Progressive Greetings July 2022

July

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2022

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From The Editor

ON THE CARDS With us all being part of an industry which has emotions at its heart after all if people didn’t care we would all be out of a job and society would be totally bankrupt - it gives us even more right to acknowledge the emotional rollercoaster of our business and personal lives.

We all hope that we have more ‘ups’ than ‘downs’ in the balance sheet of life, and this last month has probably just about done that on my score sheet, though that is not to belittle anyone who has had a torrid time.

I was shocked, like so many others to hear of the sudden death of Nathan Hitchcock, latterly Abacus’ national sales manager, as a result of a stroke. Nathan has been part of the industry for almost half his life and was a familiar face to so many of us, I shared a joke with him at PG Live only a few days before his passing. As Bill Greeno, now of Abacus and Carte Blanche, said to me “It is a lesson to us all, to make the most of every day.”

I totally agree with Bill, even though the ‘mostness’ of every day invariably comes and bites me on my very ample posterior!

I did however totally relish every minute at the recent PG Live exhibition, watching and listening to everyone’s interaction, seeing so many of you from the greeting card community in the aisles and on stands, you gorgeous independents who had travelled down from Scotland or up from Devon and Cornwall, big cheeses from multiple retailers and our fabulous friends from overseas. As I scrolled down the long list of international buyers to the show it really was an A-Z of visitors. Sure the ‘A’s had it, as so many of our Aussie friends had travelled from the other side of the world to be there, but I was delighted to see that we also had a buyer from Zambia as well as representatives from 20+ other countries.

The day after PG Live it was our friend’s David Hicks’ memorial (of Really Good/Soul), organised as such by the man himself to make it easier for his international trade chums to attend (only Hicksy would have thought of that!). Thankfully with the agreement of David’s wife Nicole I enrolled Michael Gray - now of MEG but for many years the sales manager of Really Good and Soul - to be the lead MC (he is far, far funnier than I will ever be and a gorgeous soul). Though feeling rather emotionally broken by the absence of my lovely friend of 30+ years (his decision to enforce a Steampunk theme was inspired, if unwanted on a practical front) it was a great celebration of the friendship bonds we make as we go through our lives and while David is no longer with us, our mutual friendships will live on. David completed his autobiography in time for it to be delivered hot off the press to the memorial. It includes so

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Above: (left-right) John Procter (Scribbler), Jakki Brown (PG), Vanessa Harnik (Notes & Queries), Amanda Fergusson (GCA) and Alan Harnik (Notes & Queries) at David Hicks’ memorial.

Right: Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies in Stevenage with PG’s Jakki Brown on the Cards for the Queen stand, with the Queen, corgis and horses that had been knitted by her Auntie.

Below: PG’s Warren Lomax (second left) at the PG Live International Drinks Reception held on the eve of the show. (Right-left) Sara Kagan (Scarpa), John Simson (Simson Cards), Rick Ruffner (Avanti) and Jenny Cummins (McMillan Card and Paper).

many memories of shared events, industry developments as well as lots of mentions of us cardies. It is a keepsake as I can hear David’s voice as I read it.

Someone else who has a very special keepsake is our revered columnist David Robertson, who at the ripe age of 48 has become a father for the first time to Hudson James George Robertson. Not surprisingly he is chuffed to bits, (see pages 20-21) and the 100+ cards he and his wife Nicola have already received are also adding to their joy; tangible messages from those who care. As he writes in his article this month, caring is at the centre of so many greeting card retailers. ‘Everyone told me that it is the small things with a new baby that matter, the first smile, first word and first toddle, but it is the same in retail. It is the small details that make a difference… at a time when we are all so tired, worried and generally stressed, it is important to remember just what an important role you play in your community,’ reminds David. Wise words Mr R.

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What’s Inside?

CONTENTS 25

35

49

7-19 News

35-37

All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.

Food for Thort-ful

In Conversation With…

Andy Pearce, ceo of the online operator spills the beans.

20-21 39-45 Innovations

Over The Counter

The Human Touch Positive thoughts from new dad David Robertson, coowner of JP Pozzi.

Publishers’ new ranges and designs.

47-51 21-21

Focus on Art and Photographic Cards

Cardsharp

Wot a Picture

Populating Ideas

PG delves into the trends in the art and photographic card sector.

PG columnist considers socio demographics and how these have a bearing commercially as well as ethically in the card sector.

53 Art Source

25-27

La Dolce Vita

PG Live Snapshots

Greeting card artist Madalina Andronic shares her story and creative inspirations.

Caught on Camera Photographic evidence from the recent PG Live show.

29-33

54-55 What’s Hot?

Viewpoints

A quad of retailers share their best selling ranges.

The Buzz of Showbiz Retailers reveal their top picks from PG Live 2022.

56-66 Sources of Supply

Subscribe to Progressive Greetings from £60 (UK) to £90 (International).

You can organise this quickly and easily online at our secure site: www.max-subscriptions.net For assistance, please email subscriptions@max-publishing.co.uk

Jakki Brown

Warren Lomax

Tracey Arnaud

Tracey Bearton

Ian Hyder

Editor/Joint Owner

Joint Owner

Sales Manager

Features Editor

Joint Owner

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Use your smartphone app to scan the QR code to visit our website.

Copyright© 2022. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of publication, the publishers cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for the standing of advertisers nor any organisation mentioned in the text. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.

PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Amanda Fergusson 020 7619 9266 Email: hello@gca.cards www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk

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NEWS TOP STORY

Scribbler Card Kiosks Thousands of great designs at the touch of a button In a significant development for Scribbler, as well as the greeting card sector as a whole, this month sees the official launch of the first ever instant greeting card kiosk which the respected greeting card retailer has developed in partnership with photographic print pioneers, Fujifilm.

These Scribbler instant greeting card kiosks, which have a footprint of less than a metre square, will offer consumers the opportunity to select from around 1,000 bestselling greeting card designs that can be printed instantly onto an A5 card. The design selection - which includes those from Scribbler’s in-house portfolio as well as from many other partner publishers and designers - controlled remotely, can be tailored to the location of where the kiosk is sited, enabling them to reflect geographic relevance as well as the likely customer base.

“We are hugely excited to be working with Fujifilm, the Rolls Royce of this technology, as well as our partner designers to launch what is effectively, a Scribbler store in a box,” John Procter, co-founder of Scribbler told PG. This innovation will have an official launch event scheduled for July 19 and 20 at the Fujifilm House of Photography in London’s Covent Garden.

“The beauty of the self-service kiosk is that it lends itself to be sited both within traditional retailers as well as in all manner of other locations, from corporate offices to educational establishments, entertainment venues to travel hubs,”

Right: The Scribbler greeting card kiosk.

Below: Scribbler’s John and Tom Procter.

commented Tom Procter, John’s son who heads up business development at Scribbler. “The user experience and resultant product quality are fantastic. It feels really exciting to be innovating and taking greeting cards where they have never been before.”

The kiosks will feature Scribbler’s branding which has high consumer awareness as a result of its strong online and bricks & mortar presence. The greeting cards will be printed on 320gsm heavyweight board featuring the Scribbler logo as well as the Fujifilm one.

Commenting on the innovative partnership, Chris Chater, head of commercial development at Fujifilm UK commented: “With the introduction of the Scribbler/Fujifilm kiosks, not only will retailers be able to reduce footprint, stock holding and waste, but consumers will be able to choose and print the perfect card instantly. With thousands of designs and templates that can be updated and added to regularly, no customer will leave disappointed that they haven’t found the right card.”

Following a similar model to photobooths, various commercial options are on offer.to the retail trade.

For those wishing to register their interest in the upcoming trade launch, email Tom Procter on kiosks@scribbler.com

Danilo’s rock n roll hit With the new Elvis movie - starring Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker - attracting cinema goers and much media attention, Danilo has revealed that not only was it the first company to launch any official Elvis licensed merchandise, but how it has now sold more than 10 million of the King of Rock & Roll’s calendars.

The story began after the death of Elvis on 16 August 1977, when Danilo’s chairman, Laurence Prince, realised the mood of the public to remember the life of the ‘King of Rock & Roll’ and flew to Los Angeles to persuade Colonel Tom Parker to give him the image rights to create the first official licensed calendar - and the celebrity calendar was thus created.

Since then, more than 10 million calendars in all formats have been sold by Danilo worldwide, with three million sold in the UK alone.

Originally, Danilo Promotions created a mock Above: An early Elvis Danilo calendar cover. up calendar and took it to the record label, RCA, to try and get the rights. RCA turned it down because they didn’t like the format and didn’t believe in official merchandise. But they did give Laurence the telephone and Telex numbers for Colonel Tom Parker, which he tried continuously until he finally got a response, which led to him flying to Los Angeles and having several meetings with him.

That meeting opened doors in LA, and Laurence went on to meet Priscilla Presley, as well as various film studios resulting in the company launching the official licensed calendars for Dallas and Dynasty among others.

Normality chips off Moonpig’s revenue Having made hay during the depths of the pandemic when so many bricks & mortar card retailers were closed during lockdowns, Moonpig has not surprisingly revealed a drop in revenue for the year to April 22. Its revenue (£304.3 million) was down 17.3% over the previous year. On the plus points it stressed that it has increased its UK market share of the online single greeting card sector from 60% to 68% over the last two years as well as growing its gift sales. Its gifting mix of revenue has increased from 41.7% in FY20, to 46.1% in FY21 and 47.7% in FY22, something upon which it is looking to build, hence its soon to be completed acquisition of Buyagift.com Demonstrating the ability of the online players to quickly react to consumer whims, Moonpig recently showed itself to being a ‘chip off the new block’ signing a licensing agreement to introduce cards featuring Binley’s Mega Chippy, which has become something of a nation sensation with the TikTok generation.

Above: For that special salmon in your life, Moonpig’s Mega Chippy range.

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Over 180 brand new designs for Autumn Winter 2022.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Jubilee Jump For Joy Majestic retail boost from Queen’s celebrations As the country turned red, white and blue to celebrate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee, there was a mega boost for independent card and gift retailers who did their utmost to keep up with the demand for bunting, balloons, and party products.

“The jubilee was a perfect storm of the feel-good factor, half-term, pay day and the start of the Father’s Day sales,” said Sean Austin, owner of Malvernbased Austin & Co. “People were desperate to spend money, they were in that kind of mood, we were glad we stayed open on the Thursday and Friday.”

It was the same for London’s Medici Gallery which is usually closed on bank holidays but manager Tim Reynolds was very happy with the decision to stay open: “We sold all our bunting, some lovely aprons from

Victoria’s Eggs with London images on, and Talking Tables items - we won second place in the Talking Tables jubilee window competition, so I was very pleased!

McLaggan did some lovely jubilee mugs, and Alison Gardner giftware. It was definitely worth staying open.”

There was no missing the Jubilee at Highworth Emporium as the independent card and gift retailer created a 15x8ft (4.5x2.5m) 300balloon Union Jack. However it was worth the effort as it brought lots of visitors in to the village of Highworth specifically to see the ‘flag’.

“The response we had was amazing,” said co-owner Above: The Medici Gallery won second prize in Talking Tables window competition.

Right: Sally Matson (right) and Karen West with the Queen in Red Card’s shopwindow.

Right: The striking balloon installation at Highworth Emporium.

Below: Stationery Supplies was pen poised with its Jubilee display.

A Royal Scribbler

Aga Marsden. “We had BBC Radio Wiltshire, the Swindon Advertiser and a local magazine coming to the shop to interview us and to take photos. We also received numerous compliments from customers, as well as on social media.

People were amazed, and it was wonderful to see the joy on their faces!”

While a welcome boon to the retailers’ tills it could have been a real bonanza had there been more stock available.

At Cranbornes in Shaftesbury and Dorchester, co-owners Anthony King and Karen Hardwick said: “It was a slow burner but suddenly, when people realised it was actually happening, it was manic. We could have sold bunting like there’s no tomorrow. We had jubilee mugs and tea towels, but it was getting more stock that was the issue!”

Social media made bunting the big seller for Sally Matson, whose initial 24-unit order for her Red Card store in Petworth turned into a massive 350 unit sale, and would have been more but the supplier, Powell Craft ran out of stock.

“We sent bunting all over the country,” Sally explained, “I put it on my Instagram and people were ringing saying they’d pay the postage.”

Inventiveness was the name of the game at Cards & Gifts Dronfield.

“We did about £5,000 at retail just on jubilee items,” revealed co-owner Carl Dunne. “When we ran out of bunting, my shop manager was telling people they could staple the red, white and blue napkins to ribbon so he was selling them that way too!

If I could package it up in some way to celebrate the jubilee I did, and my God we saw amazing sales!”

The Scribbler head office team joined in the Jubilee fun, taking a break from the retailer’s signature green to throw a very red, white and blue-themed indoor picnic at its London HQ. The retail team even had an appearance from the Queen herself - aka head of design Aisling Crosland - and plenty of Scribbler’s own partyware.

Below: Queen Aisling at Scribbler’s party.

Walking the talk The British Retail Consortium figures showed a 6.9% increase in footfall over the jubilee weekend, and a 17.1% increase over the whole week, compared with the average for May 2022.

Working with retail data company Sensomatic, the BRC said Thursday was the best performing day, with a 45.6% improvement in footfall, followed by Wednesday at 44.4%, compared with the average for May 2022, and High Streets saw the strongest performance at 3.1% growth.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson OBE said: “The public took to the streets for the Jubilee celebrations, with retail footfall enjoying significant improvements over the early parts of the long weekend. More people hit the shops, with many on the hunt for Jubilee decorations, garden accessories and new outfits. It was great to see so many people out celebrating and shopping at their favourite local destinations - a welcome boost for retail businesses reliant on store performance, particularly on the high street.

We hope that the momentum can continue despite the ongoing economic turbulence.”

Andy Sumpter, retail consultant EMEA for Sensormatic Solutions, added: “Retailers experienced a jubilee jump in footfall as the celebrations prompted shopper traffic on the High Steet to rise. Whether it was people stocking up on supplies for the bank holiday weekend, attending street parties or using the extra public holidays to socialise with friends and family, retail benefited from welcome ambient footfall from the celebrations.”

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PG Magazine July Edition Full Page.pdf

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A pack of 18 cards showcasing the latest readily available foil colours from the Windles Group.

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NEWS TOP STORY

It’s A Wrap

Below: Pigment’s Steve Baker with WHSmith’s Claire Castle (centre) and Chrissi Bee.

An upbeat PG Live 2022 with business and hugs A great buzz, friendly faces from all over the world, and back to being able to enjoy lots of hugs made for an upbeat two days at PG Live 2022 a few weeks ago.

Buyers from many multiples, including Card Factory, Tesco, WHSmith, Sainsbury’s, Oliver Bonas, Clintons, Jo Jo Maman, Scribbler, TJ Maxx and Paperchase joined a host of leading small groups and indies as well as large number of overseas distributors were all there to be treated to a wonderful showcase of new designs from the almost 200 exhibitors.

As Sam Ody, Tesco’s lead buying manager everyday cards summed up, “A great show. As always it was really well organised, with amazing new product from established as well as newer publishers.”

Claire Castle, senior buyer, greeting cards for WHSmith High Street commented: “Both Chrissi [Bee, assistant buyer] and I really enjoyed PG Live. We have started our big range reviews for 2023, so having the show in June is always perfect timing for us. As usual, we came away with lots of ideas.”

