ICE London

What ICE London does

ICE London, legally ICE.co.uk Group Ltd, is a UK-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce retailer specialising in personalised gifts. Its catalogue spans drinkware (insulated metal bottles, tumblers, clear sports bottles, ceramic mugs), bags (cotton tote bags, Fairtrade wine bottle bags), homeware (canvas cushions, tea towels, custom wall art, kitchenware) and stationery (Writer's Block A5 notebooks), with products priced between approximately £9.99 and £26.99. The company targets individual consumer gift-buyers across occasions including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and seasonal events, and supports its primary UK market with delivery to Europe.

The platform is built on Merchr™, a proprietary customisation technology that allows shoppers to type names or messages, choose fonts and colours, and view a real-time preview before purchase; personalisation is offered free of charge on all products. ICE London operates in-house manufacturing at Manchester premises, which it claims house the UK's first water-based ink printing facilities, alongside customer services and a registered office in Hertfordshire. The platform is operated by Merchr Limited under a technology partnership, while ICE.co.uk Group Ltd acts as the data controller.

Revenue is generated primarily through one-time direct product sales on ice.co.uk, supplemented by voucher-driven customer acquisition via partnerships with Groupon and Wowcher (where promotional voucher codes are redeemed on the main site), and an email newsletter with a 10% sign-up discount used to drive repeat purchases. The company is privately held and bootstrapped, with no disclosed venture or institutional funding, no public listing, and no revenue figure publicly disclosed. Its portfolio includes three brands — ICE London, Writer's Block and Nasty Merch — addressing differentiated gifting verticals under a shared technology and operations stack.

Name

ICE London

Legal name

ICE.co.uk Group Ltd

Website

https://ice.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

ICE London is a UK direct-to-consumer e-commerce retailer selling personalised drinkware, bags, homeware and stationery gifts through ice.co.uk, using proprietary Merchr™ technology for real-time customisation and operating in-house manufacturing in Manchester.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personalised Gifts

NAICS

Gift, Novelty, and Souvenir Retailers (45942), Office Supplies and Stationery Retailers (45941)

akta.pro primary industry

Personalized, Custom & Monogrammed Gifts Retail (CRALAJAC)

Keywords

• Personalised gifts
• Custom drinkware
• Printed stationery
• Personalised homeware
• Custom printing services

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Direct Product Sales: One-time purchase of personalised gift products through the e-commerce website. Customers pay for products plus delivery.
2. Voucher Platform Sales: Partnership with Groupon and Wowcher where customers purchase voucher codes at promotional prices, then redeem on ice.co.uk for products.
3. Newsletter/Marketing: Email marketing list with 10% discount incentive for sign-up, used for customer acquisition and repeat purchases.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ICE London designs and sells personalised drinkware, bags, homeware, and stationery gifts through its direct-to-consumer e-commerce platform ice.co.uk. All products feature free in-house personalisation enabled by proprietary Merchr™ technology that lets customers preview custom names, fonts, and colours in real time before purchase. The company operates its own UK manufacturing and printing hub in Manchester using the country's first water-based ink printing facilities, producing themed gifts for occasions such as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and seasonal celebrations.

Product overview

ICE London operates a personalized gift e-commerce platform offering customizable products across drinkware (metal bottles, clear bottles, tumblers, mugs), bags (tote bags, bottle bags), homeware (cushions, tea towels, custom wall art, kitchenware), and stationery (notebooks). The company uses proprietary Merchr technology for in-house design and printing, allowing real-time personalization previews. Products are primarily manufactured in the UK with eco-friendly water-based inks, supplemented by trusted suppliers in the Far East for components. The portfolio includes the company's own ICE London brand, the Writer's Block notebook sub-brand, and Nasty Merch novelty products. All personalisation is provided free of charge.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ICE London: Brand featuring personalised gifts including metal bottles, tote bags, notebooks and homeware with various themed designs.
• Writer's Block
• Nasty Merch

Products and services

• Metal Bottles

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• GrouponminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVoucher code partnership where Groupon customers can purchase discounted ICE Gifts vouchers. Customers receive unique codes valid for single transactions on ice.co.uk. Expiration dates and terms set by Groupon platform.
• WowcherminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSimilar voucher code partnership as Groupon. Wowcher customers purchase discounted vouchers redeemable on ice.co.uk for single transactions.
• MerchrcoreTechnology or IntegrationICE Gifts is powered by Merchr technology platform. Merchr provides the e-commerce platform infrastructure, custom personalisation technology (Merchr™), and website operations support.

Scale indicators3 records

Direct peers

• Zazzle: Global custom-products platform allowing users to personalise drinkware, stationery, bags and homeware. Comparable for its customisation-first business model and broad personalised catalogue, though much larger and marketplace-based.
• Find Me A Gift: UK online gift retailer with a broad novelty and personalised gift catalogue. Overlaps with ICE London on personalised drinkware, bags and novelty merchandise targeting UK consumer gift occasions.
• Not On The High Street: UK-based online marketplace for personalised and handmade gifts across drinkware, homeware and stationery. Directly comparable as a curated personalised-gift e-commerce destination targeting similar consumer gift-buy occasions.
• Firebox: UK-based online retailer of novelty and gift products including personalised and themed ranges. Comparable in customer overlap (UK novelty gift buyers) and occasion-led gifting assortment.
• Prezzybox: UK online retailer of personalised and novelty gifts including bottles, mugs, bags and homeware. Comparable as a UK DTC personalised gift brand competing on range, price and occasion coverage.
• Moonpig: UK-listed personalised cards and gift retailer with a strong e-commerce personalisation engine. Directly comparable for personalised gifting, customisation technology and occasion-led marketing, although Moonpig is much larger and focused on cards.
• Getting Personal: UK personalised gifts retailer offering customised drinkware, homeware and accessories with in-house personalisation. Closely mirrors ICE London's product mix, personalisation model and UK direct-to-consumer positioning.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon Handmade: Amazon's marketplace for handmade and personalised products, including homeware, bags and drinkware. Comparable as a broad incumbent with massive traffic advantage in personalised gifting.
• Etsy: Global marketplace for handmade and personalised goods, including drinkware, bags, stationery and homeware. Comparable as a broader incumbent that aggregates thousands of personalised sellers ICE London effectively competes against.

Regional players

• WHSmith: UK high-street and online retailer of stationery, cards and gift products. Comparable for stationery and occasion-led gifting SKUs, though it operates a much broader portfolio and is primarily a multi-category retailer rather than a personalised-gift specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 ICE London