Greetings Today November December 2024

Sara

Rebekah

Editor Naomi MacKay naomi@lemapublishing.co.uk

Advertising

Marian McNamara marian@lemapublishing.co.uk 01442 289940

Managing

Mark Naish

mark@lemapublishing.co.uk

Production

Paul

leader

With Christmas just a few weeks away - why does it seem to come around faster and faster each year?! - the greetings industry couldn’t be busier, with retailers at their ringing tills, and suppliers fulfilling last-minute orders, while simultaneously finalising their designs for the January trade shows.

The industry is also doing its best to keep those tills jingling, thanks to a number of initiatives from the Greeting Card Association (GCA). You can’t help to have noticed the #Cardmitment Challenge social media posts from publishers and retailers encouraging everyone to ‘be more Pam’ and, just like Pam Shipman from TV comedy Gavin and Stacey, send out cards on November 1 - giving people seven weeks to enjoy them!

Festive Friday on November 29 is another initiative that encourages the public to get writing their cards. If you’re running an event or getting involved in any way, do let us know, so that we can share with our online audience.

There’s more inspiration on boosting card writing on our GCA News page from Cheshire retailer Sarah Laker, with her Write Before Christmas events idea.

We’re keeping on the festive theme with our retail interview with the new CEO of Cards for Good Causes, Christine Ansell. This organisation runs pop-up shops throughout the festive season, raising money for charity and community initiatives. However, it very much aims to be an all-year-round operation, as Christine explains. Find out more on page 40.

Editor Naomi MacKay

Send your views and submissions for the magazine to naomi@lemapublishing.co.uk

- we’re always looking ahead, for the next

Cards for Good Causes is a good example of a company that is moving ever forwards, and ours is not an industry that stands still - we’re always looking ahead, for the next raft of designs or the next order, or the next major event in the industry calendar.

year and Father’s Day, with a roundup of to elevate the offering for chaps and

this sector we did extensive research with

greeting cards for men.’’

So while we’re feeling festive, we’re also looking ahead in this issue to next year and Father’s Day, with a roundup of what’s new in the sector. Times certainly are a-changing and designers are looking to elevate the offering for chaps and boys. As Lizzie Parker at Penguin Ink says: ‘’Before we worked on designing cards for this sector we did extensive research with buyers, as well as the men in our lives, to see what they were fed up with seeing on greeting cards for men.’’

is the raft of copycat designs that are as

A campaign to tackle the problem has

One change that is not so welcome is the raft of copycat designs that are finding their way onto ecommerce marketplaces such as Temu and Shein. A campaign to tackle the problem has been spearheaded by Thea Musselwhite

at Bold & Bright and Jo Wilson at Dandelion Stationery, who were appalled to discover cheap copies of their designs popping up online. The cause has been taken up by the GCA, online marketplace Thortful and IP specialist McDaniels Law. If you want help in tackling the problem –which Lizzie Parker describes as ‘‘like a game of ‘whack a mole’: you get 10 listings removed and 10 more pop up in their place’’. There are some useful links to advice on page 10. Again, if you have been affected, do get in touch.

The greeting card industry is great at pulling together when under threat like this, and that camaraderie was evident at the GCA conference. You’ll find highlights in our event report on p32. Finally, our Cover Star is Kingfisher Cards. Paul Urban took over the company seven years ago, and talks about the changes it has undergone during that time. Read more on p16.

We are always keen to hear from readers who would like to take part in our features, interviews, or news pages. Email me at naomi@lemapublishing. co.uk or connect with me via LinkedIn.

designs are C60

printed on ULTRA WHITE board a mix of BIRTHDAY and BLANK

FLUTE foiled GOLD text

BRIGHT GREEN envelopes

A collection of PLAYFUL

and LOVEABLE

CATS

DOGS

beautifully illustrated in a bright colour palette

Swan Mill Group buys The Gifted Stationery Company

Swan Mill Group – owner of Ling Design, Penny Kennedy, and The Great British Card Company (GBCC), and well known by its brand name Swantex – has announced the purchase of The Gifted Stationery Company (Gifted).

Gifted was owned by Nigel Parr and is a Bath-based business founded in 2007, which supplies a full range of calendars, diaries and stationery products to UK retailers and charities, plus a large number of overseas customers. In 2024 it launched children’s lifestyle accessories ranging from backpacks, pencil cases, meal boxes, and water bottles under its new Hey Hugo brand.

Swan Mill Group CEO David Byk said: “We are very excited to bring Gifted into our portfolio, as we see the products and o er as entirely complementary, and in most cases incremental, to what we do. I’m really pleased that Nigel is staying with the business and he will be key to its ongoing success. We will continue to run Gifted as a standalone business in Bath with Nigel in charge, and he will be able to lean into the rest of the group where necessary.”

David added: “The Gifted brand is well known for the more than 500 dated products which it runs each year – which is absolutely new to us. And while GBCC now has a strong stationery o er, the Gifted one has a significant point of di erence and will thus be incremental to the group.

“In addition, we are excited about all the opportunities we can develop together through our networks with Hey Hugo. In total it currently runs over 1,000 SKUs, and we see this – and its expertise to supply these categories bespoke for our customers – as a real boost to our total o er. We really believe the very talented Gifted team can have a strong future within the Group.”

Local meetup

Kali and Jemima at Kali Stileman Publising recently hosted a lovely little South West meet-up for local publishers. The day consisted of great catch-ups, copious amounts of pudding and even a very clingy duckling! A brilliant day well spent, they told Greetings Today.

Santoro wins gold medal

Santoro won the Gold Medal at the 2024 Independent Toy Awards, with its Pirouette Countdown in the Advent Calendar category.

Voted for directly by toy retailers, this accolade showcases the continued originality that Santoro brings to the paper engineering industry, o ering families an engaging way to celebrate the Christmas festivities!

“After 30-plus years in the gifting industry, we were blown away by the retail reaction to our PopUp Countdown launch last year, and are excited for even more people to discover additional designs this year… securing its reputation as a modern-day Christmas classic for all the family to enjoy,” said head of design, Tara Strickland.

Catherine’s design raises charity funds

A retired teacher’s card design is raising money for the hospital where she had surgery to remove a spinal tumour.

Catherine Archer, from Berkhamsted, Herts, won The National Brain Appeal’s 2024 Christmas card competition. Her card, which features a robin set against a vibrant backdrop of flowers, is the charity’s bestseller, with more than 500 packs of 10 having been snapped up to date.

Catherine was particularly keen to support the charity because it is dedicated to raising funds for the hospital where she had surgery to remove a spinal tumour in 2000; the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London’s Queen Square, the UK’s leading centre for treating brain and spine conditions.

She chose to design a robin for The National Brain Appeal’s competition because it was her late father’s favourite bird. She said: “He was quite a character and whenever a robin comes into the garden, I always think about him. So, the card is a tribute to my father, and also to my love of nature.”

Catherine was delighted to hear that her robin card has been such a hit with supporters of The National Brain Appeal. She said: “It’s a charity that is very dear to my heart and so any money that can be raised is wonderful.”

Catherine’s robin card is available at shop.nationalbrainappeal.org/ products/winter-robin

L-r: Nigel Parr and David Byk

BGC gains its stripes with rebrand

Budget Greeting Cards (BGC), the greeting card, partyware and giftware wholesaler, has announced a rebrand including a name change to Tiger Feet.

The rebrand follows the purchase of the trade and assets of Paul White Ltd and Tiger Feet Party Ltd T/A Tiger Feet Direct in March with the aim to better represent the breadth of the company’s product o ering, and to align the online and in-store shopping experiences to better serve the independent sector.

The complete brand refresh includes an updated brand, new website and streamlined vision, mission and values with the aim to remove the budget cash and carry heritage and lead the way in wholesale commerce with a trading network for businesses, professionals and individuals.

Established in 1984, Tiger Feet (previously BGC) supplies an extensive range of greeting cards, balloons and partyware through their website and wholesale branches across the UK and Ireland alongside established publishers.

Eco-Friendly Card Co funds charity art therapy

The Eco-friendly Card Co. has recommitted its support for a local autism charity, Asperations, by funding an art therapist to work with children.

The charity came to the attention of director Sue Morrish last year after a plea for funding on local TV. Asperations had previously received grants from several organisations including Devon County Council but “unfortunately all the pots had dried up” and it was faced with closure when the publisher stepped in providing funding for their art therapist.

Providing support for parents, siblings and children with autism, ADHD, and learning disabilities, Asperations is a small charity that makes a big impact on people’s lives. It is a place where parents can come and talk and discuss problems with like-minded people, sharing ideas and experiences, while o ering children with autism and ADHD the freedom to express themselves through a range of activities, including sport, games and crafts.

This year The Eco-friendly Card Co. has provided funding for Heather, the art therapist who is based in a quiet room working with small groups on arts and crafts. Director Sue Morrish said: “I believe that creativity can be helpful and healing, and with our background in publishing art too, we are privileged to supporting Asperations for a second year by funding their art therapist. It’s clear that the work undertaken by Asperations makes a really positive difference.”

Lisa Hasluck, from Asperations, said “Thank you very much for the extremely generous donation. We’re all so grateful for your support, which will enable us to continue with our valuable work, supporting even more families again this coming year. It’s brilliant and will make such a di erence to everybody at the group.”

Asperations has annual running costs of over £20,000 and relies on donations – find out more  at www.asperations.co.uk or a via its Facebook page www.facebook.com/asperationsgroup

Cherry Orchard bags business award

Cherry Orchard Publishing won the title of Micro Business of the Year at the Gloucestershire Business Awards, with its high standard of customer care highlighted in the assessment process.

The card publisher was praised by judges: ‘’Taking care of customers and developing long-lasting relationships with them is of utmost importance – customers know the team by name – as is creating a strong team internally with a democratic leadership style that fosters a sense of motivation, commitment and cohesiveness.’’

Ohh Deer joins the B Team

Card publisher Ohh Deer is now a Certified B Corp. This means that the company meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Co-founders Jamie Mitchell and Mark Callaby said: ‘’This B Corp certification isn’t just for us. It’s for our team, our suppliers, our designers, our customers, you. We want you to know that you’re working with a company that is committed to achieving high standards socially and environmentally and we will continue to strive for high standards now and into our future.’’

Cherry Orchard MD Jackie Collins

GCA NEWS

Write Before Christmas

Write Before Christmas is the brainwave of GCA member Sarah Laker, owner of award-winning, Cheshire-based retailer Stationery Supplies.

Its aim is to engage your community, and bring people together to write their Christmas cards.

Sarah explained: ‘’I was thinking about the Cardmitment campaign and how to promote Christmas card sending. And I came up with the idea of holding a Christmas card writing evening event for which people would book and pay a small charge to participate.’’

Sarah’s The Write Before Christmas event in 2023 was hosted by local café, Butterleys. They had 12 people attend, and the café provided mulled wine or a soft drink, homemade Christmas cake with Wensleydale cheese, and canapes.

Sarah provided sparkly pens to write the cards with, sponsored by Pentel, and washi tape to decorate the envelopes, sponsored by Stone Marketing.

Sarah’s plan, if you want to organise your own event:

Connect with a local café (bringing the community together, and publicity for us both and no need to worry about refreshments!).

Source items for a goody bag for the customers to take away with them.

Sort a date and come up with a name.

Advertise the heck out of it!

More at www.gca.cards/the-write-before-christmas

The Dragons are back!

Put this date in your diary. Dragons Speed Dating 2025 will take place on February 27 2025 at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

This event sees card publishers pitch their wares to retailers. Over the course of an afternoon the retailers meet 12 di erent greeting card publishers for 10 minutes each. Publishers will meet at least three buyers and have the opportunity to leave samples with all 18 buyers attending.

Retailers attending in past years have included John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Card Factory, and WHSmith.

Booking opens soon!

Creative class of 2024

Geo Sanderson has now announced the Class of 2024 in the GCA’s New Creative Talent programme.

As leader of the initiative, Geo handpicks and mentors students that he sees potential in who are interested in working in the greeting card industry.

Calling Cards from each of the graduates are available to download, and GCA members can contact the artists direct if they are interested. All details at www.gca.cards/graduate-showcase2024-and-gca-progress-in-bridging-the-gap-into-industry

GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson commented: “Demonstrating routes into our industry from art colleges and universities is important to raise the profile of the greeting card industry, encouraging students to consider greeting cards as a career. Attracting new creative talent will ensure that we continue to lead the world in greeting card innovation and design, and our industry continues to thrive.’’

Amanda added that many GCA members are working with colleges and students already, so the GCA wants to hear their experiences and stories so they can continue to build a picture of what is being done in our industry to attract new creative talent.

Designers tackle online copies

UK greeting card publishers are fighting back at online plagiarism.

The campaign was sparked by Thea Musselwhite at Bold & Bright, who contacted Greetings Today: ‘’Temu are lifting designs straight from other sites and adding them to theirs, ‘’ she said. ‘’No card designers are giving them permission to do this, and no one is making any money from it. I had a search last week and found 50 of my designs in half an hour.

‘’Since then I’ve been trying to let as many other card designers know when I come across theirs on there - and the process to report it and get them taken down. It’s very tedious, as you report them one day, they get removed - and more appear a few days later under a new ’seller’ on Temu.’’

