Progressive Calendars 2021

2021

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Danilo is committed to making all of its products fully recyclable All designs are subject to approval and change

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Top-selling calendar brands from

Andrews McMeel Publishing now available in the UK & Ireland from FLAME TREE PUBLISHING

See them online at:

flametreepublishing.com/catalogues For details of your local agent please email: jordi@flametreepublishing.com

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CALENDARS: NEWS

READ IT HERE FIRST

Flame Tree To Distribute Andrews McMeel Publishing

Partnership doubles Flame Tree’s portfolio Flame Tree Publishing - best known for its art related calendars has just doubled the size of its calendar and diary portfolio through a landmark deal with leading American publisher Andrews McMeel Publishing (AMP). Flame Tree has become the distributor of AMP’s calendar and diary products in UK and Ireland starting with the 2022 dated titles.

This new partnership has come about as a result of BrownTrout UK, AMP’s former distributor, deciding to cease trading last year.

The deal also includes calendars published under the Universe Publishing and Abrams brands.

“It’s a fabulous opportunity to work with the super-professional team at AMP and bring our customers a very wide range of new and on-trend brands,” enthuses Frances Bodiam, md of Flame Tree Publishing.

Nick Wells, founder and publisher of Flame Tree Publishing added: “Their range of day-to-day and wall calendars particularly complements our own publishing and allows us to provide a much wider offer to the many sectors of the market. We value the new partnership with AMP, and are glad to welcome a fellow client of Simon and Schuster who distributes us both in the US.” Andrews McMeel (with Universe and Abrams calendars) has a strong reputation as a calendar and diary publisher featuring popular culture, savvy humour and leading licences.

The catalogue includes properties such as Thomas Kinkade, Disney Kinkade, The Far Side, Dilbert, Peanuts and Bob Ross.

Top: Frances Bodiam, (centre), md of Flame Tree, is shown with her team at The Calies in 2019.

Above and above middle: Peanuts and Bob Ross, two new 2022 titles from Andrews McMeel that will be distributed by Flame Tree.

Left: Moomin, among the new 2022 wall calendar titles from Flame Tree.

Progressive Calendars is published by Max Publishing Ltd, publisher of Progressive Greetings Worldwide and Progressive Gifts & Home. It is distributed with the February edition of Progressive Greetings Worldwide.

Editor in Chief: Jakki Brown (jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk); Advertisement Director: Warren Lomax (warren@max-publishing.co.uk);

Editorial: Sue Marks: (suem@max-publishing.co.uk) Max Publishing Ltd, United House, North Road, London, N7 9DP www.max-publishing.co.uk Tel: 020 7700 6740.

Home of The Henries, The Retas and Progressive Greetings Live. Copyright: 2021

Under one brand As part of the Neumann Group, teNeues has confirmed that all of the company’s calendar and diary brands are now operating together under Neumann Verlage. “This means that alongside the teNeues programme, we are now able to offer a range of international products from Dumont, Alpha Edition, Palazzi and Zettler,” confirms teNeues’ sales and Above: Jungle from the teNeues eco-friendly GreenLine range. marketing manager Claire Trigger.

For 2022, teNeues has further expanded its art calendar range, with new titles showcasing the works of Cézanne and Munch. “We are also introducing new diary collaborations with Rocket 68 - the designers behind our Calies finalist London Calling calendar - which showcase bird designs from the publisher’s retro Wilderness range, as well as working with Shepperton Design Studios, with whom we have produced two Original Stormtrooper diaries.”

With the environment at the forefront of consumers’ decisions, the company’s GreenLine range includes a selection of calendars and diaries Floral, Green Vibes, Happy Vibes and Jungle - tied with decorative cord (instead of shrinkwrap), printed on FSC certified paper with soy-based inks.

Artful signings for Pyramid Pyramid International’s range of calendars will expand in 2021 to include an exciting collection from new licences including Ilustrata and the Eastern-inspired art of Vincent Trinidad. For the first time, the range will also include a collection of Disney, Marvel and Star Wars properties, including retro Marvel Comics, Mickey & Minnie Mouse and The Mandalorian to name just a few.

Alongside these new additions, there will also be a return of calendars from Pyramid’s most popular licences such as Mario, Zelda, Moto GP, James Bond, Bob Marley and AC/DC along with many others.

