Irish gift card company One4all has gone from strength to strength in recent years with global expansion firmly in the crosshairs.

An innovative pandemic pivot and the backing of a large corporate entity have charted a course toward a big twelve months for the company which has transformed from SME to global player over the last three years.

We recently caught up with Michael Fennelly, One4all Gift Cards’ Senior Manager – Distribution Partners, who shared some insights on his role, business and his career advice.

Find them below.

1. Hi Michael, please share a little bit about the work you do at One4all?

I manage and oversee both our physical and digital distribution partners in Ireland from An Post to Tesco, and Circle K. Throughout these channels, we sell both original content gift cards as in One4all and 3rd party gift cards in the gaming, fashion, and homewares sector.

A core function of my team is business development and to find opportunities for our new products like Cashstar that enable us to facilitate and deploy retailers’ own-brand gift cards, both in physical and digital format.

2. Tell us what makes you and your business unique?

What makes One4all unique is that when we were established it was an SME business with a family feel and very much a team focus. We have built on this culture during the integration with Blackhawk Network and the Dublin team plays a significant role to the robust growth across the business.

At One4all, innovation is key and we launched the One4all Digital Gift Card – a world-first – during the Covid-19 pandemic. This gave us a new sales channel and drove new incremental sales.

3. What’s the most common problem you have encountered in your industry and how has you overcome it?

I wouldn’t say it’s a problem; the Gift Card market is very regulated industry and as we have moved from paper to physical and now digital cards, we as a business, have had to adapt quickly to the change. This means that we have partnered with experts in the industry to help us to support our customers.

We want to make the purchasing and the redemption of One4all Gift Cards as seamless for our customers while adhering to the legislation.

4. What’s next for your business?

The next step for One4all is more global expansion of the brand. We have just launched in the Netherlands to both the B2B and B2C markets and there are further plans over the next twelve to eighteen months to launch into additional countries in the EMEA region.

We plan to bring new products to the Irish Market in the form of Buy Now Pay Later, and Cashback solutions.

5. What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given?

Listen to your customers would be my best advice. A lot of companies give this lip service, but you need to be on the ground talking to them, listening to their feedback, taking on this feedback and making the right changes in the business with the customer as the number one focus.

If you are looking to read a fantastic book in this area, there is only one book and that is ‘Crowing The Customer’ by the great Feargal Quinn.

6. Do you have a motto or a favorite quote?

Control the controllables. There are only specific things that I can control and have influence on. You can spend a lot of time worrying about issues outside of your control. Focus on what you can control as this well help your mental health and keep you on the right road to success.

7. Finally, how would you describe your experience of the All-Ireland Business Foundation?

One4all has built a strong relationship with the All-Ireland Business Foundation, and I would genuinely see it has a friendship with Elaine and Kapil and the whole team in AIBF. We have been involved since day one and what they have both grown together is truly remarkable.

The key to the whole community is the tribe and building key networking opportunities. This allows us to learn from exceptional leaders in all sectors from around the country.

The All-Ireland Business Foundation would like to thank One4all and Michael Fennelly for sharing his insights and lessons with our readers.

We are proud to partner with One4all and we look forward to continuing our association with the business.