Penguin Ink’s Lizzie Parker echoed the problem, telling us: ‘’This year I have had to fight the likes of Temu and Shein, whose sites have sought to copy my work continually. It’s like a game of ‘whack a mole’; you get 10 listings removed and 10 more pop up in their place, normally using our own photography. This is very upsetting and adds yet another job to a neverending list.’’

Jo at Dandelion Stationery joined Thea in spearheading the campaign and IP specialist McDaniels Law has taken up the cause.

Agent and Greetings Today columnist Richard Pass commented: ‘’Greeting card publishers and designers are all very creative and talented people who work very hard to bring their customers and the general public a fabulous range of greeting cards. This creativity flows through the whole process, allowing retailers to creatively display in store, which allows the general public to browse in beautiful shops. Everyone’s a winner, everyone earns a living and the world goes round.

‘’Then along come companies, such as Temu and Shein, who blatantly allow very poor-quality reproduction copies of these designed cards to be sold on their online stores, at prices that clearly show it cannot make economic sense. Apart from the clear abuse of copyright this totally undermines the brand, product

integrity, retailer confidence and public appreciation of the work that goes into the original. Not to mention the upset and stress caused to the publishers and designers, many of whom don’t have the financial ability to fight this.’’

GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson added: ‘’We are encouraging members to contact McDaniels Law through the GCA (www. gca.cards/directory/?_sft_ supplier_service=legalservices).

‘’We are also encouraging members to contact their local MPs. I have spoken about this issue to the previous business secretary, and raised in the House of Commons, where I met with Lord Risby and also Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan. However, the best way to get Parliamentary attention is for members to contact your local MP. It would be great if others did the same. (https://members.parliament.uk/ FindYourMP).

Online marketplace Thortful has also issued advice on tackling the problem at www.thortful.com/blog/temu-update.

One of Bold & Bright’s designs that appeared on Temu

Geo Sanderson with GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson

Five reasons to visit Scotland’s Trade Fair

Despite a soggy summer in Scotland, visitors have continued to come and seek out the high-quality gifts and cards on o er, the friendly welcome and the Scottish hospitality. Most independents have reported an increase in sales on last year and are looking to stock up and source new items at Scotland’s only trade gift show.

Taking place at the SEC in Glasgow from Jan 19-21 2025, this show allows buyers to source and order from the wide range of gifts, homewares, cards and stationery.

Top five reasons to visit the show:

1. Look for the Launch Gallery

First stop for many buyers is the Launch Gallery in the centre of the show, where this year they will be inspired by products from new young companies such as Malmo Home, The Wee Engraving Co, Art Larion and Brilliantly Brave cards among many others. Newcomers to the main part of the Show include Papersheep, Puckator, Silver Birch Cards and mclaggan & co.

2. Cards that sell

Card and stationery exhibitors always do well at this show as cards are the impulse purchase for many shoppers across the country. Many of the suppliers will be launching new stock for 2025 and worth taking a look at are Hole in my Pocket, Pigment, Pink Pig, Rebecca Pitcher, Sarah Leask Studio, Wee Wishes and Emma Ball.

3. Talking Shop

Scotland’s Trade Fair Spring o ers more than just sourcing and buying, it’s about learning, too. With a rich programme of panel discussions, educational talks and practical masterclasses on all aspects of retailing from digital to tourist updates, and sustainability tips to retail trends, this is the place to learn how to improve your business and retail skills and be inspired by highly acclaimed experts.

4. Be the best – Scotland’s Trade Show has revamped its Best Product Awards, sponsored by The Giftware Association, with a new format. An awards ceremony will highlight the winners followed by a dazzling display of winners in the centre of the show.

5. Don’t take our word for it: Fiona Fabian from gift shops Papyrus said: “The 2024 Show was the best Scotland’s Trade Fair that I’ve ever attended – I came for one day and ended up staying for all three days as there was so many excellent exhibitors with exciting and innovative products.” Show director Mark Saunders said: “We recognise how key this show is for retailers across not just Scotland but the rest of the UK and overseas, to come and look, feel and discover products that will increase their sales. By attending you can be assured you’ll be ahead of your competitors in sourcing new ranges and new stock for the coming year. Ensure this date is firmly in your diary.”

www.scotlandstradefairs.com

The Gift Fair, scheduled for January 8 to February 28, 2025, is an online trade show designed to revolutionise the industry by o ering a more e cient, a ordable, and flexible experience.

This platform is built around convenience – allowing both exhibitors and visitors to participate from anywhere, at any time.

Exhibitors can create personalised, beautiful stands within minutes, eliminating months of traditional planning. This immersive experience allows brands to craft and share their unique stories and connect emotionally with their audience – particularly essential for industries such as greeting cards, where emotions such as joy, pride, excitement, and grief are expressed through products.

Gift Fair goes online

Louise Mulgrew

The platform gives exhibitors the ability to design their narrative in a way that resonates deeply with their audience, making the Gift Fair an exciting and dynamic way to showcase creativity and products.

The Gift Fair will feature some amazing new brands, such as Cheeky Legends and Little Roglets, both recognised with the Future Star Awards, celebrating rising talent with exceptional promise in the gift industry.

Other brands exhibiting at the Gift Fair include Al A Bet Designs, Paper Mirchi, Apricot Cards, Swing Cards, Louise Mulgrew, All Shades and Afro Touch Designs among many others, with new exhibitors signing up each week!

www.thegiftfair.com

Spring into Top Drawer S/S25

Greetings Today catches up with Top Drawer exhibitors to discover what they love about the show…

What do you enjoy about the show?

There’s so much we love about Top Drawer! Reconnecting with customers (some of whom we’ve known for 20-plus years!), meeting lots of new faces, whether that be other exhibitors, suppliers or customers, and feeling inspired by the creativity around us.

Any tips for newbie visitors?

Go with an idea of what you want to see! It’s very easy to be overwhelmed by the volume of stands and people, and going with a plan of what you want and brands you’re interested in will definitely help.

What one product or range should greeting cards retailers check out at the show?

A collection we’re really excited to introduce is our latest new wordy cards. Cool and colourful occasion cards with shiny letters with a super spotty texture. Find us on stand M58, with new greeting cards and wrapping paper galore! The latest card collections include gorgeously gold foiled number cards, super mixed occasions cards and some gorgeous coastal designs! Plus expect to see lots more wrapping paper designs. Our current favourites include glorious gold foiled starry wrapping papers in sumptuous colours, a cool and colourful geometric triangles wrap and a fabulous redesign of the much-loved floral wrap, now printed in a gorgeous teal green.

Kali and Jemima

Kali Stileman Publishing

What do you enjoy about the show?

Top Drawer January has always been our favourite show. From the beautiful building to the quality of the products all around us, it’s truly an unmissable event to start the spring season. We initially launched at Top Drawer Spring back in 2017 when my son was just 11 weeks old. It was a rush and continues to be our best show for meeting new buyers and catching up with existing stockists and showcasing all that’s new. This is where we have our biggest stand of the year and launch the most new products. We’re back in 2025 with our fabulous bespoke Penguin Ink shop sustainably built so there’s no waste.

Any tips for newbie visitors?

Obviously start in greetings and I would recommend splitting the section in two either side of the staircase. We don’t often eat at the exhibition centre. We tend to bring in tasty delights from our walk in, for example from Green Valley Deli, which has the most amazing food.

What’s your most memorable story/experience from previous shows?

Top Drawer January 2024 marked our 25th trade show and we celebrated with our biggest stand to date. We took the most orders we’ve ever taken at a show and were so chu ed that all our hard work had paid o . We had built a brand new stand, which took everything we’d learned from the previous 24 shows. We shared the build on Instagram. One of our customers actually said she’d even heard buyers talking in the ladies toilets about needing to go and see our new stand as they had loved watching it grow in the build-up to the show!

Any show o ers we can tell our readers about?

This year we’ll be repeating last year’s o er as it was really well received by our customers. We o ered 60 days payment terms to all our existing customers for all orders placed at the show, allowing them to refresh their displays for the new year and have time to sell the stock before making the payments.

Lizzie Parker Penguin Ink

What: Top Drawer S/S25 When: January 12-14 2025 Web: www.topdrawer.co.uk

spotlight

Looking back in time

Catch a glimpse of the new sought-after and high-selling card range, Down Memory Lane 2025. This iconic range is now celebrating its 13th year in production. The range features powerful nostalgic images with reminiscent and interesting facts from the year that the card receiver was born. All cards are finished with colourful and eye-catching foils.

Cherry Orchard Publishing 01684 295500

info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk

Super sports six

Nigel Quiney has brought six new Endeavour designs to market. Now with a touch of glamour and supplied with craft envelopes. The dusky colour palette is used to illustrate popular female sports, including England’s Lionesses, running, golf and yoga. Code 50, these 6x5in designs have a graphic, retro feel and are printed on a textured, coated board, 300gsm Veltique ice.

Nigel Quiney Publications

01799 520200

info@nigelquiney.com www.instagram.com/nigelquineypublications

Wrap stars

Kali Stileman Publishing has some lovely new additions to its wrapping paper range. Of the ever-growing collection, the team’s current favourites are the new star wrapping papers; glorious gold foiled starry gift wraps in a choice of two sumptuous colours; coral and eau de nil. This collection is perfect for babies but cool enough for bigger people too.

01305 848899

info@kalistileman.co.uk

www.kalistileman.co.uk

Celebrating di erence

UK Greetings continues to explore ways to ensure its products reflect the diversity of modern society across its collections.

This passion for representation is at the heart of Maryam Khalifah’s collaboration with UK Greetings, which launched earlier this year with a new Female and Male range, with the designs reflecting the diverse communities they aim to reach.

Maryam is an illustrator specialising in children’s picture books and, coming from a multiracial background, she is a huge proponent of seeing those from minority backgrounds represented in her art; as such, she enjoys illustrating diverse and multiracial characters such as herself.

The designs feature playful illustrations that celebrate diversity and reallife identities. Throughout the creative process, UK Greetings and Maryam committed to creating designs that felt inclusive and authentic. The result is a collection that o ers customers an opportunity to connect with their loved ones in a way that resonates personally.

UK Greetings salesandservice@ukgreetings.co.uk

Super Fab sentiments

Earlybird is launching an extension to its popular Super Fab neon designs with some wonderful uplifting modern sentiment designs. Dom Early creative director designed these new cards when he experienced a bereavement back in August 2024 and was underwhelmed by some of the sympathy cards he received.

“People are very kind when you su er a bereavement, however there is still a silence where people just don’t know what to say. Most of the cards I received featured lonely imagery and either sorry for your loss or sympathy. So I decided to design some cards to reflect what I would have liked to have received,’’ Dom says.

Earlybird Designs 01227765372

dom@earlybirddesigns.co.uk www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk

Mindful moments

Good Tuesday’s Daily Gratitude Pad o ers a simple yet powerful way to build a daily habit of gratitude. With its compact A6 size, it’s easy to keep on hand, perfect for jotting down moments of thankfulness each day. Designed for thoughtful use, each page includes prompts to encourage reflection, helping users to boost their mood and reduce stress. Designed with sustainability in mind and made in the UK with 100% recycled paper, this pad is as kind to the environment as it is beneficial to wellbeing – ideal for anyone seeking a mindful addition to their daily routine.

Good Tuesday studio@goodtuesday.com https://goodtuesday.com

‘It’s never

minor when it’s special’

Seven years ago, Paul Urban took over Kingfisher Cards. Here he talks to Greetings Today about the changes the company has undergone over that time and where it is today

When I took over Kingfisher Cards over seven years ago, it had a range of 96, not very good to be honest, minor titles and just a handful of mainstream product.

Now our portfolio includes more than 1800 SKUs and at least 25% of those are what we used to class as minor titles.

Things have changed again though, as Kingfisher Cards is not only constantly adding to and improving its core ranges but we have found that it is one of the few ‘go-to’ suppliers of titles that are di cult to find.

I’ve learned that there is no such thing as a ‘minor’ title, they are all ‘special’ titles, and that it is even more important to get designs right when they are being applied to captions such as brother 70th birthday, nephew 11th birthday and daughter & sonin-law on the birth of your baby boy.

Retailers are only ever likely to carry one design at a time of most of the special titles, so the rule

of thumb now is strong artwork but absolutely nothing specific. Everything we have added or refreshed recently particularly avoids hobbies/sports of any kind because although these form the backbone of many open birthday ranges, when they are used on a special caption they are far too restrictive.

Following an incredibly successful recent revamp of the juvenile age relations and the noticeable uptick in sales of re-artworked captions in other special titles, there is a huge amount of work preparing for the 2025 ranges.

Around 60 of the current list of titles will be getting new artwork and we will be adding at least another 50 captions to our range. Prom cards, more captioned wedding cards, more titles such as like a

mum, favourite person, and more difficult to find occasions will be added. But it’s not all about special titles; we are determined to continue the evolution of the brand from niche publisher to mainstay of many greeting card retailers. Our emphasis is always around good design, good board, and prices that allow retailers to sell at a level the consumer is happy with. We think we generally achieve this but we know we have to continue to move forward and constantly surprise. Examples of the ‘surprise’ element would include the Funkytown range, which was shortlisted for the Henries, and which will be expanded into occasions and relations. Plus the previously mentioned Funfair range. The work commissioned from Innis Stiles gives a new element to their traditional offering.

