News

Maped Helix back National Stationery Week

Maped Helix has been announced as a headline sponsor of National Stationery Week, set for October 1-7.

Competitions will be launched as part of Maped Helix’s sponsorship of Get Crafty Day on October 6, one of the week’s Seven Days of Stationery. Maped Creativ and Color’Peps prizes will be on offer, providing everything children need to get drawing, doodling, colouring and making.

Maped Helix marketing manager Lianne Fletcher said, “Get Crafty Day is all about getting hands on with stationery so it’s a natural fit for Maped Helix and our more creative product ranges. In this digital age it’s hard to overestimate the importance of spending quality time away from screens and National Stationery Week is a wonderful celebration of why we should all keep putting pen to paper, so we are proud to be supporting it.”

Autumn Fair Announce SuperSize #SBS Pavilion

Autumn Fair has partnered with Theo Paphitis’ #SBS Small Business Sunday to bring back the #SBS Pavilion to Autumn Fair 2021 and have announced the six winners of this year’s competition.

The #SBS Pavilion is dedicated to showcasing new and unique products from ambitious start-ups and small businesses. In partnership with #SBS Small Business Sunday, Autumn Fair run a competition to give the #SBS community a chance to compete for free exhibition stands at Autumn Fair. Managing Director, Retail & Fashion at Hyve Group plc, Julie Driscoll said, “We are incredibly pleased to continue our partnership with #SBS Small Business Sunday for Autumn Fair 2021 and support small independent businesses as they launch into the marketplace. Our shared values and vision with #SBS and Theo enable us to provide an incredible opportunity for start-up businesses, and I can’t wait to see our all winners at the show.”

The 2021 winners are: Arcform, Leo Charley & Me, Bring A Book to Life, RoseMay, Alexia Claire Ltd and KIND2.

This year’s Autumn Fair is also welcoming 2020’s postponed #SBS Small Business Sunday winners to join the super-size #SBS Pavilion, totalling 15 inspirational winners across the home, gift, and beauty sectors, will receive a free exhibition stand giving them exposure and growth opportunity for their businesses. The 2020 winners are Canterbury Brewers, Cushy Paws, Give Gifts, Glamavan, Kate O’Brien Art, Life’s Little Bugs, Lizzie Martell Illustration, Photofinish Jewellery, Zac & Bella Fashion.

Theo Paphitis said, “#SBS Small Business Sunday is all about giving small businesses and entrepreneurs opportunities and the chance to network and thrive. Our longstanding partnership with Autumn Fair is perfect for our community and offers these opportunities in bucket loads. I know that the #SBS Pavilion will be the biggest yet and that the #SBS winners will be an asset to the show.”

Consumer goods trade fair trio set for 2022

Messe Frankfurt are keen for the return of Paperworld, Christmasworld and Creativeworld from 28/29 January to 1 February 2022. Additional digital formats will also ensure international reach, new contacts and networking opportunities during the year.

“Trade fairs have always been an instrument to revive the economy and trade after a crisis. Christmasworld, Paperworld and Creativeworld are making an additional contribution to the recovery after the Corona pandemic,” said Julia Uherek, Vice President Consumer Goods Fairs at Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH. Thus, the consumer goods sectors and Messe Frankfurt are optimistic about the coming year.

The three trade fairs are being further developed after the pandemic experiences and are consistently thinking along the digital path. “The combination of the real trade fair with an additional digital offer provides both exhibitors and visitors with far-reaching new possibilities. For example, lectures or workshops can be viewed online afterwards and exhibitors are given the opportunity to present their products both analogue and digitally,” says Julia Uherek.

Insights-X cancelled: Relaunch planned for 2022

After much deliberation, the management at Insights-X has made the difficult decision to cancel the stationery expo this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the initially positive outlook, the Bavarian State Government’s new guidelines for trade fairs and exhibitions and their expected implications have left organiser Spielwarenmesse eG with no alternative. The early timing of this decision gives all market participants enough scope to plan ahead.

The motivation for cancelling Insights-X stems primarily from the government’s guidelines for staging trade fairs in Bavaria which come into force on September 1, 2021. The regulations would make it impossible to offer the kind of exhibition experience that helps firms strengthen and build business contacts. There is also a lack of clarity regarding the situation in October. Travel restrictions are still in place for many of the countries from which retailers, buyers and exhibitors hail. This has unforeseeable implications for the overall success of the fair.

Middle Mouse appoint new Sales Reps

Middle Mouse has announced they will now be represented by the Sarah Jane Agency as sales representatives for the North West. Headed up by Sarah Reynolds, this newly formed agency has over 13 years’ experience in the greetings card and gift industry and is working with brands who offer eco-credentials as well as strong design.

“It’s a fabulous opportunity for us to showcase Middle Mouse, as well as forge new relationships with lovely retailers across the region,” said founder, Bec Wright. “We felt Sarah really understood what we were trying to achieve and was a great fit to champion our products.”