To complement this collection of calendars, Pyramid will also be offering a range of diaries across hugely popular licences such as Friends, Harry Potter and Stranger Things.

Above: The new official Marvel 2022 calendar from Pyramid.

The Carousel ride Despite the effects of the pandemic, Carousel Calendars’ portfolio is 1,400 products strong - almost a record amount for the company - representing a total of over 6,100,000 units to its customers.

“Unsurprisingly, we’ve saw a strong sell though in out of town retailers, garden centres and grocers, as many of these were the shops that stayed open all through lockdown,” commented md Steve Plackett. “Sales to our customers with Ecommerce businesses were also very strong, as people’s shopping habits have understandably moved online to an even greater degree this year. One surprise for us, however, was that export sales were slightly up on last year - it was a trend we hoped for but didn’t expect in such a tempestuous year.”

Above and left: Among the new calendar titles from Carousel Calendars for 2022.

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CALENDARS: NEWS

Calendar Industry ‘Ambassador’ Retires Nigel Green fills up his own calendar Having worked in the calendar industry for over four decades, Nigel Green, the founder and managing director of Eight Days A Week - a unique print management company specialising in calendar production - announced his retirement at the end of December.

Above: Nigel Green has Over the past 18 years, his retired after 50 years in the calendars industry. company has helped the calendar industry flourish, keeping production in the UK which would otherwise have gone to the Far East. Along with print partner Alltrade Printers, well over 50m calendars have been produced, “far more than I ever envisaged,” admits Nigel.

So why the decision to retire? “I reached the grand old age of 70 last November and while I absolutely love what I do, I need to start looking to the next 10-15 years of my life and what I’m going to do with it,” Nigel told Progressive Calendars.

“What I don’t intend doing is nothing! I play tennis, racquetball and I fly - I hold a PPL (Private Pilots Licence) - and have a share of a Cessna 152 light aircraft. I’m also planning to go to university as I’m a firm believer in ‘you’re never too old to learn’ and I need to keep mentally fit as well as physically.”

As for ongoing calendar production, Nigel will be assisting Alltrade, handing over his clients until the end of Eight Days A Weeks’ financial year on March 31. “I’ve been advised not to close the business entirely so I will keep it on, probably for another three years or so,” Nigel confirmed.

Reflecting on what he will miss most about the industry, he says that, without doubt, it will be the people. “It’s people who make the difference in business, so I shall be keeping in touch with some of my clients, as we’ve become friends over the years and that means a lot to me.”

Nigel’s career highlights Nigel Green’s many stand-out memories range from his early days with Bemrose in Derby, to his time with the now defunct Stanley Press in Dewsbury.

“But I suppose the day I formed Eight Days a Week has to be the most memorable,” says Nigel. “Suddenly I was on my own and I was going to have live or die by my own decisions. Scary but exciting at the same time!”

He continues: “And, of course, I shall always remember the night I received The Calies Calendar Ambassador Award in 2019. Completely out of the blue, I was extremely humbled and grateful to everyone involved in this wonderful world of calendars that has been so good to me during the last 40+ years or so.”

Above: Nigel Green (centre), received the Ambassador’s award at The Calies in 2019 from Warren Lomax, joint md of Max Publishing, organisers of the event. Comedian Stuart Goldsmith is on his left.

We are the champions Crowning a brilliant year for Liverpool FC, which saw the club win the prestigious Premier League trophy in 2020, the good news continued on the calendar front!

The club, which received the team award at the Sports Personality of the Year Awards last December, held onto the top spot in Danilo’s official, annual ‘Top Ten’ calendar chart, based on the sales of the 2021 titles.

The full top ten (with the previous year’s position in brackets) is shown below: 1. Liverpool FC (1) 2. Sir Cliff Richard (8) 3. Manchester United (6) 4. Friends (4) 5. The Mandalorian (New Entry) 6. Tottenham Hotspur (New Entry) 7. Stranger Things (2) 8. Little Mix (10) 9. RHS (New Entry) 10. Kelly Brook (New Entry) There was also a huge ‘congratulations’ for Sir Cliff Richard, who showed he could still ‘move it’ at 80 years young. The Peter Pan of pop jumped up six places to take the No. 2 spot.

Top: The Liverpool FC officially licensed calendar took the number one slot again this year in the Danilo league table.

