Ireland can't get enough of Offaly made Santa's Reindeers

17-year-old Anthony Gorman is currently up to his eyes in reindeer and with an order from Dunnes Stores for 10,000 of his bespoke wooden ornaments, it's all hands on deck at his headquarters in Killeigh, outside of Tullamore.

This wonderful success story which has seen the teenager catapulted into the world of successful entrepreneurship, began when he was in third year at Tullamore College.

''I had no idea about woodwork. My dad is into steel sheds. But I loved business studies in school. For a Junior Cert pretend project, everyone got different topics for business studies, I picked entrepreneurship and I fell in love with it. I had a super teacher, Miss Griffin, in Tullamore College, and she said 'Anthony, why don't you make a prototype.' I was plodding through Google and I saw a wooden thing like a horse.'' That was the spark that spurred Anthony into making his first reindeer.

''It was so different from what it is now. I called it Rudolph. I tweaked the idea, and my mother said why not add lights. I did my project for school and I said this is my business, selling reindeers.''

Miss Griffin brought the reindeer into the staff room and 20 of the teachers bought two each.

''I was dying for a new phone, but my parents said 'you will have to buy it yourself'. I thought I will be able to afford my phone now. Then my aunties and uncles bought them and in the first year, I sold 80, I was delighted,'' said Anthony.

However, tragedy struck the family into the second year of business when Anthony's dad was diagnosed with cancer. ''It was a horrible year and it was at the peak of Covid. Dad does sheds for a living and he couldn't go on-site. Me and Ma sat down and said if we can sell 80 surely we can sell 2,000. I wanted to buy a tractor and front loader for my dad for Christmas. We made up this plan and we had all the workers ready. My Ma is an accountant so she did all the figures. We worked like dogs all through Christmas and we made them. But it was in the middle of Covid and no one had money. So we couldn't advertise in newspapers.''

Anthony decided to advertise his product on 'Shop in Ireland' Facebook page. His post reached 100,000 – the biggest ever for this page and got numerous likes, shares and comments.

''It was all over everyone's Facebook,'' said Anthony.

It was after this that RTE's Philip Bromwell contacted him to tell his story and it appeared on the 6pm and 9pm news. That year Anthony sold 2,180 reindeer.

''We broke even with a small bit of profit for myself. On Christmas Day when I drove the tractor up the drive it was all worthwhile,'' said Anthony.

Following his appearance on RTE, Dunnes Stores came knocking. ''When I got a DM (direct message) off Dunnes Stores, I thought it was a scam.''

However, even though he was reluctant at first in case he would damage his phone, he took the chance and opened the message which said, ''Hi Anthony we are very interested in your product and we would like to meet with you.''

That year 'Santa's Reindeers' as they are known, were sold in 9 Dunnes Stores across the country. Anthony delivered 100 to each store and most of them were sold out within a day.

This year Dunnes Stores upped their game and ordered a massive 10,000 of Santa's Reindeers for Christmas. Luckily they gave Anthony plenty of time and a timetable so he has been busy planning and working since last January.

He did most of the work during the summer months and he employed 4 people every day until he got all of the work done. He is currently putting the finishing touches to his product and doing the final checks before they hit the shelves. The reindeer are already in some of the stores around the country and flying off the shelves.

For example Anthony's father was heading for Swords in Dublin yesterday November 8 with a large consignment full of reindeer.

Anthony sources the timber from a local farmer who is a tree surgeon. He provides the wood from trees which he has cut down whereby they may have been blocking a driveway, or are a danger to a school or road. It's a way to reuse the wood which otherwise would be sold for firewood.

Anthony has a new product this year which is a wooden reindeer head for hanging on the Christmas tree. They come in a pack of three.

Anthony is extremely grateful to his school Tullamore College who he says have been extremely supportive of him and of course to Miss Griffin who sparked what is a brilliant success story.

Anthony has since been interviewed by RTE again where he told the story of his father's illness and how he worked to buy him the tractor for Christmas. The reindeer was also featured on the Late Late Toy Show.

He was also a guest speaker at Kilkenny Student Enterprise Awards. His business was showcased as one of the top 5 success stories over the 20 years, at the National Student Enterprise Awards 20th anniversary.

In addition he has built up a relationship with Offaly Enterprise Board and is receiving continued support through mentoring sessions and advice on growing his business.

But he hasn't forgotten about giving back and to date he has donated Santa's Reindeers to Tullamore Hospital and local charities. In addition he donated 100 teddies to Crumlin Hospital.