Gifts Today Month: February 2021 Issue: 3 Volume: 32
The UK’s leading supplier of drop ship Personalised Gifts
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Gifts Today February 2021
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Contents
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Regulars 5
Editor’s letter
8
News
12 Exhibition News Including a round-up of key dates for your diary
Cover story 16 Price’s Candles The heritage brand launches a host of new fragrances to energise and inspire this year
Gifts Today team
Retail 24 The Alphabet Gift Shop
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Why the owners describe themselves as ‘warriors, not worriers’
Editor
Sally Norton sally@lemapublishing.co.uk
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Introducing the latest members of our Panel – key gift shop owners around the UK
Supporting Editor
Rachel King rachel@lemapublishing.co.uk
42 Trade Talk Leading figures in the gift industry talk lockdown, Brexit and plans for 2021
Advertisement Manager
Mark Horsnell markh@lemapublishing.co.uk
Layout/Design
Special features
Rick Vickers rick@lemapublishing.co.uk
22 Product Showcase
Managing Director
Spring Fair may not have opened its physical doors this year, but we have 50+ pages of fabulous new launches for you to discover
Mark Naish mark@lemapublishing.co.uk
74 InStyle
Production Director
Paul Naish paul@lemapublishing.co.uk
The latest in jewellery and fashion accessories
Chairman
Malcolm Naish malcolm@lemapublishing.co.uk
72 Retailers’ Panel
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Profiles 22 Nick Munro 44 Casa Grande 46 Treasure Tree 48 Bloomingville 64 Vital Pet Group
Opinion 14 The Giftware Association All the news from the Gift of the Year awards
Lema Publishing Ltd
18 British Independent Retailers’ Association
1 Churchgates, The Wilderness, Berkhamsted, Herts, HP4 2UB Telephone: 01442 289930
20 Small Business Britain
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Drawer Liners Drawer Sachets Hand Wash & Moisturising Lotion Pot Pourri Reed Diffusers Room Sprays Scented Candles
Handmade in Suffolk
T 01359 250720 www.manorhousehomefragrance.co.uk
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Message from the Editor www.giftstoday.media Instagram: @giftstodaymedia
A
s we fast approach the anniversary of the first lockdown and find ourselves, hopefully, at the tail end of a third, all sides of the gift industry have been busy. Spring Fair may not have opened its physical doors this month and nonessential shops may have been forced to close theirs so far this year, but suppliers and retailers have been finding ways to connect, do business and get through the pandemic. For while business is subdued at the moment, there is hope on the horizon thanks to the vaccine rollout, and this is why suppliers have been as busy as ever preparing new ranges in readiness for when lockdown eases. As Paul Hooker, commercial director of Joe Davies told me: ‘It’s been such a difficult start to the year for everyone, but the vaccination programme gives us all reason to be optimistic for brighter times ahead; at Joe Davies we are very positive for the second half of the year.’ It’s this forward-looking attitude and resilience of the industry that means this February issue of Gifts Today is as packed as ever with new product, new ranges, new companies to discover. We’ve put together more than 50 pages of newness in our Product Showcase feature, starting on page 22, making it a brilliant place to find inspiration and do your buying. So many suppliers – like Puckator, Personalised Memento Company, Wax Lyrical and more - have turbo-charged their online offering, with virtual showrooms set up and sales agents on hand to help you with your buying. You’ll find these highlighted throughout this issue. What’s also become clear in putting together this issue is how Covid really has been a catalyst for change, and how many retailers, too, are taking their businesses online for the first time. Shops like Lollypop, near Manchester, that feature in our Retailers’ Panel. In the first lockdown, owner Jayne Leggat took orders over social media and delivered them to people’s doorsteps. Now, many weeks into the third lockdown, she has a fully functioning website, operating a click and collect service through it. The thing is, people are still buying gifts – just in different
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ways. But I think we’re all looking forward to the day when we can do business face to face. As Jodie Hatton from The Alphabet Gift Shop in Derbyshire says: ‘I can’t wait to give the shop a good spring clean and spruce up with some new stock, so our customers can have a proper wow moment when they come in again for the first time.’ Read her story on page 24. Creativity has played a big part, too – and perhaps that’s no surprise in an industry that exists to help people celebrate special occasions, find joy in the everyday and connect with one another. For even during these long, hard months we’ve gone through, people have still bought gifts, sent cards and found ways to show they care. They’ve gone online to find something special and the industry has risen to the challenge in helping them do just that. Even our Gift of the Year Awards took place virtually and, while they may have looked different, they were just as important as ever. Find out the winners on page 14. And, so, with the start of spring just around the corner, a new buying season starts in earnest. As well as our Product Showcase, our cover stars Royal Warrant holders Price’s Candles reveal what they have in store for you these coming seasons across their whole portfolio. You can read more on page 16. We have a raft of company profiles, including the likes of Bloomingville, Nick Munro, Casa Grande, Treasure Tree and Vital Pets, giving you a deeper insight into what makes them tick. And we have our regular Trade Talk feature (page 42) that explores how some of the leading suppliers are coping with Covid, lockdown – and, of course, Brexit. There’s our Retailers’ Panel on page 72, our popular InStyle pages on page 74, and a round up of trade show dates (subject to change, of course!) plus news, views and advice from The GA, Bira and Small Business Britain. It’s been fascinating to put this issue together and Mark Horsnell and I hope you enjoy it. Do get in touch if you’d like to be part of our March/April issue when we will take a special look at Home Interiors, and publish our annual Home Fragrance supplement.
This issue of Gifts Today is as packed as ever with new product, new ranges and new companies to discover
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The views of the contributors expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the publisher. Comments, letters and criticism are welcome.
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News
Ashleigh & Burwood take on ‘Everest’
Lesser & Pavey celebrate 50 years The leading company are celebrating half a century supplying the giftware trade having started in January 1971 as a traditional china and glassware importer. ‘We have come a very long way since the early 70s and are looking forward to the next 50 years with huge optimism and confidence,’ says Julian Hunt, managing director of Lesser & Pavey. Julian joined the company in 1993 and took over the reins from Ronnie Pavey in 2000. Ronnie remains as Chairman bringing his 50 years of extensive experience to the business and is actively involved on a daily basis. Ronnie credits much of the product diversity that now makes up the constantly evolving range of products, to Julian’s stewardship. Lesser & Pavey continue to have their finger on the pulse of what today’s shoppers are looking for in the way of giftware for the home and loved ones.
With 2020 being a particularly tough year for people with lung conditions, the team at Ashleigh & Burwood decided they wanted to take positive steps to raise money for Asthma UK and British Lung Foundation charities. A squad of twelve from the Surrey-based Home Fragrance company took on the #OurEverest challenge, that asked participants to each walk 130km during January. The challenge was undertaken completely remotely, so participants walked alone (or with those they live with) and they switched the rocky terrain of the Himalayas for the pavements, footpaths, parks and fields of Surrey. ‘It was a wonderful opportunity to re-engage with our beautiful natural surroundings,’ says PR Manager, Deborah Bettinson. ‘Come rain, shine or even snow, almost an authentic experience, we were out walking every day and were thrilled with the total raised.’ Together, the team have raised over £700 for this cause.
Wax Lyrical’s virtual world Wax Lyrical is showcasing its new 2021 collections with the use of a fully integrated, virtual world, which looks and feels like a real-life showroom. New collections from award-winning designers Sophie Conran and Yvonne Ellen join the Wax Lyrical showcase of 100% fragrance and renowned quality candles and diffusers. To book a personal tour of the Wax Lyrical 2021 Virtual Showroom contact Gary on 01229 461111 or via email at g.ponsford@wax-lyrical.com.
Farm Shop & Deli Awards shortlist The Awards celebrate specialist retailers from across the UK in recognition of their courageous commitment shown to their customers, community, staff and suppliers this year. Shortlisted retailers representing East Anglia, Midlands, Northern Ireland, North East, North West, South East, South West, Scotland and Wales can be found via the website: farmshopanddelishow. co.uk/awards. A live announcement of the winners will take place on Monday July 5 at 3pm at the Farm Shop & Deli Show, NEC Birmingham.
Gift Card sales surge Data released by the Gift Card & Voucher Association and GlobalData revealed a shift in gifting habits over the lockdown period leading up to Christmas in 2020 with a significant rise in gift card sales. The survey of 2000 people, found that 25.2% purchased gift cards for others in December, up from 17.9% in November. Over a third of these people (34.1%) admitted that lockdown restrictions were their reason for purchasing a gift card. Consumers were still putting thought into their gifting, with targeted, single-store gift cards the preferred choice (56.4%) over multi-store alternatives (32.4%). Gaming gift cards also rose to 11.3% in December, up from 7.9% in November, showing gaming’s continued popularity as a lockdown activity. gcva.co.uk
Good Retail Awards The winners of the Good Retail Awards have been announced during a virtual ceremony at Spring Fair @ Home. With more entrants than ever, the judges had the difficult task of finding positive initiatives that benefited the retailer and their customers. Despite the challenging year for retailers, there were a refreshing number of stories of those in the retail industry who have managed to not only survive, but adapt and thrive.
Category winners for 2021 are: Sustainability Initiative Award – Harts of Stur Instore Creativity Award – Wyle Blue World Digital Impact Award – Furniture Village Retail District Award – Made In Ashford Community Award – The Old Moat Garden Centre & Café
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David’s Rainbow Ducks
Village Pottery Cottages
Tree Of Life
Equilibrium® Rainbow
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Equilibrium® Floral Bags
Heart Strings Frames
OPEN YOUR ONLINE ACCOUNT TODAY AT
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Painted Flower Gin Glasses
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Joe Davies 149 Broadstone Rd, Reddish, Stockport. SK5 7GA
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News Made In The UK Day On March 9, UK manufacturers and makers celebrate Made In the UK Day. The date marks the 10th anniversary for Make It British, that originated as a blog back in 2011 and continues to showcase the wonderful products made in the UK. Founded by Kate Hills, Make It British has changed people’s perceptions of UK manufacturing in the past decade. Kate says: ‘When I launched Make it British most people thought I was mad. I had comments like no-one makes anything in the UK anymore...and anything that is still made here is far too expensive.’ In this anniversary year, Make It British has seen a 63% increase in the amount of people visiting the site to find what is made in the UK.
Puckator launch virtual showroom Visitors can tour the showroom at their own pace, see all the different collections and click in on specific products for more information. If they require further assistance, appointments are also on offer through the screen, where one of the Puckator team members will guide customers around and point out the newest products as well as the bestsellers. Call 0800 011 6969 or email customerservices@puckator.co.uk to book an appointment. Place an order during the appointment and receive carton price. puckator.co.uk
PMC go virtual Personalised Memento Company (PMC) now offer a virtual showroom for customers to browse their catalogue of products at a time and place suitable for them. To access the showroom, visit the website. All the latest personalised products can be found in the What’s New category. personalisedmemento.co.uk
Card Factory launch app Card Factory has announced the launch of its new mobile app that allows customers to access their online product range including cards, wrapping paper, balloons and other gifts. The app is free to download for Apple and Android users and includes a variety
of features such as a reminder system, so no special events get missed, as well as ‘verse finder’ to help customers find the right words. This follows the relaunch of the company’s website in July 2020 with an increased product range that is now also available through the app.
Bounce Back Loan repayment flexibility The government has announced that businesses will have greater flexibility to repay their Bounce Back Loans, with options to extend the loan period, make interest-only payments or pause repayments. The Bounce Back Loan Scheme has seen nearly £45 billion borrowed collectively from over 1.4 million businesses across the country. Borrowers will have the option to tailor payments according to their individual circumstances. The Treasury’s Pay as You Grow repayment flexibilities give borrowers the option to extend the length of their loans from six to ten years (reducing monthly repayments by almost half), make interest-only payments for six months or pause repayments for up to six months. The Chancellor has now extended the flexibility of the third option, which will now be available to all from their first repayment, rather than after six repayments have been made. This will mean that businesses can choose to make no payments on their loans until 18 months after they originally took them out. This is in addition to the government covering interest costs for the first year of the loan. Image credit: ‘Freepik.com’
ExaClair nominated for Product of the Year The Exacompta Clean’Safe range from ExaClair Limited, has been shortlisted in the upcoming 2021 European Office Product Awards (EOPA) for the Product of the Year award. The range of Exacompta filing and desktop accessories was created to meet the increasing demand for healthier working environments, in the office or at home. The products are treated with an antimicrobial additive, which eliminates 99.9% of bacteria and viruses. The collection has now been expanded to feature new Clean’Safe notebooks with Clairefontaine’s premium 90gsm writing paper. All winners of the EOPA awards will be announced in March.
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Frida by SOPHIA® is a brand new range in women’s gifting, featuring elegant designs and gold shimmering elements to create beautiful gifts. From floral ceramics to animal print, this gift range will brighten that special someone’s day. %URDGJDWH %URDGZD\ %XVLQHVV 3DUN &KDGGHUWRQ 2OGKDP 2/ ;( 8. 7 , ) , VDOHV#ZLGGRS FR XN , ZZZ ZLGGRSDQGFR FR XN
Exhibition News Trade Shows look ahead to 2021/22
Harrogate Christmas & Gift moves to early May The show is set to run 9-11 May 2021 at the Harrogate Convention Centre. ‘We are delighted to confirm that we have now secured new dates for the show and will keep everything crossed that the Covid situation is under control and we are able to continue with plans by this time,’ says show organiser Simon Anslow. Harrogate Christmas & Gift us one of the UK’s favourite trade shows, not only for festive goods, but novelties and gifts for all occasions. Buyers attend from numerous sectors including garden centres, department stores, independent retailers and gift shops, tourist attractions and heritage centres and even cathedrals and places of worship seeking souvenirs and gifts and decorations for special occasions. harrogatefair.com
Exclusively Show Moves to August The BHETA board have rescheduled the Exclusively Show to 24-25 August 2021 at the Business Design Centre, London. Will Jones, Chief Operating Officer of BHETA and Chair of Exclusively says: ‘Moving the date provides an opportunity for the industry to gain more confidence as the vaccination programme gathers momentum, and the timing fits with the Autumn buying season. The speed of the vaccine roll-out has given us genuine belief that by August the UK will be back to some form of normality – the pace of the roll-out is continuing to rise and we expect, based on today’s numbers, that by showtime a majority of UK adults will have had two vaccine shots; and our industry will be able to move forward.’
Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair – postponed to May 9-11 2021, Harrogate Convention Centre *Noted – Virtual show 20-21 May 2021 British Craft Trade Fair – two digital shows in 2021. Spring 6-8 June and another in Autumn Farm Shop & Deli Show – postponed to 5-7 July 2021, 2021 NEC Birmingham PG Live – postponed to 27-28 July 2021, Business Design Centre London Exclusively – postponed to 24-25 August 2021, Business Design Centre Autumn Fair – 5-8 September 2021, NEC Birmingham Top Drawer Autumn/Winter – 12-14 September 2021, Olympia London London Stationery Show – postponed to 5-6 October 2021, Business Design Centre Brand Licensing Europe – 17-19 November 2021, ExCeL London Paperworld & Creativeworld – 29 January – 1 February 2022, Messe Frankfurt Christmasworld – 28 January -1 February 2022, Messe Frankfurt Ambiente – 11-15 February 2022, Messe Frankfurt All dates and information were correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Top Drawer meets demand Top Drawer launched the 2021 retail season with their popular S/S21 Content on Demand, hosting an agenda of product launches, expert seminar sessions, new trends and business advice. The event and on demand content had over 10,000 views with a further 55,000 visits to the virtual showrooms. According to statistics gathered by organisers Clarion Events, 83% of attendees were retailers looking for new products to complete their offering, with independent and online retailers making up the majority of the audience. 34.5% said they were buying across all sectors, 22.5% named gift and interiors as their primary category interest, while 16.9%
named home as their primary category interest. Top Drawer Autumn/Winter is currently scheduled as a live event from September 12-14 2021 at London Olympia.
BCTF Goes Digital The British Craft Trade Fair will stage two virtual shows in 2021 in place of a physical event. Two digital shows are planned for Spring and Autumn each featuring hundreds of exclusively British designer makers, offering thousands of handmade crafts across a number of disciplines. Ceramics, paper products, glass, wood, metalwork, textiles, jewellery, fine art, home fragrances and more will all be on display for BCTF’s visitors. Over 1200 buyers attended the 2020 digital event, with more than 20,000 exhibitor catalogue pages viewed. More than 2000 price lists were downloaded and 700 videos watched. bctf.co.uk
*Noted Goes Virtual The US Greeting Card Association has announced their annual greeting card event, *Noted, will be held virtually on 20-21 May 2021. ‘Exhibitors at *Noted will be able to sell directly to interested retailers and buyers through the GCA Marketplace, our exclusive online B2B platform,’ says GCA Executive Director, Nora Weiser. The GCA Marketplace allows GCA members to sell online with transaction fees up to 400% lower than most other B2B platforms that serve small publishers. Learn more at: greetingcard.org.
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www.aromatizetrade.co.uk
Tel: 01254 300268
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Email: sales@aromatize.co.uk
GT CONTRIBUTOR: The Giftware Association
And the winner is… The Gift of the Year winners for 2021 have been announced in a series of virtual events held during Spring Fair @ Home. Chris Workman from The Giftware Association reveals all about this year’s unique competition
I
t’s been unusual holding the annual competition completely virtually. From entrants uploading their products, to our expert panel judging multiple rounds and finally through to announcing the winners, we’ve had to do it all online. There were some challenges of course, but we were determined the competition would go on even with lockdowns and no physical Spring Fair. Each category had its own top secret Zoom celebration to announce the highly commended and the winners, and there was also an additional special live event to announce the Judges’ Choice winner and the first People’s Choice winner. Humour brand, Go La La, took out the Judges Choice Award with their Filthy Gorgeous Soap Range, as well as the Novelty category. The soap range was created as a fun B2C project during the first lockdown and quickly went on to become something of a hit with the company’s trade customers. Go La La Co-founder, Laura Kavanagh says: ‘When we heard we’d be shortlisted in two categories and then made the finals for the Novelty category, we were blown away. We then learned we’d won the Novelty category and were more than ecstatic! But then we were told we’d secured the top prize and won the Judges’ Vote. The celebrations haven’t really stopped since!’ Go La La weren’t the only company to take out multiple wins. The Candle Brand took out three categories, Gibsons and Fizz Creations Ltd both won two, while Blue Eyed Sun picked up an
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We were determined the competition would go on even with lockdowns and no physical Spring Fair
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CEO Sarah Ward
impressive five wins including the inaugural People’s Choice Award. The Bio Loco Loop Water Bottles, came out on top after an impressive 6000 public votes were cast in the brand new category in the competition. Blue Eyed Sun also won in the Contemporary Gift, Ethical Gift, Kitchen & Dining and Own Label categories with a variety of environmentally friendly and contemporary products. From what has been a very different competition this year we have certainly seen a resilient industry, and an industry that has grown, adapted and thrived even in testing times. It has been great to see so many fantastic products entered and congratulations to all the winners, highly commended, shortlisted and everyone who entered. You are all winners in our eyes, and we hope to see you all next year as we plan to grow the competition again to be even bigger and better.
All the winners
Beauty, Bath & Spa The Burn + Bloom Candle Collection, The Candle Brand Branded Gift Richard Osman’s House of Games, Hacche Retail Cards & Wrap Message in a bottle pop up card, All Joy Designs Children’s, Educational and Pre-School Passport to Genius, Whiz Kid Games Commemorative, Collectable and Charitable Rainbow Heroes in Aid of Samaritans Charity 500 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle, Gibsons Contemporary Gift Bioloco Loop, Blue Eyed Sun Design & Craft Hyper Jungle Paper Head Lights, Fizz Creations Ltd. Ethical Gift Bioloco Plant Kids Bottle, Blue Eyed Sun Fashion Accessories Stay Safe Sentiment Bracelets, Carrie Elspeth Festive & Occasions Christmas Around the World Jigsaw Puzzle Advent Calendar, Gibsons Food & Drink The Bottled Baking Co - Baking Mixes, The Bottled Baking Co Home & Garden Avocado Vase, Ilex Studio Home Fragrance The Flower Diffuser, The Candle Brand International Julia Gash, Julia Gash Enterprises Ltd Kitchen & Dining Bioloco Plant Lunch Pot, Blue Eyed Sun My Gift of All Time The Flower Diffuser, The Candle Brand Novelty Filthy Gorgeous, Go La La Own Label BambooCup by chic.mic, Blue Eyed Sun Pet Gift Pawbles, Wren & Rye Stationery Bookworm Booklights, Thinking Gifts Company Limited Tech & Gadgets Make You Own Tech, Fizz Creations Ltd. Under £15 Birthday In A Box, Craft & Crumb To see the full list of winners, highly commended and other shortlisted products visit the Gift of the Year website. giftoftheyear.co.uk/categories.
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WOW! Zero levitates Leaders in innovation • Highly collectible www.enesco.co.uk ENESCO LIMITED, Brunthill Road, Kingstown, Carlisle, Cumbria, England, CA3 0EN. UK Customer Services Telephone: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk Overseas Customer Services Telephone: +44 1228 404066 Email: eurosales@enesco.co.uk © Disney.
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GT CONTRIBUTOR: Bira
‘Now is the time for us all to revisit our safety measures’ CEO Andrew Greenacre from the British Independent Retailers Association explains why safety protocols are crucial in the battle to make 2021 the year our high streets recover from the Covid crisis
CEO Andrew Greenacre
probably be preparing to reopen as soon as permitted. Now is the time for us all to revisit our safety measures so that shopping remains safe in the eyes of the public and the Government.
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I have penned an open letter to retailers asking them once again to focus on safety protocols
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e are all in this together. Never has a truer word been spoken right now. At a crucial point in this pandemic, it is vital we all play our part in making sure it is erased swiftly, that it stops taking lives, and denying us the liberties we all enjoy. Thankfully, the Government has started the rollout of its mass vaccination programme, but we simply cannot wait for that to take effect. And so, as we wade through further lockdowns, I have penned an open letter to retailers asking them once again to focus on safety protocols. I know independent retailers have already risen to the challenges, setting an example to the rest of the sector but we must continue to do so, to prevent further lockdowns and high street casualties. As retailers of giftware, you’ll
In my letter, I urge retailers to look at our five-point plan that includes: Hands: Continuing to supply sufficient hand sanitiser for customers and encouraging them to avoid touching items they do not intend to buy. Face: Reminding shoppers to wear a face covering unless they are medically exempt. We recommend offering complimentary masks if customers do not have their own. The Bira website offers free printable posters to help encourage compliance. Space: Enforcing the two-metre rule, even when shoppers are wearing a face covering. Revisiting your risk assessment: Making sure it
covers back office operations, as well as front of house staff who mix with customers. Communicate your plan with staff to ensure they are all onboard. Working together: Whether this means with neighbouring retail stores to promote compliance messages or seeking advice from trade associations such as Bira, or government organisations. For most of you, these activities will have become second nature but right now it is imperative safety standards are raised and maintained. In the coming weeks I will also be writing an open letter to the public requesting that they also do their utmost to comply with hygiene regulations when shopping. Like I said, we are all in this together, and it will take a concerted effort from everyone to beat Covid-19. With the highest level of compliance from both retailers and consumers, we will make 2021 the year we recover from this devastating virus. Read the full letter at bira.co.uk/open-lettersafety. If you would like to find out more about Bira and the support they give independent retail business, then please contact their membership team on 0800 028 0245 or visit bira.co.uk
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Beautiful gifts at beautiful prices
Discover our extensive range of beautiful gifts RexLondonTrade.com/GiftsToday
GT CONTRIBUTOR Small Business Britain
Planning for 2021 Michelle Ovens CBE, Founder of Small Business Britain, looks at ways retailers can plan for reopening, and some of the resources and initiatives that are available to help
Michelle Ovens
Skills and Support If you need help to adapt and seize the opportunities, or any aspect of running a business, Small Business Britain offers a fabulous selection of webinars, power hours and live online events that you can join each day. We explore everything from building digital skills and enhancing mindset, to improving financial management and sustainability. As well as making sure the help we offer is useful and relevant, we also make things as fun as possible. We know it’s a tough time for everyone, so on Wednesdays at noon we have a ‘Happy Hour’ on Facebook to inject some cheer into the week, featuring giveaways from small businesses. We also
make sure our events are always full of surprises, inspiration and entertainment. Our support is free and open to all small businesses – no matter your location, your industry, or your size. This is all part of our mission to support and champion the country’s 5.8 million small businesses and promote the incredible value they bring.
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Small Business Britain have a number of campaigns and events coming up this year, that should be on the radar of small retailers
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e are now properly into 2021 and, while the outlook for small businesses remains challenging and uncertain, we can expect to see a gradual easing of lockdown in the coming weeks and months. Shops, of course, need to make sure they have a flexible plan for reopening. But in general, all small firms need to be prepared for new possibilities and doing things differently throughout this year. This is particularly apparent in the gifting space, where people still want to mark the same milestones and occasions, but often in a new and different way that fits with the current restrictions and mood. Agile, creative small businesses are in a great position to help people do this meaningfully and set new trends. Take the whole new category of dark humoured ‘lockdown birthday’ cards that has emerged. Or the fact that Valentine’s Day was celebrated in a totally new way this year, with love sent across the distance through deliveries and digital. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see new trends popping up around everything from celebrating vaccinations, to schools reopening to all students, returning to offices or many other things that small businesses can tap into.
Small Awards Small Business Britain have a number of campaigns and events coming up this year, that should be on the radar of small retailers. Applications close at the end of February for the Small Awards, which celebrate the smallest and greatest firms in the UK. From our ‘High Street Hero’ award, to the ‘Bricks and Clicks’ award for the best multi-channel business, or the ‘Legacy Award’ for best family firm, The Smalls are unlike any other Awards out there and exist to recognise the dynamism of the UK’s small business sector. Diverse Entrepreneurship In March we will be spotlighting 100 phenomenal female entrepreneurs on International Women’s Day, through our f:Entrepreneur #ialso100 campaign, which showcases trailblazing women that lead small businesses alongside a roster of other responsibilities, such as volunteering, mentoring and community support. If you are a woman this
resonates with, you can apply to be part of next year’s campaign from September. The group always includes lots of incredible women from within the retail sector, alongside a host of other fabulous female entrepreneurs, from beekeepers to diamondtraders! Last year we also launched a new campaign - ‘I-Entrepreneur’ - to tell inspiring stories of businesses led by entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds. We do this to raise their profile, and ensure their successes are celebrated across the economy not as a minority, but for the incredible value they bring in their own right. Get in touch if you would like to join our events or share your stories. Small Business Saturday Finally, a big date for everyone’s diary is Small Business Saturday UK. The event will take place again on the first weekend in December, celebrating small business success and encouraging consumers to ‘shop local’ and support small businesses in their communities. A grassroots, non-commercial campaign, Small Business Saturday is the UK’s most successful small business campaign, which last year saw a record estimated £1.1 billion spent with small businesses across the UK on the day itself, and an impact that lasts all year round. The campaign is open to all small businesses to get involved with – many running special events and promotions and using it as a fantastic way to engage customers. We also open applications over the summer to select our ‘SmallBiz100’, which is a group of amazing small businesses from all over the UK that represent and champion the campaign. Previous participants include Moo Like A Monkey, Joco Interiors and Little Boat Gifts, among many others from a variety of sectors. smallbusinessbritain.uk
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our showrooms are open 9.00am-5pm (Government guidelines apply)
www. straitstrading. com visit our website to view our full collection.
customer services T: 01254 300260 E: sales@straitstrading.com Catalogues available upon request.
