Grand Breaks – what a grand idea

I have always believed that there is money to be made from the special relationship between children and their grandparents.

It has all of the right ingredients. For most people it is powerful and special relationship, the grandparents have the time and money (many of them) and most importantly they (the grandparents) are open to guidance about the products their grandchildren will enjoy.

This week I met somebody who I think has created a brilliant product for this market. Charles Grimaldi’s company Grand Breaks provides short break holiday customised for grand parent/children. What a great idea, but there is more.

His great grandfather was the inspiration for the company. He lived in far off places before the era of the Internet and air mail. He was determined to be part of his grandchildren’s lives and taught himself to draw and sent illustrated cards and letters to each grandchild every week for years.

Some of them included imaginary outings to the zoo, park or seaside – places which he longed to visit with them, but rarely could. Charles discovered over 850 letters and cards. You can see a small part of the correspondence on Ultimate Grandparent.

The company is currently in a soft launch with the full launch scheduled for next Feb or March.

Grand Breaks is a natural for attracting PR coverage, which it already has, and I expect it will do very well. I wish them the best of luck, although I don’t think that is something they will require. Dick Stroud