‘Greats’ Reactions From Finalists

“Over The Moon” Rejoice Gift Retailers

Whoops of joy, happy tears and big smiles were the order of the day when PG&H announced the fabulous Greats 2023 finalists recently.

“We were literally jumping for joy when we heard the amazing news!” said a delighted Priya Aurora-Crowe, co-owner of Lark, while a thrilled Jodi Lee Laverty, owner of Dolly Daydream in Presteigne, exclaimed: “wow, wow, wow! I’m absolutely over the moon to have made it as a finalist! This is just the best news for our lovely little shop, my mum, and the ladies who work with us. I’m so proud and excited!” she added.

“I'm in floods of happy tears,” said an emotional Jo Williams, owner of Joco Interiors in Nuneaton. “After such a hard 12 months this is such amazing news.”

At Mooch in Bewdley and Stourport-onSevern, co-owner Jon May revealed: “As soon as we heard the news we took to our socials and have been overwhelmed by the love and comments from our loyal 'moochers'.”

At Maybugs in Bexhill-on-Sea, Eastbourne and Hailsham, co-owner Greg Rose let out a whopping “wowzah!”, with Scott Nicol, co-owner of KeepSakes in Scotland exclaiming, “we can’t wait to shout about it to all our customers!” and Pete and Jelena Whiteman, co-owners of Amore concurring, “What great recognition for all the hard work and effort that the team has put in over the year”.

Doubtless summarising the joyous feeling of all the finalists was Judy Evans, owner of Williams of Audlem in Audlem, who enthused: “So thrilled to be a finalist in the most prestigious awards night in the gift industry! Who doesn't dream of an evening of gift-related glitz and glamour!”

Winners will be announced at the fabulous The Gift Awards on 11 May, held at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel. See The Gift Awards Unite The Industry (below). For the full Greats finalists listing, turn to pages 26-27.

Visit www.thegreatsawards.co.uk; www.thegiftawards.com

The Gift Awards Unite The Gift Industry

The fabulous The Gift Awards will be held at London’s glittering Royal Lancaster Hotel, bringing together The Giftware Association’s Gift of the Year Awards and The Greats gift retailer awards - currently celebrating their 21st milestone year - organised and owned by Max Publishing, publishers of Progressive Gifts & Home/GiftsandHome.net.

At the lavish awards event, both gift product excellence and retail prowess will be recognised and rewarded.

Tickets and tables for the awards event on 11 May can be booked via the Max Publishing digital box office at Max-Tickets.net, or by contacting event organiser Createvents: clare@createvents.co.uk or 0118 334 0085.

To find out more about The Gift Awards and book tickets, visit www.thegiftawards.com and www.thegreatsawards.co.uk

Right: London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel

Stock, Staff And Service

Colchester gift store Bill & Bert’s - part of the Colchester Gift Card - was recently chosen as one of the UK’s favourite local businesses having received hundreds of votes in a nationwide competition sponsored by Town & City Gift Cards. The store was a runner up, with close to 200 votes.

Owner Bill Nettelfield says that the store’s success is down to stock, staff and service, with a visit to the store equating to “a personal shopping experience.”

Celebrating The GOTY Finalists

After an exciting live judging at Spring Fair in February, (see pages 3335), the six finalists in the GOTY’s 19 categories were announced by The Giftware Association, (see pages 36-37 for the full listing), with the winners to be revealed at The Gift Awards taking place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on 11 May. (See The Gift Awards Unite The Gift Industry, left).

Lark Expands Outside Of London

Multi-award winning Lark’s co-founders, Priya Aurora-Crowe and Dominic Crowe, have added a new store to their current 12-strong retail portfolio in South and West London. A new outlet was recently opened in Woking, offering gifts, homeware, fashion and jewellery.

The new Lark Woking store joins Balham, Chiswick, Clapham, Earlsfield, Fulham, Herne Hill, Putney, Raynes Park, Shepherds Bush, Streatham, Tooting and Wimbledon.

Above: Lark now has 13 stores in its portfolio.

Springing A Surprise

A highlight for William of Audlems’ owner Judy Evans in February was winning Spring Fair’s Modern Retail Good Retail Award In Store Creativity category, for the store’s mural to celebrate William of Audlem’s 160th anniversary in 2022.

“We were so pleased to be shortlisted as a finalist - and totally shocked to have actually won!” said Judy. “Speaking to the organisers afterwards, they loved what we had done to embrace our heritage by retrorefitting our store as well as the mural.”

Below: Success for William of Audlem’s owner Judy Evans.