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Product Showcase
Home in style with Nick Munro
The globally renowned designer is known for his beautiful, practical tableware and barware that’s used in some of the most exclusive hotels and restaurants around the world. As the company looks towards boosting its presence in the giftware arena, we ask Nick Munro Holdings Ltd’s MD Alex Beveridge what retailers can expect from this innovative, seriously stylish company Q: Alex, for those who haven’t caught up with the brand recently, what’s Nick Munro best known for? A: All of our products are designed by award winning British designer Nick Munro and created with the aim of crafting superbly stylish items for the home that serve their purpose with perfection. We aim to weave together style and functionality in items that are built to last and look as good as the day they were bought, many years into the future. Q: Is Nick still involved with the company? A: Nick is very much still involved as our designer and source of creative inspiration, but is also pursuing his passion for design with his studio company and collaborating with some of world’s best brands. Q: Nick Munro products are used in some of the world’s top hotels and restaurants. When did the company move into the retail environment? A: The company actually started its journey in the retail space, but hospitality became our focal point over the past few years due to the demand we were facing. We are really only just re-entering the retail market and I think there is a big opportunity for our customers to be some of the first stockists in the country. Our products truly were designed with the home in mind, so we naturally wanted to bring things back to where they began.
desire for people to recreate experiences at home. For example, we can no longer visit our favourite coffee shops, so finding a way to enhance our coffee drinking experience at home has become more important. Home bars have also been a big trend this past year for the same reason. Q: Any ranges that have done particularly well? A: The Queen’s tea range was born out of Nick Munro’s official commission to design a teapot for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Coronation in 2013. The original, a solid silver teapot with a gold crown, now sits in a glass case at Buckingham Palace for all to see but none to touch. Now everyone can own their very own version with the Queen’s tea range and drink tea like the queen at home. Manufactured in the UK, the range consists of two teapots, a teaspoon and a tea infuser ball for loose leaf tea lovers available in stainless steel or silver plate with a gold plated crown on the top. The Trombone barware range was inspired by the beauty and detail of brass instruments and the sounds and atmosphere at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in London. Every line and curve has been carefully designed to be reminiscent of jazz instruments and blends modern elegance with service level functionality perfect for the home bar or drinks cabinet. The range consists of a cocktail shaker, ice bucket, wine cooler, champagne cooler and water pitcher and is available in mirror-polished stainless steel, gold or bronze finishes.
Q: Is there a typical customer? A: We find that our strongest audience are women between the ages of 25-54. Q: Has the past year with all its restrictions and lockdowns seen an increase in interest for your ranges? A: Yes, both our barware and coffee ranges have seen a huge increase in interest recently. I think this is largely driven by a
Q: Any special offers/services for new customers? A: We have lowered our minimum order value this year and we are now offering drop shopping facilities which we have never done before. We want to be as supportive as possible to our customers because we understand how difficult this year has been for business.
Call: 01244 515514 Email: trade@nickmunro.com Visit: nickmunro.com 22 Gifts Today
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www.aromatizetrade.co.uk
Tel: 01254 300268 *LIWV 7RGD\ LQGG
Email: sales@aromatize.co.uk
Jodie Hatton
Retail Interview:
The Alphabet Gift Shop
‘We’re warriors, not worriers!’
With two beautiful gift shops in Burton-on-Trent and the Derbyshire village of Mickleover, The Alphabet Gift Shop has had its busiest year ever for online sales, but now can’t wait to open the doors of the bricks and mortar stores to welcome its customers back. We catch up with general manager Jodie Hatton to learn how the team are determined to survive and thrive Jodie, what’s the story behind the business? I’m Jodie – the general manager of The Alphabet Gift Shop. We have two gift shops with coffee shops. We specialise in personalised products, so our Burton shop has a design studio above it too. I am very lucky to work for and alongside a very inspiring boss lady – Sue! She started the business back in 1996 from her dining room table, designing and manufacturing fleece jumpers worked under the name ‘Sweaty Sue’s’ By 2008 her house was quite literally bursting at the seams, and she moved the business to Mickleover and it became The Alphabet Gift Shop as it’s known today. As the business grew, the design and production side moved to a different location so the gift shop could expand. In 2013 Sue was ready for The Alphabet
Gift Shop to have a sister store and set up shop (and coffee shop) in Burton-onTrent, with the design studio upstairs. Since then, we have taken over the unit next door to make the coffee shop and studio space bigger at Burton, and even managed to squeeze a coffee shop in at the Mickleover shop too. How have the various lockdowns and restrictions been for you? As for all small businesses, the lockdowns and restrictions have been challenging. We were very lucky to already have an established online sales department, selling through our own website along with Not On The High Street, Etsy, Amazon Handmade, Silk Fred and Trouva. For the bricks and mortar gift shops, not having a date to work towards is tricky bring on Boris’ road map! – as it’s difficult
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‘We’re so ready to go to a t ra d e show now’
to know what/when to do some buying for the shops. We don’t want to invest in trends and them have had their moment before we’ve been able to do our shop displays.
platters - which is definitely a sign of the times with us having to spend so much time indoors.
Have you managed to trade during the lockdowns?
We’ve tried to get on board with virtual trade shows and do really appreciate all the hard work that has gone into them, but it just isn’t the same. It’s really hard to get a feel for new suppliers and products virtually, without being able to see and touch them and put collections together. We find when we’re at shows that a theme seems to emerge and we tie our buying in with it throughout the day, which is definitely harder to do and visualise with tabs open across different laptops and screens. We’re so ready to go to a trade show now, though.
We actually had our busiest year ever for online sales, which was amazing, but obviously the shops were closed for the majority of the year so the sales were a little interchangeable in some ways. We were able to make the most of having the extra space downstairs with the gift and coffee shops being closed, and had an extended ‘good in’ area, meaning we could order stock in larger quantities at a time than we would usually be able to and have some of our gift and coffee shop team in to unpack and tag the deliveries. What’s the mix of merchandise in your shop? Our shops stock a bit of everything but we always manage to tie it all together with our merchandising. We have a baby and children’s section, along with wedding, men’s, jewellery, general gifts, cards and homewares (which are my favourite!) We house so many different brands including Jellycat, East of India, Joma Jewellery and Light & Living – along with local brands such as Clementine Jewellery. Any surprise hits recently? This year our most popular items have been cosy slipper socks and slate serving
Have you attended any of the virtual trade shows?
n ‘It’s bee tough, but it l does fee like the end is in sight’
Now that Christmas is done and the busy buffer has gone, the current climate definitely feels more raw. However, our online sales have been consistent since and we know our customers are ready and waiting for us to be able to open the doors again. Plans for the rest of 2021? We have a poster up in the office that says ‘Warriors not Worriers’, so we’ll try our best to stick to this and keep on keeping on. It’s been tough, but it does feel like the end is in sight. I can’t wait to give the shops a good spring clean and spruce them up with some new stock, so our customers can have a proper ‘wow’ moment when they come in again for the first time.
What are the other ways you are using to source new products? We keep up-to-date with social media and newsletters, along with the ‘new in’ sections on our supplier websites. How confident do you feel about the future of your business? Gifts Today 25
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Product Showcase
Mother’s Day online Personalised Memento Company Personalised Memento Company (PMC) have launched a huge selection of new products for this upcoming Mother’s Day. With lockdown restrictions taking their toll, online retail has seen an upsurge in demand. PMC offer a wide range of 5000 personalised gifts, all drop-shipped with contactless delivery. They offer tailored integration of personalised gifts for their customer portfolio; ranging from small independents to large multiple retailers. PMC have been personalising gifts for 17 years and are leading the industry as the personalisation, production and drop-shipping service. They invest heavily into their infrastructure leading to an outstanding experience for the customer from the start. This reliable service ensures that orders are fulfilled quickly and accurately, especially important during the key occasions of the year. Me To You are amongst the well know licences that PMC partners with. Personalisation is seamlessly designed with in the iconic brand artwork. New for SS21 is the Moon and Stars range, ideal for the best mum in the universe. New products are at the heart of what every retailer and consumer is looking for. PMC understand this by regularly offering new products and designs to keep their range refreshed for all of their customers. One of their latest new products is the Personalised Flower Jug, ideal to make a posy of flowers extra special. Other unique and innovative products include a set of 24 Personalised Tokens, each with a special voucher for the recipient to claim, from a peaceful
bubble bath to an uninterrupted lie-in. Check out the set of 12 Reasons Pencils in a Gift Box, available in pink and blue. Each pencil includes your own special reasons why you love them. In addition to a fantastic product range, PMC also offer a number of tools to help you to maximise on the product offering. Including image upload with a photograph and also personalisation across a huge range of products. Gifts from PMC also come with the added benefit of preview, meaning you can convert even more sales as the customer can add their personalised message and then hit the preview button to see their unique gift come to life. There are many ways to make personalised gifts work for your business, you can get started with a handful of products on your website or completely integrate multiple categories. Selling personalised gifts is as easy as 1, 2, 3 1) Place your personalised order with PMC. 2) They personalise the gifts and despatch with a quick turnaround. 3) The package arrives directly to the customer (or to store). Couldn’t be easier! Visit PMC’s trade website to discover how personalised gifts can work for your business and where you will find a link to their new virtual showroom. Take a tour and browse the product range for yourself in the comfort of your own environment.
Email: sales@personalisedmemento.co.uk Visit: personalisedmemento.co.uk
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Product Showcase
Amazing Aromatize! Aromatize Ltd
Aromatize are the leading supplier of home fragrance products in the UK. With their vast portfolio, including brands such as Aroma Accessories, Woodbridge and Village Candle, they cover every element that is required in the home fragrance market. No other company offers as many designs or variations of electrical wax melt burners, electrical diffusers, electrical plugins and non-electric accessories at the most competitive prices. Their showrooms are available to visit five days a week and every measure has been taken to offer a safe and enjoyable visit for all customers. If you would like to visit, please ensure you book in advance. The latest catalogues or a sales representative visit are also available upon request.
Call: 01254 300268 Email: sales@aromatize.co.uk Visit: aromatizetrade.co.uk
It takes a Village… Village Candle
The Village Candle collection consists of the everpopular Traditions range along with the Spa and Fantasy collections. These collections, along with hundreds more home fragrance products, can be viewed in the Aromatize showrooms which are available to visit five days a week. Every measure has been taken to offer a safe and enjoyable visit for all customers and, if you would like to visit, please ensure you book in advance. The latest catalogues or a sales representative visit are also available upon request.
Call: 01254 300268 Email: sales@aromatize.co.uk Visit: aromatizetrade.co.uk
Seasonal Straits Straits
Straits are pleased to announce the arrival of many new items including their very popular Endless Summer brand that covers all your home and garden requirements for the upcoming spring/summer seasons. Their new Christmas collection is already receiving a fantastic reaction from new and old customers alike. There are hundreds of new items showcased in this collection to cover all your traditional and contemporary tastes. Showrooms covering the entire Straits’ portfolio are available to visit five days a week and every measure has been taken to offer a safe and enjoyable visit for all customers. If you would like to visit please ensure you book in advance. The latest catalogues or a sales representative visit are also available upon request. Get in touch.
Call: 01254 300268 Email: sales@straitstrading.com Visit: straitstrading.com
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Product Showcase
Home & gifts
Joe Davies
The past year and nu merous lockdowns Thoughtful Words ran have made sentime ge, there are some nt gifts, home decor , new lovely addition the garden, and pets s such as trinket bo even more importa xes nt and trays, coasters to consumers. It se and warming tea lig ems most people wa ht nt holders. to cocoon themselv es and make their Safety, hygiene, we home spaces more llness, and self-care comfortable. are other gifting are Whether people we as that will continue re Zoom-calling to be an important family, walking the trend for 2021. dog, decorating, or Face coverings have gardening, the one become a fashion word that always accessory and the no popped up was ‘home rm to wear now ’, and this trend is and, from the fun to set to continue for the sophisticated, 2021. Consumers wi ll they make the perfe want to give gifts to ct extra little gift or cheer people up, an d self-purchase to fee fill their homes full l safe in the current of special sentiments climate. Hand sanit to make them feel isers have gone fro safe. Green foliage m such being a commodity as faux plants and line to a handy gift rustic planters will and be self-purchase, espe popular home décor cially in female and products to bring the kid s gifting. Joe Davies ha outside indoors. s this covered with their range of snoo Sentiment gifts will zies! face coverings continue to be and ranges of hand sanit important to cheer isers. people up after such Many people have mi a tough year. The rai ssed the freedom nbow has become to travel abroad so such an icon in times Joe Davies predict a of trouble, making return to gifting as us feel happy and off sociated with trave ering a message l, such as travel acce of hope. Combining ssories, travel walle the rainbow with ts, summer beach bags sentiment wording and kaftans. People is a strong message to will look to this pro be able to send to a duct as they dream loved one. about travelling ag Pebble, angels, rainb ain, even if only ows, Scrabble and holidaying in the UK jigsaw sentiments . will be popular next Everyone seems to year. Games are ha be getting new ving a moment as puppies and walking families have time the dog has been in lockdown to play very popular during traditional games, so lockdown. Everyone gifting with jigsaw loves dogs so, with and Scrabble icons this in mind, Joe Da will be strong lines vies to have developed a ne evoke happy memo w Cockapoo range of ries. bronze effect figurin Joe Davies have deve es perfect for anim loped lots of al lovers. sentiment gifts to giv e to that special All the above can be person or as a remind seen at Joe Davies er in the home. ‘At Home’ show wh They have a brand-ne ich runs from 1 March w range of brightly to 12 March. Visit the coloured ceramic gif team for a warm ts called ‘Just Sayin g’, welcome. With free including, mugs, ha nationwide delivery nging hearts, coaste , rs carriage paid orders and much more. of £100 and an easy to buy ‘little and oft Following on from the en’ ordering policy. popular it couldn’t be easier to buy from Joe Davie Email: sales@ s.
joedavies.co.uk Call: 0161 975 6300 Visit: joedavies.co.uk Showroom: Stockp ort, SK5 7GA
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Virtual showroom appointments now available.
