Viewpoints

Collective Thoughts

“There will be challenges for us all, but in the dark times we as an industry deliver that love and sentiment that everyone needs,” said Second Nature’s Chris Bryan, president of the GCA at the association’s Conference and AGM. In his concluding speech, he added: “We all have a responsibility to nurture and protect our industry. Greeting cards have always been resilient to economic downturns. I believe the market can still grow…let’s look to the future of what is possible.”

Here, Chris and some fellow members of the GCA Council share their views on the industry’s challenges, as well as the opportunities and wishes for the coming year.

Chris Bryan

general manager of Second Nature

Opportunities: “There are still 67 million people having birthdays, 350,000 weddings and just as many births and millions of other emotional moments in people’s lives that our industry can help celebrate or commiserate. Our industry is one of the few that delivers a product that’s truly meaningful and is often kept for the special sentiment it conveys, the GCA and everyone involved in the industry, no matter their role, should be really proud of what we do.”

Challenges: “Inflation, the cost-of-living crisis, is not going to be resolved overnight. The war in Ukraine has had such a global impact on economies and until it’s resolved, it’s difficult to see how there can be any degree of certainty. Costs will continue to increase, demands on public services will increase and taxes and wages will need to increase to offset it all - it’s a vicious circle. Our challenges will be keeping the importance of sending greeting cards at the top of consumer’s priorities as they may seek to make cut-backs on their spending. Card prices have barely risen but the cost of sending a card, especially with the recent poor service from the Royal Mail and proposed cuts to the future service are concerning, so we need to keep pushing the message of just how amazing the impact of receiving a hand-written card is.”

Wishlist: “My letter to the Good Fairy, would contain several wishes… (a) The war in Ukraine to stop - it goes without saying that it’s truly horrific on the humanitarian side, all those poor people losing wives and loved ones but the damage to global economies that the war will continue to cause could take years to reverse. (b) The UK government (any UK government) needs to get a grip, the economy needs strong legitimate, honest leadership with a workable plan that doesn’t over penalise the poorer members of society or completely remove the incentive to work harder. (c) Somehow, we need a fair and workable system where employees can fight for their rights with independent arbitration without calling for strike action. I absolutely understand and support the need for and value of employee rights but the fact that so many people’s lives and livelihoods have been jeopardised is deeply unfair. (d) The Royal Mail needs to get its house in order, keep to its obligations and deliver value for money.”

Above: Chris Bryan in full flow at the GCA Conference a few months ago. Right: PM Rishi Sunak egging on England FC in the World Cup, as Chris urges, the UK needs a government with a ‘grip’ on issues.

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Sarah Jackson

director of Stormy Knight

Opportunities: “It's easy to focus on the negative events but I think the report presented at the GCA AGM shows that people's shopping habits are beginning to return to normal after the pandemic and that the tradition of giving greeting cards is still a strong one that people value. It feels like there has been a shift within people's buying habits too, that has seen them supporting local businesses and really valuing their high street. There are a lot of industries that boomed during the pandemic and then saw a quick drop off in business when normal life resumed, but thankfully we aren't one of them. There are so many exciting things going on behind the scenes at the GCA - improved member benefits, more GCA Locals are being planned which are a great way of bringing people together to swap publisher tips, a great selection of webinars to help publishers with growing their businesses - combined with the Dragons’ Den event, these offer opportunities for growth and self-promotion for members.”

Challenges: “Where to start?! The Collins English dictionary selected 'permacrisis' as its word of the year for 2022 and it's easy to see why. It feels like we've had one thing after another thrown at us the last few years with Brexit, Covid, and now the impacts of the war on Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis. The biggest challenges for us at the moment are centred around pricing increases and how to keep realistic margins while still providing competitive prices to our customers.

For an industry as a whole, it's the Royal Mail and postal strikes that have been concerning - especially in the run-up to Christmas.”

Wishlist: “Hmmm mandatory Christmas card sending? Just kidding... It's a boring answer but I guess more economic stability that would even out the cost-of-living crisis and allow people to enjoy themselves a bit more. More birthday parties, weddings and new homes are a great excuse to send a card!”

Above: Sarah Knight in Festive Friday mode to encourage the writing Christmas cards. Right: Being able to rely on postal delivery is a key to the greeting card industry.