Right: No. 2 in Danilo’s Top Ten was Cliff Richard.

Ones to watch from Danilo Danilo has revealed a myriad of new licensed titles for 2022, to include a brand new range of Stranger Things; a new Friends calendar and diary formats, including personalised, and an array of Peaky Blinders calendars and diaries tying in with season six, most likely airing in 2022.

“We will also see a whole host of movies next year, which were pushed back from 2021,” says Danilo’s marketing manager Claire Bates. They include: Minions 2: The Rise of Gru, with Danilo launching an official 2022 calendar and diary range, and Space Jam A New Legacy.

“With Bugs Bunny’s 80th anniversary in 2020 and the new Jam Movie next year, we are creating a new Looney Tunes greeting card and calendar range which will feature favourite characters and captions,” adds Claire.

Other new launches include official calendars to tie-in with Paw Patrol.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Right: One of the Abacus calendar titles.

l Abacus has launched into the calendar market with an inaugural collection of four titles. Three of these are photographic - Dogs, Countryside and Posies & Petals - while the Azalea title features illustrations. The slim designs are fitted with wiro binding, packaged in a printed plastic-free cardboard outer wallet for added protection. l A new sales team has been appointed for Pomegranate Europe, with a new catalogue recently released. “The titles and the covers for 2022 are very strong, and in addition to the regular favourites, there’s a great range of new titles,” confirms sales director Michael Owen. Visit www.penpapergift.com l For Renz, a leading manufacturer in the punching and binding industry, 2020 was one of the company’s best years in terms of sales into the calendar production market. “The digital market is getting bigger each year and big brands like Funky Pigeon, Photobox and CEWE are producing on our wire binding systems, using Renz manufactured wire,” says sales manager Dermot Callaghan.

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Stock and exclusive ranges, managed programmes, displays, advice and sales support from the industry experts.

To find out more, contact the Otter House sales team: phone 01392 824 300 email sales@gbcc.co.uk

All these and more are part of our PFP range

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR WORK IN REDUCING PL ASTIC AND OUR DRIVE TO BE A CARBON NEUTR AL COMPANY – SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS ON ‘WHAT WE CARE ABOUT’

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WITH A RANGE OF AROUND 250 REGIONAL TITLES covering the UK and Ireland in a variety of popular formats, we are able to offer a comprehensive regional calendar display for most areas. A4 is currently the best-selling format and we have a wide selection of counties and cities available. Most calendars in our regional section come with enclosed postage envelopes.

Managed programmes, displays, advice and sales support from the industry experts

Please note: Product covers subject to licensor’s approval

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CALENDARS: TAKE 3 RETAILERS

SHOPPING AROUND The closure of non-essential retailers in the run-up to Christmas and post Christmas meant that Advents, calendars and diaries were among the seasonal product sectors that inevitably took a retail hit on the bricks and mortar scene, but sales were still secured and consumer tastes tracked.

Progressive Calendars made a date with a trio of retailers to find out more.

Calendar Club Calendar Club’s ‘pop up’ temporary retail outlets are a familiar sight in shopping malls in the UK and Ireland each year, but in 2020, with all non-essential retailers being forced to close from November 5 – December 2, and then again from December 20 or December 26, depending on the tier system, it was a scenario that no-one wanted.

“Stores closed at different points across England, Scotland and Wales throughout our peak season,” commented Natalie Taylor, marketing manager for Calendar Club. “It began with the Wales firebreak on Friday October 23, then England in lockdown for November, and a missed Black Friday weekend in stores. Subsequently, all nonessential retail stores were closed from Boxing Day, so store sales were severely disrupted.”

Above: One of 182 Calendar Club retail outlets. (Shown is Banbury).

Right: Danilo’s Cliff Richard outsold Elvis Presley in diaries, although Elvis beat Cliff in calendar sales.

Below left: Calendar Club’s best selling Advent was a traditional nativity scene, featuring Bible text and images, from Caltime by Woodmansterne.

Below right: A Calendar Club exclusive - Harry Style Tribute was the retailer’s best selling new calendar.

However, on the upside, Natalie confirmed that Calendar Club saw an increase in ecommerce traffic, with unprecedented growth online throughout the season, “not only during lockdown,” she pointed out, “as many customers were shielding or not wishing to shop in-store so moved online. In fact, online sales were stronger year on year from March, boosted by sales of hand sanitiser and jigsaw puzzles.”

