55_57.qxp_Grid 20/05/2022 19:25 Page 1
Publisher Focus
Sustainable Greetings
‘Our world means the world to us’ is a bold statement that appears on one of a series of postcards, each one amplifying its strong sustainable mission, that UK Greetings has been including in its deliveries to the 15,000 retail rooftops it currently supplies with greeting cards. PG took a trip to the publisher’s Dewsbury HQ to discover how it has been putting these words into action.
UK Greetings takes its responsibility seriously, not just as a major employer (the largest in its hometown of Dewsbury with another 2,000+ employed in its sales and merchandising team alone), but as a leading publisher, its actions impact on the industry as a whole as well as ultimately the behaviour of the card buying public. And sustainability is very much front and centre of this. As ceo James Conn assured: “Every single decision we now make throughout the business is to make it as sustainable as possible, very much supporting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.” T h e c o m p a n y ’s w h o l e h e a r t e d commitment to sustainability comes from the top, but now percolates throughout the whole business, from the big things - like the reshoring of so much of its production to the UK, and its complete revamp of its model line with environmental considerations top of mind - to the little ones, like changing all lighting to LED and incorporating paper ribbon into the Collage gift bag range. It has been something of a step change, as it has necessitated a whole different way of thinking, which is no mean feat for a company the size of UKG. “We are a big ship, but we knew we wanted and needed to change course. We are not fully there yet, but we are definitely getting there,” Chris Shaw, UKG’s head of sustainability summed up, alluding to the
Above left: One of the postcards that UKG is sending out to customers. Left: UKG’s senior management team (right-left) James Conn, ceo; Ceri Stirland, customer and channel director and Darren Cave, commercial director. Below: Eco alternatives now feature in UKG’s collections while still being special.
massive strides that have been made by the company over the last few years. When president of the GCA five years ago, Ceri Stirland, UKG’s customer and channel director was a pioneer in the industry charge to urge the industry to go naked,
something UKG had been heavily involved in when Sainsbury’s made the move in that direction. The word ‘sustainability’ was not even in common parlance then, and any mention of ‘circularity’ would have bemused the vast majority. Back then, it did not fit well with UKG’s eco thrust that so much of its production had moved to outside the UK, especially as it is a massive £100+ million player involved in both branded and own brand supply, but the team knew it would not be an overnight switch over to bring production back to UK shores. “We started working on reshoring our production back in 2019. Currently 50% of all our cards are now made in the UK, by the end of the year that will be up to 55% and by
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
55