Anne Barber, of In Heaven at Home in Market Harborough was even more enthusiastic.

“I honestly thought the atmosphere and my whole day at PG Live was the best at any trade show I have ever been to in my career. I met up with 16 of my current suppliers and placed orders with them all and found three new suppliers. To me it just felt special and magical and buzzing - I loved every moment.”

And that seemed to be the general consensus as the UK’s only dedicated trade show for greeting cards took centre stage at London’s Business Design Centre, with life almost back to normal following two years of Covid restrictions,

Notes & Queries’ 40th Anniversary Dinner

with a large number of overseas distributors attending.

Sharing her perspective as an exhibitor Dandelion Stationery’s owner Jo Wilson said: “It’s been fab, the atmosphere is lovely. It’s a real feel-good atmosphere, and it feels back to normal.

It’s my favourite show and I think it always will be - and I love the free tea and coffee!”

The special show offers from Abacus and sibling publisher Clare Maddicott brought buyers to the two stands and export manager Nicola Nash said: “It’s been a buzzing show - buzzing is the key word.

Everyone was in very good spirits and happy to be out and mingling again. And we gave away seven Apple Airpods for orders over £500 net by the end of day one.”

On the Paper Salad stand co-owner Karen Wilson was in a buoyant mood, helped by the delicious dark chocolate treats the publisher had for visitors: “Really positive, we’ve seen nearly every big buyer today and had positive reactions to all our new stuff.

Everyone seems to be in a good mood.”

“It’s absolutely buzzing!” said Woodmansterne’s head of marketing Kate Leach. “Last year was good, but this year it’s hugs, kisses, the buzz - it’s lovely coming back to normal times. It’s really fun seeing all the friendly faces.

There’s a lovely vibe and great to see all my favourite faces at the show.”

The dates for next year’s PG Live are Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June 2023, again at the BDC.

On the eve of the show Notes & Queries hosted a very special dinner to mark the US distributor’s 40th anniversary (albeit it a couple of years late, due to the pandemic). Founder Alan Harnik and his daughter Vanessa invited some of the many UK publishers, fellow distributor friends and agents who have played a part in the company’s evolution.

Above: (left-right) Alan Harnik with agent Fiona Lychenhan and Phil Boulton of Lip International at the dinner party.

Right: As part of his speech, Alan took the opportunity to present his daughter Vanessa with the “key to the company” as she takes over the day to day running of it from him.

An A-Z global gathering As well as retailers coming from the length and breadth of the UK, with travel restrictions lifted, PG Live 2022 was a true global gathering with visitors arriving from all over from the world, from Australia to Zambia!

Commenting, Jenny Cummins, managing director of Sydney-based McMillan Cards and Paper said: “PG Live is the most special show I attend in

my annual calendar, and this year’s was the best. It is so well organised, there is genuine hospitality and warmth, and every visitor is made most welcome with lunch provided and tea on tap.

The exhibitors who range from the largest to the smallest publishers ensure there is always new product to tempt. And over all the years I have always been inspired by what I see and find.”

Above: A posse of Australian visitors at the International Drinks Reception with representatives from Affirmations, Scarpa, Hendersons/Waterlyn, Simson Cards, McMillan and The Gallery Claremont.

Above middle: Dandelion’s Jo Wilson (left) with Tabi Marsh of Papilio at Heritage.

Left: In Heaven at Home’s Anne Barber (right) with Susannah Bleasby.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Daddy Cool?

Father’s Day sales were up and down “The Jubilee, the extended bank holiday weekend and the heatwave all contributed to customers’ minds being elsewhere other than on Father’s Day,” commented Claire Taylor, John Lewis’ and Waitrose’s card, stationery and gift collections buyer about why sales came very late for the retail group the last Spring Season event of 2022. “It was a very last minute purchase this year, which left us all on the edge of our seats, with significant sales still taken on the day itself!” Claire added.

“Fairly unremarkable” was how Sarah Green, owner of High Tide in Southwold and Wave in Bungay summed up her Father’s Day sales. “There certainly wasn’t the same boost that Mother’s Day provides and almost always people just buy a card and not a gift. It’s a shame that the Dads don’t get the same recognition. Humour was by far and away the bestselling genre - usually to do with Dad’s being grumpy!”

At Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch, owner Kaye Thurgood was happy to have traded on target, with sales Below: Great display - Father’s Day took centre stage at Austin & Co. Right: The Dandelion card and poster that proved a winner for Austin and Co. Bottom: There were balloons aplenty at Paddock Wood Cards.

as expected for the period, and she said she was “extremely pleased, considering the weather”, as the extreme heat in the run-up to Sunday would usually result in a reduction in trade as “people don’t tend to shop in very hot weather”.

While, in common with Sarah, humorous cards were more in demand than ever, Kaye revealed she “sold out of wordy, emotional cards quite quickly, this seems to be a growing trend across all the seasons, more noticeable since lockdowns.”

For Blandfords in Ledbury and Broadway, co-owner Andrew

Below: Father’s Day had to co-exist with the Jubilee focus this year in Sincerely Yours.

Blandford described Father’s Day “as expected, late as ever, but sales were at a normal level.”

Concurring Nicky Goodman, owner of Paddock Wood Cards, Tonbridge, said the sales ramped up in the last three days leading up to Sunday. “Everyone is leaving shopping till the last-minute now,” Nicky explained. “Lots of people waited until after the jubilee to think about Father’s Day. We’ve found all the seasons are last minute this year and I think it will be for some time. Everyone seems much busier and to have other things on their mind.”

There were some retailers who bucked the trend with Austin & Co owner Sean Austin declaring that in his shop in Malvern: “Father's Day 2022 has to rank as one of our best yet in 11 years of trading!

“Often seen as the poor relation of the Spring Seasons, Father's Day cards were being bought as soon as they went on display at the beginning of May and this year, we took it up another notch with our window display.”

Taking inspiration from the Screwfix card design by Dandelion Stationery for the window display Sean created a workbench and tools out of recycled cardboard boxes.

“To complete the story,” we decided to give 10% of all sales of Father's Day cards to the Malvern Men's Shed, one of many similar which brings together men of all ages who want to share and learn new skills in a relaxed and friendly environment.”

Rosie’s thing is her first book Rosie Harrison has definitely made a new thing as she’s working with publishing giant HarperCollins to turn her Rosie Made A Thing humorous cards brand into a smart coffee-table book.

“We’ve been asked by customers for a book for some time now, so when the lovely people at HarperCollins called, it seemed like a good time to go for it!” said Rosie.

The gift book is called Wine Not? A Book Of Grown-Up Decisions and is a whopping collection of Rosie’s funnies, based on the everyday lives of ordinary people.

With the launch due on 1 September, retailers can pre-order via HarperCollins.

Rosie said: “We’re planning a launch at our local bookshop Kibworth Books, which is a brilliant little bookshop just a stone’s throw away from our studio. It’s great to be able to team up with such a fab local indie retailer that has supported us over the years.”

Above: Rosie Harrison showing off the Wine Not And Other Grown-Up Decisions cover on her phone.

Harrogate Home & Gift beckons Some 800 brands are gearing up to exhibit at Harrogate’s Home & Gift show (July 17-20) with some greeting card publishers among them.

Home & Gift will take place across four marquees and seven halls spanning Design-Led Gifts, Home & Interiors, Jewellery and Fashion and the Food Emporium, along with the Furniture Collection.

Greeting card companies exhibiting include Belly Button Designs, Roger la Borde, The Art File, Janie Wilson, Molly Mae and Dandelion Stationery.

A new networking platform, Browse & Meet, will also give buyers the opportunity to see new products in advance, enabling them to create their own Product Wishlist.

Buyers will also be able to message companies and request appointments with exhibitors on-site.

Social opportunities include The Sundowner drinks on the first night of the show (July 17), as well as Gin on the Lawn.

Above: One of the new designs in Molly Mae’s SnapShot range.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Hot Off The Press Tony Lorriman leads MBO at Loxleys Print Tony Lorriman, managing director and existing shareholder of Loxleys Print, together with three colleagues, recently finalised a management buyout of the long-established specialist greeting card print business, which was founded in 1854.

Together with Tony, the new owners of the business are Gary Anderson, operations director; Gary McCrorie, production director and Paul Brooks, pre-production director.

Collectively these new owners have 72 years’ experience working within Loxleys and the greeting card industry.

The MBO heralds a new era for Loxleys. The company became part of The Sherwood Group in 2008, headed up by brothers Jeremy and Richard Bacon. While former owners Richard and Jeremy have now exited the Loxleys business as directors and major shareholders following the MBO, Jeremy will remain within the business in a

Below: Tony Lorriman, md of Loxleys with marketing manager Alice Woodland at PG Live.

Below left: The new owners take on Loxleys long legacy.

consultancy role to the new board. Both Richard and Jeremy will continue to remain involved in the running of Sherwood which is completely unaffected by the MBO. The strategic alliance between Loxleys and Sherwood will also continue.

“It has been said many times in the 167year history of Loxleys that the owners of the business are purely the current custodians,” said Tony, who highlighted that the MBO is part of “long-term succession planning” for the business.

“In my 25th year of service to the company, I am both delighted and honoured to have been given the opportunity to lead this management buyout and become a custodian of Loxleys - it is now my responsibility to look after the company and ensure it is passed onto the next generation of custodians in good health at some point in the future,” he added.

Tony assures that it is very much “business as usual” at Loxleys, which produces over 100 million greeting cards every year, working with 40 publishers. When asked how he celebrated the signing of the deal, the ever modest Tony said: “We splashed out by going out for fish and chips, washed down with a bottle of coke!”

Andrea uses cards to support Ukraine Greeting cards often reach parts others can’t and indie retailer Andrea Pinder is proving it by selling card samples to raise money for Ukrainian refugees.

The owner of Presentation Cards & Gifts in Barrowford is also helping out by teaching English to two sisters from the wartorn country who are now living locally with their family - and explaining how important cards are to Brits.

As a result of participating in the recent GCA Dragons Speed-dating event, in common with all the other ‘dragons’, Andrea went home with a large bag of greeting cards, designs from all of the 72 card publisher attendees. Having had a good look through them all, Andrea decided to put them to very good use, raising funds for Ukrainian refugees.

“I’m keeping a running total as we use a separate button on the till so I’ll know what’s selling,” says Andrea.

She is also helping on a practical level too as a teacher to two young Ukrainians. “The girls are 23 and 18 and do speak some English. I’ve found myself speaking in broken English - lol! - however they say they understand me and seem to be learning more with me than at college.”

Andrea’s also taking the opportunity to pass on the UK’s love for greeting cards since it’s a new tradition for many Ukrainians.

“I’ve explained how we in the UK show our feelings to loved ones and friends by the sending and giving of cards, also the acknowledgment for different occasions - I hope they take it on board and pass the message on to their friends and family,” says Andrea.

Above: Andrea with her in-store display.

Card Factory new format store roll-out Card Factory’s second new model store has opened in Bury, beginning the expansion of the specialist greeting card retailer’s Opening Our New Future strategy. The new look debuted with its Coventry city centre store in February.

The new store format makes better use of store space, improves customer flow and navigation through the shop as well as a new approach to its greeting card and gift displays.

As part of the improved layout, all of the greeting cards have moved to the perimeter of store in new racks, allowing complementary gifting categories to be merchandised mid-floor in close proximity to the relevant cards.

Above: The new format store in The revamping of the Coventry and Bury stores is one of the first milestones in Card Factory’s ‘Opening Our New Bury town centre.

Future’ growth strategy which was launched by ceo Darcy Willson-Rymer, who joined the business in March last year. Below left: Darcy Willson-Rymer Commenting, Darcy said: “The new format stores allow us to showcase our continually expanding has been re-elected as Card ranges of complementary categories where we are already the leader in balloons and party. By offering Factory’s ceo. greater choice to our customers, we can build upon our historic leadership in cards to capture a larger addressable market and fulfil our vision of becoming the number one destination for all shoppers seeking to celebrate life’s special moments.”

Darcy was re-elected as ceo at the retail group’s recent AGM, approved by 99.98% of votes.

Also re-elected were non-executive chairman Paul Moody, chief financial officer Kristian Lee, senior independent nonexecutive director Octavia Morley, independent non-executive director Roger Whiteside and non-independent nonexecutive director Nathan Lane, while Robert McWilliam was elected as a non-executive director.

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NEWS TOP STORY

The Greatest Showman Reveals Raspberry Blossom licensing partnership with Widdop Roll up! Widdop & Co’s ‘Greatest Showman’, aka Stephen Illingworth, commercial director was cracking the whip at the recent PG Live - making no less than nine major announcements, one of which involves a significant licensing deal with greeting card publisher Raspberry Blossom.

The licensing agreement will see two home accessory-focused gifting collections based on Raspberry Blossom designs launching in summer 2023, which will be available to both Widdop and Raspberry Blossom customers worldwide.

Commenting on the partnership, Stephen said the company had long been admired by all at Widdop as a “wonderful, award-winning greeting card company” which has “set such a precedent in the industry for its stylish, trend-led, quality cards”.

Left: Raspberry Blossom’s Rebecca Green with Widdop’s Stephen Illingworth.

Below left: Apples To Pears products are joining Widdop And Co’s portfolio.

Adding their perspective, Raspberry Blossom owners Rebecca and Mark Green said: “Based on Widdop’s enviable reputation within the giftware industry we’re hugely excited about this exciting new chapter and what this partnership will bring!”

Another revelation from the ‘showman’, made via Instagram Live on the stand, was that Widdop has taken over the website, stock and exclusive distribution of over 50 Apples to Pears skus, notably including the Gift In A Tin range. All will be on show in the Widdop showroom at the company’s summer showroom event at the company’s Manchester HQ which runs July 5-July 29.

Apples to Pears was founded by joint managing directors Mark Wash and Sally Granger in 2002.

“We have admired the work of Apples to Pears for a long time and on hearing that Mark and Sally wished to retire, we immediately saw the opportunity for their amazing brands in our business,” stated Stephen.

The gentlewoman of Verona “Grazie mille Fedrigoni!” That’s the message from Jemima Stileman, daughter of Kali Stileman, owner of the eponymous publishing business after she discovered she’s scooped Fedrigoni UK’s big 30th anniversary PG Live competition prize.

Working with publisher mum Kali Stileman on her stand at the recent show turned into an Italian job for Jemima as she’ll soon be jetting off on a two-night trip to the historic and beautiful town of Verona, the home of Fedrigoni Paper.

Above: Some of the Fedrigoni UK team at PG Live.

Founded in 1888, the Italian company used PG Live as part of the celebrations of three decades of its British operation with a feature stand right by the lunch hall showcasing its new confetti-themed greeting card swatch book - and asked people to post a birthday card listing three famous people they’d love to attend their birthday party.

Jemima’s card was the one drawn out to win the luxury trip for two. “I couldn’t believe my luck when I got that phone call,” Jemima told PG, “I was utterly shocked and delighted. Verona is a really special place for me as I visited lots when I previously lived in Italy.”

Revealing who her top three birthday guests would be, Jemima said they were “the charismatic Bill Nighy, Olly Murs for the laughs and Sir David Attenborough for the worldly knowledge.”

