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Digital Directory Who’s who in the greetings industry
WHO’S WHO IN THE GREETINGS INDUSTRY
The team Managing Director Nick Carey
About
Abacus Cards are leading UK greetings card publishers, supplying retailers direct throughout the Great Britain as well as exporting around the world through a network of overseas distributors. We pride ourselves on offering an imaginative and diverse range of greetings cards, manufactured to the very highest quality. The business was founded in 1991 by Jeff Fothergill and Brian Carey, owners of the respected seed company Mr Fothergill’s Seeds then, in 2008, Abacus purchased the art-led greetings card publishers Clare Maddicott Publications. Between the two brands, we now supply more than 3,000 retailers in the UK alone – and we are approved suppliers to the leading independent retailers’ buying group Cardgains. Our impressive portfolio of more than 1,400 designs, created by our in-house Suffolk-based studio and army of freelance artists, illustrators and photographers, provides a comprehensive collection to cater for every occasion and satisfy even the most discerning of card lovers. The regular introduction of new designs and ranges ensures that the Abacus collection always has a fresh look and we’ve latterly partnered with the BBC to work with Springwatch, Countryfile and Gardeners’ World. These brands give even greater depth and uniqueness to our portfolio. But, not only do we offer a fantastic range of product, we also make it our mission to offer great service too. We have a nationwide team of territory sales managers who are happy to visit and take trade orders in person. Creating beautiful products does not have to be at the expense of the planet that’s why we at Abacus Cards take our responsibility to the environment very seriously and are actively working towards ensuring all of our products are of the highest evironmental integrity as possible. We also ensure everything is designed and printed in the UK, reducing the environmental cost of importing goods from overseas. Our mission is to be the most stylish and creative greetings company, to be the card publishers of choice for the retail buyer, and to have products and service that exceed our customers’ expectations.
Contact T: 01638 445396 E: info@abacuscards.co.uk W: www.abacuscards.co.uk Brought to you by www.greetingstoday.co.uk
@AbacusCards @AbacusCards @abacuscards @abacus-cards-ltd
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WHO’S WHO IN THE GREETINGS INDUSTRY
The team Managing Director Ged Mace Art Director Karen Mace Sales & Marketing Manager James Mace (pictured)
About
The Art File are a multi award-winning family-operated publishing company based in Nottingham, UK. We specialise in the design, production and supply of high-quality, unique and original greetings cards, stationery and gift packaging to retailers across the world. The Art File’s portfolio consists of home-grown collections from our in-house design team, each of whom specialise in different styles and techniques. This, along with bringing in licences and work from talented freelance designers, gives our portfolio a diverse and forward-thinking look and feel, with a proven commercial edge for even the most discerning of retailers. At The Art File, we believe passionately that we should produce as many of our products in the UK as we are able to. We use the finest materials and the latest printing techniques available to create beautiful cards and stationery which have a true quality and uniqueness to them, and we use FSC-accredited board for all of our products. The Art File offer a full Everyday, Spring Seasons and Christmas collection to our retailers, with more than 300 brand-new designs added every year, giving customers a fantastic platform to keep their offerings fresh and current in their stores. The Art File have a dedicated team of sales agents across the country, as well as an experienced distribution network spanning more than 35 countries across the world – we are proud winners of the 2017 Queen’s Award For International Trade. Dealing with The Art File is easy, and there are a number of ways to do so: • • • •
Via our online trade website at www.theartfile.com. Through our office-based account managers, who can be contacted anytime through email on sales@theartfile.com or via phone on 0115 850 7490, and bochures can be requested the same way. The Art File exhibit at several trade shows throughout the year, see www.theartfile.com/exhibitiondates for more information. There is also a dedicated team of sales agents covering the whole of the UK, for more details on your local agent, give the team a call on 0115 850 7490 and they’ll be happy to help.
And you can keep up to date with The Art File through our website www.theartfile.com as well as through social media.