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waxlyricaltrade.com Tel: 01229 461111
Product Showcase
Q&A Enesco
Gifts Today talks to marketing director Helen Cottrill about the latest news and launches from the exclusive, innovative and award-winning giftware company Q: Helen, how is 2021 shaping up? A: We have had a great start to 2021, we wanted to ensure that our customers feel safe and comfortable when ordering from us, be that with our Sales Team via Teams (or face to face in due course), via the website, using our catalogues, which are being mailed now and of course with our customer service team at the end of the phone. Q: You’ve launched a Virtual Showroom. How’s that going? A: Our Virtual Showroom launched in December 2020, and has been a huge success. We wanted to be ready to present our new products despite the lack of trade fairs with our new product going live on our website on 30 December. Q: What are the product highlights so far? A: Disney Traditions continue to exceed all expectations and the consumer demand for the collection continues to grow. Jim Shore has also
teamed up with Beatrix Potter to create a stunning new twist on all your favourite characters from these much-loved stories. Sustainability and our environmental responsibilities are important to us, and Kloche and Myros are new collections that are completely plastic-free and have either reusable or recyclable packaging. Not only do we offer free instore display options, but we also have everything available for those on line customers with the launch of our brand new digital asset management system. Q: You announced new sales leadership in late 2020. Can you elaborate? A: Yes, the other big change at Enesco is the change in sales leadership. Phil Atherton joined our team in late 2020 and is proving to be a very popular addition.
Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk Call: 01228 404022 Visit: enesco.co.uk Take time to visit the new Virtual Showroom. 34 Gifts Today
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Product Showcase
Gifts galore Lesser & Pavey
The gift and homeware specialist has a host of new ranges to explore Gifts for enthusiasts
Christmas Winter Wonderland
A fine new range featuring photographic imagery of classic cars, motorbikes, aeroplanes and train, on fine china mugs, matching trays, coasters and tablemats. Some items come in gift sets.
Glassware with a winter wonderland appeal, this new range is available in Silver and Gold finishes. This range includes 3D tea light holders and wax melt/oil warmers. It also includes mirrored coasters, placemats, and candle plates, all featuring glitter. Wine glasses, gin glasses and stemless wine glasses complement the range for Christmas celebrations.
Christmas Softies A new range of Christmas plush for 2021, from traditional reindeers and snowmen to Father Christmas. Beautifully detailed, the range also has light-up angels, gnomes, reindeer and snowmen. Festive Aroma Lamps A new range for Christmas comes in the form of white ceramic Aroma Lamps with an etched design that creates a 3D effect when lit. Designs include Angel Wings, Tree of Life, Woodland, Butterflies, Bees on Honeycomb, Buddha, Elephant and Skull. There are also tea light holders and wax melt and oil warmers. The range is set to launch shortly complementary humidifiers.
Splash Art Introducing a new range of bulldog, Chihuahua, skull, cats, gorilla and elephant to the Splash Art range, with plenty more to come. The studies range from 30-50cm in size with bold design and splashes of bright colours covering each one. They definitely make an eyecatching decorative item that work well in any room of the home or office.
Call: 07831 632537 Email: sales@leonardo.co.uk Visit: leonardo.co.uk
Fragrances to bring pleasure Add an aroma to any room with the Desire range, that continues grow in colours and fragrances as well as forms from candles to diffusers, aroma lamps and oil burners. Check out these new decorative diffusers with quality bamboo canes and an artificial floral decoration, the perfect gift for the home or on Mother’s Day.
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Product Showcase
Spring product launcher
Puckator
It’s safe to say we are all very much ready to put 2020 behind us and look ahead to new horizons for 2021. With that in mind, Puc kator have had a chat with their favourite who lesalers to see what thrilling new products they are showcasing for you in the new year. Puckator are eager to share these exciting new products. One product we saw rise in pop ularity over the last few months was underst andably hand sanitisers. Following the trend, Puckator expanded their existing range and are cont inuing to do so for 2021. They expect this product to be a staple for all consumers whilst out and abo ut, for the foreseeable future. Puckator currently sell two styles: • Compact spray sanitiser that slips into even the tiniest of bags. • Gel formula that comes in a cute silicone holder with a handy strap for attachin g to your bag. Both sanitisers kill 99.9% of harm ful bacteria and are cruelty free. All that’s left to do is pick your favourite designs. The next product Puckator are excited to launch is a digital water bottle. This product is an innovation in reusable bottle design with a touchactivated LED Thermometer. Sim ply tap the top of the lid to reveal the temperature of the contents.
This bottle also features a deta chable tea strainer, so you can brew your favourit e hot drinks on the move. Made from quality materia ls the double walled, stainless steel keeps liqu ids hot for up to twelve hours and cold for a coo l twenty-four. It is corrosion resistant and hard wearing, making it reusable and a great alternative to single use plastic bottles. With a handy strap for carrying, Puckator really have thought of everyth ing. Last but certainly not least, ther e’s Puckator’s Gift of the Year, Hot Novelty Cate gory winning Relaxeazzz. Building on the ove rwhelming popularity of their eight original designs, Puckator have added lots of cute new cush ions to choose from. Without forgetting their favourite licence partners, they have added Sim on’s Cat and The Original Stormtrooper and Volk swagen to name a few. Keep your eyes peeled to see all the new designs Puckator will be launchin g over the coming months.
Call: 0800 0116969 Email: customerservices@puckato r.co.uk Visit: puckator.co.uk
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Product Showcase
History in the making Widdop & Co
Widdop & Co has almost 140 years of history of innovation and excellence in home and giftware. They offer an extensive range of over 9000 products across 26 industry-leading brands to cater to a diverse variety of retail sectors - from small independent gift shops to international department stores. This year, they are thrilled to be introducing new brands, ranges and products. Travel through an exciting range of festive themes with 12 Dreams of Christmas. From simple to intricate, these ranges are certain to bring a festive ambience into any home or store. Create a contemporary, twinkling New York night scene with Christmas in New York, explore Santa’s magical Toy Shop, be transported to an exotic world with Safari Nights, and much more. From sparkling, contemporary designs in Refined Elegance to traditional, cosy accessories in The Holiday Cottage, their diverse range ensures there is something to suit everyone’s taste. Made up of scenes from each of the twelve dreams, their showrooms demonstrate how these ranges of Christmas gifts and accessories can transform any space. These new items can also be found in their catalogue. Mad Man by Harvey Makin is another range they have introduced in 2021 and is all about gifting those really cool guys out there. Whether you’re shopping for your brother, son, friend or colleague, from awesome tech gifts to gadgets, there’s a gift to be enjoyed by all – especially those dudes on the move! Their new Sophia range, Frida, combines floral and animal print designs with gold shimmering
features to create beautiful gifts. From elegant glassware to delicious home scents, this gift range is perfect for brightening that special someone’s day – or even your own! That’s Not My… is based on the best-selling, touch-and-feel children’s books and features some of their much-loved characters; lions, trains, unicorns and more are all brought to life in adorable style across a range of colourful and fun gifts and bedroom accessories. Although their roadshow has been postponed until April, with their fully audited, COVID-safe facilities, customers are now able to join the team in all five of their showrooms as part of their Ready, Steady, Dream campaign. For the event channel of their Ready, Steady, Dream campaign, they recently conducted four live webinars covering topics from Christmas 2021 to home accessories in 2021. These can be caught up with on their YouTube channel. With their new VR showrooms, customers can now experience the same excitement by viewing their extensive range of products from the comfort of their own home. With a PC, tablet or smartphone – or even a VR headset – you can enjoy a tour around all five of their showrooms and find out more about each range.
Call: 0161 688 1226 Email: sales@widdop.co.uk Visit: widdop.co.uk
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Simon Pykett Country Manager spy@bloomingville.com Mobile: 0044 (0) 7967 209156 www.bloomingville.com
Trade talk
Lockdown 3, Brexit and looking to the future – it’s all up for discussion this month
Kristina Ruffell
Marketing manager, Personalised Memento Company Feelings about the year ahead? Positively cautious. We feel the gift industry as a whole will come in a good position after non-essential shops can reopen, but maybe not quite to the same level of 2020. The past 12 months have been exceptional for personalisation and we anticipate 2021 to be strong, and it’ll be encouraging to see the focus of retail remaining online. Stock continues to be an issue with shipping and port delays that are likely to continue into well into 2021.
How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? We’re using every channel that remains open - conference calls, sharing new products digitally, phone and email. Our virtual showroom has provided a great outlet for our retailers.
Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? Our new digital formats will likely remain, as it serves our retailers to see our showroom virtually. Also, some of our personalisation methods have become streamlined and improved meaning we are working even more efficiently.
Helen Cottrill
Marketing director, Enesco Impact Lockdown 3 is having on your business?
We’re having a really good start to the year, our bookings are strong, with many retailers planning for the end of lockdown. Our online business continues to dominate. I think the hardest thing from a company management perspective is maintaining the team feeling we have at Enesco. We have used Teams to keep in touch during the pandemic and that has worked so well.
How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? Early on we identified the need to service customers in a different way. Our sales team use Pixsell, an iPad based selling system that’s also compatible with Teams, so we can present as if we were physically meeting. Our website which is available 24/7 has seen a much higher level of traffic since the pandemic began.
Any positives you’ll implementing into your future business model? Where possible we are going to continue to have a homebased workforce, allowing us to be much more flexible with working hours. Our sales team will be offering customers more alternative ways to do business.
Jonny Greves
Director of Lesser & Pavey Ltd Feelings about the year ahead? We can see light at the end of the tunnel and we’re well prepared for it. We’ve had to adapt our buying but it hasn’t slowed us down. We’ve launched thousands of new products, including all our Christmas ranges, and we still have hundreds more on the way.
Impact Lockdown 3 is having on your business? We learnt and adapted in the first two lockdowns, so the impact’s been less this time round. The major impact of is no physical Spring Fair. Strictly following Government guidelines, we’ve kept our showroom open for socially distanced appointments so we have still seen lots of customers.
How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? We’ve made good use of the likes of Zoom and Teams video calls, meetings in the showroom, and directly from home with iPads. We invested more in product photography for customers to use and we’ll continue to do this.
Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? Our Virtual Showroom, that’s allowed our sales team and customers to visit our showroom together.
‘We’ve increased our online communications. More resources are available digitally and we’re dramatically expanding our library of product videos that feature our best-selling brands’ Lawrence Savage Marketing Manager, ExaClair Ltd
Lawrence Savage
Marketing Manager, ExaClair Limited Impact is Lockdown 3 having on your business? Even though there has been an overall decline in the global stationery market during 2020, recent projections estimate it’ll recover to reach somewhere between US$186.9 - $217.9bn by 2027. Premium stationery continues to be an area of growth.
How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? We’ve increased our online communications. More resources are available digitally and we’re dramatically expanding our library of product videos that feature our best-selling brands.
Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? We’ve definitely become more dynamic with order processing and have developed more flexible distribution logistics to accommodate the increasingly varied customer delivery requirements.
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Sofia Lindell
Exhibition organiser, Puckator Feelings about the year ahead? Optimistic. We’re in the process of opening a warehouse in the south west of Poland. With its good geographic position, it will allow us to do faster deliveries throughout Europe and eliminate the problems that post-Brexit has brought.
Impact Lockdown 3 having on your business? A big part of our business is in Europe and although UK has been in lockdown, many of the other countries have not, which has meant we’ve able to keep selling there.
How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? We have prepared a virtual showroom, which works a bit like Google maps street view. You can walk around in the showroom browsing the products and whenever you see something that you like you can easily click on that range and will be taken straight to our website where you will find all the information you need.
‘We’re in the process of opening a warehouse in the south west of Poland. With its good geographic position, it will allow us to do faster deliveries throughout Europe and eliminate the problems that post-Brexit has brought’ Sofia Lindell Exhibition organiser, Puckator
Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? We’ve increased our social media presence and created the virtual showroom, to offer a possibility to see our products without having to leave your home.
James Robertson
Founder, Isle of Skye Candle Company Feelings about the year ahead?
Paul Roberts
Commercial director, Rachel Ellen Designs Ltd Impact is Lockdown 3 having on your business? Rachel Ellen had a good January but the ongoing restrictions mean our core business of supplying bricks and mortar retailers is badly affected. Luckily we have a great diversity in supplying both greeting cards and gifts, but also a healthy mix of supplying traditional retail, online and export. Rachel has handwritten a thank you to every consumer ordering through our website and that’s gone down really well.
Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? The challenges we’ve faced have certainly made us closer as both colleagues and friends, and strengthened our determination and focus to see this through and find our own new normal.
Optimistic and we anticipate that the demand for high quality home fragrance and gift solutions like our own will be robust and consistent in 2021.
Impact Lockdown 3 having on your business? The biggest impact is seen through our own retail stores and our extensive list of retail partners who are unable to open. The second half of 2020 was a successful time for the business, and we had planned to solidify that trend by continuing to put even more building blocks in place to support our future growth ambitions to in a vitally important part of our business. The increase in online activity also comes with its own unique set of challenges.
How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? Supporting our retail partners by growing our brand awareness is always a key focus for us. We have been creative with our social media presence to drive that awareness. Internally, we’ve been focussed on our supply chain to ensure we can support our partners in the best way possible.
Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? On the back of substantial growth over many years, the last 12 months have allowed us to invest in our business by implementing new CRM models, streamlining our production techniques, reviewing our existing ranges, planning our exciting introductions, and analysing exactly how we want to push our brand in the retail environment. Gifts Today 43
Trade Talk Feb Gifts (RK edit).indd 2
19/02/2021 16:48
Product Showcase
A grand collection
Casa Grande cover the best of both worlds by supplying beautiful European imports and impulse items manufactured in their own UK facility. Richard Blundell tells us more about his business and their collection Q: Richard, what’s the story of Casa Grande? A: Casa Grande are the importers
of three major European companies, Nostalgic Art from Germany, Wikholmform from Sweden and Mars & More from The Netherlands. Casa Grande also manufacture impulse gift items in Cornwall.
Q: How long have you been in business? A: Since 2005 and we have a team of agents that visit our customers throughout the UK and Ireland. We
usually exhibit at major UK fairs and our partners have large stands at the major European shows including Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Stockholm and Oslo. Our warehouse is based in Cornwall just across the Tamar river and all our staff have been working for the company for a long period of time. Casa Grande have been working with Nostalgic Art for many years. Nostalgic Art was established by Teja Engel in Berlin 25 years ago, we are celebrating the Nostalgic Art Retroversary this year. The company has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers and suppliers of retro products with a brand that is known globally. Most items are
made in Germany and the tin signs have the unique quality of being embossed. Nostalgic Art also supply a large range of merchandising aids for retailers including floor spinners, counter top CDUs and wall units.