There were plenty of entries for the competition with Fedrigoni’s product market executive AnneLise Billeri revealing that after family members, Boris Johnson, The Queen and Paddington Bear were the top choices. A couple of the most surprising guest lists were “We’d invite James Bond, M and Putin to the party in the hope the first two take out the third!” and “I’m inviting Donald Trump, Jo Brand, and Ricky Gervais - just to see what happens”.

SBTI commitment from Carousel Already firmly committed on the sustainability front, Carousel Calendars, Otter House and Calendar Club have taken another giant leap by signing up for the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) which champions fact-based target settings in the transition to the low-carbon economy.

Part of the Zebra MTD group, the calendar, greetings and gift group are now among the companies which have their targets published on the SBTI website, showing their clearly-defined pathway specifying how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, in the context of their longerterm business growth.

Targets adopted by companies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are considered science-based if they are in

Above: Carousel’s Steve Plackett and some of the company’s sustainable products.

line with the level of decarbonisation required to keep the global temperature increase below 2oC, and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5 oC, compared to pre-industrial temperatures.

Zebra MTD has committed to reducing Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 46% by 2030 from a 2019 base year, and to measure and reduce its Scope 3 emissions, and the business aims to encourage 50% of its key product suppliers to sign up to SBTI by 2025.

Steve Plackett, Carousel md and Zebra MTD director, said: “We’ve been working on improving our overall environmental performance for several years, mainly by identifying key environmental issues and setting targets to reduce our impact. We then moved on to measuring our carbon footprint, and had to decide if we should follow an offsetting route or an SBTI route -the latter focuses on cutting emissions and doesn’t allow offsetting.

SBTI seemed more direct and structured, we had to take action to reduce those emissions, setting and following sciencebased targets and making real changes to our processes. We believe it’s the right thing to do. We believe it’s vitally important to every business and every employee, in every sector. We have a corporate responsibility to act now and not wait.”

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NEWS TOP STORY

Sad passing of Nathan Hitchcock Abacus’ national sales manager died suddenly at home “It is with very much regret and sadness that we announce the death of Nathan Hitchcock, our national sales manager, who passed away at home on Sunday June 12,” was the sad news Nick Carey, managing director of Abacus shared with his team and the industry a few weeks ago as a result of his colleague having suffered a strok which cost him his life.

Above: Nathan Hitchcock (centre) with Abacus work colleagues, Nick Carey (left) and Darren Thomas at the PG Live 2022 opening night party, last Tuesday evening.

Having spent 20 of his 48 years working in the industry, Nathan was known to many and very much a familiar face at trade events.

For the last five years Nathan was an integral member of the Abacus team.

Paying tribute to his colleague, Nick commented: “Nathan was a hugely valued member of the Abacus team, constantly showing absolute dedication to the success of the company, as well as total personal commitment to his colleagues.

We extend our utmost sympathies and condolences to Nathan’s family. He will be very sadly missed.”

Prior to working for Abacus, Nathan’s other industry experience included working for Second Nature for 14 years, latterly as its sales manager.

Bill Greeno, one of Nathan’s industry friends added: “Nathan was a really genuine guy. We did several Cardgains charity walks together and I know he had been looking forward to undertaking this year’s charity challenge. I can’t believe he has gone. It teaches you to make the most of every day."

Nathan had been in training for the Ultimate Ullswater Cardgains Challenge in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society that was due to take place as PG went to press.

Following Nathan’s unexpected death his friend and colleague territory sales manager Darren Thomas stepped up to walk the 22 mile route in his honour.

“Nathan was so looking forward to doing the sponsored walk,” Darren said, “and, with our managing director’s blessing, I am honoured to be taking his place.”

Nathan’s funeral is to be held on Friday 22 July 2022 at 14.40pm at Southend Crematorium. 285 Sutton Rd, Southend-on-Sea SS2 5PX. Anyone wishing to attend should contact Nick Carey (Nick.Carey@abacuscards.co.uk), having been requested by Nathan’s mother to give approximate numbers of industry attendees. There is also believed to be a ‘live stream’ of the service for those that cannot or would prefer not to attend in person.

Sarah’s write on help Indie retailers using their specialist knowledge to help customers is par for the course - but Stationery Supplies’ owner Sarah Laker has taken this further to work with occupational therapists and their clients. Sarah has been sharing her knowledge of products from Maped Helix, Premier Stationery UK and Zieler to help handwriting at training sessions for the Manchester Occupational Therapy Services (MOTS) team, which is now offering oneto-one sessions at her shop.

And the team, which provides private occupational therapy assessments and treatments for children and adults, promoted Sarah’s two stores, in Marple and Wilmslow as well as the products at the Autism Show, the national event for the condition, which ran in Manchester recently.

“It's great to be able to work with forward thinking suppliers who care about children's education - Maped is giving 1% of its 2022 sales to support education projects worldwide,” explained Sarah.

Sarah’s absolute winners include several Maped Helix products, including the 360 Agility compass, Kidygrip Ruler, Rabbit Sharpener and left-handed ruler, along with the Zieler Writing Slope, plus Premier Stationery’s range of pencil grips and overlays.

Above: Sarah Laker talking about stationery to occupational therapists.

Fittingly quirky memorial for David Hicks Being the extraordinary chap that he was, David Hicks (founder of Really Good and Soul) was never going to have a normal memorial. And indeed it wasn’t, but it was one that was overflowing with love, verve, personality and fun. It was attended by his many friends from within the industry and beyond as well as members of his extended family, it just as David (who died in early April, suffering from Motor Neurone Disease) wanted. Prior to his death, David had talked though the plans with his wife Nicole Mendelsohn, not only setting the Steam Punk theme for the event, which saw everyone being asked to dress up accordingly, but compiled the music playlist and made sure cake featured strongly at the event, which took place at the City Barge pub in Chiswick, its riverside setting being all the more appropriate as David and Nicole had lived on a barge on the Thames.

Organised to take place the day after PG Live, made it easier for David’s many international industry friends, including US-based Alan and Vanessa Harnik of Notes & Queries, Sydney-based Jenny Cummins of McMillan, Netherlands-based Geert Hoeberigs of Decadence Nederland and Switzerland-based Markus Keller of CART. Longtime friend and former colleague Mike Gray, md of MEG did David proud as the main MC, introducing Nicole, who bravely paid tribute to her beloved husband and “rock”, followed by many others, each sharing their stories about the true one-off that was David Hicks.

All guests were given a copy of David’s autobiography, entitled ‘The condom split…and here I sit’, which chronicles the life, loves and laugh of the big man, including many mentions of his experiences in the greeting card industry.

Above right: (left-right) Markus Keller (CART), Lisa Shoesmith (Really Good/Soul), Mike Gray (MEG) and Jenny Cummins (McMillan Cards and Paper).

Left: Not surprisingly, David Hicks’ Memorial was very well attended, with almost everyone in the designated Steampunk themed garb.

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OVER THE

COUNTER

BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.

The Human

Below: A card retailer in the making?

Hudson Robertson.

Below right: Even Hiro received a card!

Bottom: David with his new baby son.

Touch I am currently surrounded by cards! Cards for the birth of my new baby son, cards for my first Father’s Day and I love them all!

Currently it is only a few days since Hudson James George Robertson entered the world at 4.19pm on 15 June and I am delighted to say mum and baby are well.

Hiro (my Lhasa Apso) is now a big brother (even he got a card!) and we are ready for the rollercoaster that I thought had perhaps passed me by at the age of 48.

With such happy news and it also having just been Father’s Day I wanted to be positive after what have been some pretty raw columns these last few months.

Business is without doubt still tough. Every day we are faced with challenges and it seems to be the same stories replicated everywhere. Pricing difficulties, erratic footfall, staff issues, personal doubt and just that general heavy feeling as everyone seems to keep talking things down and worrying about bills.

I think we all feel that we get over one hurdle to only find the next one is larger, wider, taller and more challenging, but you know what, we all still tackle it and that is a positive in itself.

Despite my honest assessments there are still bright points about being a retailer and life in general. You are of course your own boss. We get to work with interesting people and products and every day we are helping to share in people’s news. Good and bad there is a card for it. Now of course being a first-time father I have a new and different perspective on life. I am only four days into my new role but today, 19 June, is also very significant and not just because it is Father’s Day. It was on this day 34 years ago that my mum and dad bought JP Pozzi Newsagents and had their first day trading.

In many respects the shop was my Dad’s second baby and just like me they had to wait a long time to achieve it. After a long adoption process my Dad was 40 years old before I bounced into their lives and he 20

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was 52 before he achieved his second lifetime goal of owning his own business.

He cared for both deeply and he loved the pride in owning and running a business that was part of the community.

He believed that shops were not just retail spaces, he believed that they were part of the community, part of the history of the town. He was ‘Jimmy Pozzi’, the spiritual guardian of a business that has been on Buckie High Street for 115 years.

My wife sourced all kinds of things for the baby, but all the major purchases were made locally in town which meant prams, nursery furniture and car seats were

delivered and fitted. Service is what local retail is about and I believe that this will continue to be our only true point of difference. This week we had a mother travel 45 miles to our shop with her daughter as she wanted to “show her the shop” and both stocked up on cards and gifts. This sort of thing lifts your spirits and keeps you going, it really does.

In another example, a few weeks ago I had a call from a customer who wanted to tell me personally how delighted she was with our service, having bought both cards and gifts in our Elgin store. She expressly wanted to say how she felt very welcome in the store.

Her words, “very welcome”, hit a real nerve with me. That is what everyone wants to feel… welcome and valued. Ultimately with a small business that is always our aim

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OVER THE COUNTER as if they feel like that they will come back time and time again buying cards that will be keepsakes for others.

I know that I will keep every card that Hudson receives in the same way that I have all my graduation cards, significant birthday ones and lots of others! These things form the fabric of our life. They will have handwriting from people who’ve sadly gone and they will all have memories.

Everyone told me that it is the small things with a new baby that matter - the first smile, first word and first toddle, but it is the same in retail. It is the small details that make a difference. Everyone brings their own personalities to the business in terms of how they run it as well as what they stock and sell.

We, as the owners, create a culture in the store and our staff carry that forward, attracting those who like what we do and like how they are served. The cheery good morning, the time spent looking for a card for a son-in-law featuring a cricketer and so on. These interactions show people that we really care. Plus, it’s great to hear their stories and share in their life moments. This is what we do. We listen and respond.

Back to my recent life moment. We have already received over 100 new baby cards since Hudson was born, as well as 600 social media messages. Both of course are lovely and important but the cards are special, they are tangible important keepsakes.

With the then imminent arrival of Hudson I missed PG Live, a show that is all about people being together, meeting the newbies, helping to further our industry as well as simply seeing and sourcing new cards.

One newbie publisher made my day recently. Cake and Crayons, founded by

Above: David’s father ‘Jimmy Pozzi’ hard at work many moons ago.

Left: David’s favourite design from Cake and Crayons.

Below left: This year David reckons Tesco really got its act together on its Father’s Day cards selection.

Below right: Just a few of the 100+ cards David and his wife Nicola have received to welcome Hudson into the world.

Helen Bea in 2021 wrote to me a few weeks ago introducing her ranges to me.

She is a niche player, but has the potential to do some great general designs that will help sustain her more targeted product. I loved hearing about her journey to become a small publisher. That old line that ‘people buy from people’ is very, very true in the card world.

So yes, this flush of new fatherhood has got me in a good mood. That changed slightly on Sunday evening as I visited our local Tesco store to find that the grocer had obviously had a bumper Father’s Day. Two years ago during lockdown my best day was the Saturday before Father’s Day. Our newsagent was open, the supermarkets had sold out totally of cards and I literally did not stop selling cards from first thing in the morning right through to the evening.

This year our trade was OK, but it was up and down. The supermarkets have clearly improved their mix this year and sold a lot of Father’s Day cards as a result. Now

while this is frustrating as I would want people to buy from indies it is encouraging to at least see that Father’s Day cards are still being bought.

With Father’s Day and the new baby posted on Facebook, when scrolling down a bit I came across a post from The Human Connection Movement. It told the story of an elderly man making the effort to visit his bank. His son wanted to do the transaction from his phone but his father chastised him, telling him about all the people he speaks to and meets while doing his banking.

Every single one of you with a retail business will have that person or in most cases multiple people who visit your store for the chat, reassurance, friendliness and care.

At a time when we are all so tired, worried and generally stressed, it is important to remember just what an important role you play in your community.

So, spend time with people not devices.

Spend time with your customers, your family and your friends. Reach out and call that person you haven’t spoken to in a while. Put your feelings down in a card.

Technology is of course convenient and in these last few years we have retreated into our homes and sat on endless Zooms and recent studies show that the average person spends around five hours on their phone. I am going to try and focus on catching as many special moments as a family as I can while I still keeping all my other challenges going.

I have loved receiving so many cards from wellwishers in the last few days and I have loved the chats with strangers who know me even if I don’t know them. In the Co-op only today a lady said she had seen my son’s photo on her pal’s Facebook. “Very cute” she said. Quick as a flash I fired back “just like his Dad” and she laughed…human nature is a wonderful thing!

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cardsharp

Populating Ideas

We in the UK greeting card industry lead the world. Now that is something to shout about reflects Cardsharp! If we had won the football World Cup, we would all be dancing in the streets. There are not many things we in the UK can boast at being the best at, but we have been consistently been number one for greeting card creativity for the last two decades. Even in the world of popular music where we bat above our weight globally, there have been periods where we have been beaten by the US. Not so on greeting cards.

In this post-Brexit era, when we all worry about the future of our international trade, it was reassuring and inspiring to see literally hundreds of global distributors at this year’s PG Live, lapping up the best that the vast array of British publishers have to offer.

As one Aussie distributor was heard stating at the show: “You guys are head and shoulders above anything we can create”.

We in the UK greeting card industry, whether retailer or publisher, have always prized ourselves on our creativity and the confidence to go against the grain. Our recently departed, much-lamented friend, David Hicks always did that and while he

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suffered no end of publishing failures, he also clocked up groundbreaking hits with the likes of Happy Hefalumps, Edward Monkton and the Bright Side. Like wise, Stephen Haines, owner and founder of Carte Blanche, was told repeatedly that cute was a dead genre, once Forever Friends had peaked, but went on to make £multi-million with Tatty Teddy, the grey bear.

But with all this creativity bouncing about, there are also times for sober analysis, to look at the economic, social, demographic and cultural changes.

Cardsharp was interested to read the findings of a series of studies of the UK’s demographic make up today, which might help explain why some trends that we feel may lead to very profitable and successful greeting card ranges may disappoint in terms of financial returns while others that may not be so in our face, could be successful.

Greeting cards need to and should reflect society and in many ways they have or it would never have gone on to generate £1.5 billion in sales as it did in

Above: Like greeting cards, Lego figures need to reflect the changing demographics.

Left: Davora has re-issued its Cheat Sheets to encourage a better understanding of the different religious festivals.

Below left: Sainsbury’s is one major retailer that has upped its commitment to diversity and inclusion as evidenced by its Design a Card for Black History month initiative with the GCA last year.

the UK even in lockdown.

That said it does not mean that ‘reflection’ has historically been as inclusive as it could have been. At least some of that imbalance is being addressed now, though it will not necessarily be reflected equally in monetary richness as it is on the cultural front.