Our emphasis is always around good design, good board, and prices that allow retailers to sell at a level the consumer is happy with

So what’s coming next year?

Lots! I’m not sure my warehouse staff will be talking to me soon! The move to a new 4,000sq ft warehouse 18 months ago is something I believe is behind the company’s continued growth. It was a major thing for us, done at very short notice and probably the hardest I’ve worked physically in my life. It also took a lot of investment as all the racking was new and an insulated interior office had to be built as well. However, a lot of careful planning (not normally my strong point), meant we managed to move without missing a single day of processing orders. The upside is that I can increase our product offering without having to worry where we put it.

What else is new for 2025?

First we have a bit of news on a couple of areas where we really have no footprint. I’m good mates with Terry Taylor from Hooli Mooli, and I will be launching a great range of licensed blank cards from some of the great artists he works with, and

Kingfisher Cards is determined to continue the evolution of the brand from a niche publisher to a mainstay of many greeting card retailers

alongside these we will be wholesaling some of the lovely gift ranges that Hooli Mooli creates, including mugs, coasters, photo frames and stationery items.

Other launches for 2025 include an updated year card range with the launch of Flashback, a new bright and fun take on the ‘Born in the Year’ theme. There will be a new range of wedding and anniversary designs from Innis Stiles, more milestone ages, and some excellent new relations and open birthday ranges.

But why wait for next year when coming soon are some new lovely deep embossed and foiled occasions and a small range of A4 multi-signature cards, which many retailers have asked for?

Finally, a large amount of gorgeous new designs in the 2025 Xmas range should put the icing on the cake.

Kingfisher Cards

For the latest brochures please contact 01803 431515 sales@kingfishercards.co.uk www.kingfishercards.co.uk

Celebrating 75 years

Inaugurated by the Queen in 1976 when it moved to the NEC from Blackpool, and endorsed by retail icons over the decades, Spring Fair has remained a trusted marketplace for buyers of retailers, large and small. As the UK’s leading and largest retail event, the show attracts more than 38,000 attendees with a combined budget of £2.25bn. More than 1,200 exhibitors in 12 buying destinations dedicated to Home, Gift, Fashion and Everyday, and over one million products with 38% available exclusively at Spring Fair, means there’s endless opportunities to find your next bestsellers. The new Greetings, Party & Celebration destination within Gift looks set to o er the best of the best.

The 2025 anniversary edition promises to be one of the most highly anticipated in the event’s history, featuring industry-leading brands alongside hundreds of newcomers.

Find products so perfect, they’re almost too good to gift in the Gift destination encompassing the Greetings, Party & Celebration, Gift, Beauty & Wellbeing, Kids, and Toys & Play. The sector sees huge growth for 2025 with Hall 4 already sold out and more space being added to Hall 5 to meet demand.

Newness abounds in the #SBS Village, with 12 new Small Business Sunday winners receiving stand space, as well as the return of the New Business Pavilions, championing up-and-coming small businesses.

In Hall 3 make a beeline for Greetings, Party & Celebration, which now brings together the most creative, fun and colourful greeting cards, wrapping papers, stationery, paper decorations, and is the only destination to find the best party suppliers in the UK.

Discover handmade, printed and premium greetings cards for every occasion, themed calendars, diaries and notecards, as well as festive, occasional, and illustrated gift wrapping papers from leading brands including Cardgains, Ling Design & GBCC, The Art File, Wrendale Design, Ohh Dear, Museums & Galleries, Emotional Rescue, Paper Salad, Raspberry Blossom, Rosie Made a Thing, Roger La Borde, Glick, Alljoy Design, Emma Ball, Cardology, Marina B, Wendy Jones Blackett, Paper Rose, Brainbox Candy, Jane Buurman, Pink Pig, and many more.

New brands are flocking to the show including Glitter Paper Designs, Once Upon a Tuesday, Sunshine Lane, Prints Doodle, Plewsy, Wraptious, Sprinkled with Magic, Bold & Bright, Ink & Snail, as well as andSquirrel, Meraki Publishing, and Studio Thie in the New Business Pavilion.

The GCA Debut area features totally new brands to the show including Zoe Rose Art, Tony Fernandez, and LydiaMae.

The Cardgains Village showcases the latest range of new greeting cards and gift designs from the association’s members including UK Greetings, Sarunds, Words ‘n’ Wishes, IC & G, Jacksons, Woodmansterne, Rainbow Designs, The Gifted Stationery Company, Smart Toys and many other must-see brands.

Bursting full of exciting new finds that bring joy to every occasion, this is also THE place for vibrant decorations, fancy dress costumes, balloons, wedding collections, Halloween items, and party tableware, which will make your customers want to celebrate. Make every event one to remember with brands including Gemar SRL, Anagram Europe, Procos, Talking Tables, I.T.I UK, Kalisan, RSW International, Alandra, Heart & Soul, Robin Reed, Hootyballoo by Club Green, and Vulcan Pyrotechniques.

A series of new events and activations will honour the industry’s vibrant spirit and the 75th anniversary. In collaboration with partners such as the Greeting Card Association, Cardgains, The Art File, Paper Salad, and N Smith, both visitors and exhibitors are invited to join in the celebrations. Visitors can participate in the GCA’s

2025 sees Spring Fair celebrate an incredible 75 years of rich heritage

#Cardmitment campaign, sending cards and signing a giant 75th birthday card to mark the occasion.The area will feature fun facts showcasing the joy and impact of giving and receiving cards, while the Greeting Card Association Lounge will serve as a lively space for networking and festivities.

Your hub for inspiration

The show’s rich heritage extends to its insightful content stages featuring retail luminaries such as Baroness Karen Brady CBE, Mary Portas OBE, Dame Zandra Rhodes, and Theo Paphitis. Every year buyers have the chance to learn from these esteemed speakers and icons of industry to gain invaluable insights from their expertise and visions for the future of retail.

To celebrate the show’s 75th anniversary, Spring Fair has recently launched a Retail Insights podcast series in collaboration with designer and TV personality Je Banks CBE to shine a light on businesses in the industry.

The series of 15 free podcasts featuring interviews with 15 industry figureheads will run from October to January and are available through all popular podcasting platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcast, plus watch through YouTube and at www.springfair.com/inside-retail.

From social media skills to conscious consumerism and so much more, Spring Fair is also designing an on-site content programme to help you to elevate to retail excellence. The free business solution masterclasses help buyers and business owners to grow their retail know-how. With market-leading trend forecasting and innovation, Spring Fair is the ultimate hub for inspiration and intelligence, delivering essential trend insights to buyers and visual merchandisers. The focus on future trends ensures retailers stay ahead of the curve and meet consumer demands.

What: Spring Fair

When: February 2-5, 2025

Where: NEC Birmingham Web: www.springfair.com

The Words ‘n’ Wishes ‘working family’

Rod Brown, joint MD at Words ‘n’ Wishes explains how the company continues to introduce newness to keep both retailers and consumers happy…

Words ‘n’ Wishes has been trading for 13 years and myself, and Carl Salt (joint MD) and our hard-working team have built up a small business that is predominantly built on serving the traditional independent greetings card retailer.

Although we are not a family-owned business by name we have a superb ‘working family’; a couple of family members are now working in our team along with some ex-colleagues who rejoined together to start the business and work tirelessly, striving to constantly meet the retailers’ needs and consumers’ expectations.

We have endeavoured to maintain our high standards of order turnaround time and also keep providing relevant product that meets the everchanging landscape on the high street.

Our design studio creates new ranges alongside refreshments of bestselling ranges for release on an eight-to-12-weekly basis. This helps meet the retailers’ request for constant ‘newness’ from publishers while maintaining our bestselling styles and looks. Our Milestone Years range, which has recently been released for pre-orders for 2025, has been just one of the successful ranges from the group of talented artists, alongside a broad selection of strong modern/traditional looks.

Obviously since Covid, buying patterns have changed and we now see some retailers changing the way they buy and how often they place orders. This has been driven by the peaks and troughs of footfall, and cash flow while managing the need to keep bestselling designs in stock. Some retailers are also working more hours themselves in the shops and therefore have limited time for each rep/agent.

We feel by making our collaboration with both Danilo (number one in licensing) and Emotional Rescue (number one in humour) we can now provide a threepronged facility, but with only one sales agent, and this has proved a huge success all round. All three companies provide regular newness to

keep up with trends and changes in social situations to enable us to be relevant in today’s marketplace and to be a stronger player within all our di erent genres.

In order to continue to help retailers we also provide our hugely successful Thankyou Rewards at this time of the year to enable them to receive M&S vouchers for orders placed and invoiced before Xmas. This has

‘’We have endeavoured to maintain our high standards of order turnaround time and also keep providing relevant product that meets the ever-changing landscape on the high street’’

been a constant in our working calendar as retailers can then enjoy a benefit for themselves along with a thank you reward from us.

Some of our collections have been included in the nominations for the Henries awards over the years and we have been delighted to be up there with the ‘big boys’ with regards to the Service Award. So, this year we were both shocked and equally proud to win the Bronze award for Service, and the front o ce sta and warehousing team were overjoyed to see their hard work rewarded.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every customer that voted for us; for a small business we feel immensely honoured.

Next year we will be exhibiting at Spring Fair on the Cardgains stand where we will be showcasing our next launch of everyday products and our exciting Christmas 2025 Collection.

01942 233 201 alison@words-n-wishes.co.uk www.words-n-wishes.co.uk

Henries Bronze Award win: (l-r) Carl Salt, Alison Traynor, Lesley Measey and Rod Brown

Man and boy

The market for male cards has definitely seen some change over the past few years. We find out what’s out there for the men and boys in our lives...

New for dads

Alljoy Design is introducing new designs for Father’s Day in 2025 including an intricately designed paper cut card. Alongside this, the award-winning Message in a Bottle range has had a revamp in time for Father’s Day. These 3D pop-up cards are beautifully designed to make dads remember their day. Male cards are featured in most ranges from Alljoy Design, from sailing to golf, football and rugby, not to mention trains! New for 2025 will be a selection of Message in a Bottle designs featuring tractors, diggers and that very special British 4x4 vehicle!

Alljoy Design info@alljoydesign.com www.alljoydesign.com

Finding the right cards to appeal to male friends and family can be tricky – but times are a-changing, and the o erings have become more varied, meaning retailers can provide their customers with a better choice than ever before.

We asked our suppliers for their thoughts on the male greeting cards sector…

How has this sector changed over the past few years?

Kali and Jemima at Kali Stileman

Publishing (KS): We’ve definitely seen a shift from the more traditionally sentimental Father’s Day cards to a more blocky, colourful style.

Lizzie Parker at Penguin Ink (PI): We’re quite new to occasion cards, as we only launched our first collection last autumn. Before we worked on designing cards for this sector we did extensive research with both buyers, including Jason from John Lewis, and the men in our lives, to see what they were fed up with seeing on greeting cards for men. There’s some much fresher cards coming onto the market, which will definitely be seen at upcoming trade shows.

Our retailers are always looking for something di erent –how are you addressing that in this sector?

KS: Our Male Golds card collection is bold and blocky, and ranges from everything from To The Best Dad Ever against colourful geometric circles to For My Super Star Brother! against our favourite starry background. All cards are printed on linen weave textured board and are made extra special with gorgeous gold foiling.

PI: We’re trying to bring something di erent to the occasions market with my unique style paired beautifully with the luxury letterpress at a really reasonable price. We also don’t rest on our bestsellers; we’re always bringing out new product in this distinctive style.

What ranges are you especially excited about?

KS: Our Dinosaur Birthday range is fab for boys’ birthdays! Whether it’s for favourite uncles, roarsome brothers or daddysaurus, there’s a fun card for all the boys in your life.

Penguin Ink

Kali Stileman

Lizzie

Kali and Jemima

Funny and bright…

The Cherry Orchard creative studio has been very busy developing its new Male Relation o erings, alongside expanding its Male Open birthday portfolio.

Cherry Orchard’s new Male Relation designs feature celebratory birthday themes with artwork that has a contemporary watercolour feel, which brings together bright, maleinspired colour palettes and foil finishes. The male relation titles include Husband, Dad, Son, Grandson, Grandad, Brother, Uncle, Brother-in-law, Son-in-law and Nephew in code 75, code 60 and code 50.

The publisher is excited to be extending this new project into a Male Open birthday collection in code 55, adding new artwork that focuses more on popular male hobbies and pastimes.

Alternatively, Cherry Orchard’s popular Camilla & Rose humour range and winner of The Henry Cole Classic Award 2022 also covers Male Relations. The artist in this range, Sarah Boddy, presents her funny characteristic illustrations with jokes that will conjure a smile and have your customers laughing in the aisles. The male relation titles in Camilla & Rose include Husband, Dad, Brother, Brother-in-law and Uncle in a size 124 mm x 174 mm.

Cherry Orchard Publishing 01684 295500

info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk

Really relatable!

The Art File has a number of exciting card collections and gifts for him. From the relatable Ahoy! card collection to the bestselling Ink Press Classic, and the funny Rock On, there’s something for everyone looking for a relatable card.

The Art File is showcasing a stunning selection of Father’s Day cards, with 38 designs that are full of personality, love and great humour. Featuring three new collections, and four bestselling ranges, this collection of unique designs features a series of stunning finishes, showing Dads everywhere just how much they’re loved!