Contact T: 0115 850 7490 E: sales@theartfile.com W: www.theartfile.com Brought to you by www.greetingstoday.co.uk
@theartfileofficial @TheArtFile @theartfileofficial @TheArtFileLimited
INTO THE BLUE One of the beautiful new Everyday wrap and bag collections to be launched in December for 2019
W W W.T H E A R T F I L E . C O M THE ART FILE
@THEARTFILE
@THEARTFILEOFFICIAL
WHO’S WHO IN THE GREETINGS INDUSTRY
The team Sales manager Jason Bergdahl Sales Jo Fullarton
About HOT FOILED BAGS
We are specialist manufacturers of polypropylene and biodegradable film greetings card and gift bags. Based in Manningtree, Essex, we’ve been established within the industry for more than 40 years, offering self-seal, flush top, wallet-style and hot-foil film bags. Our success has been based on producing bags of consistently high quality and accurate sizes, while realising the importance of excellent service to our customers. Our dedicated and knowledgeable team provide friendly, expert advice with a fast and efficient service from our UK manufacturing base, with quotes and product samples readily available. • Self-seal film bags – these are our most popular type of bag which will really enhance your product and are by far the easiest way to pack a greetings card and envelope. They can be supplied in either 30 or 40 micron high-clarity polypropylene. • Flush-top film bags – basically a bag without a lip, these are the simplest style for fast and efficient packing. If you’re wrapping a small gift, the top of the bag can be scrunched together and tied with a ribbon, or packs of greetings cards, gift tags or invitations can have a header card stapled at the top as a closure. They can be supplied in either 30 or 40 micron high-clarity polypropylene. • Wallet-style film bags – these allow greetings cards to be packed in an open format so the inside message or verse can be read easily while the front of the card and envelope are kept protected. Working with the design and layout of the text, pocket size can be varied to give the optimum fit. • Biodegradeable/compostable film bags – these are made using 30 micron PLA film which comes from annually-renewable corn and other sugar starches, and can be supplied with or without a self-seal lip. The film is certified with the European standard EN13432 and the “OK biobased ****” conformity mark, and biodegrades completely into CO2, water and biomass (organic matter used as a fuel) under industrial composting conditions (six months at 58°C). It can also be incinerated or put in some landfills. • Hot-foil branding – if you’d like your bags branded, we create brass dies from your artwork which allow us to hot foil a logo or line of text such as “blank inside” on to the bags. Popular colours are gold, silver or black – although we can source almost any shade requested.
Contact T: 01206 396209 E: sales@badgerconverters.co.uk W: www.badgerconverters.co.uk Brought to you by www.greetingstoday.co.uk
WHO’S WHO IN THE GREETINGS INDUSTRY
The team Creative Jo Wilson (pictured)
Marketing & Admin Jess Greaves Order Processing Ellen Broughton Security Ted the dog
About
At Dandelion everyone gets involved, nobody gets a free ride. Inspiration, design, printing, hand-finishing, packaging, distribution – there’s always a job to be done. When it comes to making cards, we like to do most things in-house and very little is outsourced. We are quite possibly control freaks but it works for us. We like snacks in the office. We have a free fruit bowl, though it’s nowhere near as popular as the biscuits sneaked in – usually by Sam and his sweet tooth! We drink LOTS of tea, and the occasional posh coffee when Paul tests out his barista skills on the coffee machine. We like nights out. We try to behave sensibly but sometimes the cocktails get the better of us. There have been occasions where press-ups have been done on the dance floor, break dancing back-spins have been attempted and one instance of a drunken head being shaved. As far as greetings cards are concerned, we can be quite fussy. We only buy the best materials and we like to work with nice people. We only buy envelopes which are either recycled or made from FSC paper. We love working with G.F Smith and their vast array of luxury board. Most of the board we use comes from a paper mill in the UK’s Lake District and the rest comes from a fabulous mill in Munkedal, Sweden, which is one of the most efficient and environmentally-friendly paper mills in the world. Approximately 90 per cent of our products are printed in-house by our sister company Melbourne Print, with whom we share an office in Derbyshire. They have some super snazzy printing equipment. Many of our cards are hand finished with subtle sparkles – we have a super group of local ladies (and one gentleman) who do this for us. In 2016 we won a Henries Award for our card designs – as well as also reaching the finals in 2014, 2015 and 2017. To say we were delighted with our award was an understatement! It has pride of place in the office and is frequently stroked as we walk past it.
