Laban Roomes, a British entrepreneur, is looking to expand his gold-plating business in the US from February, according to a new report in the LA Times.
Laban first made his fortune after appearing on hit TV show, Dragons Den, with his idea for Goldgenie, a simple, portable, gold plating service that caught the eye of the incredibly hard-to-please dragons, who swiftly invested their hard-earned cash in the business. Since then it has gone from strength to strength and Mr Roomes now considers it the right time to go stateside with his concept… and if they don’t fall for the gold plating in La La land, where will they?
Roomes, however, is not starting off in LA, he plans to begin is American expansion in Florida - a state he is very familiar with as he has family in Fort Lauderdale. "Florida is kind of like my second home," he explained.
The concept behind Laban’s business is that you can gold plate absolutely anything, within reason. For $1,500, Americans can have their iPhone covered in a luxurious layer of gold. Although the service is most popular for plating electrical items, like iPads, iPhones, computer mice and games consoles, Roomes has also plated everything from flowers to car emblems.
He now hopes that the American market will lap up the opportunity to turn everyday objects into gold. "The whole American psyche is about this kind of bling,” he added.
iPhones seem to be the major seller at the moment and Goldgenie is selling around 150 per month all over the world. The firm has to also back up its products with guarantees as anyone that has their phone covered in gold will no longer be covered by the manufacturer’s warranty… not that this seems to be putting anyone off.
So unique are the products that Goldgenie sell and manufacture, that they have caught the eyes of many a celeb. Back in 2006, some 55 mobile phones were gold plates by the firm for the Emmy Awards, which were given out in the goody bags to winners on the night. Soon after, Elton John commissioned Goldgenie to create a Swarovski crystal iPod Nano, which was sold off to benefit the singer’s Aids Foundation charity.
The fact that
gold prices have soared in recent months could have put buyers off of the products but, arguably, could have also made them more attractive to the super-rich. Gold is not to everyone’s taste of course and many of us wouldn’t be seen dead with a gold mobile hone. If gold isn’t your thing, it’s easy to
sell gold that is unwanted or broken for more money that you might imagine.
Selling gold has become a very lucrative practice round the world, as gold prices per ounce approach $2,000.
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