The Art File sales@theartfile.com | www.theartfiletrade.com

Celebrate in style

Danilo is introducng an inspiring new collection of Father’s Day and male-oriented cards that celebrate every dad, granddad, and father figure with humour, warmth, and style. The latest addition includes the vibrant and fresh designs from Kate Smith, known for her upbeat, heartwarming illustrations and clever, feel-good messages that are bound to bring a smile to dad’s face.

In addition there are more new designs that are sure to make Father’s Day even more special. Danilo has expanded its line-up with some timeless and universally loved characters, bringing nostalgic charm and fun to its Father’s Day range. Featured licences include:

• Peanuts – beloved characters such as Snoopy add a touch of classic humour and gentle wisdom that resonates with dads of all ages.

• SpongeBob SquarePants – these SpongeBob quirky, joyful cards deliver laughs and light-hearted fun.

• The Cat in the Hat – inspired by Dr. Seuss’s classic, these cards bring whimsy and playful mischief to Father’s Day.

• The World of Dinosaur Roar! – perfect for dads who are dino-fanatics, these cards are packed with vibrant illustrations and beloved prehistoric characters.

• The World of Rachel Bright and Jim Field – for a touch of uplifting charm and modern illustration, this range brings beautifully crafted stories and characters to celebrate dad’s caring and inspiring qualities.

• Yellowstone – fans of the hit TV show will appreciate the rugged, frontierinspired designs that bring a little bit of the Wild West to Father’s Day.

Danilo

01992 702 900 sales@danilo.com www.danilo.com

Golden boys!

Kali Stileman Publishing has gloriously golden cards for all the boys in your life! The collection has everything from ‘To The Best Dad Ever’ against colourful geometric circles to ‘For My Super Star Brother!’ against its favourite starry background. All cards are printed on linen weave textured board and are made extra special with gorgeous gold foiling.

Kali Stileman Publishing 01305 848899 info@kalistileman.co.uk www.kalistileman.co.uk

Fresh looks

The new Hanson White male captions humour collection from UK Greetings (UKG) has a fresh and contemporary look and feel. The UKG team has sought out relatable modern lifestyle references such as Alexa and ‘whoops aisle’ price reduction stickers to put together a collection that is both funny and immediate. To prepare for these new ranges, UKG spoke to male customers about their favourite sports to watch or play. These were then combined with a punchy modern aesthetic and fun wordplay to create a range of cards that are sure to have wide appeal!

UK Greetings salesandservice@ukgreetings.co.uk

Eye-catching appeal

As Louise Tiler Designs is known for its more feminine cards, you may be surprised to know that the card publisher also o ers male cards (and they’re also a firm favourite of its customers!). The Twilight range features deep, masculine hues paired with pops of bright colours. Designs are simple but eye-catching to appeal to both males and females, and ensure they share the important qualities that can be seen in Louise’s other designs, by using her hand-painted illustrations and gold foil finishes. There’s also some fantastic cards in the Tiny Sparkles range that are great for Father’s Day, including a new and super cute Koala card.

Louise Tiler Designs 01535 957878 contact@louisetiler.co.uk www.louisetiler.com

Pick up a penguin!

Meet Lizzie Parker, owner and designer at Penguin Ink, who is inspired by her love of animals, and prints her designs in a quite unusual way…

I’m originally from Su olk but moved to Bristol to do my degree in graphic design, however I’ve been drawing and enjoying art all my life.

Often described as a daydreamer at school, I always dreamed of one day running my own company. So after working as a commercial graphic designer for clients for many years, in 2012 I decided to design something for myself.

Jay and I were getting married at Bristol Zoo where we had our first date. With my combined love of animals, tradition and letterpress, I illustrated the first little penguins for our wedding invitations – little did I know they were going to be the start of the greeting card company Penguin Ink!

Fast forward to 2015 while on maternity leave with my daughter Flo. I had this crazy eureka moment when I decided to become a greeting card designer. By the time Flo had started nursery and I was back at my day job, I’d created my first 16 designs, which went to print – including four little penguin cards – in November 2015.

In January 2016 I started walking into shops with my designs and managed to get my first 19 stockists from 20 walk ins/face-to-face meetings. I also started visiting trade shows such as Top Drawer and was now pregnant again. On October 24 2016, having just given birth to Olly earlier that morning, I signed up to my first trade show – Top Drawer S/S 2017!

Penguin Ink o cially launched with more than 50 designs and we took 30 new stockists at that show. One of my best friends Rachel (aka Show Penguin) supported me on the stand so I could nip o to feed Olly every few hours! Jay continues to support me with Penguin Ink and is lovingly referred to as Build it Penguin as he not only builds Penguin Ink’s trade show stands but also various studios and bespoke furniture to house our growing product collections.

Penguin Ink now boasts more than 400 designs – not solely focused on animals – and continues to grow. Fast forward to January 2024 and the Penguin Ink team opened their 25th trade show at Top Drawer this January, celebrating seven lucky years with their biggest stand to date, which truly felt like walking into Penguin Ink’s very own shop.

‘’One of my first card designs was Penguins in Love and it’s still one of our bestselling cards today’’

I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved to date and know I couldn’t have done it without the support of my wonderful family, friends and team of penguins by my side.

Penguin Ink is stocked in a fabulous collection of independents such as Willow and Stone in Falmouth (the first order taken at Top Drawer S/S 2017) as well as gorgeous multiples such as John Lewis, Waitrose and Waterstones.

The Penguins

Liza joined Lizzie (yes I know that’s confusing) just before an autumn trade show five years ago and is always referred to as my right hand. We doubled our numbers again in June 2022 adding Lee and Sophie,

which has helped us grow further still. We have just o ered our fifth team member a job.

What’s next?

A little over a year ago I designed my first collection of occasion cards. Originally requested by Jason (John Lewis, greetings and stationery head buyer), the range Celebration Notes has grown quickly. A collection of these will go into John Lewis and Waitrose next year. I’m working on some new Spring launches that will debut at Top Drawer S/S. We’re also launching new florist cards and boxed tiny notes into their popular collections.

Penguin Ink

07525497122 o ce@penguinink.co.uk www.penguinink.co.uk

All of the designs are produced on an original Heidelberg Platen Windmill printing press from the early 20th century. The cards are printed on a 100% recycled paper stock milled in Germany. The paper has a beautiful high-quality finish, which works in perfect harmony with the letterpress printing to realise the designs and get a greater impression in printing.

The way in which we use letterpress printing is modern and unique from anyone else in the industry, juxtaposing the old and the new, giving the work a wonderfully tactile finish, which can be both seen and felt. We also feel choosing to print our cards letterpress has also shaped my design style with its economic use of bold colours, mostly combining one bright with one dark, to get the greatest impact.

FOCUS ON... KIDS CARDS

For all occasions

Alljoy Design’s award-winning 3D range of greeting cards has a new selection that’s available now. These cards are designed for kids (of all ages), and are ideal for birthdays, celebrations or just to say hi! The cards are intricately made to pop up but easy to post as they simply fold flat.

In addition there’s a fabulous ranges of kids’ ages in Alljoy’s beautiful laser cut design range. Incorporating gold foil these really stand out yet are still totally recyclable.

Alljoy Design info@alljoydesign.com www.alljoydesign.com

Time to sparkle!

The Kids Tiny Sparkles range is one of the team’s favourites to design at Louise Tiler Designs. They love to create magical worlds for children to get lost in, and after being shortlisted for Best Children’s Range at the Henries 2024, they know their customers love them too.

The team has added 37 new designs this year with five more coming in January, making this range the largest yet!

Louise Tiler Designs

01535 957878 contact@louisetiler.co.uk www.louisetiler.com

All wrapped up

Kali Stileman Publishing specialises in design-led luxury greeting cards and wrapping papers for children and the young at heart. Wrapping papers are printed on heavyweight, high-quality paper; and with more than 100 designs to choose from, there’s a wrapping paper to suit every style and occasion. Many of the wraps have a mini card to match; with the two latest kids’ wrapping papers being no exception. These gift wraps include a delightful road wrap featuring all sorts of transport, trees and buildings, and a beautifully blue and boaty wrapping paper featuring lots of cool and colourful sea vessels against a turquoise seascape. Both designs come with matching tiddly widdlies and birthday cards printed on linen textured board for a luxurious finish.

01305 848899

info@kalistileman.co.uk | www.kalistileman.co.uk

The kids are all right!

We have gathered a selection of the brightest and most fun designs for your youngest customers

Kids’ collections

The Art File publishes a great selection of cards and wrap perfect for children of every age. From the popular launch of Zig Zag Zoo this year to adorable Hey Cutie and Wild World, there’s a number of greeting cards perfect for kids. The Art File also has two collections of age cards for children, featuring adorable animals, going up to the age of six.

From rainbow patterns and undersea scenes to vintage toy balloons and animals, there’s a great selection of gift wrap in The Art File’s collection that is perfect for children. Next year The Art File will have three new wrap designs that will make a great addition to children’s gift wrap. From solar system patterns to dinosaur wrap, these designs make the perfect pair for gifts.

The Art File

sales@theartfile.com www.theartfiletrade.com

Movie magic

The hugely successful Moana returns to cinema screens late November with a much-anticipated sequel, and UK Greetings (UKG) has a collection of Moana 2 cards launching March 2025. The cards feature new CG artwork depicting our seafaring hero, her cute animal sidekicks, the lovable demigod Maui and for the first time Moana’s sister Simea. Available for ages four to eight, along with a general birthday option and each featuring coloured foil finishes. Meanwhile, Disney’s super-cute alien Stitch has a new live action movie due next summer, UKG is introducing multiple new Stitch designs to its line next spring. The juvenile ages range will now start at age four (running up to nine) and there’s a couple of softer-looking designs for age one and two. A 13 option includes a supercute Stitch button badge, a ‘weird but cute’ iron-on patch card and a collectible keepsake lenticular design.

UKG is also collaborating with Smiley on new greetings product, with a juvenile range being the first of these to launch in March 2025.

UK Greetings salesandservice@ukgreetings.co.uk

Perfectly playful

Holy Mackerel’s Ferdie & Friends range is a vibrant and playful collection of children’s cards by the ever-creative Erica Sturla. Perfect for all occasions, this range includes everything from get well soon cards to new sibling and thank you cards, offering something for every little one’s special moment.

Holy Mackerel 01395 578571 | sales@holy-mackerel.co.uk www.holy-mackerel.co.uk

Luxury wrap

Penny Kennedy’s Jack & Lily range incorporates bright colours and patterns. Emma Puzey, brand manager at Penny Kennedy, says: “Our football-playing lion is one of our most popular designs, and we use customer feedback to keep developing our products to come up with fun-loving designs.”

Penny Kennedy 01892 838574 hello@pennykennedy.co.uk

Bringing back nostalgia

Danilo is taking kids’ greetings to the next level with new formats that captivate and engage young imaginations, including lenticular, jigsaw cards, and character sticker cards.

For Christmas, Danilo’s popular Grinch collection for Tesco showcases these dynamic new formats, including cards that feature a beautiful wooden festive decoration, a wooden coaster or a fun Grinch mask, adding a playful twist to the festive season.

From lenticular designs that bring movement and depth to fun character sticker cards to jigsaw cards that double as an activity, this new collection ensures that fun, interactive designs are available year-round.

But that’s not all – the newest licensed collections bring a touch of nostalgia with modern appeal. Look out for:

• Care Bears – with a retro twist, this collection brings the charm and vibrant colours of the original Care Bears to life, resonating with both kids and those who grew up with these lovable characters.

• Hello Kitty – another classic, Hello Kitty’s timeless style offers a sense of familiarity and warmth, perfect for both young fans and adults who appreciate her iconic look.

• Dr. Seuss – filled with whimsy and imagination, the Dr. Seuss range celebrates the beloved characters and quirky stories that are favourites across generations.

Danilo 01992 702 900 sales@danilo.com | www.danilo.com

For the young at heart

With around 200 designs available, age cards are certainly an important and very successful format for Rachel Ellen Designs. Although best known for its distinctive children’s designs, the company actually o ers as many ranges that bridge the gap from children into teens through to many striking adult milestone ages for both males and females. Alongside some classically elegant designs, Rachel does what she does best by creating bright and fun designs for people of any age who remain young at heart; age is just a number after all, and birthdays are to be celebrated!

Rachel Ellen Designs 0115 970 0321

sales@rachelellen.co.uk | www.rachelellen.co.uk

Looking for… Age cards

When Linda Maguire at Atticus Boo in Bath told us in a recent retail interview that ‘age cards can be a bit boring’, we asked suppliers to inspire her with their designs…

Aztec vibes

Celebrate milestone birthdays with Cherry Orchard’s new age-specific card range. The publisher’s Aztec range consists of modern, attractive designs that are bold, colourful and finished with stars and patterns in metallic gold foil. The digits and words on the designs are also embossed to give them that extra pop.

There are 20 age cards in the range spanning from 18 to 100 in both male and female, in size code 60.

The Aztec range is a splendid way to honour big birthdays and make someone feel special on their day.

Cherry Orchard Publishing 01684 295500

info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk

Age is just a number…

Erica Sturla’s joyful range of age cards is perfect for celebrating every age.