David Byk

ceo of Ling Design, GBCC and Penny Kennedy

Opportunities: “I think everyone is worried about 2023. However, I was really buoyed by the data presented by Kantar at the GCA Conference and AGM that highlighted how greeting cards are more recession-proof than other products due to the relatively low cost and joy they can bring, but we cannot be complacent. The industry needs to continue to push the importance of sending cards and how they continue to be massively relevant, even in harder times. The consumer will still buy great cards from great retailers and we all need to be at the top of our game. The GCA also has an opportunity to shine as we are the industry body that can get those messages across as well as increasing awareness as to how much we are doing as an industry for the environment. The GCA is also a campaigning organisation and we have seen the tenacious work that has been done taking on the Royal Mail and its desire to have legislation changed so they only deliver parcels and not letters at the weekend.”

Challenges: “We thought Brexit was tough, then there was Covid and in 2022 we had both of those on steroids with the invasion of Ukraine. I’m not sure what can come next! All of these matters have made our job and that of our customers more difficult in many ways with inflation, board and transport shortages and great sadness for so many.

The cost of stamps along with the strikes worries me. Cards bring joy to the recipient, but we need to get them there at a reasonable cost and when they are expected. I do not think that more Amazon vans swerving around the road delivering cards and letters is any answer and I hope the great British postman will continue come rain or shine six days per week for many years to come.”

Wishlist: “Ling and GBCC have responded to all the chaos in the world by putting together our biggest and best Christmas releases ever at competitive prices!! If you can’t beat them…beat them!! We know customers buy cards and we want them to be ours!! As for the fairy we want it to ensure there is snow on the Alps, but not in Birmingham at the time of the Spring Fair and for everyone to be spreading loads of love (with cards) at Valentine’s Day.”

Above left: David Byk (centre) with fellow Council member, (right) Brett Smith of Emotional Rescue and The Art File’s md Ged Mace, a former long-time Council member and past president. Left: The ongoing war in Ukraine is horrific, with knock-on effects on industry.

Nick Carey

managing director of Abacus Cards

Opportunities: “For the industry to focus further promoting the relevance of greeting cards and the hugely important role they play in our society. For example, I’ve witnessed a fall in the uptake of Valentine’s Day over the years and this is a real shame. Industry goliaths and or the GCA could further promote this and other seasons through PR, or perhaps some high-level celebrity endorsement.”

Challenges: “The political and economic uncertainty. Following on from Brexit, Covid-19 and now with this war and the cost-of-living crisis, it’s just a nightmare. Running a business in this environment of fast changes and U turns has been very difficult.”

Wishlist: “Fairy dust wishes…It’d be great if the Royal Mail was to create a ‘greeting card’ stamp that was discounted to recognise that these stamps are used by the elderly, children’s birthdays, sending invites, messages of love etc.

Also, for the government to impose an ‘e-shot’ tax on companies with a turnover of over £50m whereby these companies had to report on how many individual ‘e-shots’ they sent. With a half pence tax per email! 10 emails, 5p! simples! E-shots are the bane of our inboxes and are contributing to destroying our postal service.

It’d be awesome if we could get the country’s most popular celebrities photographed sending cards and for cards being featured in the many reality TV programmes, like Love Island, I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, etc. to promote the huge ‘power’ of the greeting card to the younger generations.”

Above: Nick Carey has recently joined the GCA Council. Below: The recent Thinking of You Week saw the launch of a schools initiative which saw this Lottie Simpson card being written by UK pupils and sent to children in Ghana.

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Fiona Pitt

head of commercial of Hallmark

Below: Fiona Pitt shares insights on the positive power of receiving a card. Below left: A Hallmark post on Instagram featuring connectivity and celebration through sending a card.

Opportunities: “The industry is a great way for people to emotionally connect with one another and with all the challenges we are facing right now, we all need to show each other how special they are. For me a great opportunity is to get the young to buy into our category more and realise the value in sending and receiving a physical card. The GCA is a wonderful way to share best practice and help young people and publishers grow within the industry. Some stats to back up my comments: l 50% of the UK population placing a higher emphasis on connection post pandemic. (Mintel 2021) l 9 in 10 people say receiving a card brightens their day (Hallmark’s Greeting Room 2021 research)”

Challenges: “Inflationary pressures, reduction in spending, shift in shopping patterns in line with changing lifestyles eg. city centre v town high streets; l The average spend on cards has increased as a result of inflation, however people are sending on average one less card than pre-pandemic (Kantar 2022). l High street footfall has been falling for three consecutive months and in December it was expected to be 18% lower than in December 2019 (Springboard 2022) l IGD predicts the rise in the cost of food and drink is set to reach a peak rate of 1719% in early 2023, before slowing over the subsequent 12 months (IGD 2021).”