Q: What gifts do you supply to the UK market? A: We have a huge range of over
4000 items from our suppliers including licensed tin signs, mugs, clocks, plant pots, vases, home interior products, garden items, cushions and furniture. Most of the items we sell are exclusively designed by talented artists and acquired by global purchasing teams. The impulse gifts that we manufacture in the UK include keyrings, fridge magnets, coasters and many others, which are all personalised.
Q: What sets Casa Grande apart? A: Casa Grande is different from
other suppliers in that we offer a large variety of products direct from the best European suppliers - but the goods are invoiced by Casa Grande in pounds, meaning retailers can get high quality goods at competitive prices but all invoiced in by a UK company. In these post-Brexit times this is a huge advantage for retailers who want to be able to get something different without the need to import themselves.
Q: Who are your customers? A: Gift shops, garden centres, home
interior stores and florists including the Blue Diamond group, Westminster Abbey and the Royal Botanic Gardens. Bestselling items include licensed tin signs, thermometers, plant pots, garden articles, home interior products and personalised products.
Q: How do retailers order from you? A: B2B ordering is available for most
of the ranges we offer. We have some superb catalogues illustrating all of the products we have, which are available for existing and potential customers, so please get in touch. The web links to our partner companies are: nostalgic-art.de wikholmform.se marsmore.com Nostalgic Art is also on YouTube at https://weloveretro.de
Get in touch! Call: 01752 816181 Email: info@casagrande.co.uk Visit: casagrande.co.uk
44 Gifts Today
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Product Showcase
Q&A: Treasure Tree Ltd We catch up with Jane and Magdi Labib, owners of the luxury Christmas decorations company. This British-Egyptian family-run company is especially known for its exquisite hand-blown, handpainted baubles
Q: What’s the story behind Treasure Tree Ltd? A: We started quite by accident when we lived in Kuwait, and brought some Egyptian handicrafts to sell at the school Christmas bazaar. We added some sparkle to the stall with a stand of Christmas baubles, and soon we were taking orders for them. In fact, I soon became known as ‘the bauble lady’. Over four years, we sold our glass Christmas decorations at many Christmas events in Kuwait. We learned first-hand the different tastes of British, European and American customers. We returned to the UK in 2011, and launched Treasure Tree Ltd. We invested in our own production site in Egypt. It is important we have full control of the production process, all the way through from design to finished stock arriving in the UK. We feel it’s vital our fantastic team of craftsmen understand and benefit from our company goals, and principles. Q: What makes your decorations unique and different? A: It’s the quality. We use a heattempered glass so our baubles are extra strong, yet still light enough to hang nicely on a real Christmas tree. People love the fact our decorations have been handmade and they can see for themselves all the expert skill that has
gone in to applying our patterns and hand-painting them. Q: What sells particularly well? A: Such a variety. One major segment is clear glass baubles with gold or silver accents. Other customers opt for colour themes or colourful, quirky designs like our gorgeous pineapples. Our small 4cm and medium 8cm diameter balls are hugely popular. Other customers want the bug statement baubles for their dining room and hallways. RRPs range from £7.75-£45.00. Q: Who is your typical customer? A: On the whole it’s women, who buy both for themselves and as special gifts. They’ve even been bought as wedding presents. Q: Ideal retail environment for Treasure Tree Ltd products?
A: All our existing customers are fabulous, independent retailers: gorgeous home interior/gift shops. We also supply premium garden centres and florists. Many retailers told us they had given up on Christmas decorations because there was nothing to match the quality of the rest of their store. Then they tried Treasure Tree. Many have been with us for seven or eight years. We understand our customers’ need for exclusivity in their town so we really do stick very tightly to only supplying ‘the best shop in the town’.
Email: info@treasuretreeltd.com Call: Jane Labib on 01837-657686
46 Gifts Today
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19/02/2021 16:56
Product Showcase
In full bloom
The international home interior company, Bloomingville, recently celebrated 20 years in business, with record-breaking sales in the UK during the past year despite Covid-19 and Brexit. With stock levels high and ready to deliver, we catch up with Lars Krog, CEO of Bloomingville A/S, to learn more about the company’s growth, customer service and new ranges for the year ahead Q: What makes an ideal Bloomingville customer – both retail and consumer? A: Our consumers love interior design. They love the small changes that a few interior pieces can make in a room. Our customers are those everyday designers who love happy changes that interior items bring into every room of our homes. Q: What can a new retailer expect from Bloomingville in terms of support? A: Besides our dedicated UK team, who is always available for support, we have a strong team of sales support based in Denmark. We have a strong set-up to secure our customers’ access to all product information and data that they need to stay continuously updated. Q: How has the company dealt with Brexit - and how are you helping retailers navigate the new rules? styling possibilities through versatile collections that can be mixed and matched, I believe that our desire to help consumers decorate a house of their dreams is compelling to retailers that also want to offer the very best to their customers. Q: You signed many new retail accounts in the UK last year alone, with many already placing repeat orders. Aside from the product itself, how have you achieved this?
Q: Lars, what is it about Bloomingville’s designs that strike such a chord with UK retailers? A: There is no doubt that having more than 20 years of experience from working within the field of home interior, topped with our unique sense of style are key selling points. We also see a shift towards leading a slower lifestyle and more minimalistic, which fit with our design philosophy that is deeply rooted in Nordic aesthetics and the Danish design tradition. Besides offering beautiful products and multiple
A: We have a devoted team in the UK consisting of Simon Pykett, Country Manager, and his team of six agents. This gives us a local presence, where we are close to our customers on a daily basis. The variety of products within our four brands gives us the opportunity to reach many different types of retailers within the branches of lifestyle, interior, furniture, outdoor, kids and so on. We secure a high effort in promoting our brand, especially on social media, where we have a very large follower base. This drives many consumers towards Bloomingville’s brands and creates a demand for our every brand.
A: We have spent 2020 preparing ourselves and our existing customers for Brexit. We have our system set up, so we help with everything we can from our side. In this way it is still easy to trade with Bloomingville for our UK customers. When the receiver has set up their required EORI account in the UK, shipments will flow smoothly. Q: What are the key looks and key ranges you have available right now for Bloomingville customers? A: Bloomingville is a multi-brand house, releasing four main collections, within each of our four brands Bloomingville, Bloomingville MINI, Creative Collection and ILLUME x Bloomingville. Besides this, we introduce one gorgeous Christmas collection annually.
Get in touch! Country manager Simon Pykett employs a full sales team covering all areas
Call: 0044 (0) 7967 209156 Email: spy@bloomingville.com Visit: bloomingville.com
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Refresh your home with Cucumber & Black Pepper Discover an uplifting fusion of crunchy cucumber and warming black pepper, perfect for creating a clean, inviting space. This fresh and cleansing scent is great for spring and warm summer days ahead. 01841 540 850 | info@st-eval.com | www.st-eval.com
Nestled on a farm in North Cornwall, St. Eval use traditional methods and sustainable production to craft high quality candles by hand. Each candle is carefully poured with a unique fragrance and wax blend for a premium quality.
Product Showcase
Paper puzzles
Art & Fable Puzzle Company
Soap story Heyland & Whittle
Introducing the Heyland & Whittle Soap Table, helping your customers make more eco-friendly lifestyle choices. It’s an affordable solution that offers shoppers an easy way to make more sustainable lifestyle choices. Retailers will be loaned a 4ft x 2ft scaffold board display table, supplied and delivered for free, when they purchase a combination of seven fragrant, 100% natural, handmade Palm Free soaps and bestseller accessories for £665 (excl VAT). These cold processed soaps are made with pure ingredients, including essential oils, herbs, spices and natural colourings and are paraben and sulphate free and not tested on animals. The fragrances are Tea Tree & Nettle, Vintage Rose, Citrus & Turmeric, Hemp & Walnut, Patchouli & Goat’s Milk, English Lavender and Gardener’s. The opening order includes two bricks 1.5g, six boxed Heart soaps 40g, six boxed bars 120g, eight mini favours 45g across all seven fragrances, and 24 soap savers, 20 soap bundles and 12 exfoliating sisal soap bags. A further 28 complimentary Heart soaps will be included with each order. The table must be used for the sole purpose of displaying and merchandising the Heyland & Whittle brand only. Worth £260, the table remains the property of Heyland & Whittle Ltd and will be returned to Heyland & Whittle when the promotion ends.
Email: sales@heylandandwhittle.co.uk Visit: heylandandwhittle.co.uk
Premium quality jigsaws featuring beautiful illustrations and stories of forgotten fables. Choose from puzzles that are beautiful, deeply meaningful, and just plain fun, all with a distinctive velvet-touch surface. All this while simultaneously contributing to charity. There are three key features that set an Art & Fable puzzle apart: • High quality print A beautiful print comes with every puzzle, both for reference and worthy of framing once the puzzle is complete. • Box top stand Uniquely designed to eliminate topsy turvy accidents so you can puzzle in peace. •
Resealable bag
Call: 0773 358707 Email: sales@artandfablepuzzlecompany.co.uk
The personal touch Sugar Shed Ltd
The Sugar Shed is a small but growing company, specialising in personalised products. Based in the Lake District, the company is run by Tracy and Lisa. The key to their success is to work together with retailers and provide innovative products that are environmentally aware, personalised and unique to the retailer’s area. ‘Building relationships with retailers is so important to us. As we are small, we can adapt and react to our retailer’s needs,’ says Tracy. Best sellers include: • Coaster sets: Your area printed onto four wooden coasters that join up to make a larger area. Tied together with twine and a wooden button personalised to your shop. Stain and heat resistant. • Wooden Hearts: Plain, magnet or string attachment. Your area printed onto a FSC wooden heart. • Slate Coasters: A hand drawn mountain outline from your area, printed in a simple outline onto slate.
Call: 07818 727 813 Email: lisa@thesugarshed.co.uk Visit: thesugarshed.co.uk 50 Gifts Today
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Product Showcase
New shades of Skye The Isle of Skye Candle Company
The Isle of Skye Candle Company has launched a new elegant version of one of its most popular products, the Signature Range Large Tumbler Candle. The family-run business from the Highlands has made its name for its beautiful fragrances, natural soya wax, stylish design and green ethos. The company has decided to expand its range and add a standout looking, stylish black tumbler with engraved wooden lid. The decision for the makeover came with the intention of creating additional design options, as well as to reduce the packaging and overall waste. The core of the candles has remained the same. The candles are still completely plant-based, using only sustainable soya wax and premium quality fragrances creating the same great nineteen scents that the old version of the collection offered. From aromatherapy favourites such as lemongrass and lavender, to Skye Candles’ unique blends, the range is comprehensive, with a stunning fragrance for everyone. Additionally, thanks to the use of soya wax which burns slower and at a lower temperature, Skye Candles last longer than their more common paraffin candle counterparts; the large tumblers burn for a minimum of 45 hours. The company also takes pride in using natural essential oils wherever possible, bringing many aromatherapeutic and health beneficial properties to the customer. ‘Because I’ve always loved being immersed in nature, it was inevitable my products would champion the best of it and showcase how good natural products can be even without unnecessary additives. I’m satisfied that we’ve achieved that with both of our collections’, says James Robertson, founder of the company. In addition to the Signature range, the company also offers a range of truly unique Scottish scents inspired by the ever-changing nature of the Highlands and Islands.
Happy 20th birthday! Emma Ball Ltd
Celebrating 20 years of designing cards, Emma has been busy creating some fabulous new ranges. Penguins in Pullovers Proof that penguins aren’t just for Christmas and that they love a hand knit! Following on from Woolly Puffins, Sheep in Sweaters and Budgies in Beanies, it features lovely new fabrics, trays and tinware. A few of the penguins also feature in her new 36 strong card range, Feathery Feelgoods. Beautiful Bees by Eric Heyman Eric has been working with Emma for several years now and his wildlife cards are a real hit - 24 designs all bursting with character. Emma has developed one of the cards into a wider range - the Bees. With the fabrics, melamine, stationery and a wee tin, people are really buzzing about this range! Sunflowers by Caroline Cleave Who doesn’t smile when they see a sunflower’s cheery face? A full range of fabrics, melamine, tinware and stationery all available to order now.
Call: 0115 9858081 Email: sales@emmaball.co.uk Visit: emmaball.co.uk
Email: enquiries@skyecandles.co.uk
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Product Showcase
Love fragrance, live fragrance Ashleigh & Burwood
Call: 01932 267060 Email: info@ashleigh-burwood.co.uk Visit: ashleigh-burwood-trade.co.uk Blog: blog.ashleigh-burwood.co.uk Life in Bloom The Life In Bloom collection launches with four scents for spring/summer 2021 - delicate Pink Peony & Musk, revitalising White Tea & Basil, sunny Sweet Mimosa & Bergamot and fresh Cotton Flower & Amber. Complementing the scents is a palette of vibrant shades, as well as stylish grey to suit more neutral interiors. Each fragrance is available as Reed Diffusers and Refills, Scented Candles and Lamp Fragrances with matching mosaic Fragrance Lamps. There’s an introductory discount offer available on the new Life In Bloom collection, available until the end February 2021. Life In Bloom’s Reed Diffusers combine white fibre reeds for excellent fragrance delivery with beautiful stems of colourful real gypsophila flowers for a decorative floral touch. Lasting for up to 12 weeks, the diffusers’ beautifully designed glass vessels are inspired by the sleek shapes of perfume bottles and 200ml fragrance refills are available in each scent. The collection’s Scented Candles are made from a highly fragranced, soy wax blend for a powerful scent release and boast a 38-hour burn time. Their square glass vessels are boldly coloured in the collection’s signature tones. In uplifting colours chosen for their vibrant energy, the Fragrance Lamps sparkle with a decoration of handcrafted mosaic glass. The Lamps can be mixed and matched with Life in Bloom’s uplifting floral 500ml Lamp Fragrances for a powerful, purifying scent experience.