For instance, in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, publishers made a conscious effort to increase the selection of greeting cards that reflected the Black community. Many publishers produced ranges that celebrated the Black community in the UK while many major retailers too sought to rightfully reflect diversity on their respective card racks.

Sainsbury’s, for one, is up for a Retas award for the design competition it instigated with the GCA for a whole collection of cards celebrating Black History Month. Yet, none of these

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ranges to Cardsharp’s knowledge have been a huge financial success, though of course that is not the only reason why products should be launched.

Delving into the facts, Cardsharp discovered that some 4% of the UK population identify as Black, and some ranges were launched on the assumption that the Black population of the UK would buy a greeting card as it featured an image of someone of shared ethnicity.

According to a recent survey, which asked members of the public to guage what proportion of the UK population was Black, the estimated figure came out at 20%.

Cardsharp feels this perception should be seen as progress, after so many decades of the Black community being under-represented in many areas of life and media it is at last achieving more commensurate representation.

A much larger section of the UK population today, somewhere in the region of 9-10% is of South Asian origin, who in the main are Muslims and Hindus who both celebrate their religious ceremonies such as Eid and Diwali, respectively, with huge enthusiasm. But do you see Eid and Diwali cards in the big grocers on display?

Cardsharp used to, in ethnically mixed areas of cities, but less so now. A specialist publisher in this area explained to Cardsharp why they thought this was the case. The major supermarkets pay lip service to wanting to cater for the UK community of South Asian origin, but insist on imposing the same sale or return terms on publishers of these events as they do on say Spring Seasons. Naturally the publisher had to walk away from the business as it just would not stack up financially.

Left: Some new cello-free multipacks from Davora to celebrate Eid. Below left: Greeting cards need to reflect all colours and creeds.

Below: A design from Tracks’ Naughty by Nature range which celebrates that getting older doesn’t mean a pipe and slippers is for you!

Bottom: A design from Emo’s Embrace collection which reached the finals in The Henries 2021 Best Diversity & Inclusion category. While the rainbow flag will have chimed with the LBGTQ+ community it also appealed to dog lovers thereby upping its commercial success.

This in a way makes nonsense of some retailers’ claims of wanting to cater for different ethnic groups.

Again, appearances can be deceptive when it comes to ranges catering for the LBGTQ+ community. Perhaps because of the high profile of LBGTQ+ people in the media and in TV advertising (which Cardsharp stresses is a positive thing), in a recent survey members of the British public believed that 20% of the UK population would see themselves as part the LBGTQ+ community. However, the real estimate is that the figure is nearer 3-4%. Although major retailers have a social responsibility to stock cards catering for the LBGTQ+ community, be it for wedding, engagement, Valentine’s Day cards or everyday, these pockets are always going to be among the slowest turners.

The Greeting Card Association is doing sterling work on diversity and inclusion and achieved some good traction, such as the aforementioned celebration of Black History Month with supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, and with more to come.

It is great that there are more Black and Asian publishers coming into the industry, many finding success online rather than in bricks and mortar stores.

Cardsharp was also pleased to read in last month’s PG that UK Greetings is working with AfroTouch and Eastern Print Studio to bring authentic diversity and inclusion designs into its vast portfolio by working with designers who fully know and understand different cultural needs and tastes.

There are strong moral and ethical reasons for there to be an array of greeting cards freely available in retailers, that encompass inclusion and diversity. And many publishers are passionate about this and pursue this objective with amazing creativity and verve.

But Cardsharp’s view for what it is worth is that it is highly unlikely to constitute a major portion of the UK greeting card market in the short to medium term as demographics don’t lie. But that doesn’t mean a successful business cannot be made in this sector, just that it is important not to have an unrealistic expectation of the size of these potential markets.

The world of media advertising is always focussing on the new generation of consumers, hence the emphasis on youth.

Yet by 2027 a quarter of the UK population will be over the age of 65, and in many cases will have more spending power than those under that age still in the workplace.

They will certainly have more time for leisure and recreation. This will probably become the largest greeting card buying demographic in the next few years. Yet ‘Ageism’ is somehow, an “ism” that still seems to be tolerated, when insults like ‘Boomers’ and ‘Karens’ are hurled around.

Catering successfully for this sector of the market, without a patronising approach could be where the megabucks are made concludes Cardsharp.

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PG Live snapshots

Caught on camera They came, they saw, they marvelled, they ordered and much fun was had in the process. With travel restrictions lifted, PG Live 2022 was live and kicking with visitors from all over the world as well as from the length and breadth of the UK. PG shares a soupçon of the upbeat flavour of the show…

Above: As ever the ‘card dresses’ were a popular sight, especially as this year there was one in Ukrainian flag colours and another which paid homage to the Queen.

Right: Retailers and overseas distributors did the honours in official ribbon cutting ceremony to pronounce the show open.

Below: Danilo organised for TV stars Bluey and Bingo to make an appearance at the show.

Below: Retail buddies at The Retas/Greats champagne reception on both days. (Right-left) Tabi Marsh, Papilio; Aga Marsden, Highworth Emporium; Jo Webber, Jo Amor; Katrina Raill, Etcetera and Libby Holden, Lovely Libby’s.

Below: Coinciding with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the GCA/PG Cards for the Queen feature displayed incredible bespoke card creations by publishers as well as inviting visitors to write cards to post to Her Majesty by popping them in a special cardboard postbox, kindly made by N Smith.

(Right-left) Adriana Lovesy, GCA; Chris Bryan, Second Nature; Darren Cave, UKG; Amanda Fergusson, GCA; Jakki Brown, PG and Raj Arora, Davora/Nettl.

Left: You are never too young to enjoy PG Live. Oxfam buyer Alexandra Norrish shows off the Paper Salad side of the keepsake tote bag, which featured an Emotional Rescue On the Ceiling design on the other side.

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PG Live snapshots

Right: Celebrated artist, Sarah Campbell (right) brought some extra colour to the Museums & Galleries’ stand. Seen here with the company’s co-owner Debbie Williams and group creative director Ben Dorney.

Above: Ever the showman, Widdop’s commercial director Stephen Illingworth (centre) with Set’s Stuart Delahoy and Grace Podmore, who won a giant chocolate bar in the company’s tombola.

Left: The free tea and coffee from the Windles-sponsored tea trolleys and refreshment points kept everyone fully fuelled for buying. (Rightleft) Windles’ Andrea Norcott, Michelle Mills, Nicky Marshall, tea lady extraordinaire and EmmaLouise Allen.

Below: Having their cake and eating it! Rush Design’s Lorraine (centre) and Ian Bradley (3rd right) shared a slice with chums from Hugs & Kisses, Skeet Print and The East Grinstead Bookshop.

Above: Cheers to Cath Tate Cards’ 40th anniversary.

Right: Members of the Ankorstore team outside the Gallery Hall where the free lunch was served and the opening night party took place, both of which the online marketplace sponsored.

Below: Food for thought.

The large round tables in the lunchroom meant the show’s conviviality continued.

Above: (Left-right) Expressions’ Chris and Tracey Bryant, SW agent Rosie Trow and Just Cards’ Maggyie Wynn enjoying the get together.

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PG Live snapshots

Left: Former Curiosity Killed the Cat saxophonist, Graeme Airth added to the upbeat vibe of the show. Seen here with Simon Pyrce, md of Skylight Media, sponsors of the musical accompaniment.

Right: Clare Maddicott was more than happy to give away bottles of champagne to any retailers placing orders of £250 at the show.

Right and far right: As ever PG Live saw the settlement of bets between football fanatics Danilo’s Daniel Prince (left) and PG’s Warren Lomax as well as Steve Jones-Blackett and agent Alan Potter (far right) as to where their respective footie teams ended up in the league table.

Below: PG Live’s ops director, Jim Bullough (far left) did the honours in the Carte Blanche prize draw which saw retailer Sheerness-based Swalk win a giant Tatty Teddy.

Below: After a busy first day, exhibitors and visitors enjoyed got together over a few drinks at the opening night party.

Above: Exhibitors queue up at the organisers office to cash in their Golden, Silver and Sunshine Tickets and Greats and Cardgains’ vouchers that had been presented to them by retailers placing orders.

Right: An agent-fest!

The Card Collection’s Roy Beswick (centre back) with agents (right-left) Nigel Spensley, Robin Hill, Adam Lawrence, Alan Potter and Doug Kilby at the opening night party.

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VIEWPOINTS

The Buzz Of Showbiz

Below: A busy aisle at PG Live 2022.

PG Live 2022 brought the whole global UK greeting card community back together, with exhibiting publishers having pulled out the stops and buyers lapping up the wealth of newness.

Retailers were only too happy to share their views of the show as well as some of their top picks.

Andrea Pinder Presentation Cards & Gifts, Barrowford

Below: Presentation’s Andrea Pinder (left) with Klara Hawkins at her debut show.

“I loved the PG Live atmosphere, the giggles and the banter. To be given the freedom of walking round with no masks was like having a new lease of life.

PG Live echoes the passion that I have for my business of which I’m eternally grateful for, so to have the opportunity of meeting all the talented designers and suppliers under one roof is very important to me. I placed Christmas orders, everyday orders and viewed Springboard, giving what I hope is helpful feedback to some of the newbies.”

Top picks: “I was delighted to place orders with Bexy Boo Designs, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Rush Design, Klara Hawkins, Paperlink, Five Dollar Shake, Abacus, Paperlink, Rosie Made a thing, Carte Blanche and Pigment. Cardology is now on my list to become a new supplier along with Dandelion Stationery and Raspberry Blossom.

I also loved the humour of Brainbox Candy and Dean Morris as well as the new and exciting designs from Paper Salad.”

Left: Some festive fun from Bexy Boo.

Kate Salmon head of Home & Gift buying of Oliver Bonas

Right: Arnelle Woker’s wonderful ranges stood out for OB’s Kate Salmon.

“The show was such a success, nice and busy with a good atmosphere.

While we don’t place orders at the show as we are working on a range review it was good timing to see all the newness and catch up with suppliers especially as we have more store openings in the pipeline and a new buyer in Lucy Cornwall who has joined the team to concentrate on cards and packaging which is exciting.”

Top picks: “Everyone seemed to have brought out an ‘A team’ of new ranges Continued on page 30

Carlo Marinelli senior buyer of Paperchase “We had a great time at PG Live this year! It was Tori’s [Heathsmith, card buyer] and my first ‘proper’ PG Live (after last year’s lockdownaffected show) and Laura’s [Clarke, assistant buyer] first card show and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The atmosphere was great, there was a real buzz around the show, we saw so many familiar faces who were all on good form, and also lots of new faces showing really strong ranges!”

Top picks: “We used our PG Live special tickets with Lucy Maggie Designs and CoolSource Cards, and are very excited to onboard them with Paperchase.”

Above: Paperchase’s Carlo Marinelli (far left) with colleagues Tori Heathsmith (second right) and Laura Clarke with CoolSource’s Matthew O’Connor.

Right: One of the designs in the Ella Goddard Sunshine Llama collection from Lucy Maggie Designs.

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VIEWPOINTS which makes it hard to pick just a few out! In terms of new suppliers, I would highlight Say it with Songs as a brilliant concept that offers something different and fun. Arnelle Woker had some beautiful designs and we loved how diverse they were. Noi and Lucy Maggie are best sellers of ours so it was great to see so much newness from them. And we especially loved the cocktail cards from Stormy Knight as we know our customers enjoy a good drink!”

Right: There are lots of new card designs sourced at PG Live heading into Oliver Bonas stores.

Kate Cowie director of Utility, Liverpool and Manchester “We had a great time at PG Live and it was great to see so many happy faces after so long.”

Top picks: “We placed orders with Earlybird (where we used our Silver Ticket), Stormy Knight and Go La La (Those naughty soaps were just too funny to resist).

We are also considering the David Shrigley range from Brainbox Candy, the lovely new stationery from Raspberry Blossom and the new designs from Tache among many others. We definitely felt the show was worth the trip down and apart from those exhibitors mentioned above we have made a wishlist for adding further ranges from existing suppliers throughout the year and also picked some designers that we would like to buy from as we head towards the last quarter of the year.”

Miles Robinson and Nigel Williamson co-owners of House of Cards “We were delighted to attend PG Live this year!

The first day especially had a brilliant buzz about the show with such positive vibes. As always we were exceptionally well looked after with tea/coffee and lunch.

There was loads of great product on show and great to see some new publishers there.”

Top picks: “For us standing out were Toasted Crumpet, Tache, Paper Shed, Emily Nash, Stormy Knight’s seed card range Bloom, Citrus Bunn, Bewilderbeest, Raspberry Blossom and Paper Salad.

We also thought Cinnamon Aitch’s soaps and candles stood out and have ordered these.

I’m sure we will be adding to this list over the coming months.”

Above: Miles Robinson with Lucilla Lavender (right) and Anneke Driscoll.

Right: A Cinnamon Aitch’s coordinated card, candle and toiletries collections impressed the House of Cards team.

Above: Utility’s Kate Cowie (right) arriving at PG Live with the retailer’s card buyer, Steph Lloyd.

Right: Among the colourful designs from Earlybird’s Amy range.

Claire Taylor John Lewis & Partners’ and Waitrose & Partners buyer of greeting cards, stationery and gift collections “PG Live was fantastic - so wonderful to have a one stop shop to meet both new faces and build upon established relationships. We really were spoilt for choice with the calibre of product on offer! The benefits of seeing product in the flesh are incomparable versus leafing through a catalogue!”

Top picks: “I particularly loved seeing the breadth of offer and variety of looks from Paperlink and Laura Darrington.”

Above: Claire Taylor was a big fan of PG Live.

Right: Just some of the diversity from Laura Darrington Design.

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Kim Lewis card buyer for Longacres Garden Centre group “PG Live was amazing as always. It was so lovely to be able to be back to normal, see so many wonderful companies and catch up with so many people.”

Top picks: “I spent my Silver ticket with Lucilla Lavender buying all her lovely new designs and also placed orders with Abacus and Claire Maddicott, Five Dollar Shake and Belly Button Designs.”

Above: Longacres’ Kim Lewis (front) on the Wrendale Designs stand.

Righte: One of the new designs from Lucilla Lavendar.

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VIEWPOINTS Michael Apter owner of Paper Tiger, two shops in Edinburgh “It was such a pleasure to spend time at PG Live. It was great to catch up with so many of our card illustrators and publishers at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

There is no substitute for seeing the products that our customers will see, well presented and in context of the wider industry offer. Meeting with the people who make the product is a critical part of the selection process, and I was delighted to see so many of our card suppliers under one (beautiful) roof.

There was a really strong mix of new and established publishers, and a good mix for different sectors of the market. It was also really good to spend time talking to contacts about their plans for the future and hear some gossip!”

Top picks: “Stormy Knight, The Art File and Stop The Clock had some really strong new ranges, but I could easily name another dozen who had great new designs too.

We have stocked Stormy Knight cards for many years, and Sarah [Jackson, the publisher’s founder] consistently publishes really strong designs that resonate with our customers. As a recent Retas award winner, we had a Golden Ticket to spend at the show, and I was delighted to spend it on an order with Sarah.

I placed a number of orders and will be following up with many other card companies in the near future.”

