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leader Editor Naomi MacKay
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t’s show time once again, and although there have been some ups and downs, spirits remain high among exhibitors and retailers at the first of the greetings industry’s 2022 trade fairs. There was a flurry of unsettling show news at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, as we saw Paperworld in Frankfurt cancelled (and I was looking forward to my first visit!), and a number of events postponed, including Top Drawer (now 20-22 February), and Scotland’s Trade Fair (27-29 March). But the mood seemed positive at the first of the shows in the UK. The four-day Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair opened on 16 January to a great start, with retailers and buyers flocking through the doors of the Harrogate Convention Centre in the North Yorkshire spa town. Many of them - with Christmasworld in Frankfurt cancelled - were no doubt keen to get their Christmas 2022 orders in. Show organiser Simon Anslow said: “There was a real buzz in the halls of the Convention Centre as people enjoyed getting back to face-to-face business once again.’’ Around the same time, The Giftware Association’s CEO Sarah Ward took a trip to Exeter for Giving & Living - the largest gift and home trade show in the South West - and commented: “There was such a positivity about the show and also about things moving forwards.’’ The Giftware Association partnered with the show organiser to run a competition for Best Show Stand and Best Newcomer. And talking of awards, I was thrilled to be invited to be a judge for the Gift Association’s Gift of
the Year Award. The shortlisted entries can be viewed online now, and seen ‘in the flesh’ at Spring Fair. Spring Fair will also celebrate UK retail with the Good Retail Awards, with winners announced at the end of the first day of the show. This issue of Greetings Today already features some award-winning retailers - in our Shop Talk feature we interview Heidi Early, co-founder of Earlybird Designs, who recently won a RETAS award, and Russell and Yvonne Payne, owners of Best Wishes of Bishop’s Waltham, who not only picked up first prize in a competition for best retailer run by their local newspaper, but were also invited by their MP to the Palace of Westminster for a celebratory tea and a tour. Our retail interviews also feature more award winners, from national treasure the John Lewis Partnership to new brand Henry & Co, and probably the oldest card shop in London: the Medici Gallery Shop in South Kensington. We also focus on plenty of product to get you itching to make an order - from fresh launches in our Spotlight section and our Spring Fair Preview, to new stationery and journal offerings and what’s hot for Christmas 2022. But before we wish the year away, we have plenty more trade shows to enjoy. I look forward to seeing lots of you at Spring Fair - do stop me and say hello! Otherwise, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn or drop me an email.
Send your views and submissions for the magazine to naomi@lemapublishing.co.uk
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