Biscuiteers' Elves

The countdown to Christmas has well and truly started, and just like somewhere else you might know, it’s our busiest time of year! The biscuits are being baked, the icing bags filled and the presents perfectly packed and popped in the back of the sleigh, sorry, delivery vans.

We wouldn’t be able to deliver Christmas without each and every one of our talented Biscuiteers Elves. So, we sat down with just a few from different departments of The Ministry of Biscuits, to give you a behind the scenes look at what goes into making sure we spread as much biscuit magic as possible at Christmas…

Lucy - Head Icer

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Biscuiteers?

I oversee the design of all the corporate orders. My team and I take the client's vision and make it work in biscuit form. Once signed off, the icing team is briefed and the orders are brought to life. I’m also involved in the new product development for online collections

How does your day to day at Biscuiteers change in the run up to Christmas?

It gets busy! Most of our annual Corporate enquiries come between October and December as clients come to us for their Christmas gifting needs. This makes us very busy prepping all the orders to be created in the icing hall.

What is your favourite thing about Christmas at Biscuiteers?

As Christmas production starts in August, it is a long road to the big day! What I love is that there is a real sense of togetherness and teamwork across the business at these busy points. As the big day gets closer and the demand is very high, everyone comes together to get the job done. Office staff help out in dispatch and the design team helps with production.

This is your 10th Christmas at Biscuiteers! What’s been your favourite collection to ice in that time?

I started at Biscuiteers in October 2012. I remember icing the Nutcracker collection on my first day. We still have that design in our Christmas collection so I do have a soft spot for that one.

We heard you’re a celebrity…tell us more?

This year we made a TV advert, promoting our biscuits and featuring the Nutcracker tin. I was fortunate to be part of the team that created it and I also feature in the advert! It was a lot of fun and a great new venture for us as a business.

Mila - Customer Happiness Manager

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Biscuiteers?

I am the Customer Happiness Manager, I ensure that our customers have the best experience possible when shopping with us all year round!

How does your day to day at Biscuiteers change in the run up to Christmas?

It all becomes busier than usual. We tend to get a lot of questions about our biscuits and gift boxes when it comes to Christmas as people are trying to buy the perfect biscuit present for their loved ones! We also welcome a few new faces to the Biscuiteers customer happiness team to help with the increased contact we get at Christmas, which is always nice.

Which gift from our Christmas collection are you most likely to treat your family to this year?

With my mum's sweet tooth, the Advent Tin no doubt, a little treat every day is what is needed!

When do you start hearing from people about christmas?

People call in as early as September. This year we had someone ring up as early as July to ask about our Christmas catalogue. I wish I could be as organised as this person.

What's the most unusual Christmas biscuit collection request you’ve had?

We once had someone from Australia request a BBQ range. I guess they don’t do roasts so wanted a Christmas BBQ collection!

Josh - Fulfilment Manager

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Biscuiteers?

Having started in Operations four years ago, I took over managing the dispatch department as Fulfilment Manager last May. It’s my job to ensure my team is fully equipped to fulfil the orders placed by our customers.

How does your day to day at Biscuiteers change in the run up to Christmas?

For one thing the team size changes dramatically. For the majority of the year we have a team size of around 8. For the last few weeks of the year we increase to around 25. We have limited space so it’s all about working smarter. We continuously look for ways to improve efficiency to better enable us to handle a higher volume of orders. During Christmas we send up to 900% more daily parcels than a typical day.

Which gift from our Christmas collection are you most likely to treat your family to this year?

I’ve been telling my Mum to watch out for the Biscuiteers advert that recently launched. I think the Nutcracker tin is going to be even more popular than usual this year so I’ll send her one before it’s too late.

What is your favourite thing about Christmas at Biscuiteers?

This will be my 5th Christmas at Biscuiteers. It’s such a different time to any other part of the year. My team debriefs in January on what went well and what we could improve on. We then create an action plan for the coming Christmas. Every year we put new processes in place and invest in new technology. It’s always exciting to see everything come together and that’s what I most look forward to. The whole team coming together to provide the most efficient operation and ensuring we deliver an amazing Christmas for our customers.

How many parcels do Biscuiteers wrap and send out in December?

Last year we dispatched 58,870 parcels during December. On the 20th December we broke the record for parcels packed in a day with 4818 dispatched.

Luciana - Patisserie Development Manager

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Biscuiteers?

My role includes all of the patisserie product development. Including improvement of the all year-round products and the development of new products such as macarons and afternoon tea.

How does your day to day at Biscuiteers change in the run up to Christmas?

Christmas for us starts while it is still hot outside! The development of new products takes place in the summer, for example the afternoon tea, as well as the production planning.

We have to plan production a long time in advance to make sure stock levels meet the demand in the run up to Christmas. This involves careful planning of supply management and taking on additional workers (quadrupling the size of the team). I spend more time in the kitchen during this period to support the staff and to make sure the customers enjoy every last crumb!

Which gift from our Christmas collection are you most likely to treat your family to this year?

I will be cheeky and pick two! The Christmas afternoon tea, as I think it is a lovely treat in the run up to Christmas, and the Nutcracker Biscuit Collection, as it is one of my absolute favourites and I think sums up Christmas perfectly!

Can you tell us a little about our award winning mince pies?

I think we have found a perfect balance between the crispy pastry, a delicious moist and fragrant mince meat, which is topped with a soft frangipane. We mature the mince meat for over 1 year! This year we are making over 17,000 mince pies by hand.

We hear you are responsible for our delicious Christmas Afternoon Tea! What’s involved in creating such a great festive menu?

A lot of researching and testing. This involves visiting suppliers to make sure we have the best British sourced produce. An example of this is the cheese I discovered from a Lincolnshire farm that’s gone into creating one of the brioche sandwiches for the afternoon tea.