So, what were the most popular calendar titles in 2020? “Places 1, 2, 3 and 8 of the Top 10 were all taken by football teams, although that isn’t unusual,” continues Natalie. “However, in the top three positions, Liverpool FC was our best seller for the third year in a row (2019, 2020, 2021 cover dates). Elvis Presley was in 4th position, and Cliff Richard in 7th position, with both proving their staying power. For the second year in a row, Friends also made it into the Top 10 in 10th position,” added Natalie.

The most notable new calendar was the Harry Styles Tribute Calendar (a Calendar Club exclusive) reaching number 19 (Harry released his second studio album, Fine Line, in December 2019).

Unsurprisingly, Advent sales were hampered by the lockdown in November, the

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key selling period for this range. “The bestseller across stores and online was a traditional nativity scene [from Caltime from Woodmansterne],” Natalie confirmed. “But with supermarkets, garden centres and stores such as The Range still trading during the lockdown period, customers had opportunities to pick up an Advent calendar elsewhere,” pointed out Natalie.

On the diary front, although Elvis Presley pipped Cliff Richard at the post for calendar sales, it was the reverse in diary sales, with Calendar Club’s bestselling diary

the Cliff Richard Slim diary, followed by the Elvis Slim diary.

In addition, there were three Winnie the Pooh diaries in the Diary Top 10 - Winnie the Pooh Slim Diary (in 4th position), Eeyore Slim Diary (in 5th position) and the Winnie the Pooh A5 Engagement Diary (in 7th position).

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CALENDARS: TAKE 3 RETAILERS

John Lewis & Partners

Blue Planet 2, RHS, National Trust and National Geographic.”

However, the effects of the pandemic could be felt in the store’s diary category. “We saw a decline in our business diaries which we believe is due to the significant shift to home working and companies using technology more than ever,” Bethany highlighted.

At John Lews & Partners, Bethany Adams, assistant buyer - stationery & partyware, confirmed that the best selling calendar titles for the season were the Emma Bridgewater Family Planner Calendar; Emma Bridgewater Rise & Shine Slim Calendar (from Carousel Calendars); Busy B Contemporary Family Calendar; Busy B Week To View Family Calendar - “a new design for AW20 which did exceptionally well,” says Bethany - and Busy B Birds Large Family Calendar.

“We also introduced Seedlings which makes beautiful handmade calendars with

Left: A new and successful calendar brand for John Lewis & Partners in 2020 was Seedlings, which quickly sold out.

Far left: One of the 2022 Emma Bridgewater titles from Carousel Calendars.

Below: John Lewis & Partners.

monthly seed packets and a strong message around wellbeing and caring for natural habitats,” Bethany continued. “The two calendars we had in the range sold so well that we were sold out by the end of November!”

Bethany revealed that John Lewis’ sales of photography calendars “were up 11% vs last year, and within this, the best sellers were

Independent Insight: House Of Cards, South of England For independent card and gift multiple House of Cards, (which has six stores in the south of England), although the range of calendars and diaries stocked by the shops has been reduced over the past few years, they nevertheless continued to ring up sales.

“We concentrate on three suppliers - M&G, Carousel Calendars and Wrendale Designs,” confirmed co-owner Nigel Williamson. “Sales of calendars in our shops were OK considering that we were shut in November, and that four stores went into tier 4 during Christmas week so had to close again.”

He continued: “We normally do well with calendars in January, but because of the latest restrictions we moved all our store stock to online.”

Among the best sellers have been calendars and diaries from Wrendale Designs

by Hannah Dale.

“They always do very well, with the pocket diary the most popular in our shops. The family calendar format is always popular too, with columns enabling each member of the household to have their activities written up.”

Nigel predicts that order values will be similar to those that were placed last year, adding: “however, we hope to have a smoother trading year this year, without restrictions.”

Left: Nigel Williamson (right) with his business partner Miles Robinson inside House of Cards’ Wallingford store.

Above: Wrendale Designs 2022 The Country Set pocket diary.

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CALENDARS: WHAT’S TRENDING

PROTECTING THE PLANET

Plastic-free continues to be one of the most important trends in the calendar world, along with an increased interest in calendars linked to the major charities.

