“I just love this industry”

What’s your career background?

I really fell into giftware. I started working for a local company called Hadrian International when I left school at 17, and my love of giftware grew from there. When I was 21, an opportunity arose as PA to the sales director at Border Fine Arts - and the rest is history.

Three decades later, I have had the best career with Enesco. I travelled the world, and worked across all aspects of the business, from marketing and product development, to licensing and sourcing and, in recent years, sustainability. effectively, as we also had our teenage children back home from university.

Why did you decide to launch an independent consultancy?

I made the decision late in 2022 that the time had come to embrace a new, slower pace of life, and improve my work-life balance. At that time, I was not entirely sure what the future would hold. However, when I announced my plans to leave Enesco, during Spring Fair, I was encouraged by friends and colleagues to remain in the industry in some capacity.

Enesco then made the decision to remain as a home working company, and I moved into the cabin full-time. It seemed like the perfect name for my new business. However, currently I’m working in the house as I have some gorgeous chicks [pictured are Ron and Reggie], which have just hatched, living in the cabin - they need a warm and dry space for a few weeks!

I’m lucky enough to have worked with some of the best giftware artists and creators in the industrymany of whom are lifelong friends.

I use the term ‘consultancy’ very loosely. What I really want to do is work with companies who need help, advice, or just an extra pair of hands to improve and develop their business.

People are so important to me, so it’s vital that I work with like-minded individuals and become part of their team. I also just love this industry, so being able to remain part of it is a dream come true.

Why is it called The Cabin at No. 1?

During Covid, my husband and I worked at home full-time while homeschooling my daughter. We decided that a cabin in the garden would allow us more space to work

What sets you apart from other consultancies?

I’d like to think that I have a unique skill set. Having worked my way up from being a PA to a product manager, and then to a marketing & product director running a team of 19 people, I have the skills to make things happen.

By nature, I’m a problem solver and not afraid of hard work. I would like to be able to help businesses of all sizes in a variety of ways. I do love a trade fair, so I would be delighted to be involved in some trade fair planning again.

I’m also just launching my Instagram profile: The_Gift_ Whisperer_UK. My aim is to help match people with gifts, and explain why some products are more expensive than others, and what makes a great gift or collectable. I’m sure it will evolve, but I have just posted some ideas for the Coronation. What better occasion for the collectable market in the UK!

During your time in the gift industry, what companies have impressed you most and why?

There are two companies (other than Enesco, of course) that I have always admired. The first one is Blade & Rose, which I’m now lucky enough to be working with. Starting without any background in gifts or apparel, co-founders

Amanda and Jon Peffer have built a company with a beautifully designed product collection and are also really focused on sustainability and quality - all the key elements for a successful company in 2023.

My other long-time favourite is Jellycat. It has the most amazing portfolio of products, with a design team that’s the envy of the gifting industry. Its placement at retail and online is exceptional. This company has somehow managed to market its products to a unique demographic for a plush product, and turn it into a collectable. My daughter, who is 13 years old, loves them all.

Call: 07852 590115

Coffee Break

Gifts Today takes a break with Peter Burks , chief executive officer of the Garden Centre Association (GCA) , who explains why it’s important for garden centre retailers to stock products other than plants

Many garden centres are moving into gifts. Is this a trend among your members?

Most garden centres of a certain size will sell gifts to some extent. The move usually occurs as a centre gets bigger and is able to move away from a purely horticultural offering into a fuller range of products that consumers now expect to find in any good garden centre.

How important are gifts to garden centres’ overall product mix?

In the garden centre industry, we have a constant battle with the weather. So, on wet, cold, and miserable days, well over half of our sales floor is either not shoppable or certainly not a nice place to visit. Over the years, this has led garden centre entrepreneurs to add products into the mix that reduce the impact of inclement weather.

The most obvious example is restaurants, which are usually busier when the weather is not so pleasant. On such days, a good gift range means that customers who have come for lunch will find an area to browse, enjoy, and spend some money in, making their visit even more worthwhile.

This is also true in the non-gardening parts of the year such as October to February, with Christmas being a very important time. For many garden centres, December can now be the biggest trading month in terms of sales.

What’s your most memorable business moment?

One of the highlights of my career to date was at The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market, when I was lucky enough to spend time with Willow Tree artist Susan Lordi and her husband Dennis, daughter Sara, two sisters, and mum. They really are the most wonderful, generous and kind family. It was my absolute pleasure to work with them for over 20 years, and we remain friends to this day.

Email: helencottrill1971@outlook.com

Visit: www.instagram.com/The_Gift_Whisperer_UK

Most popular products?

Undoubtedly greeting cards, with great sales all year round and particularly high returns per square foot. Then it can vary depending on the emphasis centres give to particular areas, with home décor, home fragrance and kitchenware being very strong performers.

What’s the outlook?

The future of gifts in garden centres is definitely secure due to the weatherproofing factors. But there will need to be some changes moving forward. Garden centres think of themselves as the greenest industry, with our sales of plants and gardening to the fore.

However, gifts - often coming from a long way away - are not quite so environmentally sound. Our customers are rapidly becoming much more challenging on this, so we need to be moving with the times.

It’s great to see greeting cards no longer being packed in cellophane, less packaging being used, and more recycled and recyclable materials coming into play. But this needs to accelerate to keep up with the demands of our green customers.

The Garden Centre Association (GCA) represents around 200 garden centres nationwide. Through sharing information and its inspection programme, the GCA helps members to achieve high standards in customer service, plant quality, and reliability.