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Gift Of The Year 2022... Judging Day
A Day Of
Reckoning Following a first round of online judging last December, the Gift of the Year’s live product judging, organised by The Giftware Association, took place at Spring Fair on February 9. The finalists are revealed on pages 31-33, with the winners announced at the inaugural The Gift Awards which are being held on 12 May at London’s Royal Lancaster hotel. PG&H asked a selection of judges for their views and criteria. The Curated Meetings lounge at February’s Spring Fair provided an ideal venue for the great and the good in gift retail, as well as experts in the fields of sustainability, licensing and gift trade media, to come together to assess and judge the shortlisted products submitted for this year’s Gift of the Year competition. There were 22 categories, to include home fragrancing, jewellery, fashion
accessories, greeting cards/giftwrapping, sustainable and ethical gifts, food and drink, kitchen and dining and children’s, with the judges enjoying seeing and holding the shortlisted products as well as discussing their relative merits with fellow judges. “It was great to be back to live judging again as it was sorely missed last year,” underlined The Giftware Association’s ceo Sarah Ward. “And being able to hold the judging during Spring Fair - the Above: A trio of gift retailers are shown at the Gift of the Year judging held on the last day of Spring Fair. They are, from left to right: Katrina Raill, co-owner of Etcetera in Hitchin; Tabi Marsh, owner of Papilio at Heritage, Thornbury, and Jo Williams, owner of Joco in Nuneaton. Left: Gift of the Year judges Helena Mansell-Stopher and Rob Hutchins of Products of Change are shown with Maxine Lister, head of Licensing at Natural History Museum (right).
The Sponsors
The Gift Awards 2022 enjoys a strong roster of sponsors including Spring Fair and Autumn Fair as headline supporter, plus: Abysse Corp; Ankorstore; Brand Licensing Europe; British Allied Trades Federation (BATF); Candlelight; Cardzone; Carte Blanche Greetings; Gift Republic; Gisela Graham; Home & Gift Harrogate; Joe Davies; Lesser & Pavey; Life Charms; Progressive Greetings Live; Talking Tables; Top Drawer and Widdop and Co.
most important exhibition on the gift industry’s calendar - made perfect sense.” The Products of Change team - founder Helena Mansell-Stopher and Rob Hutchins, editor and community manager respectively, were among the judges delighted to get hands-on with the products and companies that are shaping a new, sustainable future for the gift sector. “It wasn't an easy task in choosing our finalists in the Sustainable and Ethical gift category - a fantastic reflection of the wonderful work of the industry in pushing the boundaries of what a gift, and a gift company, can be both for people and the planet,” said Rob. “Deliberating over design, materials, packaging, purpose, longevity, circularity and more, we absolutely eked out every last minute to consider all aspects of sustainability and impact across each and every finalist. It was extremely encouraging to see so many advances being made in the industry, and products being delivered with some real purpose and call to consumer action. Both Helena and I look forward immensely to seeing how the industry continues to evolve and push those envelopes when it comes to sustainable design and production.” Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide
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