Meanwhile, calendar formats are continuing to evolve, while subject matter is linking in with pandemic related trends, especially those linked to nature and mindfulness.

Sustainability is continuing as a major focus for many companies across all industries, but as Daniel Prince, md of Danilo points out: “within the calendar and licensing industry, there have been big steps taken to understand our environmental impact and explore ways to be more sustainable. At Danilo, sustainability is one of our main strategic pillars and while we are pleased with what we have achieved over the last few years in relation to reducing plastic and increasing recycling, there is more that we can do to achieve our objective of being ‘climate positive’ by 2024.”

One of the company’s favourite initiatives has been its tree-planting partnership with

Ecologi. “For every £5 spent on our website www.danilo.com, we plant a tree,” explains Daniel. “We are delighted that we have now planted over 25,000 trees since the campaign first started in September 2020.”

As featured in full in the January edition of Progressive Greetings, Carousel Calendars has made huge progress on the environmental front, both on the product front as well as on Left: As well as making changes to its product design, Danilo has committed to a tree planting partnership with Ecologi.

Right: The National Trust Family Organiser performed exceptionally well for Carousel.

Below: Carousel Calendars’ top selling charity calendars included the National Geographic.

the group’s running. As md Steve Plackett highlights, the company has seen a clear growth in its plastic-free titles. For 2021, there is an increased range of wall and slim calendars in plastic-free packaging, with plastic removed entirely from the company’s desk box calendars.

“We’re very pleased that the enthusiasm for this has been picked up by retailers and the end customers alike,” Steve emphasises.

Last year, Carousel Calendars also made several changes to the company’s 2021 dated top selling titles. “We certainly saw a lot more of the charities in our top selling list, where there was massive demand,” confirmed Steve.

Formats: What’s Trending Danilo will be continuing to offer a myriad of different calendar styles. These include an oversized landscape format, with wiro binding, featuring an attractive wall art calendar showing striking, panoramic imagery from the popular BBC Earth series. The calendar features sustainable packaging to minimise the use of plastic.

Also new will be the Deluxe Calendar, an A3 calendar printed on premium paper with a resealable envelope. Danilo highlights that a key advantage of this calendar is that the pages are perforated so that each image can be removed easily and framed as a piece of wall art.

Meanwhile, the principle behind the Gift Box Set is its value-added price point. The collector’s box set comes with a wall calendar, diary and branded pen in a keepsake box, with appeal to superfans. “Our football gift box sets also have a light sensor in the lids, which, when activated, play the renowned anthem for the club,” points out Danilo’s marketing manager Claire Bates.

Other new formats include a Magic Cube calendar which reveals a different image and monthly date panel with every twist and turn; My First Calendar, which encourages young children to learn about the days of the Above: Danilo’s Marvel Comics Magic Cube week, months of the year, the weather and seasons. As well as a vibrant, colourful design, there are also fun activities for calendar. youngsters to complete. ”As it’s non-dated it can be used all year round,” Claire highlights.

Also new for 2022 is an A4 landscape calendar which is wiro bound. “It makes it easier to hang and requires less wall space than the A3 calendar,” explains Claire. The calendar has a week-to-view format and five columns for separate members of the family.

Plus, desk pads offer a handy pad to scribble, doodle or plan a weekly to-do list, with enough tear-off pages to cover a full year.

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CALENDARS: WHAT’S TRENDING “The National Trust performed exceptionally well, particularly the Coast and Countryside Slim and the Week to View Family Organiser with illustrations by Rebecca McCullough.”

Other charities among the company’s top 25 titles included the RSPCA, RSPB, National Geographic, Help for Heroes, Kew and WWF. “With the year we have had, we expect this trend and demand for charity titles to continue, especially with their link to plastic free packaging,” states Steve.

A further trend the company has observed is for its own developed week to view organiser. “Last year saw even more demand for this format and weekly grid, with plenty of space for the whole family,” says Steve. “It’s a range we are constantly adding to, on top of Emma Bridgewater, National Trust, Madeleine Floyd, Tottering by Gently, Organised Family and, new for 2022, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home.

“Emma Bridgewater and National Trust were particularly popular, due to their plastic free packaging, which links incredibly well to both brands.”