New Spring Scents Ashleigh & Burwood welcome in the spring season with three new fragrances in their Lamp Fragrance collection Honeysuckle Blooms, White Peach & Lily and White Cedar & Bergamot. They can now all be found as Reed Diffusers. The new Lamp Fragrances can be used with Ashleigh & Burwood’s Fragrance Lamps, that are proven to reduce air pollutants such as dust mites, mould spores and bacteria, to reduce unwanted odours like pet and food spoilage smells, and to reduce airborne and surface coronavirus. Bright scents of summer This season sees the introduction of three new fragrances to The Scented Home collection - Sicilian Lemon, Honeysuckle Blooms and White Peach & Lily. There’s also a new range of soy wax Scented Candles with a 42-hour burn time. The collection’s eight core fragrances are also growing to a new Top Ten fragrance selection, with aromatic White Cedar & Bergamot and fresh, beachy Sea Spray fragrances now included. The Top Ten scents are available in the Scented Home’s wide range of product formats, including Reed Diffusers, Scented Candles, Scented Sachets and Interior & Linen Sprays.
Class glass D& J Glassware
D & J Glassware were excited to be part of the virtual event that was Spring Fair @Home. ‘It gave us the opportunity to showcase our beautiful glassware in our short video’, said David and Jocelyne. The company are opening a new showroom in late spring, from which they plan initially to offer individual virtual tours by appointment. New for early spring 2021, and in response to customer demand, is a magical unicorn called Hope, and a trio of cheeky and eye catching frogs Spot, Froggy and Hoppy. Donkeys Dillon and Darcey are two joining the company’s burgeoning menagerie. Each piece is handmade and individually boxed in recyclable packaging. Further new designs are planned throughout 2021.
Call: 01953 450280 Email: dandj.glassware@btinternet.com Visit: dandjglassware.co.uk
54 Gifts Today
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Product Showcase
Home from home PTMD
Enjoy the wonders of the PTMD showroom in the Netherlands from your own home by taking a private video tour with an in-house style advisor. You’ll be guided around the 6000sq/ft interior Style Centre where you’ll discover thousands of limited-edition pieces, including the spring/ summer 21 edit that’s available for immediate delivery. There’s also an alternative pre-order autumn/winter 21 seasonal collection, plus a surprising assortment of vintage discoveries. The company have simplified their Brexit trading arrangements to make the process as easy as possible. PTMD’s SS21 collection is all about turning homes into tranquil sanctuaries, with thousands of new exclusive designs to choose from. Highlights include floral statement lights, fauna statues, striking foiled wall art, metal palm leaf floor lamps and plush velvet cushions. There are plenty of products to help bring the outside in, and connect you to the natural world. There’s an eclectic pot collection that mixes raw materials with hand-painted animal print designs and natural textures. Perfect for showing off their best-selling faux botanical collection. This collection is available for delivery in 10-14 working days or can be reserved and sent over at your convenience. They advise clients to reserve stock, as all collections are limited edition. It’s always best to reserve designs in order to avoid disappointment. Their 2021 Dutch-designed Christmas collection has a 10-15% price incentive! This year, they present an alternative take upon festive aesthetics with thousands of seasonal designs including unconventional decorations, quirky seasonal interiors, and a winter edition of their best-selling faux botanical collection. All designs in this collection are limited edition so once a collection has reached its production limit, it will sell out, to ensure clients have an exclusive collection. Due to high volumes of
interest, they encourage all interested customers to reserve their Christmas stock now before lines sell out. Their vintage curators have a keen eye for the uniquely wonderful. Step inside their unique vintage warehouse and discover everything from characterful upcycled wooden furniture, handpainted in soothing pastel and energetic jewel hues, ornately detailed former palace ceilings and statement teak root system tables. You never know what you might find. New pieces appear in the showroom bi-monthly, and the team strive to surprise their clients with curious finds to discover. If you’d like to book a live-video appointment with the PTMD style team, or would like to learn more about PTMD, please contact The Orangery Collection, who will be happy to help.
Email: sales@theorangery.org Call: 07872 606299
56 Gifts Today
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19/02/2021 17:15
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Product Showcase
Lamps that make a statement Mandarin Arts During the pandemic, Mandarin Arts have done their very best to source new products, especially to satisfy the burgeoning demand for statement lamps. Although they offer lamps to suit many different colour schemes, there’s always a captive audience for blue and white lamps, probably because of China’s wellearned reputation for exceptional quality blue and white ceramics dating back to the fourteenth century. In the spring, the lamp with a textured white fish motif on a cobalt blue background (74cm high) will arrive by slow boat from China. On the same boat there will also be the curvaceous lamp depicting birds and flowers with an attractive pleated, textured shade, looking and feeling like raw silk (66cm high), not to mention the lamp in the shape of a traditional ginger jar decorated with a traditional scene of a Chinese landscape with a palace, a lake with bridges and boats and an old man walking slowly across the bridge (63cm high).
Call: 01873 812255 Email: info@mandarinarts.co.uk Visit: mandarinarts.co.uk
Bags, bottles & more Museums & Galleries
Last year Museums & Galleries launched their first ever textile-based gift product: the organic pencil cases particularly for their BBC Earth licence. Now 2021 sees a further expansion with beautiful zipper pouch bags and premium organic cotton tote bags. The totes and pouches coordinate in design, and feature strong imagery from the V&A, Tate Gallery, British Museum, and Natural History Museum. Both pouches and bags are made from 100% certified 12oz organic cotton. The facial coverings range had been extended - there are now 22 different designs to choose from, all featuring classic fine art from the best museums or modern work by designers Cressida Bell, Dee Hardwicke and Helen Ahpornsiri. Finally, M&G are introducing insulated drinks bottles as a product in their gifts range, building out from the successful bamboo travel mugs. The bottles hold 500ml of hot or cold liquid in a double wall insulated stainless steel bottle. The lead range debuts with designs from M&G’s top licences the V&A, Natural History Museum, British Museum, and the Tate Gallery.
Call: 01373 462175 Email: sales@mgml.co.uk Visit: museumsgalleries.co.uk
All present & correct Present Time Karlsson All Karlsson clocks feature flowing, aesthetic shapes and are given a trendy look. The brand stands for high quality combined with beautiful graphic elements. Leitmotiv A range of lighting and small furniture with items that are strong, surprising and even a little daring. Pt. Pt. encompasses the carefree spirit of accessible home accessories for every style and every home.
Present Time introduce their collection in two themes. 1) Arctic Air. This theme is based on nature and the colours from the early dawn, such as warm grey to the colours dark purple and night blue. Uses materials like bamboo, black metal, stone and nickel metal to give a cool, stylish look.
Launches The Dutch label designs fashion-led ranges that create a warm, cozy feeling. With over 25 years’ experience they create two themes every season and bring the trends in three brands. Present Time presents new collections twice a year: the spring/summer collection comes out in January and the autumn/winter collection is launched in August. Present time has three brands – Karlsson, Leitmotiv and Pt.
2) Elegant Earth. It’s all about natural colours and materials. There are new plant pots, vases, candleholders and many more items in the company’s wellknown theme Elegant Earth.
Call: 07975 597855 Email: Luke Felton lf@ presenttime.com Visit: presenttime.com 36 Gifts Today
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Product Showcase
New for spring
Q&A with Manor House Home Fragrance
We catch up with Darren Ellis to discover how business is going for this British home fragrance and accessories company, and what’s new for customers to discover Q: Darren, how has 2021 been so far? A: We are welcoming February with an amazing start to the year. Despite no Spring Fair we are gaining many new customers including garden centres, gift shops and farm shops on board to stock the Manor House range. This comes after a brilliant Christmas season, which rivalled previous Christmases in terms of orders received with many new stockists. Q: What makes Manor House Home Fragrance different? A: We pride ourselves on producing all our products by hand in Suffolk and they comprise: Pot Pourri and Scented Pine Cones, Scented Botanical Candles, Room Diffusers and Sprays, Drawer Liners and Sachets along with Advent Candles, Scented Fabric Bags and Cushions. We use the finest botanicals from around the world, recyclable packaging, fabrics, hand woven silks from Suffolk silk mills and ribbons mainly from British companies. Q: New launches to discover? A: We launched our extended offering of 28 home fragrance collections last year and this will continue into 2021 with some new additions through out the year. It is our widest collection ever - all fragrance collections include our signature Pot Pourri, Scented Botanical Candles, Gift Boxed Candles, Diffusers and Room Sprays along with Drawer Sachets and Liners and so on. We will shortly be relaunching a complete new collection of Luxury Hand Wash and Moisturising Lotions to complement each of our 28 fragrance collections.
Call: 01359 250720 Visit: manorhousehomefragrance.co.uk
Global Luxury Brands
Herend Still the largest employer of hand-painters anywhere, Herend has a reputation above all others for the skill and artistry of their work. The iconic ‘fish scale’ pattern is applied using a fine quill pen - watching it is totally mind blowing! Such skill and patience. This year GLB are particularly taken with the new Alpaca and the magnificent prestige Panda. De Rosa The skilled carvers and painters at De Rosa have once again been busy working on new pieces to delight us for the spring. The unique process involving carving the clay before it is fired gives a totally unique look. Once fired, the pieces are hand painted with a myriad of fine ceramic colours and glazes as well as gold and platinum. This year GLB are delighted to introduce the Mandarin Ducks and, a special request from the UK market, the Kingfisher. Goebel GLB’s friends at Goebel introduce a wonderful collection of new products each year across their many ranges. Particularly popular of late has been the colourful and exuberant Romeo Britto range of figurines. Using colour as only he can, the range provides a fabulous visual focus for any display. The range goes from the small and affordable up to large and extravagant. As well as Britto and the highly successful Artis Orbis range of artbased giftware Goebel have had a long relationship with Internationally renowned designer Rosina Watchmeister. Her range of colourful cats has enchanted collectors across generations.
Call: 01538 80 77 80 Email: srw@glb.uk.com Visit: globalluxurybrands.co.uk
Best of bone china JH Designpoint
It’s a great time to stock up on giftware from JH Designpoint. There are baubles, vases, mugs and lots more. The company specialises in designs for heritage, museums and high-end retail. Flowers, animals, culture and history all do well. Baubles can be supplied in high quality transparent boxes made from recyclable material and fully recyclable. Any colour ribbon supplied.
Call: 0141 339 4927 Email: enquiries@jhdesignpoint.net Visit: jhdesignpoint.net 60 Gifts Today
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SS21 collection now here with over 250 new lines. View our catalogue and virtual showroom on our website www.presenttime.com Present Time brings the cutest home decor and accessories to your interior. The Dutch label designs trendy items keeping in mind the warm, cozy and uplifting feeling that you want to experience at home.
If you are interested in stocking Present Time, please contact us Luke Felton Country Manager UK & Ireland lf@presenttime.com | 07975597855
■ £500 minimum order ■ No customs fee or tariffs to pay – nice and easy! ■ £1,000 carriage paid
www.presenttime.com
Product Showcase
Neo Deco ExaClair
ExaClair, the UK supplier of Clairefontaine, continue to bring back 1920s designs into the modern day with an extension to their chic Neo Deco collection. The new additions to this elegant selection of notebooks remain faithful to the iconic art deco style, which harmoniously marries attractive colour combinations with geometric and vegetal patterns. The notebooks incorporate a striking gold print within the cover designs and also feature the classic sewn spine and PEFC certified, super-smooth 90gsm Clairefontaine brushed vellum ivory paper that is loved by pen fans. Lawrence Savage, marketing manager at ExaClair, says the range was designed with both the past and future in mind: ‘The central theme of
this best-selling collection is the art deco style that has come to symbolise the roaring twenties, which sparked a surge in bold, bright colours, sleek aesthetics and striking patterns. The new notebooks being launched reflect this creativity, whilst continuing to celebrate innovations in modern designs.’ The notebooks are available in various sizes: 7.5 x 12cm, 9 x 14cm, 11 x 17cm, and 14.8 x 21cm (A5). There is also an attractive plexiglass swivel counter top display available to profile the range in-store.
Call: 01553 696600 Email: sales@exaclair.co.uk Visit: exaclairlimited.com
Grains of truth
The Wheat Bag Company
The Wheat Bag Company are an established company manufacturing Microwavable Wheat Bags and other unique items in the UK. The Wheat Bags come in a variety of designs to suit all tastes including their own bespoke range of fabrics that include Rainbows, Highland Cattle, Donkeys, Swimming Penguins and Bumblebees. Each Wheat Bag is filled with cleaned English wheat and optional Lavender buds. Lavender does not only smell delightful but is well known for its natural aromatherapy qualities of helping to aid sleep and relaxation. They are all over body pillows that simply heat up in the microwave to provide soothing warmth, relaxation and create an overall sense of wellbeing. Paired with the new essential lavender oil they make a wonderful personal gift. Their product range also includes their handcrafted PADi Pillows, made from 100% cotton with a polystyrene bead inner. A stable, lightweight, hands-free tablet stand. Perfect for holding and supporting any mobile device. Suitable for iPads, Kindles, phones and all other portable devices including books. This year the company are launching their brand new luxury collection. Made from a selection of indulgent velvet fabrics, these will include Wheat Bags, Hot Water Bottles, Eye Masks, PADi Pillows, Door Stops and much more.
Call: 01747 840499 Email: sales@thewheatbagcompany.co.uk Visit: thewheatbagcompany.co.uk 62 Gifts Today
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The Miss Étoile story Slocum House
Slocum House would like to introduce Miss Étoile, a true Danish design brand with a European twist. Miss Étoile offers over 400 lines of beautifully designed kitchen, dining, tableware, home décor, candles and fragrances. Miss Étoile is all about the famous elegant eyes, inspiring you to mix and match across the range, creating your own unique look. The much-loved Icons collection with open and closed eyes has been a signature and part of the brand DNA from the very beginning. The design team are dedicated to all the small details in each product, to create the wonderful, whimsical world of Miss Étoile. Slocum House loves the new Bubblegum Colour combination – fresh, feminine, cool and modern. This collection adds extra fun and makes the perfect gift to suit many occasions. The gift sets come in many different varieties and are a perfect surprise for all ages. Their favourite Icons collection comes boxed in stylish striped boxes that help retailers create a chic display that entices customers to purchase. The new coloured glass candleholders are fabulous statement pieces with a classy look – your table is guaranteed to look wonderful and extraordinary with little effort. ‘We are very proud to have Miss Étoile as part of our brand portfolio and look forward to making people smile, which is something we all need in current times,’ says Richard Rust, director at Slocum House. The Miss Étoile catalogue is available to view on the website. Get in touch and the dedicated customer service and sales team will be delighted to assist.