Wishlist: “I would love to see the cost of a second class stamp reduced so it’s more affordable and less of a consideration when sending a card. (Cost of postage consistently listed as a key reason for sending fewer Christmas cards (Hallmark Greeting Room 2022).

I would love sustainable product solutions to be at no extra cost to source as the unsustainable alternatives.” Continued on page 41

Sarah-Jane Porter

global design and licensing director of Moonpig

Opportunities: “It’s likely to be a challenging year ahead where consumers are watching their spend but the greeting card industry has proved that it’s resilient and card sending is key to celebrating and sharing life’s moments. For the GCA continuing to listen and support our members and connect the industry to collectively deal with challenges will be key.”

Challenges: “Coming out of a pandemic and straight into a cost-of-living crisis along with strike action from Royal Mail made 2022 a very challenging year for the industry.”

Wishlist: “My wishlist would be stability in the market and driving innovation. Challenging times often call for creative problem solving. These times can be where the best ideas are born.”

Above: Sarah-Jane Porter calls for more stability in 2023.

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Mark Callaby

managing director of Ohh Deer

Opportunities: “We have the opportunity to continue producing cards that will send pockets of love to people all over the world - 2023 is likely to be pretty tough for people with the rising costs but cards continue to be a low cost way of letting people know that they're thinking of them. The highlight for me in 2022 was The Retas which felt extra special as it really celebrated the industry, and the ‘after-party’ had one of the friendliest vibes in the industry for years. I think it reminded us how nice the industry can be and how we're very lucky to (mostly) all get along when many of us are fighting for the same pockets.” Challenges: “Re-adjustment following the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis. I think everyone has been feeling the pinch from the endless rising costs (thanks partly to Putin) in nearly every part of running a business (and at home). Companies that saw massive success during the pandemic appear to be struggling (eg made.com) and there must be people within our industry who are also trying to weigh up which costs they can cut or what prices they need to increase (and yet many publishers are finding that some retailers won't even let you entertain the idea). I think we'll all be looking at our bottom line a lot more.

We as an industry definitely need to be vocal in our stance with the Royal Mail and the cuts they want to make to the postal service. The GCA will be a key player here in making sure that we don't downgrade a postal system that is still loved and relied upon by the vast majority of people.”

Wishlist: “My plea is fairly simple - if they can't fix the economy then they must call a general election and let someone else give it a go. LOL…like that will happen!”

Above: Mark Callaby (right) at The Retas 2022, presenting the trophy for Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - London to Roy Beswick of The Card Collection, East Molesey. Right: A Gemma Correll illustration which highlights our anxious state, which was available on a Christmas card from Ohh Deer.

Daniel Prince

managing director of Danilo

Challenges: “Our main issue this year has been the increased prices we have faced from our supply chain, in particular, for the cost of paper. This can be difficult when it pushes prices up but unfortunately this a necessary task publishers face if they are to survive these tough trading conditions. These tough financial challenges could also potentially mean that some companies feel they have to cut back on their sustainability improvements, but we are fortunate that this is one area we have continued to make progress over the last year.”

Opportunities: “While it has been challenging, we see opportunities to grow sales of our greeting cards and gift wrap ranges, where demand is still high.

There is also the opportunity for the industry to provide further lobbying and support to publishers to help them face issues such as paper prices, export sales and Royal Mail strikes. With regard to sustainability, there are plenty of opportunities for the industry to keep it near the top of the agenda, ensuring they continue discussions, share best practices and help guide how we can all move forward together.”

Wishlist: “My ideal wish would be to continue working with retailers to find a way to reduce levels of leftover stock, which in turn would reduce costs as well as be better for the environment. Additionally, I would also wish to have more support from the Government to help with the energy crisis and rapidly rising costs.”

Carolyn Verderame

sales director of Caroline Gardner

Opportunities: “Despite the economic uncertainly and reduced disposable incomes facing many in 2023, people will still want to reach out to loved ones and celebrate special occasions. Greeting cards offer a really thoughtful and costeffective way of doing this. Luckily our industry is full of brilliant publishers offering a diverse selection of cards.”

Challenges: “Consumers are definitely more aware of their carbon footprint and the move away from mass produced products is noticeable. People are more conscious than ever about how and where products are made. Thankfully so many publishers in the UK greeting card industry are conscious of their environmental effects and are proactive in reducing these.

Caroline Gardner is among many publishers that are proud to design and produce their cards in the UK, driving UK manufacturing and reducing the possible footprint.

Wishlist: “2023 is looking quite scary and very unknown so my wish is that inflation and interest rates stabilise, giving suppliers, retailers and customers a bit more certainty in life.”