Among The Hottest Trends... l Streaming: The popularity of exclusive TV series such as Stranger Things, YouTube content such as Baby Shark, and even exclusive football matches on Amazon Prime, all demonstrate how streaming platforms are leading the way for showcasing the successful brands of the future. This year has also seen some of the major movie releases heading to streaming platforms such as Trolls, Mulan and Wonder Woman 1984. l Anime: partly due to the popularity of the internet and streaming services, such as Netflix, the popularity for anime and its comic strip counterpart, manga, has grown considerably in the UK and the West. For 2022, Danilo will have an array of titles for 2022 to include Naruto, Dragon Ball Z, Pokémon, Tokyo Ghoul as well as a new addition, Hunter X. l Gaming and Esports: The gaming culture is now firmly entrenched in the mainstream, and it continues to grow and expand rapidly, with an estimated 2.6bn gamers worldwide by the end of 2020. Additionally, Esports are becoming increasingly like traditional sports, with multimillion-dollar brand sponsorship deals and player contracts. Events are watched live by millions of fans around the world, at stadium-sized venues, and on streaming platforms such as Twitch. Included in Danilo’s selection of gaming titles are Fortnite, Cyberpunk, Assassin’s Creed, Dungeons & Dragons, Minecraft and more.

Above: Cyberpunk 16 month calendar from Danilo.

(Source: Danilo)

Connecting With Nature

Diaries Re-imagined

Nature and mindfulness have been key trends during the pandemic, with many people able to slow down and re-connect with nature.

“Demand for our wildlife-themed calendars was higher than ever before,” confirms Sarah-jayne Mercer, founder of Seedlings. “From our perspective, opportunities for small and artisan businesses with a story behind their products have increased. We have found that our customers are looking for design and products with heart, whether they give back to the environment, benefit initiatives or simply help provide sustainable lives for the people who make them. It would seem that customers are becoming wiser about where and what they spend on.

Sarah-jayne says that on the calendar front, this may be something to provide a lasting pick me up throughout the uncertain months ahead. “With our calendars, the simple act of planting seeds each month offers this. The sowing and nurturing of the seeds will not only benefit wildlife but will help develop a mindful routine which has been proven to encourage a positive mindset.

“Our new ‘Mindfulness’ seed calendar greets each month with a packet of seeds to sow and an inspirational quote. For this calendar, we have chosen flowers which not only attract wildlife but will work beautifully when pressed or dried, so people can continue to benefit from their blooms for years to come.”

Diaries have been a key area of growth for Carousel Calendars, with the company bringing more structure to the range to help key partners.

“Our Deluxe Cased and Deluxe Wiro diaries offer exceptional finishes across many familiar brands including Emma Bridgewater, National Geographic, Kew, National Trust, WWF, Country Living and Sarah Raven,” comments md Steve Plackett.

The other key area of diary development for Carousel has been the company’s A6 range.

“We can see that there is real demand for great A6 licensed products at competitive prices. We have therefore expanded this format to include the likes of Guess How Much I Love You, Pabuku, Emma Bridgewater, National Trust, Matt Sewell, Kew and RSPB and know these will be a huge success.”

Above: Seedlings calendars give back to the environment. (Shown is the Bird calendar).

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Above and left: Two new diaries from Carousel Calendars, a Aisla RNLI A5 diary, and a House of Turnowsky Deluxe diary.

The GreATesT COLLeCTiOn OF GreeTinG CArDs in The WOrLD

“PG Live is our favourite trade show, so we are absolutely delighted that moving to the end of July this year gives it a real chance that it can go ahead – and we all so want that.

That extra seven weeks will make all the difference.

We can’t wait!”

Karen Wilson, co-owner, Paper Salad

The FuTure OF GreeTinGs Last few stands remaininG www.progressivegreetingslive.com

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PG Live 2021 Tuesday 27 - Wednesday 28 July Business Design Centre, London +44 (0) 1635 297070 www.progressivegreetingslive.com @PGLiveLondon #PGL2021

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CALENDARS: NEW PRODUCTS

A CORNUCOPIA From sport to art, calendar and diary subjects continue to span a wide spectrum of themes.

Flora and Fauna House of Turnowsky features wonderful fine art, where we have looked to focus on its nature, floral and botanical themes which are doing so well at the moment and bringing lots of lovely colour.