Email: sales@slocumhouse.co.uk Visit: slocumhouse.co.uk
Lighting up 2021 Wax Lyrical
Wax Lyrical has exciting designer partnerships to unveil in 2021. New partnerships with Yvonne Ellen and Sophie Conran have already illuminated the candle catwalk. Extensions to the beautiful Wrendale and Wax Lyrical’s own HomeScenter are joined by the brand new Street Mythology, full of mystery and intrigue. However, having just celebrated its 40th year, Warren Gell, Commercial Director of the home fragrance experts, is keen to point out, the expertise, attention to fragrance and quality, is equally present in the established collections. ‘A loyal following always seeks out our ever popular Made In England and Colony ranges for their quality without a premium price and their favourite home fragrances, which also make a beautiful gift.’ Made In England continues to evolve with ten fragrances including the new Sunflower Fields and Exotic Fig. The Wax Lyrical Colony collection has been crafted over 30 years and continues to be one of the best-selling ranges. Colony holds a special place in customers’ hearts and homes and the 14 fragrances are ever more loved with unique glass vessels. The seven themes in the Dictionary range make for the perfect present, tapping into special occasions or a quirky gift for that special person. Whether they are a Day Dreamer, Party Animal, Good Egg or Super Dad amongst others, the candles and diffusers make for a special gift - as does the popular gift bag containing both. Sending greetings courtesy of the Giftscents collection, give fine fragrances a double dose of fun. With eight messages including Good Luck, With Love and Happy New Home, plus the range of humorous puns, customers will be spoilt for choice. In fact the range includes a Gift Bag with diffuser and votive; mail box friendly themed box and mini diffuser; as well as a scented gift card with scented leave to hang in their car or wardrobe. Warren adds, ‘All of these and more can be found in our 2021 Catalogue Collection and on waxlyricaltrade.com but most exciting is our state of art Virtual Showroom. We are showcasing our new collections with the use of a high quality, fully integrated, personal virtual world which looks and feels like a premium real life showroom. It is so much more than a Zoom-style show and tell presentation. The graphics are closer to movie quality science fiction, as the customer walks through an almost real world. The showroom and our range of collections are not to be missed.’ Get in touch to book a tour of the Wax Lyrical 2021 Virtual Showroom.
Call: Gary on 01229 461111 Email: g.ponsford@wax-lyrical.com
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Product Showcase
Pets retail...
the gift that keeps giving Sean Kelly, Head of Supply Chain, Vital Pet Group, explains how pet retail has seen large growth across the sector, and why it has a track record of being recession resistant ‘Love your pet? You are not alone – the rapid rise in pet ownership has been one of the few upsides to the pandemic, as people increasingly work from home. Vital Pet Group is the largest pet product distributor in the UK and thanks to this rise, an increase in online shopping and the ability for pet retail to remain open as essential businesses, we’ve seen strong growth across the sector. ‘It’s perhaps not too surprising though, as pet has a track record of being recession resistant, with spending on pet increasing rapidly during previous recessions. Already the smart money is moving into pet companies to provide a safe haven in troubled times. Factor in that 88% of people admit to spending in excess of £50 on gifts for their pets and it’s clearly a big opportunity for the gifting market.’
Find your seasonal sweet spot… ‘While many aspects of pet care require some expertise – food and health care in particular – there is increasing demand for gifts that align with trends in fashion or homeware, such as feeding bowls, treat jars, pet clothing and bedding to match interiors. Expect to see collaborations with brands such as Cath Kidston and Joules and regularly refreshed collections in a sector that’s increasingly influenced by seasonality. It’s never too early to think about buying for the biggest shopping season of the year and our Christmas 2021 catalogue provides three key collections: Festive, Starry Nights and Whimsical, taking inspiration from theatrical design, kitsch charm and crisp winter nights. It all reflects the key drivers in this market, which are increased humanisation of pets and increased premiumisation of pet purchases.’
Tail-wagging experiences ‘As members of the family, pets are benefiting from foody treats, often bought on impulse, with the market growing for treats with functional benefits such as teeth cleaning and vegan, vegetarian, or gluten-free treats aligning with human health trends. If your outlet is pet-friendly, why not try a display at the point of purchase or use a tasty treat to bond with your customer’s furry best friend? ‘Natural and eco-friendly categories have been in steady growth in recent years, shown not just in foods and treating but also high-end natural grooming products such as nose balms, paw sanitisers and coat detangler sprays. ‘Creating positive customer experiences, in-store theatre and innovation are all key in this marketplace and whether it’s a fill-a-hamper opportunity or a bespoke FSDU, we have the resources to fit all needs. Go large with over 16,000 brands to choose from or buy to create a niche with ExpressPick offering free next day delivery across thousands of products on orders over £60. For those seeking to bring alive their own vision, there’s even scope to work with the experts in our innovation centre to design and manufacture their own, unique pet products.’
Sniff out the opportunity ‘With exclusive ranges and leading brands alike, at Vital we can provide advice on the best ranges to fit the outlet – whether that’s a city location with high levels of cat ownership, or an outlet that serves the needs of pet owners enjoying staycations’.
Need some guidance on what to stock?’
Call: Vital’s National Sales Manager, Bridgette Sturgeon on 07980717128 Visit: vitalpets.co.uk
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Contact us today for more details on all of our exciting ranges: www.exaclairlimited.com • enquiries@exaclair.co.uk • 01553 696600
Product Showcase
Hoping for more Moocow Studios
At Moocow Studios they believe 2021 is the year of hope and inspiration. Not dwelling on what happened last year, they are looking forward and are hopeful that UK retailers and manufacturers will achieve great things by working together. Moocow Studios are proud to design, print and manufacture an extensive range of giftware products from their East Sussex HQ. The wide range includes cotton tea towels, tote bags, aprons, mugs, glass and slate giftware as well as postcards and greeting cards. Their in-house design team are constantly working on new ideas and offer bespoke services too. The team recently launched the Know Your Dog range that features 50 different dog varieties, including Dick Twinney’s original 20 designs as well as 30 new breeds. Whether it’s an old faithful, or one of the trendier breeds, there is something for all dog-lovers in the collection. The delightful canine designs are available on mugs, plaques, tea towels, mounted prints or greeting cards. In preparation for a better spring and
summer season, Moocow have a selection of bright fun seaside packs that are ideal for the staycations that are certain to still be popular as the sunshine returns. The colourful prints pop off the shelf and items can include your town’s name to make them must-have keepsakes for all holidaymakers. Moocow Studios are kicking off the year with their mug-tastic deals! Produced in the UK, you can have your own individual design on high-quality ceramic mugs that come in a number of shapes and sizes. Starting from just £1.60 and with a short production and delivery schedule, you can have a shelf loaded with eye-catching, unique mugs that make the perfect gift in the
lead up to Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Moocow Studios offer UK manufacturing at its best. Their items are available in low quantities and by not relying on overseas imports you can have British designed and made products ready to inspire your customers in no time at all.
Call: 01424 310057 Email: sales@moocowstudios.co.uk Visit: moocowstudios.co.uk
Landmark deal for Flame Tree Flame Tree Publishing
Andrews McMeel Publishing (AMP) have signed with Flame Tree Publishing for UK and Ireland in a landmark deal for distribution of their calendar and diary lines, starting now for the 2022 season. Andrews McMeel (with Universe and Abrams calendars) are the premier American publisher of popular culture, savvy humour and progressive dated and undated seasonal products, and the catalogue includes properties such as Thomas Kinkade, Disney Kinkade, The Far Side, Dilbert, Peanuts and Bob Ross. They were previously distributed by Brown Trout UK. Frances Bodiam, MD of Flame Tree Publishing says: ‘We’re delighted to work with our friends at Andrews McMeel and look forward to bringing their exciting programme to our customers, through our agents throughout the UK and Ireland. It’s a fabulous opportunity to work with the super-professional team at AMP and bring our customers a very wide range of new and on-trend brands.’ Nick Wells, Founder and Publisher of Flame Tree Publishing commented: ‘Their range of day-to-day and wall calendars particularly complements our own publishing and allow us to provide a much wider offer to the many sectors of the market. We value the new partnership with AMP, and are glad to welcome a fellow client of Simon & Schuster who distributes us both in the US.’ ‘Andrews McMeel Publishing is very pleased to partner with Flame Tree Publishing as our calendar distributor in the UK and Ireland,’ said Kirsty Melville, President and Publisher of Andrews McMeel. ‘Respected and renowned
for exceptional content, they are well suited to do so, with product offerings that closely align and complement ours. We look forward to growing our business with them to get more of our calendars to booksellers and consumers in these territories.’
Visit: flametreepublishing.com
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Fabulous designs from the UK’s favourite glassware supplier: where quality meets design New Showroom opening Spring 2021
www.dandjglassware.co.uk New launches throughout 2021!
GIFTS
LIMITED EDITIONS
Tel: 01953 450280
BEAUTIFUL HOMES
creative solutions for tabletop, gifts and accessories.
Delightful new launches from Goebel, Herend and De Rosa for the spring! All brands that have a proven track record, very exclusive yet commercial product, excellent service and delivery. Contact us for further details on these and our other prestige brands.
Email: info@glb.uk.com Telephone: 01538 807 780 www.globalluxurybrands.co.uk
Product Showcase
Rex rules Rex London
Traditional & artisan St. Eval
Nestled on a farm in the heart of North Cornwall, St. Eval are proud to use traditional, artisan methods to craft high quality candles by hand, perfecting the art and science of candle making for over 25 years. Home to a range of unique fragrances inspired by nature and the beautiful Cornish countryside surrounding them, each candle is lovingly crafted using only the finest ingredients and materials from renewable sources with people and planet at the heart of the company. These traditional methods require great skill and craftsmanship to master, creating a true work of art. St. Eval is home to a variety of fragrances and products to suit all tastes and décor; potted candles, scented tins and tealights, hand-crafted dinner candles and pillar candles, nature-inspired hand care and an evocative reed diffuser collection, so you can enjoy your favourite St. Eval fragrance for longer. New recyclable packaging To further support their plastic-free pledge, St. Eval are delighted to unveil brand new packaging for their Scented Tealight Collection and Reed Diffuser Collections now made from 100% recyclable kraft cardboard. You’ll find the same fantastic fragrances and signature St. Eval style, but now even better for the planet. New Cucumber & Black Pepper You can now enjoy the fresh and cleansing scent of Cucumber & Black Pepper in St. Eval’s Reed Diffuser Collection.
With lockdown now extending further into 2021, trade shows are being cancelled or moved to digital fairs online. With the reduced opportunity to showcase new products and speak to retailers directly, Rex London launches a new trade catalogue for spring 2021, filled with bestselling collections and brand new products. Available in three languages, the catalogue features key categories such as toys & games, stationery, picnic & party, baby, night-lights and recycled bags. Say goodbye to single-use plastic with their gorgeous glass water bottles, adorned in four popular Rex London prints. A stylish yet sturdy everyday accessory, these sleek bottles come with a capacity of 420ml and are topped off with an eco-friendly bamboo twist cap. New at Rex London are some great gifts for dog and cat owners perfect for spoiling pooches or kitties with tasty healthy homemade treats. Both sets come with a selection of treat cutters, a cotton bag for storing treats and a recipe booklet with instructions on how to make five different treats. The Make Your Own Cat Treats includes adorable cutters in the shape of a heart, a fish and a cat face, and in the recipe book are instructions to make a variety of treat flavours, including: cheese; chew; sweet potato & fish; catnip; and salmon. Delicious! Each kit comes in a beautiful presentation box with either the Nine Lives or Best in Show designs to make the gift extra special. Introduce little ones to the joy of playing musical instruments with their classic wood mounted xylophone from Rex London, featuring an adorable elephant character from their Wild Wonders range. This xylophone is a brilliant way to teach toddlers their colours, as well as fine-tune their motor skills and hand-eye coordination. An easyto-follow songbook is also included, so they can start to learn five nursery rhymes.
Visit: rexlondontrade.com Email: info@rexlondon.com Call: 020 8746 1700
Secret Garden collection Discover rustic, white pots to perfectly complement the home with a natural, uncluttered feel. Available in two sizes, each is filled with three inviting fragrances: herbal Bay & Rosemary, uplifting Grapefruit & Lime and crisp, clean Cucumber & Black Pepper.
Call: 01841 540850 Email: info@st-eval.com Visit: st-eval.com
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Luxury Handcrafted Decorations…. Beautiful Christmas Memories.
2021
Catalogue On Request
Treasure Tree Ltd: 1 Long Barton Avenue, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 1FR Tel: 01837-657686 | sales@treasuretreeltd.com
Product Showcase
Private label specialist Heaven Scent
Heaven Scent have been creating Private Labels on all their products, for shops and other businesses for nearly 25 years. This department has grown with demand as businesses have discovered the benefits of having their details on Heaven Scent Candles, Reed Diffusers, Soap and much more. With very small minimum orders a design team will help you create your label design. ‘Last year saw Heaven Scent experienced a huge demand for this service and worked really hard to keep up, employing a further two industry-trained printers and investing in new technology,’ says Sarah Pettit of Heaven Scent. ‘I think it’s because we offer such a bespoke service, that each customer will have something very different from their own Private Label, whether it’s a certain label or a particular set of fragrances. It is a great problem to have and this year we will are investing in a third building to expand into.’ This year Heaven Scent looks forward to working closely with their customers as they navigate lockdown 3 and Covid. Among Heaven Scents’ new products are Palm Free Soap Bars in beautifully designed boxes and Wellness Boxes.
