TruffleShuffle Insider: Meet…Pat

It's back folks! Yep the TruffleShuffler insider is back again and ready to dive head-first into our next unsuspecting victim's willing participant's life!  Giving you an added insight into the inner workings of TruffleShuffle, who we are and what we do is the aim of the game.

This time round we’re taking a cheeky peep into the world of the father of TruffleShuffle, head honcho and MD Pat! Take it away….

What do you do here at Truffle Towers?

Everything and anything… I’m joint Managing Director along with wife Claire.

January to March I’m normally debriefing from our busy Christmas period, working out how to improve our operations for next Christmas, finding out what sold well and how we can provide more great products for our customers over the next 12 months. (Did you know, we ship about half of our annual orders in the six weeks leading up to Christmas? Each day in December is busier than a week in January – who’d have thought it for a predominately t-shirt company – I certainly didn’t!). This winter I’ve been working hard distributing lots of interesting goods for a project called EKOCYCLE, a new brand created by Will.i.am and Coca-Cola featuring product from suits to 3D printers all made from recycled Coke bottles and cans. We have distributed this to Harrods who are running a European exclusive launch for 2015.

Summer months are spent supporting our buying, marketing Amazon and eBay teams ensuring we’re buying the right product in the right quantities for our upcoming busy season. We check that our advertising and social media channels are providing the right information to the right people. This is the time of year that I’ll work hard on getting any new projects ready to go live. Last year we were working hard on launching www.ShopCoke.com – a joint venture with Coca-Cola, providing a one-stop branded shop for Coca-Cola merchandise. This year we’re going through a website redesign which should be hitting your screens towards the end of the summer.

Then in October we stress test our new systems in preparation for the Christmas rush and make any changes we feel are necessary to ensure that our customers receive their parcels in our trademark super-speedy time.

And in November and December I work on the shop floor, picking and packing orders, supporting my colleagues in the warehouse and helping train our small team of temporary staff enlisted to support us at peak times.

How long have you been at TruffleShuffle?

I can categorically say I’ve been here the longest as I founded TruffleShuffle back in April 2004!

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What do you like most about working here / best thing about your job?

I love the relaxed and jovial atmosphere we have here at Truffle Towers but I think my absolute favourite part of the job is Simon’s annual Christmas bonus meeting, please insert photos here!!!

What is your favourite tee currently on the site?

I’d have to say it’s the old favourite Top Gun Maverick t-shirt. It’s an awesome design that epitomises the style of product we love to sell. That and as our best seller for a decade, that one design has probably helped out with the mortgage more than any!

When you’re not at TruffleTowers, what do you like to do?

I love anything to do with the sea and seaside, home or abroad. Beaches, fishing, boats, snorkelling and sandcastles! This love of the seaside has been amplified by a relatively recent addition to the Truffle family, our little son Freddie who thanks to pressure from me, also loves beaches, fishing, boats and sandcastles!!.

Name three things you like….

Driving (anything), ambition, pizza

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Name three things you don’t like….

Laziness, cold (I’m allergic), fish.

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What were your favourite three films as a kid?

Crocodile Dundee II, The Goonies, Forrest Gump.

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Who is your idol?

Fictional idol, Forrest Gump – he achieved so much and was extremely gracious about it!

Non-fictional idol, Richard Branson – the real life Forrest Gump in his varied career, now making the world a better place in his retirement.

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Who is the last band you saw live?

I’m crap at music, so I do what my wife tells me and bought us tickets to Ed Sheeran last month.

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If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

My bucket list has changed since my mate got me a scratch-map for Christmas. To look more travelled I now want to visit Russia, Greenland, Canada and Brazil.

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Which iconic TV/Film car would you most like to own?

Well, I was once lucky enough to own an A-Team Van replica, so I can cross that one off the list. Probably a General Lee – it’s an iconic TV car but underneath that zany orange paint job is one of the best 60s muscle cars out there – plus I have an addiction to V8s and an old American muscle car might finally quell that inefficient hankering I’ve had since a kid!

What music are you listening to at the moment?

Per the last band seen live question, I do what my wife tells me and listen to Ed Sheeran. But secretly I listen to Radio 1 in the car, as my immensely complex musical tastes are catered for.

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If someone wrote a biography about you, what do you think the title should be?

'T-Shirt Idiot.'

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If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?

Since I was about 11 and the lottery first started, I vowed I’d donate a lifeboat to the RNLI if I won the lottery. As my love of driving, boats, and driving boats has matured over the last 20 years, I’d now like to donate a lifeboat to the RNLI and buy one for myself to muck around it and act like an orange suited vigilante sea rescue idiot. And now my 2 year old son has demanded he wants a lifeboat too, so I’d need a hefty Euromillions win to buy all three!

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So there you have it folks! Stay tuned for plenty more staff insights and discover even more names and faces from inside Truffle Towers. See you next time!

xoxo