A silver banner celebrating the 25th anniversary of Eproductive, with the text 'Eproductive Silver Anniversary 2000-2025' and a stylized swirl design.

On Monday 22nd September Eproductive Turned Silver!

It’s 25 years since brothers Chris & Nick Cowls registered Eproductive Ltd at companies house. Back then Phil Somerville was working on the Eproductive Helpdesk, located on Platform 1 of Dorking station. 25 years later and he’s a friendly and familiar face known throughout charity retail, and despite 25 years of service, hasn’t turned silver:

Man smiling, wearing glasses and a striped polo shirt, sitting at a desk with a computer and a headset, in an office setting.
A young person with glasses and a striped shirt working at a computer in a classroom or office setting.

25 Years Later

2000

“Eproductive is a family firm that feels like family. Honesty and generosity are still qualities that count here, despite how businesses have changed. I wouldn’t want to work anywhere else, except perhaps Hollywood.”

Phil Somerville, 2000-2025

In contrast 23 year old IT Developer Tom Dennis wasn’t even born back in 2000:

Close-up of a smiling young man with short, curly hair standing outdoors at night, with buildings and street scene in the background.

“I only joined Eproductive this year but working in an IT department where the average age is about 27 is great. Everyone clearly enjoys it here and I can see why people would never want to leave!”

Tom Dennis 2025

A man with dark hair, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, is approaching the door of the Dorking railway station in England. The station has brick walls, a green door, and a sign that reads 'Dorking.' There are signs indicating amenities like ladies and accessible toilets, baby changing, and a vending machine nearby.

It Started on Platform 1…

With Chris Cowls’ background in hospitality, (he’s currently Chair of the Hospitality Professionals Association), Eproductive started as a scheduling system for hotels working from an office on Platform 1 of Dorking station. When brother Nick, who’d worked for Cancer Research, had the idea of Gift Aiding shop donations the company quickly expanded into charity retail.

Today Eproductive has a head office in Camden but its helpdesk is still based at Dorking station. We offer the most sophisticated cloud-based charity retail system in the UK, and work for over 100 charities with around 3000 shops.

A row of wooden award trophies for the Charity Retail Awards 2024 and 2025, with the first trophy in focus displaying the text 'Supplier of the Year Category B,' sponsored by 1st Waste Management, on a black table.

Award-Winning Service

Eproductive were the Charity Retail Association’s very first Supplier of the Year in 2009 and have won this award a total of five times, including the last three years in a row.

Terry Mutton, Retail Operations Manager at Age UK said:

Age UK are one of Eproductive's oldest clients with a relationship dating back to 2008 and the early days of Gift Aid. From the EPR Hub to the My Charity Shop app, their investment in new ideas has massively improved our retail operation. Eproductive's innovation, account management and award-winning helpdesk have stood the test of time, and I wouldn't be surprised if Age UK are still a client in another 25 years!

Florence Nightingale Hospice are one of Eproductive’s newest clients and installed the EPRTouch EPOS system at the end of 2024. Their Head of Retail & Volunteering, Lily Caswell, had this to say:

“We definitely made the right decision investing in EPRTouch. It’s only six months since installation but we expect the additional Gift Aid revenue to have covered the cost of the new system by the first anniversary of the roll out! Eproductive are great to work with – hugely supportive, totally approachable, and lovely people. It seems to me that they put charity shop teams at the very heart of what they do, so we might still be their client in 2050!”