Whether it’s a milestone 18th birthday or an incredible 101st, Erica’s fun and funky designs bring smiles to the young at heart, no matter their age.

Featuring her distinctive polymer clay figures, these cards are full of vibrant, playful energy. From the big milestones like 18, 21, and 50, to the remarkable 95, 99, 100, and even 101, this range ensures that no celebration goes unnoticed. Each card is crafted to help make someone’s day feel extra special, no matter how many candles are on the cake.

Measuring 150mm square, each card comes cello-wrapped with a high-quality white laid envelope, making them a delight to send and receive. Erica’s charming and colourful designs appeal to all ages, ensuring that each card feels fresh and full of joy.

Holy Mackerel 01395 578571

sales@holy-mackerel.co.uk www.holy-mackerel.co.uk

Alien invasion

Penguin Ink’s Alien Numerals offer a colourful characterful age card to the under 10’s age range. Printed in bright neon colours with black hand-drawn details, these funny aliens all have a matching number of teeth and eyes to their numeral alien shape. Number four is designer Lizzie’s favourite alien, with his funny little toes and extended googly eyes with beautiful long lashes. This unisex range is printed in carefully selected neon colours. Lizzie developed these with her two small children in one of their many drawing sessions. Customers have requested that Lizzie designs further numbers, bringing something different to the teen and adult age ranges. Lizzie is currently designing adult age cards, after being inspired by her recent 40th birthday. Look out for new age cards launching at Top Drawer in January. Penguin Ink 07525497122

office@penguinink.co.uk www.penguinink.co.uk

Going for gold

Kali Stileman Publishing is going for gold with this latest birthday number range. The Gold Cloud number collection features gloriously gold foiled numbers against cool and colourful rainbow backgrounds. The range goes up to age 10 and is perfect for girls and boys alike. Kali Stileman Publishing 01305 848899 | info@kalistileman.co.uk www.kalistileman.co.uk

Balloons, dinos and milestones

These age cards are consistent bestsellers for Michelle Fiedler and always on repeat order with her current stockists. The neon pink and blue Balloon Brights ranges are available in ages 10 to 17, plus milestone ages 18 through to 90.

The floral pink candy stripe milestone collection, meanwhile, is digitally printed on 300gsm luxury card and beautifully finished with gold hot foil. Both of the pink ranges come with new eco kraft champagne shimmer envelopes.

Also, new Dino, Giraffe and Flamingo ages are now added to the children’s ranges. Available in ages one to nine in a new A6 size.

Michelle Fiedler Design 07941 932515

design@michellefiedler.com www.michellefiedler.com

Time to party!

Party Time! is a fun new age card range by Paper Shed Design. It features some of the card publisher’s most popular animal and pet designs celebrating birthdays from age one all the way up to 80. Paper Shed Design 0118 9744283 | info@papersheddesign.com www.papersheddesign.com

Green teams

Suppliers share their latest eco-friendly and sustainable products with us…

Danilo

In its commitment to sustainability, Danilo is pleased to share that it is consistently moving away from plastic packaging, now with cellofree 2 sheet 2 tags wrap and cello-free roll wrap, reducing single-use plastic without compromising on quality or design. These eco-conscious options are being rolled out across more of its collections, allowing customers to make greener choices with ease. Danilo is also introducing paper handles on gift bags to further support its plastic-free approach, ensuring that every element of its products aligns with its dedication to a more sustainable future.

01992 702 900 sales@danilo.com | www.danilo.com

The Art File

The Art File team is proud to state that all its greeting cards are printed here in the UK, and all of the cards, gift bag and gift wrap board is sustainably sourced, plastic-free and recyclable.

The company has introduced a number of sustainable alternatives to the products, such as woven paper handles on gift bags, and glassine band options for cards. New products always have a sustainable focus, such as using recycled cotton with the tote bag collection and the desk calendars being completely plastic-free.

sales@theartfile.com www.theartfiletrade.com

UK Greetings

UK Greetings’ products use FSC C007625 certified paper and boards sourced from sustainable, well-managed forests and other controlled sources. In 2021, UKG commenced a long-term partnership with the World Land Trust, whose aim is to protect the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats acre by acre. Through this collaboration, it secures and protects land while o setting the carbon footprint for all its cards.

As part of its ongoing commitment to look for new opportunities and ways to make products sustainable, UKG is introducing new tear strip on roll wrap, available from January 2025, and on all Christmas 2025 designs. This new roll wrap is 100% recyclable, replaces traditional plastic shrink wrap and maintains ease of use for consumers. To bring this innovation to market, UK Greetings has made a substantial investment in cutting-edge manufacturing equipment.

As the company looks to the future, all new gift dressing products will be 100% recyclable, FSC certified, and plastic-free. Gift bags will feature recyclable paper handles, and seasonal boxed cards will be 100% plastic-free.

All UKG cards are plastic and glitter-free, fully FSC certified, and 100% carbon balanced. 97% of cards are fully recyclable, a figure that continues to rise. In a significant step forward, the publisher has increased the use of recycled materials in its products. Plus, earlier this year UKG launched the new Evergreen card range featuring fully recycled board, 100% recyclability, FSC certification, and vegetable-based inks.

salesandservice@ukgreetings.co.uk

Kali Stileman Publishing

Kali Stileman Publishing is loving its mini card boxes! These boxes hold 10 designs of their favourite mini card collections, including Henriesshortlisted tiddly widdly toy cards and mini animal cards. Perfect for birthdays, party invitations or just to say hello. These mini card boxes come cello free and are printed on sustainable board with FSC accreditation.

01305 848899

info@kalistileman.co.uk www.kalistileman.co.uk

Penguin Ink

Penguin Ink has lots of lovely new designs launching in its gorgeous tiny notes and florist cards ranges made from the o cut recycled paper from its cards. The team hate waste, which is why they have developed the two products to use up the o cut paper from cutting down paper for its large cards. O cuts are used for tiny notes, florist cards, correspondence cards, sample cards and belly bands for tea towels.

07525497122

o ce@penguinink.co.uk

www.penguinink.co.uk

2025 pre-sales with something to please everyone

Jonny tells Greetings Today that the team is delighted to launch pre-ordering of its biggest-ever January release for 2025, including new captions and collections across the popular Velvet and Signature ranges. The cute Poppets range from Christmas has now been extended into everyday and he hopes the charming designs will be just as successful

Religious celebrations and sympathy

For the first time, Jonny Javelin has included Confirmation and First Communion titles in this genre. Jonny explains that this collection is a collaboration between all the design team, with caption and design contributions coming from as far afield as Malta. With this valued input, the utmost care has been taken by the team to incorporate the appropriate images and icons as well as a congratulatory message inside.

Jonny adds that, following research and customer input, a new sympathy range of 24 titles is also being released this Autumn. Within the Signature range, the designs have been kept simple, with attractive and muted colour schemes. He adds that while the words and sentiments are heartfelt and sincere, the team has strived to keep them appropriate to the caption.

Input from the high street indicates that these subjects sell best in the lower price bracket and so Jonny Javelin has kept the RRP in a range from £1.59 to £1.99, although the quality of the board and finish has not been compromised.

Poppets

Customer feedback for the new Christmas Poppets range has been so good that Jonny and Mandy and the team decided to incorporate these adorable designs into the 2025 everyday January release. Featuring gorgeously cute boys and girls with pets, toys and teddies in delightful pastel-tinted settings, they hope that this collection will prove just as popular. Initially launched in young relation birthdays but also with ages one to four added for the Grandson and Granddaughter captions. There are two sizes – code 75 RRP, still £2.39 and code 60 RRP £1.99 – which include foiling, embossing and flitter finishes as well as colour printed inserts.

Velvet

Delighted that this popular range continues to be so much in demand, Jonny Javelin has added 63 new Velvets to the January 2025 collection. Jonny tells us that the whole crew, including the designers, o ce sta and sales team have been involved in coming up with new images that will appeal to a wide market. Featuring male and female relations in code 75 as well as 28 open birthday captions in code 60, these new releases include a taproom bar; a cosy, traditional corner in a pub; a man cave; a park bandstand; a music festival; paddle boarding; and fish and chips good enough to tempt the seagulls! And that’s just the male cards – new female images include appealing lakeside scenes with paddle boards or a chilled seat; a garden hammock and even an Aga. By popular demand, five new C150 relation titles have been added with an

RRP of £3.69, meaning that the Velvet range continues to o er new designs across three sizes and price codes. The finishes include embossing, fluted foil, and the usual Velvet die-cut edging, all with colour printed inserts.

Signature

Inspired by popular birthday images, the Jonny Javelin design team has created a new collection for their Signature range with key male and female relations and adult milestone birthdays. All the designs feature bright and funky images with popular and contemporary icons on colourful backgrounds. Both code 75 and code 60 sizes are included. The age range goes from 18 to 80, both male and female cards, all in code 60 RRP £1.99 – reflecting the current demand for lower price bands in this category. All Signature designs include vibrant multiple finishes and colour printed inserts.

A very optimistic Jonny concludes by telling Greetings Today that despite the negative elements a ecting the greeting card industry, such as high postage rates and blatant copying of images on the web, he is very positive about the future and the continuing demand for a wide range of greeting cards in lots of di erent styles and price bands.

GCA Conference in numbers

GCA members headed to Bristol for this year’s conference, enjoying the annual treat of entertaining and informative talks, networking and more. Here’s our roundup by numbers…

Conference comment

‘’The conference this year was the best one I’ve been to since Penguin Ink joined and it was also the highest attendance to date. Being hosted in Bristol was also special for us as a Bristol-based greeting card and gift company. I found the talk by James Stevens (of James Ellis) on his company’s struggles with sustainability so interesting. Mark Callaby’s talk entitled ‘You can do anything. But you can’t do everything’ was inspiring and relatable.The GCA conference always gives me such a boost and this year was the biggest boost by far. This industry is such a friendly and inspiring place to be. It’s wonderful to spend a day immersed in it. I came back having decided that we needed a new team member to help us grow and allow me to spend more time developing new products.’’

Lizzie Parker, owner, Penguin Ink

‘’I thought the GCA Conference this year was a particularly poignant one, with the main point of discussion based around the Royal Mail Service plans, and their ongoing debate with Ofcom. This was very much seen as one of the most significant issues our industry has faced to date, and I completely agree with it. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know everyone on the table I was sitting on, as well as connecting and catching up with fellow delegates across the day. A robust presentation from James Stevens on his ongoing sustainability campaign was a highlight – I really resonated with the points he was making, and applaud him for continuing to push this forward within his brand, and the wider industry.

Mark Callaby’s presentation was excellent, which just highlights that anything can indeed be done – all you have to do is take a jump and go for it!’’

James Mace, sales and marketing manager, The Art File

46,000

GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson told conference attendees that 46,000 children each year lose a parent. She said: ‘’We were contacetd by Winston’s Wish [the childhood bereavement charity], which helps more than 100,000 children every year. They did a survey and one of the things that came back high on the list was what children wanted at their time of bereavement – a card sent to them. Not a card send to the adult, they wanted di erent, age-appropriate messaging. We put together a group to look at how we could address this and learn more. We held a workshop on this led by Sarah Jane Porter.

‘‘We listened to these young people who spoke very powerfully about how they felt at their time of loss – it was really thought-provoking and inspiring.’’

Find out more at www.gca.cards/gca-and-winstons-wish-guidelines-for-greetingcards-designed-for-bereaved-children.

Amanda added that there are 180,000 birthdays every day, 250,000 weddings a year, over 600,000 births and nearly 700,000 deaths – that’s a lot of cards. ‘’All of these occasions promote cards,’’ she said.

6 tons

James Stevens, of James Ellis, worked out that his Shakies range was responsible for putting 6 tons of plastic into the environment and not being recycled. He replaced them with Paper Shakies. The major turning point, however, came when he was on holiday in 2019. ‘’We were taken to a coral reef o Sri Lanka - it was covered in plastic bags. It made a really big impression on me. I went back to the o ce and I said this is terrible, we’re producing plastic, we need to do something about it, and we decided there and then we would not sell cards in plastic any more.’’

Until then they had been selling both wrapped and unwrapped cards.

James continued: ‘’There’s obviously a lot more we can do. Consumers are driving this. Retailers are changing the way we work. When people ask do you still do those glitter shakies – you realise you’re scraping the tip of the iceberg. Next I want to find out where paper is coming from etc – and feed back to customers. If we are to continue selling cards to the next generation this is the way to go.’’

Lizzie with Alpha Colour Printers. (l-r Amy, Lizzie Parker, Tracey and Luke)

1.51 billion

Seth Woodmansterne, MD Woodmansterne publications and GCA Council member, presented the highlights of the GCA UK Greetings Market Annual Report 2023 compared with 2022. He told conference-goers: ‘’The British public continues to be engaged with the greeting card market. Retail sales are at 1.51 billion, a 4% increase on the previous year, partly due to the increase in average card prices – £1.86 compared with 2022’s £1.76.’’

He added that 11% of sales are from Spring Season cards, which have an average price of £2.15, up from £2.06.

£348 million

Royal Mail’s head of public affairs, Fiona Hamilton, told attendees that is how much Royal Mail lost in 2023-24.

She added: ‘’I recognise how key Royal Mail is to your future. The economic climate is challenging… It’s important that there is an open dialogue around the need for change. We hear your concerns around affordability and reliability loud and clear. We know you want us to do better, a strong Royal Mail that delivers to every address. We know you’re concerned about pricing.’’

