Quantifiable outcome

• Funds raised approaching £1 million for Royal British Legion through Poppy Coin project
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Childminders of LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2006Sitters merged with Childminders of London in 2006, originally established in 1967 and London's most successful babysitting service for more than 30 years. Together the combined entity has more experience than anyone in selecting suitable carers.
• The Royal MintcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor288 Group is recognised as an official distributor for The Royal Mint, one of the world's finest and most respected mints.
• Royal Canadian MintcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial UK distributor for Royal Canadian Mint products, providing access to Canadian coin collections.
• Royal Australian MintcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOfficial UK distributor for Royal Australian Mint products, providing access to Australian coin collections.
• Monnaie de Paris (French Mint)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUK distributor for Monnaie de Paris products, expanding the range of international coin offerings.
• Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of MancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial commemorative coin partner for Jersey, Guernsey and Isle of Man; the company operates as the official design, production, marketing and distribution agency for new coins from these territories.
• Royal British LegioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding partnership producing the official annual Poppy Coin which has raised approaching £1m to help veterans, ex-servicemen and their families.
• Great Ormond Street Hospital CharityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLicensing partner for branded collectible products supporting the charity.

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Baldwin's: UK-based numismatic dealer and auction house specialising in rare and investment coins, comparable to 288 Group's premium gold and silver coin programmes.
• Stanley Gibbons: The UK's best-known stamp and collectibles retailer and auctioneer, directly comparable to 288 Group's Westminster Collection in philately distribution, secondary-market trading, and direct-to-collector marketing.
• Spink & Son: Long-established UK auction house and dealer in stamps, coins, and other collectibles, overlapping directly with 288 Group's collectables distribution and trading business.
• Coincraft: UK coin dealer and auction house selling collectable and bullion coins to retail and trade customers, closely comparable to the Westminster Collection and CPM Prestige ranges.
• Littleton Coin Company: US direct-to-collector coin and stamp seller using mail-order and online channels; highly comparable business model to 288 Group's direct-marketing motion for mass-market collectors.
• Mystic Stamp Company: US stamp dealer and direct-mail specialist serving collectors nationwide, analogous to 288 Group's philately heritage and outbound direct-mail acquisition.
• Childcare.co.uk: UK childcare platform connecting parents with childcarers, directly comparable to 288 Group's Sitters division in service offering, geography, and target customer.

Broad incumbents

• The Royal Mint: Sovereign mint and primary partner of 288 Group; comparable as a producer and direct seller of commemorative coins, with a much larger product range and direct retail channel.
• APMEX: Large online precious-metals retailer offering gold and silver coins and bars; comparable to 288 Group's CPM Prestige range in product overlap and affluent-buyer targeting.

Emerging players

• Heritage Auctions: Large US-headquartered collectibles auction house with growing UK and European presence in coins, stamps, and memorabilia; comparable in end-customer overlap even if the channel (auction) differs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/288GroupLtd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/288-group-ltd

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 288 GROUP LIMITED