Top: Paper Tiger’s Michael Apter and with Stormy Knight founder, Sarah Jackson.

Above right: A couple of the new strong designs from Stop the Clock.

Sally Matson owner of Red Card, Petworth “What a fabulous show! The buzz at PG Live was great - right from opening on the first day - everyone was so happy to be there and it was really lovely to reconnect with so many card companies. I really love this show because it is all about the cards and the UK card industry is without a doubt the best in the world.

Top picks: “We placed 17 orders on the day. My favourite new find was Klara Hawkins with whom we spent our Silver Ticket. She had a beautiful stand and a lovely mix of different ranges, and we especially liked her Christmas relations cards.

We used our Golden ticket with Heyyy. The publisher’s coowners, Yvette and Dan [Clarkson] are so lovely and we thought their new kids’ range was really fabulous - there’s nothing like it on the market.

Our other favourite things included Wendy Jones-Blackett’s new Acid Drops range, which is gorgeous - we bought the whole lot! Lucilla Lavender had two new ranges that were beautiful - the embossing and foiling on them look really lovely.

We found Not At All Jack and the Comedy Card Company in the Springboard section - it was pleasing to find original new humorous cards.”

Above: Red Cards’ Sally Matson (second left) and Jo Collis (second right) with Heyyy’s Yvette and Dan Clarkson.

Right: A Wendy Jones-Blackett Acid Drops design.

Sarah Laker owner of Stationery Supplies, Marple and Wilmslow “I love PG Live, I'm a proper PG convert! I was absolutely spoiled for choice! Such a riot of colour and design. I spent the first day walking the aisles, catching up with existing suppliers, taking in their new ranges and looking for something new and exciting. Then I sat in the pub Tuesday night making a shortlist and a plan for Day Two. Top picks: “I loved the new Richmond Park range by The Art File and Dandelion Publishing’s mini card range, plus the new additions to its gift range. Toasted Crumpet’s Christmas was delicious and the mixed charity boxes from Museums & Galleries will fill a gap I’ve been wanting to plug.

My Golden ticket went to Laura Sherratt Designs. I think her cards will fit in well with my portfolio of publishers in Wilmslow. Cotton & Grey’s honey-scented beeswax candles really attracted me. I love that they are a card and gift in one. Not At All Jack really stood out for me with its quirky humour cards while Hanxmade’s designs were just a pleasure to look at. Other orders I placed were with the legendary Dean Morris, with James Ellis, who was planting trees for every order placed, and Stormy Knight who not only gave me a bar of yummy chocolate, but also 10% off in its lucky dip! I’ve also placed my first order with Wendy Jones-Blackett for Marple after successfully trialling the cards in Wilmslow. And not forgetting Two Little Monkeys, I ordered his new humour cards for both shops. I love his contemporary cards as they appeal across the board and always sell well for me. I plan to order age cards from Heyyy as well as some new super cute designs from Ginger Betty.”

Above: Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker (left) with Laura Sherratt.

Right: Not At All Jack’s humorous cards were popular with many PG Live attendees.

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VIEWPOINTS Jo Barber owner of No. 14, Ampthill “A brilliant show, it has to be the best ever! A great mix of publishers, the usual jolly atmosphere and lots of orders placed - I do hope I’m not in on the day they all land!

We visited on day one and in hindsight we should’ve considered an overnight stay.

There were so many amazing stands we just couldn’t fit it all in and we were still placing orders a week later. Another great reason for attending is catching up with industry friends, sharing tips and feeling as though the world has very nearly returned to normal. I loved it, and next year’s dates are already in the diary!”

Top picks: “We spent our Golden Ticket with Jo [Wilson] at Dandelion Stationery. She totally nails the type of cards our customers love. Our Sunshine Ticket went to Jo [Clarke] at Toasted Crumpet (there’s a Jo theme going on here!) with whom we ordered lots of the mini cards, all beautifully foiled and a great price; they fly out. Our Greats Voucher was spent with Whale and Bird on its fabulous Forest Fr1ends range.

We also ordered with Megan Claire (even though I’d ordered just a couple of days earlier, I simply had to have the new ranges), Lorna Syson, Say it with Songs, Ricicle Cards, Ohh Deer, Coral & Mint, James Ellis, Type & Story and Cinnamon Aitch. Interestingly I’d received a brochure from Cinnamon Aitch but didn’t follow it up, I’m so pleased I saw the cards, the quality and colours are fabulous and are already selling well.”

Above: No 14’s Jo Barber (left) and Kirsty Hammond (right) with Dandelion Stationery’s Jo Wilson.

Right: A Lorna Syson design.

Tim Reynolds retail manager of Medici Gallery, Kensington “Both Charlie and I were very impressed by PG Live, the range and quality of the cards on offer was fabulous!”

Top picks: “I spent our ‘pimped up’ Sunshine ticket on the lovely range from Folio as I was immediately drawn to Ian’s exquisite artwork. I also ordered from Raspberry Blossom who I had read about in the current issue of Progressive Greetings.

We also did an order with Poet & Painter, and not to forget the beautiful work of Sophie Brabbins from whom we are just about to order as a result of seeing her at the show. Her cards will work well given our proximity to the Natural History Museum.”

Above: Medici’s Tim Reynolds (centre) was proud to present his hand bejewelled Sunshine Ticket to Folio’s Amy Hudson and Ian Owen.

Left: Nature’s beauty celebrated in this Sophie Brabbins card.

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Priya Aurora-Crowe co-owner of Lark London “It was a really enjoyable experience attending PG Live. We found many new brands that have launched during the pandemic, and the food was great! I am already looking forward to attending next year.”

Top picks: “I especially liked Cotton & Grey and Amy Illustrates, which have a fantastic ethos and are sustainability-focused which we love at Lark London. We can't wait to get all the new products in and watch them fly out!”

Above: Lark’s Priya AuroraCrowe with 2050 Cards’ directors Benjy Barkes and Oliver Trance.

Right: Cotton & Grey’s mindful card and candles set.

Roy Beswick The Card Collection, East Molesey Top picks: “I have just taken delivery of our first batch of Klara Hawkins greeting cards, which I ordered at the show with our Retas Sunshine ticket.

These cards were delivered by Klara herself and we had a lovely chat about the greeting card industry and how successful the PG Live show had been for both of us.

We are now awaiting delivery of our first order of Peony & Pangolin cards who were another first-time exhibitor at the show and the recipient of our second Retas ticket.

We also placed our first order with Dyson Design greeting cards and we are really excited to receive the stock of cards from these publishers to see if our customers like them as much as we do.”

Above: The Card Collection’s Roy Beswick with Peony and Pangolin co-founders Lisa Barratt (left) and Dani Cooper.

Left: Some Klara Hawkins designs.

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VIEWPOINTS Sean Austin

Hayley Bastable

owner of Austin & Co, Malvern

owner of HBB Cards, Newport Pagnell

"It was great to see so many new designs from our current suppliers, and a few new ones that will grace the shelves in Malvern over the coming weeks. It's always a great atmosphere at PG Live, and everyone there shares the love of the humble greeting card. There was lots of unconditional love from designers who we do stock and those we don't too. I ordered to the max and made great inroads into Christmas 2022. I came home with catalogues and more orders have followed, notably with Dean Morris who is basically stocking my stall at this year's Malvern Pride."

Top picks: "We rewarded long time companies with our Golden and Sunshine tickets - Ohh Deer, Megan Claire, and Dandelion Stationery. Other orders were placed with Citrus Bunn, Emily Nash, Whale & Bird, Heyyy, Ricicle Cards, Alphablots, Ginger Betty, and the world's tallest greeting card designer, Bewilderbeest. Finally, there is an imminent order to be placed with Robert James Hull, who had me on the edge of blubbing and tears in the middle of the Business Design Centre, it was a memorable moment."

Above: Sean Austin with Megan Purdie, founder of Megan Claire.

Left: A Robert James Hull design.

“I very much enjoyed the show.

It was wonderful to see some old faces and have a catch up.

I definitely have next year’s show in my 2023 calendar.”

Top picks: “I was thrilled to see Jonathan [Crosby] from Stripey Cats. I have always loved his quirky children designs, and they have always sold so well for me. I was very happy to place an order with him and I look forward to showing all the fab new stuff off in the shop.

I discovered Lorna Syson whose new bright and eye-catching animal and dog breed cards really caught my eye, and I presented her with my Sunshine ticket. I always love to discover a new designer and I am thrilled to be stocking her designs. I also placed a separate Christmas order as well - who can resist a guinea pig with festive horns?! I also placed orders with Dandelion Stationery, Rosie Made a Thing (I loved her new children designs!), White Cotton Cards and Laura Sherratt Designs (her new Bee Happy design I especially loved). I spent my Sunshine ticket with Sarah Kelleher, who is a local designer to me, and I adore her beautiful bright cards, the Botanical Golds being a favourite. Absolutely stunning.”

Top: HBB’s Hayley Bastable (right) with Sarah Kelleher.

Above: Little wooden stars add extra charm to White Cotton’s Stars range.

Pete Whiteman

Below: John Barratt on the Ling Design stand.

Bottom: John was impressed with the artistry behind Art Matters’ products.

co-owner of Dzodzo, Woodbridge

John Barratt

“Another successful PG Live show. It was so good to see the Springboard back, with lots of new and exciting designs and designers.

It did feel like the old days were back. The chatter of people, catching up with old friends, finding new ranges, making new friends. In the words of Craig Revel Horwood,” FAB U LAS”.

I placed more orders than in many a year, there were just so many great images to choose from. Bring on 2023, it’s in the diary already.”

Top picks: “The companies that caught the eye were Jessica Hogarth (with whom I spent our Golden ticket). Her coastal designs brighten a summer’s day. Red Hare Publishing had great wildlife and bird designs with vivid backgrounds. On a humour front, Brainbox was reassuringly rude and Rosie made a Thing reassuringly funny and just perfect for our clientele. And one range that you just can’t get enough of has to be Dandelion - humorous, caring and quirky.”

owner of The Card Centre, Felixstowe

Above: Dzodzo’s Pete Whiteman with Jessica Hogarth.

Left: One of Red Hare Publishing’s striking designs.

“We thoroughly enjoyed PG Live this year. It felt so good to be back seeing everyone again and feel the buzz. The whole show was so well organised and everyone was so welcoming. We loved chatting to the artists, especially in the Springboard area. It is great to see these talented people showing off their products and also lovely to meet up with many old friends, some of whom I have known for over 40 years. We placed orders with more than 10 companies.”

Top picks: “I was very impressed with Ed Stokes Art and Red Hare Publishing in the Springboard area and with Art Matters on the Village Green. Lizzie Perkins [the artist/owner of Art Matters] was so interesting telling us exactly how she did screen printing, quite fascinating.

We were also taken with Paper Bird’s new designs and with Laura Darrington, Rosie Made a Thing and Jonny Javelin.”

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In conversation with...

Food for Thort-ful “I have never worked so hard in my life,” Andy Pearce, founder of Thortful reflected on the past few pandemic years, when the online greeting card platform really came into its own, quadrupling its turnover to £28 million in just one year.

PG caught up with the plucky fast-talking entrepreneur at its London HQ about how ‘normal’ life is affecting the online card buying habits of the nation in the Thortful camp.

At the age of 18, Andy Pearce decided that he knew more about business than his university lecturers so he left after three months, went out and proved it. From a wheelie bin cleaning service to call centre empire Inkfish, and then onto conference calling company PowWowNow, he netted £millions in the process.

Not being an expert in these fields he saw as a bonus.

“I knew a little bit about call centres when I started Inkfish, but knew nothing at all about conferencing calling when we set up PowWowNow,” says Andy, making reference to the last two businesses through which he netted £20+ million as a result of their respective sell offs. “And I really knew very little about the greeting card market before starting Thortful, apart from my own frustrations as a consumer,” Andy told PG back in 2018,

Above: Thortful’s founder, Andy Pearce in the company’s headquarters in London’s Westminster.

Right and above right: The ‘joys’ of the lockdown 2020. A Carole Baskin card from Jungle Press and a selfisolating design from Megan Claire that sold on the Thortful platform.

Below: The Thortful site now offers 80,000 cards from over 4,000 creators.

shortly after he had appeared on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den Christmas special, not really to secure investment, but to market the Thortful brand to the programme’s millions of viewers. It worked!

According to Andy it was a rather fruitless search on the high street to find a suitable Christmas card for his mum that first prompted the idea for Thortful. “Like most men, I had probably left it too late to find a good card,” he admitted to PG. While aware of the leading online greeting card operators (Moonpig and Funky Pigeon being the most notable), it was that uninspiring card shopping trip that fast tracked his ruminations on creating an alternative platform, which would place creative designs rather than personalisation options or photo uploads as the real driver for the customer engagement.

Loving the fact that Thortful was being seen as a disrupter, back in 2018, even though the platform had not made a penny profit, Andy wagered a bet with PG (for a bottle of Laurent Perrier rose champagne) that Thortful’s expansion would see it accounting for 10% of the total card market.

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In conversation with...

While that champagne is not on ice yet, certainly the pandemic brought some fizz to Thortful’s sales, especially in 2020 when emotions were running high and lockdowns severely reduced the options of where to buy greeting cards.

In 2019 Thortful had a turnover of £7 million, and made a profit for the first time.

However, by the end of the next year, that figure had soared four-fold to £28 million.

“It was truly phenomenal,” recounts Andy of the business bonanza in 2020. “We attracted 2.5 million new customers in 2020 and through to the middle of 2021 who had never shopped with Thortful before and on top of this our existing customer base bought lots more cards from us.”

Andy also says that having to be prepared for the seasonal spikes inherent in the greeting card calendar also paid dividends on the production front.

“I felt extremely lucky that we had built our technology and relationship with our print partner [ProCo] to cope with major sales peaks in normal years for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s

With the lockdowns and sentiments of the public during the peak of the pandemic very much working in Thortful’s favour (as well as the other online platforms), the big question is how much of this online traffic, especially from new customers has been maintained?

“Our sales were truly fantastic right through until Father’s Day 2021, but what we saw then, as we anticipated, was that some of our lockdown converts, engaged less with us. Some will have returned to the high street, but also the urge Above: Thortful prides itself as the leading marketplace for independent designs, featuring details about its creators on the site.

Left: Thortful has come a long way since Andy Pearce’s pitch on Dragons’ Den in December 2018.

Day and Father’s Day so that we, unlike others, were able to maintain our deliveries within 24 hours of receiving the order.”

He is also keen to highlight that pivotal to this incredible period of growth was that the card designs created and uploaded by Thortful’s “content creators” - a combination of well-known greeting card brands as well as thousands of independent designers totally hit the mark on reflecting the feelings and obsessions of the nation.

“There was the toilet roll shortage, hand-sanitiser references, Carole Baskins’ popularity, all the political messaging, plus the supportive messages and appreciation of the NHS, all of this and more were being reflected in the great new designs that were uploaded constantly,” says Andy, who revealed that one designer earned £55,000 in royalties in just one month as a result of sales of a series of Boris Johnson-related designs on the platform.

to send supportive ‘thinking of you’ cards lessened as people were able to see each other again in person,” Andy told PG. That said, Andy is in no doubt that there is still plenty of future growth potential, for Thortful as well as the online greeting card sector as a whole.