Carousel Calendars 01392 826482

Female Charm Rugby Fans Unite With their South-African tour planned for 2021, Danilo is excited to be publishing, for the first time, the official calendar for The British & Irish Lions Rugby Union team. The calendar will feature colourful imagery of key players who have been selected to wear the Lions jersey during the 2021 tour. Also new from Danilo is Call The Midwife, which has been added to the entertainment section of Danilo’s calendar portfolio.

Danilo 01992 702900

Museums & Galleries’ fine art calendars for 2022 include a strong group of women artists - from Mary Delany’s 18th-century floral collages from the British Museum through to two contemporary women artists: revered printmaker Annie Soudain and Lucy Grossmith, known for capturing the beauty of the UK’s landscapes, flora and fauna, in her own charming style.

Museums & Galleries 01373 462165

Art Deco Tamara de Lempicka is one of the most celebrated and recognisable female Art Deco painters in the world. Her distinctive and bold artistic style epitomised the cool yet sensual side of the Art Deco movement. This new calendar from Flame Tree features a number of her famous works, including Auto-Portrait (Tamara in the Green Bugatti) and Young Lady with Gloves.

Flame Tree Publishing 020 7751 9650

For Fashionistas Norman Parkinson (1913–90) was one of the 20th century’s most celebrated fashion photographers. Working for an array of publications, Parkinson photographed some of the most famous people and brands in the world.

This stylish calendar showcases his incredible work with 12 colour photographs.

Flame Tree Publishing 020 7751 9650

Craning To See Museum & Galleries licensing collaboration with the V&A is still going strong with two beautiful calendars lined up in this year’s collection: a gorgeous Art of Japan title featuring exquisite cranes against a glowing red background as the cover, as well as a title featuring the work of Arts & Crafts legend C.F.A Voysey.

Museums & Galleries 01373 462165

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CALENDARS: NEW PRODUCTS

ANIMAL CRACKERS With the UK’s renowned love of animals, and wildlife one of the most popular themes around, there’s no shortage of calendars to delight both pet owners and environmentalists.

Stunning Prints Flame Tree is continuing its relationship with printmaker extraordinaire, Angela Harding.

Based in Rutland, Angela is inspired by the wealth of natural wildlife around her to create her stunning prints. This mini calendar features beautiful reproductions of some of her best works. The animals she depicts are always featured in atmospheric locations which pull the viewer into the artwork.

Flame Tree Publishing Tel: 020 7751 9650

Favourite Animals

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Brand new for 2022, Wrendale Designs has a beautifully illustrated desk calendar. The calendar features 12 of the company’s favourite animal designs paired with inspiring quotes which can be changed to suit your mood. Gold foil lettering throughout gives the calendar a luxurious feel, and a handy pocket at the back is useful for storing notes, making it a handy addition to any desk space.

Wrendale Designs Tel: 01652 680253

Dogs & Cats

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Carousel Calendars is delighted to be working with the famous Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and has brought some new formats to this fantastic licence. The Week to View Family Organiser even includes room for pets bookings!

Carousel Calendars 01392 826482

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The Wildlife Trusts’ calendar in 2021 was a runaway success for The Eco-friendly Card Co who publishes the title as a line to complement its Wildlife Trusts Christmas and greeting card collections. Printed on a minimum of 50% recycled paper and packed in a compostable bag, the 300mm square calendar features 13 images showcasing some of Britain's favourite wildlife species, as well as containing interesting information every month about the subject featured.

The Eco-friendly Card Co Tel: 01626 369269

The Laugh’s On Us Hilarious photographs of pets and wildlife feature in two separate calendars from Carousel - Comedy Pets and Comedy Wildlife Photographic Competition - are guaranteed to bring a huge smile to anyone’s face.

Carousel Calendars 01392 826482

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CALENDARS: ADVENTS

COUNTING DOWN TO CHRISTMAS Not so long ago, Advent calendars with chocolates behind the doors kicked off Christmas for delighted children, and while they are still big sellers, Advents have taken on a whole new life of their own.

Today you can find everything from home fragrancing and beauty products, to gin and jigsaw pieces, enticing shoppers young and old. Nevertheless, traditional Advents still have a big slice of the market place, with publishers getting ever more creative.

