Mark Edwards

Finalist - EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 New Zealand

Edwards & Co

When Mark Edwards watched a frustrated grandparent struggling to fold a bulky pram, eventually abandoning it on the roadside, he was struck with a revelation. He approached his father Warwick and husband Christian with an idea – what if they created their own business to make prams easier?
For someone with a background in corporate HR, freshly returned from Australia, re-mortgaging his home to finance a brand-new venture from a cowshed was an immense leap into uncharted waters. It wasn’t smooth sailing, either.

The industry was fiercely competitive, requiring a significant investment of Mark’s personal resources. The average development cost of a pram exceeded six figures. Mark threw his energies into showcasing his products at baby expos and country pubs. The first year they sold 100 prams; the next, 120. That was the point where Mark decided to redesign the whole range, a process that took three years.

In his own words, “things boomed after that”.

A proud member of the rainbow community, his story emphasises that all types of families are beautiful and embraced. Mark himself became a dad in 2018, and now has two children.

“As a boutique, family-owned company we understand the ride, because we’ve lived it. We’ve learned, first-hand, the pressures, the frustrations and the joys and seen what matters most. So our design decisions aren’t shaped by global markets, supply chain efficiencies, profit margins or market research.

Instead, they come from genuine love and understanding of the little people that will ride in our prams – and the bigger ones that will push them,” Mark says.

Mark personally owns the design IP of many of his strollers. His own experience as a parent led him to design models that could more easily be folded one-handed, and he has also designed a single stroller that effortlessly converts into a double pram to accommodate additional children and create product longevity.

With Mark “having fun” with a new parent accessories line, Ed & Company, there are now plans to go global.