Contact
T: 01332 695358 E: info@dandelionstationery.co.uk w: www.dandelionstationery.co.uk Brought to you by www.greetingstoday.co.uk
@dandelionstationery @DandelionCards @dandelion_cards
WHO’S WHO IN THE GREETINGS INDUSTRY
The team
Co-Founder – Anna Nelson (pictured) Co-Founder – Filippa Whitford Business Manager – Troy Nelson (pictured)
About
After 10 years, here at Rosanna Rossi we’re still doing what we do best, painting and designing beautiful greetings cards to mark all the occasions everyone loves to celebrate, and we’re all set with creative ideas for the next decade. A love of design is what keeps us going and painting and sketching are still the lifeblood of the company a decade after former textile designer Anna and her mum Filippa, an illustrator with 20 years’ experience in the greetings industry, set up the business. The simple fact is that we just love designing, we find ourselves continuously painting and sketching. It’s pretty much our life! We both love beautiful illustrations with a touch of sophistication, which has always been our ethos, and we’re constantly finding new inspiration. Having filled our sketch books with ideas, we pin the ones we want to take forward on to the constantly-evolving collection storyboard which is covered with inspiring visuals, fabric snippets, colour swatches and scribbly sketches. And it’s a truly family affair with the company name a play on Anna and her sister Rosalba’s names along with their mother’s Italian maiden name Rossi, plus Anna’s husband Troy is now an integral part of the company where he homes in on the business side. We’re big believers that we wouldn’t have hit a decade in business without the fantastic support from our suppliers who allow us to bring to life our creative ideas and designs – however crazy they sometimes seem! It’s always been a team effort and we have a whole family of people who we rely on, from our printers, die manufacturers, and envelope suppliers through to our warehousing company. After all, the business is only as good as those you surround yourself with. The other key factor is all of our wonderful team of agents who sell to our retailers which we are grateful for all their support. Along the way these people have become great friends including our fantastic international distributors. From our first collections through to the latest Kirra, Enamel Rose, and male range Debonair, we’re brimming with creative ideas here at Rosanna Rossi and all ready for the next 10 years of crazy busy but fun times.
Contact T: 07900 698522 E: info@rosanna-rossi.co.uk W: www.rosanna-rossi.co.uk Brought to you by www.greetingstoday.co.uk
@RosannaRossiLtd @RosannaRossi @rosannarossidesigns
WHO’S WHO IN THE GREETINGS INDUSTRY
The team Director Joanne Davis Director Richard Todd
About
Let’s talk envelopes – brother and sister Richard and Joanne started their life in envelopes on the shop floor, working in their parents’ business, so they really do know the industry inside out. When asked how long they have been in the business they both replied “a lot longer than either of us will admit”! This gives them a wealth of experience which they share with all their customers and the team at UK Envelope Centre. The company are specialist greetings card envelope manufacturers, and have the capacity to produce in excess of five million envelopes per week from the factory, based in West Yorkshire. Due to continuous investment, capacity is set to increase further during 2019. They are able to produce a size range of 70x100mm – 190x290mm (100x100mm – 190x190mm) both straight flap or banker greetings card style. They can offer both litho and flexo-printed envelopes from customers’ own artwork or pre-printed sheets supplied. In addition they can emboss and/or foil envelopes. Richard and his team of engineers are known to be among the best in the industry. They are able to carry out the majority of machine maintenance in house, which ensures the machines are kept in top notch condition. Joanne and her customer service team head up the sales, purchasing and planning sections of the business. So when a customer is promised something, the team know it’s down to them to make it happen – Joanne is always happy to talk envelopes! It is very important to everyone at UK Envelope Centre that each and every customer receives the best quality of product and highest level of service possible at all times. No request is too small or too large!
Contact T: 01274 581327 E: sales@ukenvelopecentre.co.uk W: www.ukenvelopecentre.co.uk Brought to you by www.greetingstoday.co.uk
@UKenvelopes @ukenvelope @uk-envelopecentre-limited