Call: 01225 868788 Email: contact@heavenscent.co.uk Visit: heavenscent.co.uk
Thankyou very much! Rachel Ellen
To The Moon highlights perfectly how the company coordinates its gifting ranges to give retailers the opportunity to create a really strong visual impact for their customers. The range which is suitable for both boys and girls includes many of the following best-selling gift lines: writing set, secret diary, water bottle, tabard, colouring pencils, pencil case and colouring book, tote bag, storage tin and money box. ‘Customers often send photographs of either window or in-store displays that showcase either a single theme or how they’ve displayed a number of themed ranges together into a storyline, and it’s great to hear of the positive effect this has on sales,’ says Rachel. The company has recently launched its latest catalogue which, in addition to showing all the fantastic new card ranges, stationery and gifting lines, also includes an ever growing section that shows all the products within the company’s main 15 themed ranges together for inspiration to its customers. Many of the key ranges have been bolstered with new products and new themes such as Little Gardener are bound to be a big hit. Probably best known for its children’s ranges, the latest launch also includes a new design of the ever popular Adult Organiser which features a stunning contemporary floral design that’s also been used on a gorgeous matching Address Book and Bee Organised List Pad, with more products bound to follow. ‘Since the pandemic started certain products have sold at unprecedented levels, especially our writing set wallets, but none more so than our colouring books which are made locally,’ says Rachel. ‘Not everyone appreciates that every one of the company’s huge portfolio of greeting cards are printed locally and hand finished in-house, and this locally sourced ethos now includes brand new reward charts that should go down a storm given the ongoing situation!’ Also new and adding to the company’s incredibly strong range of tinware are some gorgeously cute handbag tins that feature a really attractive beaded handle that sets them apart. The handbag tins come in four designs including ‘my favourite hair accessories’ in the Over the Rainbow range pictured below.
Call: 0115 970 0321 Email: sales@rachelellen.co.uk Visit: rachelellen.co.uk
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www.jhdesignpoint.net enquiries@jhdesignpoint.net tel: 44(0)141 339 4927
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Gifts Today
RETAILERS’ PANEL
Introducing the latest members of our Panel – key gift shop owners around the UK – Lollypop and Brambles How confident do you feel about the future of your business? You have to remain positive and more people now know about the website. When we open our doors again, our customers will come back they haven’t gone anywhere! Have you attended any of the virtual trade shows? Yes, I did last year, and attended some sessions at Spring Fair. It’s a good way of looking for new products. I also look at social media and magazines to source new products. Plans for the rest of 2021?
Jayne Leggat Lollypop, Ramsbottom, near Manchester What’s the Lollypop story? We are very much a community shop, with a broad age range. We’re eight years old this year and pride ourselves on looking after our customers. Before opening the shop, I worked for various charities, following ten years in the hospitality/pub business as an area manager. The opportunity came up for the shop as the previous owners retired - it was something I’d wanted to do for a long time.
The first one was really difficult, as the website had only recently gone live, and there wasn’t the opportunity to do click and collect. However, I took orders over social media and delivered locally to customers, mainly to keep my sanity and to give me something to think about, and help people out. During the second lockdown in November, we really ramped up the website in terms of adding products, and were also able to operate a click and collect through the website. So this third one means we’re still adding to the website and more people are aware of us offering click and collect.
Continue to grow the online sales, expand our balloon business and welcome our customers back with hugs as soon as we can.
‘
I also look at social media and magazines to source new products
‘
How have the various lockdowns and restrictions been for you?
What’s the mix of merchandise in your shop? Cards, jewellery, homeware, children’s toys, baby clothes, gifts and candles. Brands include Jellycat, Dansk Copenhagen, Peppermint Grove, Marmalade of London, Powder Design, Sara Miller and Sophie Allport. Any surprise hits recently? Online hits have been silk eye masks and cards for click and collect.
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Brambles, Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire What’s the story behind Brambles? It’s been a family business for many years. There were originally two shops run by mum and dad – the second in Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire. My mum sadly became ill with cancer and died four months later. My sister Laura and myself had been running the shop when she was ill and, as dad wanted to take a step back, we decided to carry on. So here we are nine years later, still in business. How have the various lockdowns and restrictions been for you?
It gave us the chance to change the shop around, paint and rebrand. It also gave us the chance to push our website: bramblesgiftshop.co.uk. What it has shown us is just how much we enjoy that interaction with our customers. Our shop is a safe and welcoming place where we care and will always listen. In the first lockdown we did a little online and home delivery or click and collect, in the second lockdown our online sales were so much better, though not enough to keep us running as online only. In the third lockdown online sales have dropped, but then January and February are always poor months.
‘
In the first lockdown we did a little online and home delivery or click and collect, in the second lockdown our online sales were so much better
‘ Retailers Panel Gifts Feb (RK edit).indd 2
‘
Michelle Johnson
What’s the mix of merchandise in your shop? We sell a vast amount of different stock for men, women, home and children. Stock includes Gingko mini speakers, Scottish Fine Soaps, Heathcote & Ivory, Kushboo soaps, Jellycat, Thomas Kent clocks, Sophie Allport, Emma Bridgewater, Bronte by Moon blankets and scarves, WoodWick candles, the list goes on.
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instyle
On trend:
Inspired by nature
Lime Tree Design’s locket collection is perfect for Mothers’ Day. Especially this year when thoughtful, quality gifts are more relevant than ever. Made in UK from sterling silver and hallmarked in Birmingham, these locket and charm pieces take a classic and give it a contemporary twist. Part of a range of jewellery designed in the company’s Nottinghamshire studio and made from sterling silver and 18ct gold vermeil featuring gem stones and enamel work. The jewellery collection comes in a spread of prices from a pick-up gift for yourself to a more considered special occasion piece. There are no minimums and a range of packaging options to suit all retailers. The full collection is on the trade-only website, along with their textile range including a Liberty Collection of lavender sachets and hankies.
Celebrate spring with new, nature-inspired folding canes from Classic Canes: ladybirds, bees and British songbirds. The new patterns are full of joie-de-vivre and make excellent presents for Mother’s Day and birthdays. They are practical as well as pretty and are easily adjusted in height to suit the user. Unique to Classic Canes, they are based on artwork by managing director Charlotte Gillan, who says, ‘Walking sticks with light-hearted patterns are popular because they make a mobility aid into a fashion accessory and talking point. If you have to use a walking stick, one that makes people smile and garners compliments can have a very beneficial effect on the user’s sense of well-being.’
Lovely lockets
Call: Kate Barker on 01636 894043 Email: studio@limetreecollection.com Visit: limetreecollection.com
5 minutes with Miss Milly We catch up with owner Sarah Watmore
Q: What have you been doing in Lockdown 3? A: We’ve launched our SS21 jewellery collection and had some orders through as retailers continue to dress and refresh their windows for Valentine’s Day and spring, work within the Click and Collect guidelines and maximise the use of online channels. However, I think the majority are waiting for a more definite idea of when the retail economy will re-open. Q: Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? A: Stock consolidation and cracking down further on overheads have been key processes throughout 2020 and will undoubtedly remain in place. I think the more rigid business practices will naturally remain and we will review other areas, such as trade shows, advertising and other marketing. When we finally get back together at a show, the industry will undoubtedly look different.
Call: 01905 622509 Email: hello@missmilly.co.uk Visit: missmilly.co.uk
Classic Canes
Call: 01460 75686 Visit: classiccanes.co.uk
Eye Style: Opticaid
Opticaid have just launched their 2021 collection of Remaldi reading glasses and sunglasses in order, hopefully, to coincide with the reopening of retail. ‘This season, reading frames are either oversized, thick and make a statement or they are still large but made from thin lightweight materials,’ says buyer Gillian Marchbank, ‘Round lenses continue to be strong. Summery colours of sorbet yellow, greens, blues and pinks/lilacs all feature as well as bestselling black and tortoiseshell.’ They retail from £14. There are also new 2021 sunglasses, lots of oversized thick fashion frames as well as round shapes. Lens colours feature mirror and colour tints such as lilac and grey.
Call: 0113 239 1400 Email: sales@ opticaid.net Visit: opticaid.net
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Sentiment Jewellery
Midnight Sparkle
Furry Companions
Kiss Collection
www.joedavies.co.uk
ONLY £100 minimum order
Telephone: 0161 975 6300
OVER 500 NEW Equilibrium lines
email: sales@joedavies.co.uk f: joedaviesgiftware
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*,)7:$5( 6,1&( 149 Broadstone Road, Reddish, Stockport. SK5 7GA
FREE Nationwide delivery ‘Little & Often’ order system
instyle Fresh ideas for Mother’s Day
Back to Nature with Joe Davies Jewellery doesn’t have to be made of diamonds to be precious as it awakens a sort of instinctual Equilib magpie tendency in many of us. The brand jeweller rium new Equilibrium Back to Nature collection on disp y will be from Joe Davies is sure to capture your lay alon gside the vast imagination. Elegant leaves and sparkly ferns Joe Dav range o i e feature strongly in this pretty new range s fe the Joe xciting gifts at that comes complete with its own unique D packaging designed with the love of nature in Fair ‘at avies Spring home’ e mind. ve
which w nt i l l t a k e place fr om 1 - 1 2 March
So sentimental
Equilibrium sentiment jewellery from Joe Davies has never been more poignant than in these times of lockdown restrictions. At a time when many of us are missing family and friends, it provides the perfect way to express our feelings to those that matter most. There are some exciting new designs for spring/summer including pretty spinning rainbow necklaces and quirky jigsaw piece necklaces that combine both sentiment with the current popular trends of rainbows and jigsaws. Equilibrium jewellery will be on display alongside the vast Joe Davies range of exciting gifts at the Joe Davies’ Spring Fair ‘at home’ event which will take place from 1 - 12 March, including Sunday opening. For appointments call the friendly Joe Davies team on 0161 975 6300. Customers’ safety is very important to Joe Davies and you can rest assured that everything is in place to allow safe browsing whilst social distancing and in the true Joe Davies style a warm welcome is assured!
Call: 0161 975 6300 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk Visit: joedavies.co.uk Directions: Stockport, SK5 7GA
If you are looking for something new, modern and fast selling to add to your offer for 2021, check out Life Charms. They offer perfect treats for mums for Mother’s Day and more. Life Charms are now entering their sixth year, and gift shops and garden centres have seen fantastic sales and big profit margins by stocking their gorgeous bracelets, necklaces and earrings. All their bracelets and necklaces and gift sets come with complimentary luxury gift boxes and they really do make the perfect gift for any woman, for any occasion. Life Charms have a number of collections to choose from, including two ranges that have come runner up in Gift of The Year the past two years, along with a choice of free display options including counter top spinners or floor stands. To find out more about how Life Charms could improve your offer and increase customer sales, get in touch by email, telephone or by visiting the trade website to register for an account to view everything including prices.
Email: info@lifecharms.co.uk Tel: 0203 488 2656
Winning designs
Wear Carrie’s Gift of the Year winning ‘Stay Safe, St ay Strong ’ rainbow bracelets on your wrist and beam out those po sitive vibes all day long! What be tter reminder to yourself or a loved one that there are better days to com e? Bold, colourful jewell ery has always been at the for efront of what Carrie Elspeth produces, and there has never be en a better year to fin d solace, inspiration and joy in her designs . Her award-winning ‘St ay safe, Stay Strong ’ bracelet collection is all presented on highly giftable sentiment cards, adorned with sh ort messages of love, supp ort and of course, rainbows. Ea ch piece comes with a to/from gift card and a branded envelope. Gi ft bags are also available. Carrie also has a new range of Mother’s Day sentim ent bracelets that recognise how am azing mums really are and her Summer Collection just around so get in touch for he the corner, r latest virtual catalog ue.
Call: 01446 771271 Email: sales@carrie elspeth.com Visit: carrieelspeth. com
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SIMPLY GORGEOUS JEWELLERY AND ACCESSORIES X
HELLO! SPRING & SUMMER 2021
BUY ONLINE ONLINE BUY www.missmilly.co.uk www.missmilly.co.uk or tel: tel: 01905 01905 622 622 509 509 or
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Please contact us for a trade catalogue: Tel 01460 75686 www.classiccanes.co.uk
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5
minutes with Classic Canes
We catch up with MD Charlotte Gillan Q: Impact Lockdown 3 is having on your business?
Spotted!
Spring is in the air at Alexander Thurlow and the new wonderful selection of Primroses is sure to be a hit. They’re part of their highly successful Love Nature, Love Flowers jewellery range. Pick up a bunch of the bestselling Bluebells, too, which will be in bloom over the next month. Call: 020 8766 6466 Visit: alexanderthurlow.com
Colour with Miss Milly Spring is coming and with it the hope of better, brighter days! In anticipation, Miss Milly has introduced colourful designs for the new season. With yellow hotly tipped to be a star, the brand has created one of its best-selling pieces, the Punch Necklace, in a deep yellow. Backed with foil, it has depth and lustre, will look stunning worn with navy or grey, and clash brilliantly with other tropical colours. Other new pieces celebrate the pretty pastels that are always popular in spring with a lilac purple. Either as a stand-alone heart or used in combination with mint green, this is a really pretty shade, perfect for the first sunny days of 2021. As always, care has been taken to create a highquality collection offering something for everybody with reasonably-priced, bold and delicate designs in a wide range of colours. Benefit from a low £100 minimum order and no minimum order quantities.
Call: 01905 622509 Email: hello@missmilly.co.uk Visit: missmilly.co.uk
A: We’re fortunate to have many retailers still open: garden centres, mobility stores, ironmongers and pharmacies plus of course the websites. At the time of writing there is no end date for the UK lockdown so we are taking it day by day and are glad to be doing the level of business we are doing. Brexit in many ways is more of a problem at the moment as it is causing many logistical and cost issues for both our imports and exports. Q: How are you keeping in touch with retail partners? A: We have a regular email newsletter that goes out to all stockists, plus social media, advertising and press coverage. Usually we telephone our customers regularly but with so many buyers either furloughed or working reduced hours it is difficult to contact people so we are relying more on emails that they can read and respond to at a time that suits them. Q: Any positives you’ll be implementing into your future business model? A: We’ve learned smaller can mean more profitable. Some accounts are just not cost-effective to service, and these are mostly the ones that have fallen by the wayside. Also, there’s nothing like a recession to make you evaluate your overheads; necessity certainly is the mother of invention. We are leaner (but definitely not meaner!) as a result of 2020 and it will stand us in good stead for the challenges of the economic recovery ahead.
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