Today’s Advents make the perfect gifts for those who want a traditional Advent format, but with a twist.

At Roger la Borde, Advent calendars are one of the company’s signature product ranges, with the company excited to launch its designs for Christmas 2021. “In a twist to our traditional 2D Advent calendar offering, we also have a range of Advent calendar greeting cards,” explains marketing manager Helena Maratheftis. “Small yet perfectly formed, they are perfect for popping in the post to friends to be enjoyed all December long.”

However, she adds that the real stars of the show are the company’s Pop & Slot Advent calendars. “These come flat-packed, with sturdy cardboard pop-out pieces which are added day-by-day to build up stunning 3D creations, and make for very striking festive decorations,” Helena continues.

“In 2020, it was fabulous to see the reaction our Pop & Slot Advent calendars received from our Instagram following. We were tagged in all sorts of creations, from stop motion animations, time lapse videos, and tablescapes featuring our products.”

Meanwhile, Helena says that there are plenty of fun designs in the works for 2021, including the DinoMighty Pop & Slot Advent Calendar featuring a gaggle of festive dinosaurs illustrated by Katherine Quinn, and a stylised Christmas tree adorned with the ethereal artwork of Kendra Binney.

Top left: Roger La Borde’s Dino-Mighty Pop & Slot Advent for 2021.

Above: Seedlings existing Advent calendar will also be offered this year.

Right: A quirky Quentin Blake design Advent for Caltime by Woodmansterne.

Below left: Danilo’s Liverpool FC Advent Calendar.

Below right: Flame Tree’s Guess How Much I Love You Advent Calendar. It features stickers and glittered cover art from children’s picture book Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney.

Danilo too, has been very innovative with Advents, and has published interactive Advent calendars for the past two years featuring pop up scenery, with fun cardboard characters and stickers behind each door adding to the scene. “The main focus of the Advents are the magnetic characters that can be placed on the base’s moving mechanism so it appears as though they are gliding on ice to music,” explains marketing manager Claire Bates.

Following a successful launch in 2019, with titles including The Snowman, The Gruffalo’s Child and Frozen, Danilo introduced the new Liverpool FC Advent calendar in 2020, based on

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a football pitch design featuring the Anfield Stadium and players from the Premiership winning team. “There are plans to broaden the range further in 2021,” confirms Claire.

Also offering something outside the box in Advents - and connecting with the trend linked to nature - is Sarah-jayne Mercer, founder of Seedlings Cards and Gifts.

“We have a brand new product in the pipeline for Christmas 2021 which will hopefully spread a few seeds of hope," says Sarah-jayne.

Sustainability, support for the creative community and a celebration of “the times we share in the places we love at Christmas” are the concepts behind the Advents from Caltime by Woodmansterne this year. “We’re very pleased that we have eliminated glitter from all our Advents for 2021 - the planet needs every bit of help for positive change,” says Woodmansterne’s creative director Lee Keeper.

“Despite Covid hitting just as we were starting work on this year’s collection, we continued to invest and support artist and illustrators across the UK to deliver exclusive and unique new designs, such as those from Sally Hunter and Lucy Grossmith. Combining newness and rich classics - Father Christmas, Quentin Blake and Emma Bridgewater - the range offers every age an opportunity to celebrate the Advent period, and build-up to a Christmas to remember in 2021.”

DIARIES

New and Updated Range

DELUXE CASEBOUND DIARIES

We stock a wide range of diaries in many different formats. Here’s just a taste of what’s on offer...

DELUXE WIRO DIARIES

DELUXE SLIM DIARIES

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SLIM DIARIES

SLIM DIARIES

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...and many more diaries available TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR WORK IN REDUCING PLASTIC AND OUR DRIVE TO BE A CARBON-NEUTRAL COMPANY – SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE DETAILS ON ‘WHAT WE CARE ABOUT’. www.carouselcalendars.co.uk

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A5 WIRO DIARIES

A6 DIARIES

Please note: Product covers subject to licensor’s approval

Stock and exclusive ranges, managed programmes, displays, advice and sales support from the industry experts. To find out more, contact the Otter House sales team:

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phone 01392 824 300 email sales@gbcc.co.uk

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Introducing the 2022 Range of teNeues Calendars & Diaries For full programme details contact Claire Trigger at ctrigger@teneues-calendars.com

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