Koi, you! Carp import business takes off
Koi Wholesale was set up by 25-year-old Ricky Stoddart from Retford.
He first visited Japan at the age 12 with his father to purchase Koi for a family owned shop.
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Hide AdHis wholesale business now boasts more than 60 per cent of the UK’s Koi Carp trade. Mr Stoddart said: “Koi Wholesale has become a very successful company over a relatively short four-year lifespan.
“This year alone, Koi Wholesale imported more than 30,000 Koi.”
He added: “It has been a steep learning curve. My first trade trip to Japan was organised by an agent and didn’t open up the kind of trading opportunities I’d hoped for, so I thought I need to do this myself and scheduled a second, independent trip and made good in-roads which has since paid dividends.”
Success with Koi Wholesale has led the way for the entrepreneur to launch Bawtry-based Trade Dress, a project which specialises in web-based systems and ‘white-label’ products such as online payment systems and specialist website functionality for Koi retailers.
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Hide AdThe idea for Trade Dress came about after Mr Stoddart realised that the industry was underutilising digital capabilities.
“There simply wasn’t any engagement with online audiences across the industry and that had to change in my opinion.
“I teamed up with a web designer, Jonathan Day, and we’ve diversified from there,” he said.
Wake Smith Solicitors in Sheffield have provided legal advice to Koi Wholesale throughout its development.