Greeting cards designed by independent artists are being delivered to doorsteps thanks to a start-up.
The Card Boys, founded by Brighton-born entrepreneurs Adam Newington and Callum McIntyre-Nash, offers a quarterly subscription service that delivers eight artist-designed cards every three months.
The cards are curated in collaboration with independent artists, aiming to make thoughtful gestures easier while supporting creative talent.
The idea was born from that all-too-familiar moment of needing a card but realising it too late to buy one.
The Card Boys aims to turn that last-minute scramble into a problem of the past by ensuring subscribers always have a curated selection of cards on hand.
Adam Newington, co-founder of The Card Boys, said: "We were exactly the people we’re trying to help.
"As actors, there’s a tradition of giving cards to the rest of the cast on opening night, and we’d constantly realise we’d forgotten ours.
"We’d end up legging it to the nearest shop, sometimes still half in costume, buying whatever cards we could find.
"Or worse, raiding our girlfriends’ card drawers – never a good idea.
"It wasn’t because we didn’t care; we’d just left it too late.
"That was a big driver for starting The Card Boys: you can be thoughtful without having to be incredibly organised."
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Each box features original designs by independent artists and illustrators, giving customers a chance to discover new creative talent.
A single card could introduce someone to an artist whose larger body of work they may later explore or purchase.
Despite the rise of digital communication, physical greeting cards remain popular in the UK.
Research by OC&C Strategy Consultants for Moonpig Group found that UK consumers buy around 810 million cards each year, with the average buyer purchasing 19 cards annually.
The market is valued at approximately £1.5 to £1.6 billion.
OC&C also concluded that digital alternatives are often used alongside physical cards rather than replacing them.
Subscriptions to The Card Boys start at £24 per box.
The start-up’s mission is to make thoughtful communication easier while giving independent artists another way to share their work.
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