Sarah Reynolds has worked with a range of giftware and greetings card companies in the role of Territory Sales Manager and is ideally placed to improve on the growth of Middle Mouse, even after the tough year that was 2020.

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Online Marketplace Kickstarts

The Spring & Autumn Fair Online Marketplace has had a great start to trade. The Online Marketplace, a global digital trading arena enabling trusted brands and vetted buyers to trade all-year-round on a secure wholesale platform, already features over 4,500 products from 50 brands. With newness and curation at its heart, the Online Marketplace showcases a regular flow of new collections and enables brands and buyers to deepen relationships started in person at Autumn and Spring Fair.

Karin Hausmann, Project and Digital Marketing Director of the Online Marketplace, said, “After lengthy research we knew there was a big appetite for an easy-touse online trading platform that builds on the physicality of our live shows, offering a continuous flow of newness and a growing cross-section of products. We are delighted by the response and eagerness in the industry to showcase on and use the Online Marketplace. New brands are signing up daily and we’re also very excited to see a large focus on sustainable products. With our long-standing heritage and experience we are so pleased to have built an innovative platform that meets the trading needs of both the brands and buyers.”

The Online Marketplace currently offers gifts, home décor, stationery, toys, fashion accessories, beauty and jewellery with more lines being added regularly.

The Spring & Autumn Fair Online Marketplace can be accessed on www.autumnfair.com/ onlinemarketplace

UKG Supports World Land Trust

UK Greetings announced a new partnership with the World Land Trust to mark World Environment Day and support their Carbon Balanced Paper programme. The move will offset close to 10,000 tonnes of CO2e relating to the manufacturing of the board used to produce UK Greetings’ 200m cards per year.

Chris Shaw, Head of Sustainability at UK Greetings, said, “UKG is committed to reducing our impacts in every aspect of our business. Since 2019, we have removed over 250 tonnes of single use plastic from our cards and reduced our carbon footprint by 400 tonnes simply by improving our energy efficiency. With paper being our primary raw material, we work closely with our suppliers to help ensure that every single card and paper product can be physically traced back to sustainably managed forests. Choosing Carbon Balanced Paper was therefore a natural next step in our sustainability journey. We are thrilled to support World Land Trust in their efforts to protect the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats.”

By choosing Carbon Balanced Paper, UK Greetings will fund the protection of 635 acres of threatened habitat in the Khe Nuoc Trong region of Vietnam, a remnant of biodiverse tropical forest in an area blighted by deforestation.

Riverside Greetings Launch Rebrand

Riverside Greetings is making significant investments in its business including a relaunch of its brand as part of a series of initiatives designed to accelerate the growth of the greetings category in the convenience sector.

Riverside Greetings is embarking on new marketing activities designed to demonstrate to convenience retailers how important and profitable the greetings category can be. The new branding uses a less formal font and a raspberry pink background which communicates friendliness, care and approachability. The new brand is at the front and centre of point of sale, a brand-new fleet of company vehicles, new workwear, new stationery and a new website.

Speaking about the developments Andrew Glen, Riverside’s MD said, “Over the last year we’ve delivered a number of ground-breaking initiatives which have made us leaner, quicker, more flexible, better informed and able to add significant value for convenience retailers. We’re using those attributes to drive our customer’s businesses forward. The relaunch enables us to market the value which we add for our customers in a more effective way and differentiate ourselves from the traditional offerings. We have the knowledge to make relatively small displays generate significant sales and profits and we’re sharing that knowledge with an ever-growing number of retailers. Our brand relaunch is the start of a new phase in the growth of our business and the businesses of the retailers we work with.”

BCTF Acquired by Kerrison Exhibitions Limited

Kerrison Exhibitions Limited acquired The British Craft Trade Fair (BCTF) after completing a deal with previous owner, PSM Limited. After the cancellation of the event in April 2020 and 2021 due to lockdown, PSM Limited were forced to seek a new owner.

A live edition of BCTF will take place from April 10-12, 2022 at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate, Kerrison Exhibitions have confirmed. As an immediate goodwill gesture, exhibitors who booked to participate in BCTF 2020 before the pandemic struck will have the opportunity to take up their stands next year at no further cost.

Previous owner, Margeret Bunn, will continue to work on the fair as a consultant and mentor for the community of British designers she has supported over the past two decades as the Fair Director.

Mrs Bunn said, “The timing of lockdown could not have been worse for us, but I’m pleased to have found a solution which both guarantees the continuation of BCTF and honours the agreements made with exhibitors before the pandemic turned all our worlds upside down. The vast majority of exhibitors have been incredibly understanding and supportive of the predicament we found ourselves in and it’s a big relief that their faith and support will be rewarded at next year’s event. The show’s new owners have proven capability, experience and are well-funded. I’m confident this will mark a bright new chapter in the ongoing evolution of BCTF, an event which means so much to both me personally and the entire community of British makers”.