But she added: ‘’The USO is not sustainable in its current form. The regulation framework is broken. It was designed for a pre-internet age and is no longer fit for purpose. Ofcom agrees. Letter volumes have fallen from 20 billion in 2004-5 to 6.7 billion a year today. They declined 9% in the last financial year. Letter volume is expected to drop to 4 billion in the next five years. We are delivering to 4 million more addresses due to new homes. Posties are delivering fewer letters to more addresses and the cost of delivery is increasing. The USO needs to change.

‘‘If we don’t get change now, the proposals will be more extreme in the future. No change is not an option.’’

Amanda Fergusson added later in the conference: ‘’Over 90% of consumers send cards each year. We have a real job ahead of us and we need everyone involved. We’re worried that if the service is reduced to two or three days a week; Monday, Wednesday, Friday one week, Tuesday, Thursday the next, it will become untrusted and potentially unused. If a greeting card sender doesn’t know when a card will arrive they will not send it.’’

Saly Ball, business unit director of retail at research company Kantar, said that the average household spends £35 on cards each year, with the average number of shopping trips for cards at 10. This is a slight drop on previous years, however seasonal card sales are showing fastest growth rates. Supermarkets still take around 35% of sales, but online sales are on the rise at 22%.

The age that James Taylor, trading director at Cardzone, was when he first started working in his dad’s greeting card shop in Sheffield. He remembers rummaging through boxes and was shocked by the variety of product he found. ‘’Cards with teddy bears and watering cans with flowers popping out of their spouts. Cellophane was everywhere. I was 12 years old and this was my first impresssion of greeting cards and retail. 20 years on I chose it as a career.’’

James took conference attendees through the beginning of the Cardzone chain, as his dad Paul teamed up with shop owner Jo Hancock in his ambition to set up a chain of stores, right through to Cardzone’s success today, with more than 300 shops and the acquisition of Clinton’s earlier this year.

Along the way, James worked as a ‘go-fer’ in two shops during school holidays, later getting his first full-time job in the company warehouse. While he learned a lot, he took a hiatus from the greetings industry with a job at toy company HTI, where his highlights included travel to the Far East and working on the introduction of Frozen Loom Bands. He rejoined Cardzone as it acquired Hallmark outlet shops, and has worked in the family firm ever since.

number of trade shows Ohh Deer has exhibited at in 2024. Co-owner Mark Callaby is a big fan of the shows: ‘’I am confident that they work. Building customer relationships is most important and it’s easy to do this at trade shows.’’

Mark spoke about the rollercoaster journey that Ohh Deer has been on since he and partner Jamie Mitchell started the business in an office in Jamie’s grandparents’ attic.

They got their products on TV, first on Celebrity Juice, after Jamie sent a drawing of host Rufus Hound, who wore a different funny t-shirt each week. Rufus agreed to wear one of their shirts and posted it on social media. That led to their cushions appearing in the X Factor houses.

Mark also spoke about their love affair with subcriptions boxes, which exploded during the Covid lockdowns and saw them ship out everything from t-shirts to art boxes, jewellery, crafting, and even cactus and raw cookie dough subscription boxes.

But as demand for the boxes dwindled, they knew they had to close that side of the business. Now they have 28 staff and, said Mark, ‘’are more focused than ever on delivering the best customer experience for our wholesale customers.’’

The

Danilo

Danilo’s Brightside and Kate Smith a rmation cards bring heartfelt, uplifting messages to any occasion, o ering a meaningful way to connect with loved ones. With sentiments such as Lucky to have a friend like you, Beautiful inside and out, and I think the world of you, these cards celebrate kindness, gratitude, and positivity. Each design combines charming illustrations with thoughtful words, making it easy to share a little encouragement and warmth with those who matter most.

01992 702 900 sales@danilo.com www.danilo.com

Trends:

Cards o er the perfect way to send a message of support when a loved one is going through a hard time…

Holy Mackerel

In a world that sometimes feels overwhelming, positive a rmations can make all the di erence. Holy Mackerel’s Vinegar & Brown Paper range, designed by award-winning creative Andy Poplar, brings that philosophy to life through beautifully crafted greeting cards. Each card o ers not just words, but a connection, a reminder that someone is thinking of you and sending a little boost of encouragement.

Andy’s unique approach to design combines artisan craftsmanship with playful wordplay, creating stunning, thoughtful messages that resonate. Using vintage glassware as his canvas – everything from apothecary bottles to old speedometers – Andy’s work blends nostalgia with modern sentiment, making his cards perfect for conveying those tricky-to-find words of support and positivity. 01395 578571

sales@holy-mackerel.co.uk www.holy-mackerel.co.uk

UK Greetings

UK Greetings’ Little Voice standalone range includes a mix of new and bestselling sentiment; these editorially-led cards support the mental health charity Mind. The idea behind this is to encourage consumers to reach out to the people they love with positive a rmations as well as helping others with their mental health. From simple compliments to reminders to be kind to themselves, Little Voice is the perfect example of how cards can make a real and impactful di erence to people’s lives.

salesandservice@ukgreetings.co.uk

Earlybird Designs

With a big splash of neon colour and a stunning spot UV and emboss finish, Earlybird’s new MINI’s (MIN-NEONS) hit the positive vibes spot perfectly.

Positive messages Paper Shed Design

‘’We launched at PG Live and the reaction from customers was so good,” says chief creative at Earlybird, Dom Early. “They are a perfect size and price for people to just send a card to say hi, or send positive greetings. Also, something a bit funny seems to hit the spot.”

There are 18 designs in the range, Spot UV emboss finish printed with neon inks in the UK on 100% recycled board. 01227 765372

dom@earlybirddesigns.co.uk www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk

Little Moments by Paper Shed Design launched earlier this year and has been really well received by retailers. This charming collection of keepsake cards features positive and heart warming messages. There are 24 designs in the range available as a counter package now with a fabulous new CDU. 0118 9744283

info@papersheddesign.com | www.papersheddesign.com

Top of the pop-ups!

Alljoy Design’s Message in a Bottle card collection is the proud winner of the Best 3D, Handmade or Hand-finished Range category at The Henries 2024 (and a previous Gift of the Year 2021 winner). To be nominated for the prestigious Henries award is an honour but to win two years on the trot with two di erent 3D pop-up card ranges is a fabulous acknowledgement of the work the team puts in to provide beautiful designs in a creative way. Alljoy Design cards are ideal for every occasion or age, and will delight the recipient. The 3D cards are all designed and produced in Ireland and simply fold flat

The award-winning Alljoy Design team continues to innovate and add to its ranges of very special 3D and pop-up cards…

‘’New for the Message in a Bottle range are the coloured bottles; the designers have developed new designs to work with red and green bottle colours’’

for ease of posting. There is a large section on the back of each card to write your own message.

New designs are always being produced and there is a full Spring season as well as Christmas range available. New for the Message in a Bottle range are the coloured bottles; the designers have developed new designs to work with red and green bottle colours – and more are on their way!

These cards sit easily within traditional card racks but Alljoy Design also o ers retailers a specific spinner, which accentuates the design of the cards.

Contact your local agent or check out the full range on the website. Drop an email to info@alljoydesign.com if you would like to arrange a visit from your local agent.

Design

From sweet to stripy

Kali Stileman Publishing is head over heels with its award-nominated Animal Tiddly Widdlies!

This collection features a series of sweet animals from a stripy snake to a party-ready pup on gorgeously muted coloured backgrounds. Perfect for birthdays, new baby cards or just to say hello.

Kali Stileman Publishing 01305 848899 | info@kalistileman.co.uk | www.kalistileman.co.uk

Animal magic

As a nation of animal lovers, you’re bound to be onto a winner with this selection of fantastic beasts

Animals feature in a number of Alljoy’s card ranges, from 3D pop-up to laser cut designs. There are wild animals including leopards, sharks and everything in between to butterflies and cats and dogs. Each card design features lifelike animals in their natural settings. These are the perfect cards for every occasion or event, for animal lovers of all ages. There’s even sheep and cattle featured in farm and landscape settings. Check out the full collection on the website. Alljoy Design info@alljoydesign.com | www.alljoydesign.com

Just paw-fect!

Inspired by Michelle’s two cats, gorgeous ginger brothers Monty and Rooster, she has created their very own card collection. Featuring kids ages one to nine and a variety of cute cat birthday cards that are purrfect for all the cat lovers. In a new 120 x170 size, digitally printed on highquality 300gsm card with a recycled kraft envelope.

Michelle Fiedler Design 07941 932515

design@michellefiedler.com | www.michellefiedler.com

Dach’s the way to do it!

Penguin Ink has lots of lovely new animal cards in its Flora and Fauna range including its gorgeous Dachshund cuddle time card. This has already been picked up by John Lewis and Waitrose and will be launched in stores in February. Penguin Ink

07525497122

Office@penguinink.co.uk www.penguinink.co.uk

Furry friends

Animals continue to be a popular theme on cards, wrap and gifts, and The Art File has always had a great selection of collections that celebrate our furry friends. From the popular launch of Cat Walk this year, to the bestselling Bear collection, there’s a number of cards to choose from, featuring animals from all over the world. This year The Art File has expanded its o ering to include a series of stationery and gifts lines, which feature a number of beloved animals. From cat patterns on magnetic list pads to Bear A5 notebooks and tote bags, there’s a huge selection of animal stationery to choose from.

The Art File sales@theartfile.com www.theartfiletrade.com

Farm animals are still a very popular choice, making Paper Shed Design’s new range, Buttercup Farm, an instant hit. The Highland Cow is very rapidly becoming a bestselling design. Paper Shed Design 0118 9744283

info@papersheddesign.com www.papersheddesign.com

Bright spots…

Earlybird has extended its bestselling neon range Super Fab into Spring seasons for 2025.

Top of the Pops is bound to be a hit with the DJ-ing cat, while I love you more than cats… just, hits the purr-fect spot for Valentine’s Day.

Earlybird Designs 01227765372 dom@earlybirddesigns.co.uk www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk

Pup-tastic!

Animals hold a huge place in the hearts of the team at Louise Tiler Designs, doggies in particular! They often have office dog Otis curled up in his bed in the studio, and his little friend Chess occasionally joins too. In fact, they were a huge inspiration for the Mini Paws everyday and Valentine’s ranges.

In 2019 Louise Tiler Designs won the Best Cute Range at the Henries with its Tiny Sparkles range, which is highly influenced by animals. Five years on and these are still ever so popular, so the team decided to extend on this range with some new and fresh designs that include some animals they haven’t done before – keep your eyes peeled for when they arrive in the January catalogue!

There are also many cards in the Kids Tiny Sparkles range that have a wide variety of animals on so there is always something to suit everyone, whether it’s dinosaurs, sea creatures or safari animals...

Louise Tiler Designs 01535 957878 contact@louisetiler.co.uk www.louisetiler.com

Furry felicitations!

As a nation of pet lovers, anything that involves our furry friends is bound to be a winner!

Which is why the UK Greetings (UKG) team couldn’t wait to launch two new From the Pet cards earlier this year. But rather than featuring just one dog or cat, they decided to include a whole adorable litter of different breeds –hopefully allowing customers to see their own pet in the designs.

From party-hatted St Bernards to gift-giving ginger toms, UKG wanted to showcase all the fun, silly and wonderful things that make our pets such an important part of our lives and families.

UK Greetings salesandservice@ukgreetings.co.uk

Forging ahead

Greetings Today talks to Eddie Clarke, licensing manager of Museums & Galleries, which aspires to be the UK’s leading publisher of quality art cards, gift stationery and design-led home and giftware

Tell us a bit about Museums & Galleries Ltd.

Museums & Galleries (M&G) was founded by Caroline Humby-Teck in the mid-1980s to bring together professional expertise in product development and design with the awesome visual riches of the UK’s (and world’s) heritage resources, to o er to the wider public on everyday products and stationery.

From the beginning, the emphasis was on quality and design, and originally targeted the museum consumer in museum shops, which were experiencing rapid development in that decade.

However, M&G quickly found that demand extended onto the British high street, and it started selling to gift and independent card shops, with high street multiples and department stores swiftly following.

Alan and Debbie Williams’ purchase of the company in 2013 brought a new strategic focus to marketing, production sourcing and development, and customer service – while investing heavily in the company’s core strengths in quality design, image sourcing and brand licensing.

Major focuses were on the company’s licences with UK national collections (especially the V&A), but new relationships with major UK designers such as Matthew Williamson were also initiated and developed.

These days, M&G sells to major retail brands and all kinds of independents, and the product base has extended far beyond cards, stationery and journals to gifts and art and design-led housewares.

How has 2024 been for you?

2024 has been a particularly exciting year, with several months consecutively posting all-time record sales.

The year started with a big bang at Spring Fair with our redesigned stand; our licence launches of Mary Katrantzou, Emma Frances Grant, and Angela Harding; and our new product launches of kitchen textiles, cloth bound journals and playing card boxes. Our premium gift products and focus on superb design continue to drive sales.

What is the company’s mission?

From the classic to the contemporary, The Museums & Galleries Collection celebrates timeless quality and excellence in art, illustration and design. M&G aspires to be the UK’s leading publisher of quality art cards, gift stationery and design-led home and giftware.

