The Evolution of Event Caddie

Event Caddie and Driving Sales have been a key driver in the event management and gifting industry over the past 20 years. Both companies were founded by Neil Williams and directed by Sue Williams. This blog is an insight into Event Caddie’s journey and why we are an established leading supplier in the industry.

A Message from the Founder

‘22 years ago, I had a back operation which meant I had to change my career in retail management. At the time my hobbies were golf and running an online golf directory website called Goinggoinggolf. I started Driving Sales Ltd in 2004, which was originally helping golf courses connect with local businesses through sponsorship. Event Caddie became a trading name supplying the corporate market with embroidered and printed golf gifts and clothing. Starting the business gave me a new direction and helped me with my recovery and my mental health.

I’m passionate about delivering the best customer service, and my experience in retail helps me visualise the company through the website.’ – Neil.

Where We Are Today

In 2004 we launched Driving Sales (this is Event Caddie’s older sister company), producing high-quality custom gifting and clothing. With this we expressed our love for the golfing industry by sponsoring our local golf courses. This excitingly led to us landing our first corporate account with Wilson Staff.

As the years progressed, in 2007 Event Caddie was born and began to flourish. We chose Event Caddie to specialise in custom printed and embroidered golf merchandise. From custom golf balls to manufacturing caddie bibs for the European Tour, Trump Scotland and even St Andrews. Our aim is to provide the highest quality golf merchandise for corporate golf days and have and enjoy the journey along the way.

2009 is nothing short of on par with our starting years; we expanded the company and took the leap into Europe and haven’t looked back since! Shipping our products across the continent was an exciting development, allowing us to reach a wider customer base.

In 2019 we opened our very first showroom based in Kidderminster.

Another highlight for us was becoming Titleist’s #1 corporate partner, which was a proud moment for us! We still work with St Andrews to manufacture high-quality bibs and are appreciative of the ever-growing business relationship we have with the grounds.

The Event Caddie Team

The Event Caddie team started off as just Neil and Sue; Sue would help whenever she could find spare time to assist with the accounts. Niel continued to champion Event Caddie and Driving Sales. Event Caddie has now grown from being born in a home office to having 11 members of staff located in the Kidderminster office. Our growing team is something we are so proud of, and we appreciate all the hard work our team put in every day.

Sponsorships

We currently sponsor two golfing teams: The Parakeets – Brent Valley Golf Academy and Under 14s Boys Team – Kent. These teams are incredibly important to us here at Event Caddie.

Brent Valley Golf Academy believes that everyone should have the chance to play the game we all love. As a registered charity, Brent Valley reaches out to the children in their local area and offer them the opportunity to start playing golf, as not every child is in the position to do so. Neil always says that everyone should get the chance to play golf; you never know when the next Tiger Woods will emerge.

The Kent U14s were league winners last year, and they give young talent a taste of county competition to prepare them for the future. The Kent U14s have such passion and drive that we are so happy to say we sponsor them.

Alongside our sponsorship of the younger teams, we also sponsor professional golf caddie, Fraser Riddler. Fraser grew up in Arbroath, Scotland. He started caddying for his favourite course, the Old Course St Andrews. He did this under the guidance of legends Jimmy Reid and Steve Jones. This year Fraser, who will be accompanying Emily Kristine Pedersen in the 2025 LPGA season tournaments and other major golf events.

Emily is a Danish professional golfer who plays on the Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour. Pedersen is a 4X Solheim Cup member (in 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024) and a 2X Olympian. Emily’s world ranking at the end of 2024 was 132!

Emily Pederson is an astonishing athlete, and we are so excited that our caddie Fraser will be by her side this year. Her career has been nothing short of spectacular; she made only the 2^nd hole-in-one in Solheim Cup history! This was on the 22^nd of September 2023, and on the 12^th hole in the afternoon four ball!

Where Will Event Caddie Go In The Future?

We have established ourselves as a leading supplier in the UK, so where will Event Caddie go in the future? Founder Neil has said, ‘I see the company developing a strategy to expand internationally, growing our authority through business awards and investing in our team. Helping the world become a more sustainable place is close to my heart. My wish is that some of the initiatives we are developing and others we support will contribute to getting us there.’

It is fair to say Event Caddie has come a long way, and we look forward to what the future holds.

If you would like to make a donation to the Parakeets please find more information here.

To shop our sustainable ranges, please click here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 19th, 2025 at 9:12 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.