“I am not at all worried about the industry. The British public will continue to buy cards. And on the design front, the creativity that was there at the recent PG Live as well as from the 4,000 creators who have created the 80,000 designs we now have on Thortful is evidence that there is no shortage of engaging content,” says Andy.

As to what chunk of the market online will account for, Andy is in no doubt that it will continue to grow. “I now believe it accounts for over 10% and that will increase to 15% in the next three years and it will up to 20% in three to six years’ time,” is his guess.

As to what percentage of this Thortful will account for, Andy responds with a wry smile, suggesting he has something up his sleeve, and is happy with the idea of being called “the next disrupter” in the space. “Omnichannel is of interest, but I have yet to figure out how this could best work, but I will,” he assures. Thortful times ahead for Mr Pearce!

Spreading the word PR, marketing, charity initiatives and collaborations have very much been part of Thortful’s consumer promotion. Among the latest is a tie-up with mobile giant Three.

Launched last month the offer allows Three customers to pick any A5 card from the online greeting card marketplace for just 99p, instead of the normal £3.49 price, every Thursday from now through to December - they just have to open the Three+ app, select the offer and redemption code, then pick their card.

“We’re absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Three Mobile to offer its customers 99p cards every Thursday,” said Jason Lachter, Thortful’s head of commercial partnerships. “It's the ideal opportunity for people to show friends and family a little love with the perfect Thortful card, along with saving the day for those that have left it a little too late!”

Making sure mobile customers are aware their smartphones can help them send greetings whenever they want, all single A5 cards, including the online specialist’s photocards, are included in the offer, with the redemption code needing to be applied at checkout, and the delivery charge is extra.

Above: In another example of recent marketing last month saw Thortful supplying exclusive Mr Men and Little Miss colouring-in cards with a pack with crayons for Heathrow’s ‘here to help’ staff to hand out to young passengers passing through the airport.

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Innovations JULY 2022_GF.qxp_38-39/40-41 01/07/2022 15:45 Page 1

A selection of products that will be on show at Harrogate Home & Gift, July 17-20.

Note Worthy Co-ordinating with its Elle, Electric Dreams and new Meadow greeting card collections, Belly Button Designs is expanding its giftware and stationery offer. The new extensive collection spans candles, mugs and stationery, the latter including ceramic pen pots, pen sets, sustainable notebooks and weekly planners. Also on show will be new luxury eco gift wrap packs.

Belly Button Designs 0161 902 0200 www.bellybutton.cards Harrogate Home & Gift Stand DP1-D47

Snap To It

Squeak Squeak Due to the popularity of Dandelion Stationery’s inaugural Four Legged Friends card collection an additional 13 designs have joined the menagerie, with new cat and dog designs, plus those of guinea pigs, horses and hamsters too. Printed in the UK on luxury sustainable board, they come with a bespoke grey and white star printed envelope.

Dandelion Stationery 01332 4504940 www.dandelionstationery.co.uk Harrogate Home & Gift Stand DP1-C26

Molly Mae has expanded its popular SnapShot range with children’s birthday, general female birthday and male relation birthday card designs.

Each design has been hand-illustrated and painted before being hand-finished in the publisher’s rural Leicestershire studio. The 125mm x 175mm cards are supplied with an eco-Kraft envelope, either clasped, nested or cello wrapped.

Molly Mae www.mollymaetrade.co.uk Home & Gift Harrogate Stand DP1-D80

A Dog’s Life Coulson Macleod is barking up the right tree with its new Pooch greeting card range. The collection comprises 12 illustrative designs, each featuring a different dog breed and text about their attributes. Each card comes with a kraft brown envelope.

Coulson Macleod 01536 419944 www.coulsonmacleod.com Harrogate Home & Gift Stand DP1 A11

Sustainable Sparkle English Graphics will be releasing a brand new catalogue at Home and Gift Harrogate, featuring a host of new designs. The idea of a world without sparkle is unthinkable to the English Graphics’ team, so the new design additions - which include new flowerpot combinations, a ladybird, snowman, Christmas blue tit and gingerbread man – are adorned with biodegradable ecoglitter made from plant cellulose.

English Graphics 01590 672778 www.englishgraphics.co.uk Harrogate Home & Gift Stand DP4-13

A Cut Above Roger la Borde is launching a glorious handful of new additions to its popular Starflower card range.

Anchored by illustrations from Monika Forsberg, the new designs – for birthday, anniversary, and get well soon - feature intricate laser-cutting, printed in lush colours on the front and back, inside and outside. Monika’s signature motif is her twisted stylised foliage, buzzing with richly coloured birds, butterflies and flowers.

Roger la Borde +44 (0)207 328 0491 www.rogerlaborde.com Harrogate Home & Gift Stand DP1-B5

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PG showcases a selection of new product launches.

Cracking Cards Gromit Having worked with the wondrous Aardman Animations on a range of Morph cards, Hype Associates has extended the relationship with the animation studio to include a Wallace and Gromit collection. The inaugural collection spans 28 greeting cards as well as a range of pin badges featuring the legendary duo.

Hype Associates 0151 625 6893 www.hypa.com

Wrap Artists Taking In The Vista Vista Spring is Paper Salad’s new Spring seasons ranges for Valentine’s and Mother’s Day. This comprises 10 Valentine’s Day designs, including those for husband, wife, boyfriend and girlfriend along with eight Mother’s Day cards, which feature gorgeous hand-painted artwork in bright neon colours, along with shiny gold foil finishes The Mother’s Day cards come with a patterned envelope. The 175mm x 125mm cards can be supplied naked or cellowrapped.

Paper Salad 0161 427 0001 www.papersalad.co.uk

Earlybird is adding new wrapping paper designs to its flat wrap selection, as a result of collaborations with talented artists Emma Jayne Designs and Linsey Kelly. Inspired by its bestselling Buddy & Betty range, Emma Jayne’s kitsch designs feature dogs and cats while inspired by the Honey card range, Linsey’s beautiful fruit designs add some zing. The new wraps are printed on on 90gsm recyclable matt paper.

Earlybird Designs 01227 765372 www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk

Spring In Her Step Cultural Inclusivity Davora has released its first ever no-cello multipacks for Eid, Jewish New Year and Diwali cards. Each pack contains six cards and six envelopes with the cello having been replaced with an environmentally-friendly cardboard wrap, with a built in euro-hook for easy merchandising.

Davora 0161 641 0655 www.davora.co.uk

Louise Tiler Designs is full of the joys of the Spring Seasons as evidenced by her Valentine's Day designs featuring romantic landscapes and small figures to illustrate those in love. The second set of Valentine's and Mother's Day designs, part of the Apricot range, are both elegant and contemporary while the painted florals add detailed handpainted elements.

Louise Tiler Designs 01535 957878 www.louisetiler.com

Sewn Up Catherine Kleeli has extended its Stick and Stitch range to include more collaged artwork delights by the publisher’s founder. Printed onto luxurious 300gsm board, produced in the British Lake District, the 127mm x 177mm cards are accompanied by a brown ribbed envelope.

Catherine Kleeli 07814 293155 www.catherinekleeli.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 41

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PG showcases a selection of new product launches.

That’s Life Lanternfish Publishing has just introduced new additions into its Daily Life art card range by UK artist Lucy Almey Bird. Lucy’s beautiful paintings offer a romanticised, gentler look at life that take you away from a sometimes troublesome world into a world of floaty dresses, country walks and snuggling up with a good book. The blank cards are 15cm square and come individually wrapped with a high quality white envelope.

Lanternfish Publishing 01263 825280 www.lanternfishpublishing.co.uk

Sowing A Seed Scatter the Love is Crumble and Core’s new seed card range. The initial collection comprises 10 designs created by the company’s in-house artist Jilly Mercer, covering birthdays, sending love as well as some blank cards. Wildflower seeds are embedded in the board, meaning that after soaking it, the recipient can plant the card and watch the flowers grow.

Crumble and Core 01825 841412 www.crumbleandcore.com

Light My Fire Fawn & Thistle’s latest greeting card collection, Matchbox was inspired by vintage matchboxes and the riso print look. The inaugural collection caters for a sizeable number of occasions. Each card comes with a neon yellow or blue envelope and is finished with neon yellow or pink inks.

Fawn & Thistle 07545590405 www.fawnandthistle.com

Sincere Celebrations Film Stars Using the latest technology Garlanna has just launched its inaugural Video Greeting Cards collection. Moving greeting cards into the digital space while still retaining the physical greeting card element, these allow the sender to include a personalised video message accessed via a QR code inside the card making for a wonderful keepsake of special memories.

Garlanna +353 0404 20528 www.garlanna.com

Building on the success of its Sincerely collection that launched at the start of the year, Cardigan Cards has expanded it to include more older age titles, such as female 70th, 80th, Mum 90th, Dad 90th, Husband 80th and Wife 80th, all packed inside and out with design and verse. Also joining the range at the other end of the age spectrum are new designs for Granddaughter Birthday and Grandson Birthday. The cards measure 181x 254mm.

Cardigan Cards +44 (0)1785 250 511 www.cardigancards.co.uk

What Katie Did Next Texas-based lettering artist Katie Johnson has created a contemporary typographic greeting card collection for Stormy Knight.

The nine designs are dazzling, including celebratory messages as well as some with more sympathetic sentiments, such as ‘Sorry stuff sucks'. They're all finished with some amazing shimmery foil that mimics glitter but without any of the environmental issues that come with it. All are paired with a G F Smith Calisto pearl envelope.

Stormy Knight +44 (0)117 9098684 www.stormyknight.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 43

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Innovations JULY 2022_GF.qxp_38-39/40-41 01/07/2022 15:47 Page 4

PG showcases a selection of new product launches.

Library Ticket With Pride Month kick-starting the Summer, Flame Tree Publishing has launched a Bodleian Libraries Rainbow Shelves range.

These vibrant designs are available on a notebook, a jigsaw puzzle and packs of greeting cards.

Flame Tree Publishing +44 (0) 20 7751 9650 www.flametreepublishing.com

Travel Pangs?

Making A Stand Stand Out is a bold, beautiful new collection from Lucilla Lavender. Each of the 10 designs (148 x 158mm) has a strong focal point, a shape such as a gin glass or a sun, in which white lettering is debossed, for an unusually striking effect. The range was inspired by the trend for simple words and phrases, and whether fun or heartfelt, the messages are delivered in a distinctive way.

Lucilla Lavender 0203 405 1410 www.lucillalavender.com

Visoni.com has launched 20 more vintage cards into its collection, including those featuring Bystander magazine covers from the 1920s, Saturday Evening Post covers from the 1930s and British Airways poster designs from the 1960s. There are also more new European designs as well as one featuring Josephine Baker, the legendary jazz singer of the 1920s who joined the French Resistance. The Visoni.com range now includes 130 7x5" cards and 50 posters covering many romantic travel destinations.

Clanna Cards & Visoni 01242 575574 www.clannacards.co.uk

Nobel Prizes The stream of newness from Lucy Maggie Designs and Sunshine Llama continues to flow. In addition to Wide Eye's, a capsule collection of cute illustrated animals with 'punny' slogans from Lucy Maggie, is a collaboration with artist Connie Nobel under the Sunshine Llama brand. Connie’s bright, zingy style lends itself to a variety of occasions, including a winning You're my Anchor design.

Lucy Maggie Designs 07763239731 www.lucymaggiedesigns.co.uk

Bearing Up Having proved himself adorable on greeting cards, IC&G has now translated Barley Bear onto a range of plush. Barley plush is available in 13 designs across two sizes. There are ten general bears, two Christmas bears plus one super cuddly extra-large original bear. Consumers can personalise Barley by choosing one of the many specially designed ‘gift tags’, which include To A Special Mum, To A Wonderful Daughter, For A Special Grandson, Get Well Soon, plus a range of ages. Starter packs will contain two of each of the 12 smaller bears, one extra large Barley Bear and free promotional point of sale display materials.

International Cards and Gifts 01202 897494 www.icgcards.com

Festive Trios Cows in their Christmas jumpers, dogs and cats with their stockings ready for Santa, red-nosed reindeer and festive robins all star in Pink Pig’s Three Up Christmas range. The 44 fun designs cover general sends, and relations as well as offering retailers an ‘add your town name’ option.

The cards are all 150mm square, printed on FSC 350gsm board and sold either cello wrapped, nested or with a clasp with silver envelopes. The whole range is also available in Welsh language.

Pink Pig 07583 088596 www.pinkpigcards.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 45

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See the full range in our brochure or online! www.realandexcitingdesigns.co.uk (e) sales@realandexcitingdesigns.co.uk (t) 01223 207 080 (f) 01536 401 031

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Art and Photographic Cards Focus

Wot a picture!

While the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” came out of a plagiarised quote from Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen via US newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane, it could have been written for the greeting card industry, particularly the art and photographic card genre.

PG spoke to a gallery of publishers about what’s driving our artistic tastes.

When Tommy Steele sang “flash, bang, wallop, wot a picture” back in 1967, he had no idea how deeply greeting card publishers would take the song lyrics from Half A Sixpence to heart.

As Leonard Smith’s timeless shot at the top of the page shows, a glorious image really is worth a thousand words imagine how much typing it would take to fully describe the blues and greens in the sea, the arch and rock formations of Durdle Door, the striations of the sand where waves have lapped, and the sunlight shimmering from the distance. That’s 31 words of description right there and it’s not even touched the surface of the sheer wonder of the image, which Len took way back in March 1992 but it’s still one of his bestselling cards.

“It’s such a wellphotographed scene,” said Leonard Smith Publishing’s coowner Issy Smith, “but this is the most natural shot you’ll see of this amazing place - it’s an image that’s stood the test of time and has been in our range for longer than I care to remember!”

However, while there are these classics, trends in subject matter - be it animals, flowers or lifestyle depictions - as well as artistic styles and mediums keep the all encompassing art sector ever vibrant.

There is no denying that the last few years has seen us by necessity largely homebound, but with it has come a greater appreciation of the natural world. Among the many publishers to have picked up on this are Pigment with Life In Pencil and IC&G with Wonderfully Wild celebrating UK wildlife in a pure pared-back ‘pencil style.’

The Art File taps into this with several of its ranges, including its most recent, Richmond Park, the designs of

Above: Leonard Smith’s Durdle Door photo is simply stunning.

Left: A design from Pigment’s Life In Pencil range.

Below left: Wonderfully Wild is IC&G’s latest art collection.

Below right: The Art File love Emma Turner’s work.

Bottom: A Woodmansterne design which reflects the current popularity for the pom pom blooms of dahlias.

which are inspired by artist Emma Turner’s many walks across the South West London celebrated green space.

“We’ve admired Emma’s work for many years so, when the opportunity to work together came up we naturally jumped at the chance,” explained sales and marketing manager James Mace. “We love the detail of the floral close ups and the compositions of the park landscapes. Emma’s use of colour also creates a striking impact when the cards are displayed together.”

Abacus studio manager Liz Ellis has also noticed a trend for cards depicting escapism with the publisher’s new Birchwood range featuring arty coastal and landscape images, while the extended Rapture collection has fresh photographic designs.

As Liz added: “Colour continues to play an important role with vibrant colours portraying a happy and uplifting mood. Cheerful, bright colours are definitely reminiscent of the summer months and long hot days.”