What sets M&G apart?

Our focus on bringing the highest quality to the consumer at the fairest price.

What products does M&G o er?

Greeting cards and notelets; gift packaging including sheet and roll wraps, tissue paper, and gift bags; gift stationery including multiple types of journals and notebooks, pads, address books, diaries, bookmarks, calendars, and year planners; organic cotton tote bags, zipped pouches, and pencil cases; cushions, oven gloves, aprons, tea towels, cotton and paper napkins; PLA and insulated mugs and insulated bottles; paperweights; jigsaw puzzles; and playing cards.

What’s next for the company?

There are several big developments in store for 2025! These will be announced nearer to the trade shows. As usual, our first big trade show of the year will be Spring Fair.

Museums & Galleries

01373 462165 sales@mgml.co.uk www.museumsgalleries.co.uk

RETAIL INTERVIEW CARDS FOR GOOD CAUSES

The great and

Christine Ansell, CEO at Cards For Good Causes, tells Greetings Today how the company, which helps raises funds for charities, has changed over the past couple of years

What is your career background?

For over 30 years my career was in the commercial sector and was varied industry-wise; this included 18 years in the IT Consultancy field.

I moved into the Charity Sector in 2018 as I wanted to make more of a positive impact on the areas of our society and people who really needed help.

I joined Cards For Good Causes in July this year, and am loving the energy and drive for progression I see in both our sta and wonderful cohort of volunteers. We wouldn’t be able to do half of what we do without our volunteers; saying thank you never seems enough.

Tell us a little about what has been happening with the company since it appeared in Greetings Today in 2022.

In 2022 we shared with your readers that we were changing the way we support our charities. Instead

Tell us some of the card publishers/designers you work with...

We work with an amazing group of publishers and designers: Paperdove, Elle, Ling, The Art File, Museums and Galleries, Ohh Deer and James Ellis are all the suppliers we have relationships with and we love the products they o er… as do our customers!

of charities supplying their own cards and needing to make a large initial payment to have their cards manufactured, we have taken on the financial risk of having all the cards produced and sold. This means the charities we support and represent have no

‘’One big development area for us is to grow our online sales outside of the Christmas season’’

financial outlay or commitment of time and talent from their organisations. Instead, they receive a royalty for any card sold on their behalf, providing a pure cash injection to their bottom line. Our participating charities have welcomed this change, and it provides us with greater control over card selection and production.

A further change has been to grow the range of products we sell in complement to the cards; predominantly this relates to advent and wrap, however, we have, and continue to grow, the gift and decorations ranges. Sales of these products reduce our overheads, enabling us to stablise the business after Covid, and meet the increasing costs impacting our industry without compromising the amount we give back to charities and communities.

We have also made changes to our website to give us better access to functionality and data analysis,

which will equip us to make more focused decisions on our future growth and direction.

Is the premise behind how Cards for Good Causes works the same, or has it changed at all?

The underlying premise of our organisation remains rooted in our core mission, which has always focused on supporting local and national charities, and community projects. While we are not seeking to change our fundamental purpose, we recognise the potential to broaden our remit in order to extend our reach and create even more promotion and royalty income for the organisations we work with. By expanding our scope, we aim to leverage our expertise, resources, and partnerships to explore new opportunities and scale up our e orts, allowing us to do even more good work in the future.

What about online sales? How are sales split between online and the pop-up shops? Has that changed over the past couple of years – if so why do you think that is?

Our online sales for the Christmas period understandably took o during Covid and launched us headfirst into using this platform to reach our customers. Since then, online sales during the Christmas season account for about 16% of total revenue. The majority of our sales are still generated from our annual pop-up shops, and that is quite an ask of our team to generate enough sales to support us through the rest of the year. Typically, our customers enjoy the experience of the physical shop rather than shopping online, but we are seeing the dial move more and more. One big development

the good

area for us is to grow our online sales outside of the Christmas season. We have started to make strides in this area, but we are excited for the next few years, so keep an eye on our website in the coming months.

Can you tell us more about the pop-uo shops?

We operate a nationwide network of pop-up shops, from Edinburgh to Truro, Norwich to Brecon. The majority open from the beginning of October through to the end of December. We categorise our shops as either Traditional or Host. In our Host shops we provide and deliver our stock, and marketing materials, to locations such as Tourist Information Centres, libraries, museums and cafés. Our Hosts do an incredible job for us each year, selling the stock on our behalf, and at the end of the season will receive a percentage of sales as their commission. Receiving these funds is a great boost to enable our community partners to pay for projects or running costs as so many are experiencing the negative impact of cost-of-living increases.

In our Traditional shops we provide everything; stock, sta , till and display equipment. We rent space in places such as churches, libraries, community centres and empty shop units in towns or shopping malls. Again, we believe in giving back, not only to our charities but to the venues we pop-up in, and Traditional shop locations also receive a percentage of net sales to support their venue.

When customers purchase through our Traditional or Host shops, they are directly supporting not only the charities but their local communities.

We are right in the middle of our busy season with the build-up to Christmas under way, and have more than 75 Hosts and 45 Traditional venues over the UK mainland.

As you can imagine, this is a major logistics operation, from recruiting enough sta to open 45 Traditional shops, in addition to ensuring the right stock and equipment reaches the right venue on the

agreed date and time across more than 120 separate sites in a relatively short space of time.

Our shops start to open from the end of September and will remain open until December 21, with some working right through to December 23.

Our most prominent saturation remains in the Home

‘’So many of us live a distance from friends and family, receiving a card is like having them there with you, a sort of paper hug’’

Counties in addition to places such as Edinburgh, York, Harrogate, Hereford and Exeter. Any venue can approach us to open a pop-up and we are delighted to be supported by a varied range of venues from local cafes to large city churches and libraries.

What about getting word out there – how do you market the pop-up shops?

We are very grateful to our loyal customer base who support our shops every year, and to help new customers find us we work with a great team at Dolphin Outsourcing who help promote us around the country with press releases, and we have our own in-house digital marketing executive who has done an amazing job this year of promoting us on social media. She also sends out regular updates to those who have subscribed to receiving notifications from us, so if you want to hear what we are up to and

About

Cards For Good Causes

Cards for Good Causes is the UK’s largest multi-charity card and gift retailer. It operates all year round as a charitable gifting website and it is through the development of its website and external relationships that it hopes to generate more funds and lessen its reliance on annual Christmas pop-up shops. In the past 10 years the organisation has given £22.5 million back to charities and £2.7 million to local communities. https://cardsforcharity.co.uk

where, join our subscribed followers by clicking on the link to receive our newsletters via the website.

How do you source products?

We are very lucky to have an exceptional buying manager who knows in detail the cards and gifts our existing client base loves to buy, and it is key to our future growth to know or predict what products will be popular in the coming season.

At the moment it’s a mix of attending trade shows and approaching suppliers directly if we have seen a product that has sparked our interest. At trade shows it’s good to be able to talk to new suppliers and ask questions about their range and see the products firsthand, as you can’t always tell the quality of an item from graphics. We also contact suppliers directly if we have seen products out and about that we think would suit our customers.

Spring and Autumn Fair and Top Drawer are the trade shows we regularly attend. They both have a wide selection of card, gift, and wrap suppliers and quite a few of our regular suppliers attend these fairs, so it is a great opportunity to meet them in person and see their new collections. Spring Fair and

Retail IntervIew CaRds foR Good Causes

Top Drawer S/S are great for new ideas and meeting new suppliers we do not know. The autumn shows have a wider display of festive items, which are more relevant to our Christmas offering.

What is your selection criteria?

Quality is always at the top of our list, closely followed by sustainability. The price point and margin are extremely important to us for finding the balance of affordability for our customers and maintaining our ability to raise funds.

Do you work with suppliers in the same way as other retailers do, or is it different because you are giving money to charity?

The principle of how we work together is the same, however being a charity means that getting the best price for the items we buy is even more important, but quality, value for our customers and sustainability are key.

Is there anything you have seen coming up from suppliers that you are particularly excited about?

Yes, we do become rather excited about the more sustainable and environmentally friendly gifts and cards, which fit in really well with us and our values. For example, the Plantables range has increased in recent years, not only extensive ranges of seed cards but children’s books are now produced, so we are looking forward to seeing this range extend even more.

Is there anything you haven’t been able to source that you would like to find?

We would love to locate some more unique advent decorations, which are really not very easy to find at a price we feel comfortable and confident in selling to our customer base.

How has trading been since we last featured Cards for Good Causes?

Trading has steadily been increasing, but we still have a way to go to retain the levels we were at before Covid hit.

People simply don’t have the same disposable income in their pockets as they used to, and this directly impacts what can be seen as nonessential expenditure.

The challenges we face are all about futureproofing Cards For Good Causes, and this will involve

further development of our website/online offering. Extending gift ranges on a website can significantly boost sales and revenue by appealing to a wider audience and meeting diverse customer needs. Offering a broader selection of gifts, such as personalised items, eco-friendly products, and options for various occasions, can attract more visitors and increase the likelihood of conversion.

Rising costs are, however, impacting us; the increase in the minimum wage twice in recent years coupled with high energy costs, directly hit us. Until these stabilise, and give us a firmer cost base, we are unable to commit to giving more back to our charities, which is a key focus for us. On our side, to mitigate the impact of costs, we are actively seeking

‘’By expanding our scope, we aim to leverage our expertise, resources, and partnerships to explore new opportunities and scale up our efforts, allowing us to do even more good work in the future’’

new ways to reach volunteers who can help support us during the busy Christmas season.

Last time we spoke to former CEO Jeremy, diversity within card ranges was not a big thing, but something he said needed to be addressed. Has that moved on at all?

It hasn’t moved on quickly enough, and Jeremy was absolutely right, it needs to be addressed. We had a selection of cards for Eid and Hanukkah this year, and our challenge is to make sure the wider community is aware we offer cards and gifts that reflect the diversity we have within the UK and their cultural background, customs and traditions.

Our current customer base will primarily focus on

Christmas cards, and we are very grateful for their support. They have been the backbone of Cards For Good Causes since our original inception back in 1959.

I hope that we can attract different, diverse, charity groups that we can work with to develop this area in the future. We are starting work on our threeyear-strategy, and this will definitely be a feature of those discussions and plans.

How about sustainability – how are you addressing that?

We always aim to source a range of quality, environmentally friendly, ethically sourced products. Our charity Christmas cards and envelopes are all manufactured in the UK.

They are recyclable, glitter-free and plastic free. We also ensure that any of our providers have sustainable credentials too.

The sustainability of environmentally friendly cards also lies in their lifecycle. Cards that are fully recyclable or compostable do not end up in landfills, reducing pollution and waste accumulation.

Finally…

If you could choose the cards people sent you – which would you choose to receive for Christmas or birthday or other special occasion?

A great question: for me it’s all about the words, whether that is the meaning behind the words chosen by the card publishers/designers, or more important to me, the words written by the person sending me the card.

Life is so fast-paced today, the thought that someone has taken the time to write a personal message, or update, in the card they have sent is priceless. So many of us live a distance from friends and family, receiving a card is like having them there with you, a sort of paper hug.

To D2C or not to D2C

Sara Allbright, director and co-founder of Retail100 Consulting, discusses the pros and cons of the D2C business model from a retail perspective

To D2C, or not to D2C – that is the question. Direct-to-customer, drop shipping, or however you may choose to describe it, this business strategy – where a company sells its products directly to consumers – has certainly been on the rise among retailers in recent years, as marketplace models have continued to grow and expand.

Many retailers now use D2C as a way to facilitate brands selling on their ecommerce platforms without ever handling the stock themselves. For both retailers and brands, there can be pros and cons to operating this way. But, when managed well, we believe it can be a great addition to any business.

But what are the ‘watch outs’ and the factors to consider to get it right? First, underpinning most D2C operations is a level of technology or infrastructure needed to manage and communicate orders. A lot of businesses underestimate both the time and cost needed to set these up, and the level of maintenance they might need in the long term.

You will also be bombarded with terminology that you may never have come across before such as EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) and API (Application Programming Interface) links. So don’t be afraid to ask questions, and make sure you do your homework on what the requirements are to make it a reality.

For many brands, their priority is a wholesale operation with a retailer, and therefore there is an understandable reluctance to consider D2C. However, there are ways to succeed here. It may be part of your negotiation to agree to a capsule wholesale collection of your brand in-store to gain exposure and presence – which you then extend into a wider range online to illustrate the breadth of your offer, especially if you have a lot of colourways or sizes.

Many brands have also started relationships with retailers solely as D2C, but have used this to illustrate how popular they are with end-consumers, and therefore built a business case to be stocked in-store.

At the end of the day, a lot of retailers are under pressure to reduce stock holding, SKU numbers,

and the amount of suppliers they deal with. So, D2C is a popular option as it gives them a chance to trial products with less risk and in a much more ‘lighter touch’ way. Taking time to understand the reason why a retailer wants to go down this route, and whether they see it as a long-term option to become a stocked brand, is key.

For end-consumers, there are also pros and cons to this business model. It certainly has been a lever that many sellers have pulled to offer wider ranges of choice but, unless this is wellmanaged with good online search functionality, or curated properly, it can become overwhelming and confusing for end-consumers.

