THE Pen Shop is celebrating another year of success with a nationwide expansion programme already on the way to increasing sales.

By the end of this month, the business, based at Team Valley, in Gateshead, which is already the largest supplier of writing instruments in Europe, will have more than 30 stores across the UK.

That success will be further boosted by the signing of a deal to sell its products in airports around the world, through the World Duty Free concession stores across Europe and the US.

The deal will give The Pen Shop an immediate presence at the UK's premier airports, Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

It also gives the chain an inroad into the US market for pens, estimated to be worth about £320m a year, with £70m of that coming from the non-disposable sector.

The company opened the first specialist writing instruments shop in the UK in Newcastle's Grainger Street in 1946.

Owned by North-East stationers T&G Allan, it remains one of only two pen shop chains in the world.

Year-on-year growth for the chain is running at 14 per cent, and this year has been one of the best yet for the business, with some contracts helping to expand the traditional business in new directions.

One was an exclusive contract to supply writing instruments for the Commonwealth Games after having been named official licensee of Manchester 2002.

The Pen Shop also won concessions in High Street stores, including Debenhams and Beales.

In September and October, new outlets opened at Debenhams stores in Leicester, Harrow and Romford, and at Beales stores in Worthing and Ealing.

And since a redesign of its website, www.penshop.co.uk, went live, visitor numbers to the site have gone up to more than 12,000, and helping to boost sales by an estimated 150 per cent.

Following such a busy year, managing director Colin McClymont is hoping for a profitable Christmas.

He said: "Typically, we experience an eight-fold increase in sales during the month of December, as compared to June.

"However, that's not all. We are undertaking a national advertising campaign with our Waterman Laureate sets, and increasing our mail order promotions.

"As well as our retail outlets and sales via our web site, we also have a corporate division which sells mail order products.

"In addition, we have our own brand range of luxury leather goods under the Kingsley name, and a range of brushed steel gifts under the name MODVS. These always prove popular at Christmas.

"We have even more exciting plans for The Pen Shop in 2003, and the expansion of our retail outlets is set to continue."