At Portfolio, creative director Jayne Diggory said: “In the pandemic we all turned to nature for something soul restoring, both visually and emotionally. Our latest artists are Jo Gough and Chris McColl and they fulfill this need with their vibrant colours and natural life-affirming topics.”

While florals designs are perennially popular, it is interesting how certain blooms come into fashion, something which has not gone unnoticed at Abacus Cards, not PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Art and Photographic Cards Focus

surprising given its affiliation with sister company Mr Fothergill’s Seeds. As Abacus’ Liz Ellis elucidates “Several of our latest designs feature popular blooms such as peonies as well as much-loved cottage garden varieties, such as foxgloves and roses. We’ve also included an image featuring a field of sunflowers as last year lots of farms locally appeared to be growing these.”

Other amazing sights of the current era are more waterorientated. Paddleboarding and wild swimming are trends The EcoFriendly Card Company co-owner Sue Morrish has noticed - the publisher now has several cards featuring paddleboards while Becky Bettesworth’s Stay Wild design has consistently been in its top 10 throughout recent seasons.

On the photographic card front, Sue explains the changing of the seasons make a sizable impact. “With our Wildlife Trust photography collection and our cards by my husband Scott we have images that reflect the changing seasons but some images are constantly popular - Sunburst And Bluebells has been one of

Perfect timing

Left: Escapism is key to Abacus ranges Birchwood and Rapture.

Below far left: A paddleboarding design from Eco-Friendly Card Co’s diverse range.

Below middle: One of Portfolio’s classics.

Below: Happy vibes from Morag Lloyds.

Bottom right: Dogs are among Alex Sharp’s popular images.

our best-selling photographic cards for over five years, I think people associate the light bursting through the leaves with a sense of hope and comfort.

“We’re based down in sunny Devon, not far from the sea, and sell a lot more coastal-themed imagery in the summer to areas which have a lot of tourism. We have some dedicated collections for coastal retailers including our photography range Ebb & Flow and the Becky Bettesworth collection inspired by vintage railway posters.”

Newbie publisher Morag Lloyds finds her seascape images sell well at coastal locations, and galleries that sell her original paintings with cards alongside are often near the ocean or on Scottish islands so tend to be more seasonal.

“Summer does seem to be my busiest time,” Morag said, “many of my cards do have a summery feel so it makes sense that's when they are most popular.

“I don't tend to follow trends other than be aware of the times we’re living in and try to respond in an uplifting way. Last summer everyone was

Timing is key for Holy Mackerel which has just relaunched Minimiam, one of its well-loved photographic ranges featuring Paris-based Akiko Ida and Pierre Javelle’s signature images of tiny figures in a world of giant food.

Co-owner Sarah Hopkins explained: “We timed the launch to coincide with the Small Is Beautiful exhibition of artists working in miniature. It kicked off in Paris and has now been brought to London to huge acclaim - if you’ve travelled on the Tube recently, you’ll have seen the posters of tiny figures playing tennis on watermelons!

“There’s a real buzz about all things miniature at the moment, and we had so many new designs from Pierre and Akiko that it all just seemed like perfect timing.”

And, having taken over The Alternative Image Company from Ilona Benjamin back in 2020, Holy Mackerel has steadily been increasing the collection of vintage black and white images while keeping the old favourites.

“It’s been a joy to rootle through old photos,” Sarah added, “looking for themes and inspiration.

Although the images are from the 20th century it’s sometimes been quite easy to keep it topical, one of our bestsellers in 2021 was a photo of a couple shopping in face masks - taken in 1929!

“There’s some definite seasonality in the images, right now anything featuring a beach or tennis is absolutely flying, but the images that sell the very best always seem to have at least a touch of humour about them. Whether it’s Eric and Ernie on the tennis court, friends playing leapfrog, or Scotsmen with kilts a-flying at the Highland Games, our bestsellers are often about fun and friendship - which is rather nice!”

Above: Holy Mackerel’s Mimimiam range ties in with the current Small Is Beautiful exhibition.

running out of their homes, bucket and spade in hand, headed for the coast and I think that was reflected in the happy vibe cards they bought.”

Hand-crafted art is the appeal at ArtMatters/Lizzie Prints where printmaker and artist owner Lizzie Perkins sells a lot of seabird designs to coastal resorts, and finds autumn is better for selling wintry scenes with her bestseller of the year so far being Snow Pandas.

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Art and Photographic Cards Focus

The soaring pet ownership over the pandemic has arguably been one of the most noticeable trends to be reflected on cards right across the spectrum. All the images from Alex Sharp Photography are taken by the lady herself and with more dogs being homed during lockdown, she has had to double her range of pooches to cover more breeds and even did a social media shout out for models and she’s now wading her way through the photoshoots to add to the popular pugs, daschunds and collies.

Alex added: “While some photographers feel putting their art on a card is sacrilege and doesn’t do the image justice, I disagree, I really love making art affordable for everyone.”

On the photographic card front, Carpe Lumen’s founder Ed Crispin explained: “Photographic cards are rightfully seen as a difficult market niche to crack. Most people can take fairly good photographs now which means that photographic cards have to offer a lot of added value and character. The right place or the right subject, composed well, at the right time and, most importantly, in the right light are the key ingredients - hence the name of the company! The images I print need to evoke or inspire, with subject or season.”

Henrik Ibsen actually said: “A thousand words leave not the same deep impression as does a single deed.”

After his death in 1906, this quote was plagiarised with the first reported paraphrase coming in March 1911 when famous New York newspaper editor Arthur Brisbane told the Syracuse Advertising Men’s Club discussion on journalism and publicity: “Use a picture, it's Above left: Wintry scenes are good for worth a thousand words.”

ArtMatters’ Lizzie And boy, have newspapers, artists, and the Perkins Above Carpe Lumen’s images to humble greeting card publisher proved the evoke and inspire Norwegian theatre legend absolutely right.

Nostalgic pull At Hype Cards, along with cartoon art classics such as Snoopy and Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, perennially-popular artists are Beatrix Potter, Margaret Tarrant and Margaret Tempest, with director Richard Ford explaining: “They were successful in the early 20th century and continue to be of appeal, and it’s not just with people who were familiar with them first time around. I think there’s a market for nostalgia, and a yearning for a slower, easier, more understandable pace of life, which these types of artwork tap into.”

Above: A classics from Hype.

Reflections of taste Museums & Galleries’ stronghold in the art card market is partly down to its curated approach to current cultural trends, which the publisher filters through a heritage design and fine art sensibility.

Licensing manager Eddie Clarke said: “It’s a category which speaks to quality and classic good taste, and thus fits fairly consistently in appeal in both good times and bad.

Animals and birds are always popular, and Asian design themes have been very strong for a while. Catherine Rowe’s new Bees design has been spectacular on cards, wraps and stationery, as has Helen Ahpornsiri’s Hiding Hare.

“For designs with longevity, I think Rudyard Kipling’s The Cat Who Walked By Himself from the British Library in our Classics range predates every single current employee of the company!”

M&G also know subject matter and impact make a great photographic range, shown by the 31 launch designs in its latest Wildlife Photographer Of The Year collection, which is taken from The Natural History Museum’s venture that celebrates and amplifies the power of photography to move hearts and minds.

Creative director Ben Dorney said: “For us, Wildlife Photographer Of The Year is a perfect blend of art and emotional content - which is just what M&G customers appreciate. We were blown away by the quality and originality of the images while the competition’s aims 'to create advocates for the planet’, and its ownership by NHM, adds a genuine environmental urgency and potency to the licence.”

Juxtaposed to this serious environmental message, the latest range from M&G’s sibling, Mint Publishing is tapping into people’s love of the quirky. Its new Snapshot collection features Instagram sensation Helga Stentzel’s photography which finds playful yet sophisticated humour in everyday objects, embodying a supremely creative and irreverent approach.

Describing it as “household surrealism”, Helga’s aim is to document the brighter side of the mundane from a weightlifting walnut to a choir of avocados.

Top, above and left: Kipling’s Cat is a M&G long-time favourite, Wildlife Photographer Of The Year prizewinning monkey shot, and a Helga Stentzel design from Mint’s Snapshot. range

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ART SOURCE

FINDING QUALITY TEAM MEMBERS Looking for Artists, Sales Agents, Sales Representatives, Marketing Managers, Designers or Product managers?

Talk to us about our Integrated Recruitment Package.

An advert in PG magazine’s Appointment Section and a month’s worth of adverts on our digital news feed, PG BUZZ.

TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE

ARTSOURCE SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051

For more details contact Warren Lomax on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud on Traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

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Art Source

La Dolce Vita Drawing inspiration from her home country of Romania, her new home in Italy as well as her loves and travels, illustrator Madalina Andronic is a veritable visual storyteller.

Here she reveals what makes her tick, her favourite time of the day and what’s on her creative wishlist.

“I am a Romanian illustrator, but am now based in Puglia, Italy. I draw my inspiration from love, travels and la dolce vita, while never forgetting the magic and folklore of where I come from.

Having completed a MA in Illustration from Camberwell College of Arts, London I have since developed what I am told is a strong and distinctive style.

I am delighted over the years to have worked with clients around the world, including Netflix, Milka, Nivea, Quarto Publishing, Moppetbooks and the Financial Times. I have also illustrated over 15 books for leading publishers including for Jane Eyre, A World Full of Spooky Stories, Five Sisters, Agnes Gray and Romeo & Juliet.

I was recently asked to describe my style. I feel it is best summed up as an escape to a safe place, on a permanent vacation. It encapsulates bottled moments and feelings, from keepsakes from a past world with traditional values to contemporary bits of modern love and life.

To come up with new ideas I first work on becoming very aware of my

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

Left: The super creative Madalina Andronic.

Right: A romantic festive design from Madalina.

Below left: This design most definitely echoes that Madalina now lives in Italy.

Bottom left: Dreamlike storytelling is strong in this night time swimming design.

Below right: Madalina’s ethereal and vibrant style comes to the fore in this piece.

feelings and the details of my surroundings when I’m out and about. I catch myself instantly thinking how I would translate them onto paper. I take photos and also write down actual phrases, ideas or describe details in the Notes app on my phone, so that I don’t forget them.

While I paint mainly with gouache, I do like to sketch a lot using a ballpoint pen until I get the right shape, position and composition. It is a process I enjoy tremendously and could spend hours on.

Breakfast is probably my favourite time of the day. And on top of that, since moving to Italy, there’s another habit we have picked up, that we adhere to religiously - we go out for morning coffee at a local bar, switching locations every day.

Even though I don’t drink coffee, I really like this ritual as it gives my husband and I time to catch up with one another before going about our day.

Now represented

by Jehane, as far as what my dream project would be, there are so many, but among them would be to illustrate an intricate, spectacular advent calendar, to start up a clothing line with my own fabric patterns and to launch a candle collection with olfactory memories from my childhood, but in the meantime, I will continue living la dolce vita!” l Madalina is now represented by Jehane for art licensing (www.jehane.com)

If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge.

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PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS. Coralie Keech, owner of Daisy Chain, Stratford upon Avon.

A popular medium-sized card and gift shop in the picturesque historic town.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Caroline Gardner

Speech Bubble; Rise & Shine; Words of Love

Plewsy

Generally

Sarah Kelleher

Botanical Golds

Megan Claire

Juniper Blush;

Rosie Made a Thing Caroline Gardner

Apple Blossom Gin & Frolics Party Pals

Rosie Made a Thing

Just a Number

Art

Print Circus

Generally

Gifts

Herdy

Peep; Yan; Marra

Musango

Mugs and homewares

Lime Tree Design

Hankerchiefs

“Pretty much every collection we stock from CG does incredibly well. It consistently produces new and exciting designs at a very good price point.”

“Stunning designs in a soft muted colour palette which adds a touch of sophistication with a contemporary feel.”

“Beyond adorable. Stunningly colourful and eye catching.”

“Large gold embossed lettering with a lovely contemporary feel.”

“Smaller cards, lovely and sophisticated.”

“Consistently performs unbelievably well.”

“Bold images and a wonderful colour palette.”

“Embossed age cards on a fabulous contemporary colour palette.”

“Quirky illustrations of doggies, bunnies and cats that are a totally delight!”

“The Peep and Yan mugs and coasters are best sellers, be it for gifting or self-purchase. The Marra range of textiles including aprons, oven gloves and tea towels work very well.”

“A beautiful vibrant range that is hand-painted and hand-finished in Portugal.”

“The iconic Liberty range of hankies are an absolute delight.”

Right: Bold blooms from Sarah Kelleher’s Botanical Foils.

Below right: A Megan Claire Juniper Blush design.

Relations and Occasions

Humour Children’s

Liz Ward, co-owner of Wishes & Kisses, Boldmere and Sutton Coldfield.

A duo of popular card and gift shops in the Midlands.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Belly Button Designs Caroline Gardner

Generally Generally

Paper Salad

Occasions

Five Dollar Shake

“Both Belly Button and Caroline Gardner are always spot on with new designs, keeping them fresh and on trend.”

“Eye-catching bright and colourful.”

“Beautiful premium cards that are very popular.”

“Customers love them and relate to the humour.”

“Something a bit naughtier.”

“A wonderful publisher.”

“We sell so many of the larger age/relation combinations. They look really special and customers love them.”

“A really good range.”

“Customers love that they can buy matching tissue and ribbons.”

“Perfect little sentiment gifts.”

“Something for everyone.”

Right: Prettiness from Belly Button Designs’ Meadow collection.

Below right: Funny stuff from Bold & Bright’s Jeffrey & Janice.

Relations and Occasions

Humour

Rosie Made a Thing

Relations and Occasions Gin & Frolics

Art Adult ages

Bold & Bright The Art File Rush Design

Jeffrey & Janice Generally Generally

Children’s Giftwrap

Rachel Ellen Designs Glick

Cards and gifts Generally

Gifts

East of India Jamaly Annay

Generally Handmade porcelain hearts

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54-55_GF.qxp_Grid 30/06/2022 14:00 Page 3

Bernadette Chappell, owner of Retas 2022 finalist, The Deck of Cards in King’s Lynn which has been a firm fixture in the West Norfolk town for over 40 years.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Cherry Orchard Publishing

Grace; Grayson

Relations and occasions

Words ‘n’ Wishes

Births to sympathy

Right: A Blue Mountain Arts’ spinner in The Deck of Cards.

Below right: A Paperlink Wrinklies design that resonates with many.

Jonny Javelin

Weddings

Sentiment

Carte Blanche Greetings

Blue Mountain Arts

Photographic

Abacus Cards

BBC Springwatch; BBC Gardeners’ World

Hand-finished Humour

Noel Tatt Paperlink

Decoupage Wrinklies

Age cards

IC&G

Year You Were Born

“Catering for both female and male sends respectively, these have become very popular ranges in a short amount of time with our customers.”

“We stock a vast selection of R&O cards from many publishers, but when it comes to new baby and sympathy cards, Words ‘n’ Wishes’ are the best.”

“A simply beautiful range wedding cards…so pretty,with lovely verses inside, and at a really good price.”

“The heartfelt verses inside are a popular choice for our customers. The new ranges are also selling well for us.”

“Both are highly popular, with many garden enthusiasts locally, and with us being so close to Wild Ken Hill in Norfolk where BBC Springwatch has recently been filmed for the series, makes that range even more appealing.”