We would also advocate that D2C is for range extension and should not conflict with, or duplicate, products already stocked. As a retailer, you should always prioritise selling your stocked lines first and build D2C as an additional revenue stream, providing growth – not sales cannibalisation.

You also need to consider what the post-sales process looks like for end-consumers. Will they understand if the parcel arrives in the brand’s –not the retailer’s – packaging? And what is their customer service route if there is an issue: is it the brand or the retailer? Keeping this as seamless and simple as possible is key to not

Sara Allbright is a director and co-founder of Retail100 Consulting, which is a consultancy firm with 100 years of retail experience that helps retailers and brands grow.

Prior to Retail100 Consulting, Sara worked in buying roles at John Lewis & Partners for 18 years, predominantly for home and seasonal categories, including eight years leading gift and home fragrance buying.

She specialised in brand relationships and growing small emerging brands into market leaders. Sara is also experienced in own-label sourcing across multiple categories and countries.

Email: hello@retail100consulting.co.uk

Visit www.retail100consulting.co.uk; www.linkedin.com/company/retail100-consulting

ending up with high returns rates or poor reviews.

For most retailers (and brands), we believe D2C can be a useful part of your operation – when you have properly considered its purpose and role within your business.

D2C needs to be planned and well considered but not dismissed out of hand, as it can create wider brand exposure and help gain access to new customers. It’s certainly not going away… So, make it work for you.

L-R: Sara Allbright, Anna Berry, Neil Amer and Elaine Hooper

Diary of a card shop

Rebekah Mudie at North Cardi ’s Daisy Daisy reveals the results of the shop’s makeover, which she wrote about in our May/June issue…

Where has the time gone?! It’s been four months since we completed our full shop refurbishment, and what a crazy time it’s been!

Our shop makeover was something that had been

‘on the cards’ (literally) since we purchased Daisy Daisy four years ago.

Our lovely little independent greeting card and gift shop was much loved but very tired and dated, especially after the pandemic. My husband and I

saved hard and spent several months searching for a reputable local builder to make some alterations and improvements. My vision was to always keep the homely charm of Daisy Daisy but to make it more up to date, appealing and to flow better for customers, keeping old customers and gaining new footfall.

‘‘Customers have given such lovely positive feedback’’

Throughout May the shop was completely gutted and in just five short weeks we reopened our doors. Looking back I don’t know how we did it! Thankfully our builder was fantastic, and our sta , family and friends were all hands on deck. Despite a big clearance sale before we closed for the refurb we had a lot of stock and old fixtures to move out. We hired a storage lock-up nearby and made several tip runs. In the meantime, the workmen removed an adjoining wall and fitted structural support, and raised our suspended ceiling. All walls were painted, new flooring was laid, new lighting and all new fixtures for our cards and gift displays were fitted. We now have a brand spanking new shop to be proud of. Our sta say it’s now a nicer place to work and customers have given such lovely positive feedback. One of the most stressful elements of our refurb was the new technology we installed.

Pre-makeover we had a very old-fashioned, standalone electronic till and card machine. We decided to move out of the dark ages and invest in an EPOS till and fully integrated card machine. This came with a lot of teething problems! It took several weeks to get the right card machine that would pair properly with the till. During that time I was so nervous due to constant payment failures but eventually we got there and now (touch wood) all is working fine – phew!

Despite the hard work, sleepless nights worrying about the budget being blown and whether our risk would pay off, it’s all been very worth it and is proving a great investment. We introduced new stock too from suppliers such as Toasted Crumpet gifts and cards, Hot Tomato jewellery and accessories, Bexy Boo cards, and Joma jewellery. We brought back a large selection of cards by the Great British Card Company and Ling Design, plus Rosie Made a Thing, Caroline Gardner, and Johnny Javelin, to name but a few.

I am most happy with our gorgeous new window; the rustic wooden A-frames, spiral staircase feature and exposed bulb drop rope lighting look amazing. One customer commented that now the darker evenings have set in our window lighting really pops! Another feature I’m extremely happy with is our new logo and shop front fascia signage for Daisy Daisy. I gave my ideas to a lovely local young lady doing a creative degree at Exeter University. Meg designed the perfect logos for us that give great impact and fit with our welcoming theme. As a result of all of this we’ve been really busy at Daisy Daisy, which is wonderful, and we feel very lucky and proud as a small independent business to be thriving next to supermarket and online competition.

With Christmas fast approaching we’ve been trying to figure out how to fit all the usual card and gift stock into our new layout. Somehow, we have managed to make it work – I will need to take photos so I remember how to fit it all in for next year and recall which cards etc I condensed. It’s this time of year we could really do with a bigger shop ha-ha!

I’m hoping I haven’t over-ordered Christmas cards this year after the news that Royal Mail are set to increase first class postage yet again. Last

year was very successful for us despite Royal Mail stamp costs rising, however this is yet another blow to our industry and I’m now hearing so many of our customers saying they’re cutting down on sending greeting cards or stopping all together. It’s so very frustrating as there are so many benefits to

‘‘With Christmas fast approaching we’ve been trying to figure out how to fit all the usual card and gift stock into our new layout’’

sending and receiving cards, however at the same time we do understand the cost implications. We are caught between a rock and a hard place on this and feel that in the future, due to technology and generational differences, Daisy Daisy may need to diversify away from stocking so many greeting cards. Hopefully this won’t happen for us in the near future. We will be promoting the GCA’s Cardmitment campaign again this year.

We have a Christmas event for our local community in early December, run by the village Rotary Club.

Traders, schools, the churches and community all get involved to make it a fun festive evening for children and their families. There will be carol singing, games, crafts, refreshments, a fairground round, snow machine and lots more. Daisy Daisy will be hosting a prize-giving fundraiser by donating a giant Jellycat soft toy. We also offer our shoppers a discounted late opening evening if they come along to support the community event and purchase some fantastic cards and gifts from us.

On that note we wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous Christmas and 2025…

Starting from scratch!

Building new fittings

2025 Exhibition Guide

It’s time to get your diary out and plan ahead for the coming year! Check out our comprehensive listing of trade shows in the UK

JANUARY

The Gift Fair by XpoFairs

When: January 8-February 28 Web: thegiftfair.com

Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair

When: January 12-15

Where: Harrogate Convention Centre, Yorkshire  Web: harrogatefair.com

Top Drawer S/S25

When: January 12-14

Where: Olympia, London  Web: topdrawer.co.uk

Giving & Living

When: January 12-14

Where: Westpoint, Exeter   Web: givingliving.co.uk

Scotland’s Trade Fair Spring

When: January 19-21

Where: SEC, Glasgow  Web: scotlandstradefairs.com

Speciality Food & Drink Show

When: January 19-21

Where: SEC, Glasgow  Web: scotlandstradefairs.com

Toy Fair

When: January 21-23

Where: Olympia, London  Web: toyfair.co.uk

FEBRUARY

Spring Fair

When: February 2-5

Where: NEC, Birmingham  Web: springfair.com

Source Home & Gift

When: February 2-5

Where: NEC, Birmingham Web: source-homeandgift.com

The Source Trade Show

When: February 4-5

Where: Westpoint, Exeter  Web: thesourcetradeshow.co.uk

Scoop International

When: February 9-11

Where: Olympia West, Kensington, London Web: scoop-international.com

INDX Home Show

When: February 18-19

Where: Cranmore Park, Solihull Web: indxshows.co.uk

Source Fashion

When: February 18-20

Where: Olympia, London Web: source-fashion.com

MARCH

The London Book Fair

When: March 11-13

Where: Olympia, London Web: londonbookfair.co.uk

The Creative Craft Show

When: March 13-16

Where: NEC, Birmingham  Web: creativecraftshow.co.uk

Ideal Home Show

When: March 21-April 6

Where: Olympia, London Web: idealhomeshow.co.uk

APRIL

Farm Shop & Deli Show

When: April 7-9

Where: NEC, Birmingham Web: farmshopanddelishow.co.uk Food & Drink Expo

When: April 7-9

Where: NEC, Birmingham Web: foodanddrinkexpo.co.uk

MAY

NOPEX: Natural & Organic

Products Expo

When: May 12-13

Where: ExCeL, London Web: naturalproducts.co.uk

London Stationery Show

When: May 13-14

Where: Business Design Centre, London  Web: stationeryshowlondon.co.uk

Museums + Heritage Show

When: May 14-15

Where: Olympia, London Web: show.museumsandheritage.com

INDX Gift Food Show

When: May 20

Where: Cranmore Park, Solihull Web: indxshows.co.uk

Clerkenwell Design Week

When: May 20-22

Where: Clerkenwell, London Web: clerkenwelldesignweek.com

JUNE

Progressive Greetings Live

When: June 3-4

Where: Business Design Centre, London Web: progressivegreetingslive.co.uk

Exclusively Show

When: June 10-11

Where: Business Design Centre, London  Web: exclusivelyshows.co.uk

JULY

New Designers

When: July 2-12

Where: Business Design Centre, London Web: newdesigners.com

Home & Gift Buyers‘ Festival

When: July 20-23

Where: Harrogate Convention Centre, Kings Road, North Yorkshire  Web: homeandgift.co.uk

AUGUST

The Jewellery Show

When: August 31-September 1

Where: Olympia, London Web: thejewelleryshow.co.uk

SEPTEMBER

INDX Toys Show

When: September 2-3

Where: Cranmore Park, Solihull Web: indxshows.co.uk

Autumn Fair

When: September 7-10

Where: NEC, Birmingham  Web: autumnfair.com

Top Drawer A/W25

When: September 14-16

Where: Olympia, London  Web: topdrawer.co.uk

Glee

When: September 16-18

Where: NEC, Birmingham  Web: gleebirmingham.com

OCTOBER

Brand Licensing Europe

When: October 7-9

Where: ExCeL, London  Web: brandlicensing.eu

Every e ort has been made to ensure that the information is correct at the time of going to press but we recommend that you check details before departure.

Kali Stileman

The girls at Kali Stileman Publishing have new greeting cards and wrap galore. Of their greetings cards, they are delighted to introduce their latest new wordy cards. Cool and colourful occasion cards with shiny letters with a super spotty texture.

The wrapping paper range also has some lovely new additions. Of their evergrowing collection, their current favourites are their new star wrapping papers; glorious gold

foiled starry gift wraps in a choice of two sumptuous colours, coral and eau de nil. This collection is perfect for babies but cool enough for bigger people too.

01305 848899

info@kalistileman.co.uk

www.kalistileman.co.uk

Happy Street Cards

Happy Street announces the launch of its 2025 spring collection, including vibrant new Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Valentine designs. All spring cards can be pre-ordered and delivered to you in early January. Happy Street’s USP is amazingly vivid colour combinations, with cute on-trend icons: from cheeky squirrels and magical little hedgehogs, to chilli peppers and spotty PJs! See them at Top Drawer in January, at stand P80. There’s no minimum order and they can supply the cards both wrapped and naked.

07956680935

natalie@happystreetcards.co.uk www.happystreetcards.co.uk

The Great British Card Company

The Great British Card Company (GBCC) has launched a series of successful stationery collections but say they are itching with excitement over the latest range for 2025, which now includes a comprehensive gift offer.

Already available to pre-order for new year delivery, the designs feature iconic licences including Paper Salad, Cath Kidston and Morris and Co. They’re also thrilled to welcome the new The Botanist Collection; a bright, floral-based print that takes inspiration from the New York Library’s archive.

The latest collection features planners, password books, notebooks, glasses cases and reusable water bottles showcasing a variety of designs. Available from December 2024, it also includes beautiful designs from Penny Kennedy alongside well-known favourites, expanding GBCC’s stationery offer to 100 lines. 01452 888999

hello@greatbitishcards.co.uk

www.greatbritishcards.co.uk

New for 2025

We take a quick sneak peek at what’s coming for 2025 – lots of newness for your shelves, stands and spinners!

The Art File

The Art File is launching a show-stopping selection of cards, gift wrap, stationery and gifts for its Everyday 2025 collection. This new collection features nine new card ranges, 15 extensions to its bestselling card collections and several exciting new stationery and gift lines.

Each of these new collections are inspired by popular themes such as culture, nature, travel, typography and more. One notable collection – Huzzah – features witty medieval designs on die-cut cards, while another collection, Over The Isles, focuses on mesmerising travel scenery.

sales@theartfile.com | www.theartfiletrade.com

Louise Tiler Designs

Louise Tiler Designs has added to its award-winning range Tiny Sparkles with some adorable new animals, and some joyful designs have been introduced to the well-loved ranges Dots and Dashes, Twilight, and Kids Tiny Sparkles.

As the Dot’s and Dashes range has been such a hit, the team has extended this into a female ages range, which also has the eyecatching textured foil finish that can be seen throughout Dot’s and Dashes. You’ll find ages 13 to 18, plus the big milestones up to age 80. Also refreshed are some of the most popular older designs, ones that have really stood the test of time, earning their new name Evergreen.

01535 957878

contact@louisetiler.co.uk | www.louisetiler.com

Michelle Fiedler Design

After the success of the Leopard Love neon pink female birthday range (launched earlier this year at PG Live), Michelle is currently adding more versions and planning new ideas combining this style with age milestones. These cards have been so popular with many wholesale customers and the requests for different relations has created a long list of new designs that Michelle says she can’t wait to get printed! 07941 932515

design@michellefiedler.com www.michellefiedler.com