“Beautiful good value cards.”

“We often find customers reading through these and having a good laugh.”

“A firm and enduring favourite. Cheerful cards that tell the receiver all about the year they were born in a fun and informative way.”

Andrew Blandford, co-owner of Blandfords in Broadway (a Retas 2022 finalist) and Ledbury, a popular bookshop and card & gift shop respectively in two Herefordshire towns.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Pigment

Generally

Paper Salad

Hunky Dory; Jamboree

Humour

Paperlink

Generally

Art

Museums & Galleries Woodmansterne Colcards

Generally Generally Generally

Children’s

Hype

Snoopy; Beatrix Potter

Humour

Emotional Rescue

Soggy Bollocks

Ling Design

Rainbow Generally Generally Generally Leaf

Giftwrap

Noel Tatt The Art File Rush Design The Proper Mail Company/ Woodmansterne Glick

“A winning diverse selection, with a great service to boot.”

“These are our ‘edgy’ designs, but they are great.”

“We love the company’s products, but we love Mark, our rep even more!”

“I especially like M&G’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year range.”

“A great publisher that’s local to us. Its spinner of cards sells so well in our bookshop.”

“A golden nugget…great company, great licences.”

“The collaboration with Paper Salad was inspired thinking!”

“Classic designs that appeal to a wide customer base.”

“These three publishers know and understand customers’ differing needs.”

“A wonderful new range, with very strong adult age designs.”

Gifts

Joe Davies

Socks

Ancillaries

Talking Tables

Generally

Relations and Occasions Adult ages

Top: One of the stunning

Generally

“The designs are ever evolving to reflect designs in M&G’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year range. design trends.”

Above: Classic Snoopy from “This company has seen us and so many Hype Associates. other retailers through tough times with their service and product selection.”

“What a company! They had the balls to do Jubilee with aplomb!”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

55

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Publishers of quality blank greeting cards Tel: 0115 929 4776 enquiries@bugart.co.uk Order Online

www.bugart.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

www.bexyboo.co.uk 01565 830 546

Te l: 01638 5 6 9 0 5 0 w w w . a b a cu s c a rd s . c o . u k E ma i l : i nf o@a ba c us card s . co . uk

To appear in the Product Directories contact: Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

56

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

@BexyBooLtd

BexyBooLtd

@BexyBooLtd

warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Classified Complete 2022_GF.qxp 01/07/2022 16:41 Page 57

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk

Greetings Cards Plush & Giftware Gi G ft Dressings & Wrrap Gift

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk

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or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

A w o n d e rf u l Eid!

Ch C hin nese ese HE IS

THE

WAY

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Also acting as the exclusive UK distributor fo forr Bl Blue Mountain M t i A Ar ts t

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135 Hea 13 135 eaton Moorr Rd | Stockp ock kpor port ort SK4 4HY 4 4H HY

...worth keeping!

NEW

Bestseller

ck@catherinekleeli.co.uk www.catherinekleeli.co.uk th i kl li k

www.ch w eekyc w. ychoppstrrade.ccoo..ukk phone: DDaanielle :07946 056571 email:wholesale@special-day l-daay yss.coo..uk

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

PRETTY ELEGANT DESIGNS | LONDON

Available online Wholesale & Licensing

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

hello@emmabryan.co.uk www.emmabryan.co.uk

SALES AGENTS WANTED

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

57

Classified Complete 2022_GF.qxp 01/07/2022 16:42 Page 58

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

Faulkner’s Gallery

60

Crocko Poo • Designer Puppy • Low Maintenance • Eats Anything • Can Be A Bit Snappy

years

Your Number One Supplier of Numerals, Name, Relation & Age Labels for Greetings Cards.

John Faulkner’s artwork probably represents some the mo distinc humor image availa today To view: www.johnfaulkner.co.uk which also includes trade information To contact: sales@johnfaulkner.co.uk

Huge selection with immediate delivery. Buy direct or from your wholesaler.

Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Court Wyndyke Furlong, Furlong Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX1 5JN Te T el 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 www.listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk

from the

Including firm favourites and brand new designs Brands include: Keepsakes, Words of Love, Jelly Beans, Bella Rose, Champagne and many more

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk

High Quality Greeting Cards, Gift Bags, Gift Wrap & Ta Tags for every occasion.

*GCF 1HƂEG +353 (0)404 20528 Email info@garlanna.com www.garlanna.com

or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)115 986 0115 customerservices@paperrose.co.uk www.writefromtheheart.co.uk

)

CHARITY GREETING CARDS One of the UK’s leading publishers of Charity Greeting Cards.

Impress offers a wide collection of images, including fine art, graphic, photographic and cute.

We also offer a bespoke design service for bulk orders and/or mail order fulfilment.

Innovative high quality gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper and accesssories galore for all seasons and occasions.

01274 655980 sales@glick.co.uk glick.co.uk trade.glick.co.uk Glick Gift Packaging Ltd Unit 1 Allenby House European Ind. Park, Knowles Lane Bradford BD4 9AB

Hallmark Cards PLC Dawson Lane, Bradford, BD4 6HN UK&NI: 0800 90 20 900 ROI: 012 480 104 customerqueriesUK@hallmark.com

@glickgiftwrap

58

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Impress Publishing Appledown House Barton Business Park New Dover Road Canterbury, Kent CT1 3TE Tel: 01227 811 611 Fax: 01227 811 618 email: info@impresspublishing.co.uk

Classified Complete 2022_GF.qxp 01/07/2022 16:46 Page 59

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

Send Love e ( all year round )

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

+

Exquisite Designs Beautiful Cards Key br ands include: Wr ite from the Hear t Ar tisan, Marzipan, Capisco Designer s Guild, Clare Tupperr Lucy Ledger plus man y more

originalposter.com

All our cards are supplied on consignment, so you only pay for what you sell.

We also supply card fixtures and spinners free-on-loan.

We replace slow sellers and damaged stock free of charge.

We merchandise regularly, so you don’t have to.

t: 0208 6138 085 paperbirdpublishing.co.uk u

THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!

01932 267 300

Tel:: +44 (0)115 986 0115 Te customer ser vices@paperrose .co.uk www.paperrose .co.uk www.ar tgroupcards.co.uk

Greettiing g Card C ds

Great brands, Great service Bespoke planning We can help with all your planning l i requir i ements.

From smaller displays to redeveloping complete card departments

ww ww.passelllpublisshin ng.com m iinfo nfo o@ o @ passsel ellpu lpu u blis sshin hin ng n g..com m @pas ublis

p p paperlink... the home of fabulous cards!

@NoelT Ta attGroup 01227 811 600 sales@noeltatt.co.uk www.noeltatt.co.uk

An exciting and innovative range of quality Birthday, Relations, Special Occasions, Handmade, Art and Humorous greeting cards. Full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons merchandise.

B rand N ames a Pizazz, Pizazz Gallery, G Pizazz Limited Edition, E Pizazz for Men, Doodle, D A of Nature, Whatt a Picture, Art Designers Corner Cloudesley House, Shire Hill, Saffron Walden,, CB11 3FB

T: 01799 520200 F: F: 01799 520100 www.nigelquiney.c w ww.nigelquiney.com ww om

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

356 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD T 020 7582 8244 info@paperlink.co.uk k www.paperlink.co.uk Paperlinkcards

@ @paperlinkcards

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Peartree Small Ad.indd 5

59

24/02/2022 15:52

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Partyware

Brands: Blossom & Bows Card Essentials Greetings Impressions In Touch Isabel·s Garden Planet Happy Sentiments With You In Mind Word Play

Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors

Simon Elvin Limited Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

7RPFDW &DUGV

The UK’s leading publisher of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards.

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

60

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

6 Heron Trading Estate Alliance Road, Park Royal, London W3 0RA T: 0208 385 4474 F: 0208 385 4471 E: info@Xpressyourselfcards.co.uk

Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available.

WWW.XXPRESSYOURSELFCARDS.CO.UK

PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons.

BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics.

METHOD OF SALE: SENSATIONS – Direct to retail XPRESS YOURSELF – Now one of the leading wholesale publisher suppliers in the UK

Talking Pictures Cards Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE

Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk www.talking-pictures.co.uk

www.tomcat.cards info@tomcat.cards

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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Market Leaders in

Verse

& entimen

an extensive range of superior quality,

design-led Greeting Cards for all occasions, Spring Seasons & Christmas.

We offffer a COMPREHEN

range of high Greeting Cards f ALL Occasions,

CHRISTMAS an Season f Sale:

Method of Sale: Direct to Retail Orders can be placed on our trader site

www.cbgtrader.co.uk

mail: inffoo@words-nWeb: www We w..words-n-wishes.co.uk

Tel: 01942 233201

or call our customer services team on

+44(0)1243 792600

Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud

Enquiries:

traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud

DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

EUROPE’S LEADING GREETINGS CARDS, PARTY PRODUCTS, GIFTS, CANDLES, TOYS, STATIONERY AND FLORIST SUNDRIES DISTRIBUTION CENTRE 75000 SQ FT BESCOT CRESCENT, WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS. WS1 4NG 01922-646666

Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud

www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm

traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED BAGS

Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists

GREETING CARD

Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available

T 01206 396209 E sales@badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk

BAGS We’ve been producing p bags of high clarity and high quality q for over 30 years.

01274 220 220 www w.wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk

BAGS

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CALL US TODA AY

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TREA AT A TMENT HIGH CLARITY L TY Y BA AGS FOR R GREETING G ET T NG CARD DS, CALEND EN N ARS ARS A AND ND D ARTW TWORK WORK ŏ ŏđŏ ŏ

FOIL LB BLOCKING NG G EXTE XTENSIVE NSIV VE RANG V R RA ANGE OF S ST TOCK SIZES SIZ ZES AND BES AND BE ESPO OKE KE MANUF KE MANU UF FACTU TUR TURE T U E AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA

CALL CA CAL C LL US ST TO ODAY OD

0122 1228 228 2 28 8 5605 56 60 052 26 6 www.fful ulcrumfilms. ulcrrum mfillm ms s co.uk uk

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Classified Complete 2022_GF.qxp 01/07/2022 16:54 Page 99

CLASSIFIED

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l CLASSIFIED

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PRINTERS

ENVELOPES

FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED

PAPER

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ORDER ON LINE AT:

W W W. EN VE CO .CO .U K

01 90 83 78 86 6

www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com

IN FO @E NV EC O. CO .U K

‘we we make Envelopes and Stationery’

MOREE THAN 50 COLOURS 6 POPULAR GREEETINGS CARD SIZES 50+ WH HITE SIZES IN STOCK BESPOKE ENV VELOPES AV AVAILABLE PEEL A AND SEAL CLOSURE RECYCLED / KRAFTT / 140GSM / 120GSM 11 SUPER BRIG GHT NEON COLOURS BESPOKE NOTEBO OOKS & STATIONERY

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH FOR TARY RY YOUR COMPLIMENTA ENVELOPE OR NOTEBOOK WATCH PA PACK SWA

SPECIALISTS IN SHORT RUN MULTI IMAGE PRINT s Foiling Services without the need for dies s Wiro bound notebooks, no minimum quantity s In House Fulfilmment Services

T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk www.hellocards.co.uk

The simplest way to order your greetings cards

FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS

ABL Foil Ltd Unit 1, Industrial Estate East Hanningfield Chelmsford Essex, CM3 8AB

Contact DAVID JIGGINS Tel: 01245 400104 Email: david@abl-ltd.co.uk

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Unit 8, Archers Park, Branbridges Road, East Peckham, Kent TN12 5HP www.theimagingcentre.co.uk Email: info@theimagingcentre.co.uk Tel: 01622 871449

we print

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

63

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l CLASSIFIED

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PRINTERS

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PJ PRINT Þ½ ÀÊÄ ­ Êt¦ À Ê ­ tÀ ½À³ Î Ê ³­ t­ ij t¦ ÄÊtÊ ³­ Àß ½À³ Î ÊÄ

The Capitals Only Specialist Greeting Card Printer

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E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk Tel: 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk

Classified Complete 2022_GF.qxp 01/07/2022 16:55 Page 101

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

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l PRINTERS

Social Sta tationerry Printer of the Year

Award winning U UK & Global specialist manufacturer ffor the greeting card industry fo or over 40 years To discuss how we can worrk together, contact Richard Bacon: Tel 0115 928 7766 Email ric chard.bacon@sherwoodgroupuk.com

www.sherrwoodgroupuk.com Hadden Court, Glaisdale e Parkway, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottin ngham NG8 4GP

WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION

Same day order turna around Accurate fulfilment Value added only as you sell the product

THE SPECIALIST GREE ETINGS CARD PRINTE ER

Exclusively Greeting Cards Dedicated Account Managers

Litho Print

D Die-cutting

Digital Print

F ering Flitt

Foiling

Packing

Embossing

D Distribution

With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of your team bringing QYGL QSVI XLER JYPǻPQIRX 4YV GSWXMRK WXVYGXYVI MW WMQTPI ERH XVERWTEVIRX ;I ; I GEVV] SYX EPP EWTIGXW SJ LERH ǻRMWLMRK ERH EWWIQFP] ERH TVSZMHI [LEXIZIV EHHMXMSREP WIVZMGIW ]SY RIIH 4YV WIPIGX XIEQ SJ SYX[SVOIVW GEVIJYPP] LERH [VET ER] WM^I SV JSVQEX SJ GEVHW YVKIRXP] 4ZIVRMKLX ;I GEVI EFSYX ]SYV TVSHYGX EW QYGL EW ]SY HS &XXIRXMSR XS HIXEMP 6( .WWYIW ;I

Tel:0127 e 4 4531828 Email: info@herbertw o alkers.co.uk

www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Classified Complete 2022_GF.qxp 01/07/2022 16:57 Page 103

APPOINTMENTS

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DO YOUR DISPLA AY YS GENERA AT TE SALES?

Are you a Greetings s Cards Consignme signment Operator?

Sal S les Agentt requ uir i ed for territory t it consisting of No orthamptonshire, Bedfordshire, e Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire.

Please email chris.no oble@wplgifts.co.uk to register interest and detail your experience.

Are you looking for an exclusive range of Everyday & seasonal products to distribute?

We’re expanding and looking to develop our network with the right calibre of people who share our passion for greetings s cards and are industry professionals.

Interested? Then we’d love to hear from you.

Contact Jonathan Waterson on 07854 776 307 www.plan-it.cards

www w..wplg gifts.co.uk

JOB OF THE WEEK ADVERT

ARE YOU A SUPER

AGENT?

Half Moon Bay & Shruti are looking for outstanding agents to enhance our established & successful sales team.

You will be an expert in selling fantastic giftware to independents, garden centres and heritage centres and based on the South coast, North East or Scotland.

s seas

Please contact Ben Craddock at benc@halfmoonbay.co.uk for further information.

Please contact Deb or Sally on 01234 381214 3 or email info@pineapplepark.co.uk www.pineapplepark.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

67

DESIGNED, PRINTED

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CUT TO PERFECT ION IN THE

UK .

FOX & B U T L E R i s excl u sive ly d istrib ute d in the U K by www.p ig m e ntp ro d u c t io n s.c o m OBC_PG_July 2022.indd 1

FOR S ALE S I NFO CONTACT U S ON : 0 1 4 2 3 520 09 8

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