Marking Milestones

Birthday Times

As a child, birthday bumps are great fun - not necessarily for the kid being bumped, but all their mates have a whale of a time giving the so-called treat! With ‘elf ’n’ safety rules kicking in these days - and bad backs for those of a certain age! - bumps may not be the order of the day at PG Live, but there are plenty of publishers who deserve them as they mark their milestones. PG blows out the candles with just some of the exhibitors who will be celebrating big birthdays at the show.

10 Years: Coasting along

Jessica Hogarth is not only looking to celebrate her 10-year milestone as a publisher, but July will mark the second birthday since opening her own shop.

Illustrator and surface pattern designer, Jess launched her card business at the British Craft Trade Fair with her coastal upbringing in Robin Hood’s Bay being the focal point of her first product range – and the seaside and her Yorkshire heritage are still popular themes in her work today. Now working with partner Phil Hammill, life has been full on since opening a gift shop in their home village, and her licensing work is also coming on apace, so some form of work-life balance is a goal in her anniversary year. “Things have been so hectic,” Jess said, “we don’t get much downtime. I used to love how busy and full on my life was pre-Covid but the lockdowns have made me appreciate a slower pace of life and we’re trying to get the businesses as a whole into a position that allows us some time out too!

“I am just very grateful that people are still supporting me and my work after 10 years. We’ll tie all the celebrations in together for the shop anniversary weekend over July 31 - I need to start thinking about it really!”

When considering the biggest changes in the trade since she started her publishing business, Jess cites “the development of more platforms such as Thortful and Scribbler printing on demand and selling direct to customer has been one definite change and the shift to buying more online generally has really changed the way some of us do business. I wouldn’t have dreamed of creating greeting cards with the sole purpose of selling them online 10 years ago, but now that is definitely something I consider when thinking of new designs.”

As for a highlight of the last decade, Jess opts for “having my Christmas cards for sale in Liberty of London. I’m delighted to be supplying them again this year. The shop is iconic and, while it’s exciting to walk into any shop and see my cards on sale there, this felt particularly special.”

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Top: PG Live will be the icing on the cake for some companies marking their anniversaries. Above right: Robin’s Hood Bay is the perfect setting for Jess’ cute shop. Right: Jess Hogarth in Liberty with one of her Christmas designs.

10 Years: Climbing the ladder

With 10 straight years of exhibiting at PG Live shows behind her, Megan Claire’s owner and founder Megan Purdie is certainly looking forward to catching up with friends and customers at this year’s event.

Online is the biggest change Megan has noticed over her first decade in the greeting card industry: “We’ve found there’s a bigger online presence now - more so since the pandemic where a lot of our bricks-and-mortar shops have gone online to extend their offering further afield. There are more options for local collections as well as click-and-collect services. The result of this is larger and more regular orders coming through for us as a publisher. We also receive orders directly through social media alone, which complements the growth of business from trade shows and agents. There are also more online marketplaces available so more scope for expanding our customer base.” Megan also highlights the “noticeable shift towards sustainability within the industry and also a much better variation of ecofriendly packaging products” over the last ten years.

Megan is thrilled that her products are still stocked by a number of shops which placed orders at her first PG Live in 2012, including No.14 Ampthill and Austin & Co who both celebrated 11 years in business back in April. And she’s still working with the same Australian and Hong Kong distributors as well as her Scottish agents.

As to other highlights of her first decade, listing a few faves, Megan recalls “being nominated for The Henries awards and attending the events! - flying the flag for Lynn Tait at The Ladder Club by speaking about my journey to new publishers coming through, attending over 35 trade shows and making great friends across publishers, customers and suppliers in such a friendly industry. I’m also very lucky to have had my close family working within the business since we began. The

Above left: First trade show at PG Live 2012. Above right: Megan Claire’s Spring Fair 2022 stand. Left: Megan, passing on her knowledge at The Ladder Club.

business would not be what it is today without their hard work, invaluable input and support.”

She also gives thanks to the company’s many retail customers. “To be able to maintain customers and relationships for that length of time is really rewarding. Ultimately, seeing our cards in the flesh on the shelves of beautiful shops locally, nationally and internationally is always going to be the highlight for us - that feeling never grows old!”

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40 Years: A fizzy four decades

The bubbly will be fizzing on the Cath Tate Cards’ stand at PG Live to celebrate four decades of publishing humorous and insightful greeting cards.

From 4pm on the opening day of PG Live it’s party time as founder Cath and daughter and codirector Rosie mark the occasion, plus there’s a raffle for a chance for retailers to win 40% off their next order, being drawn at the end of day two. Having started with the aim of changing the world from her kitchen table, and a first design showing then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pinching a purse from a handbag, Cath has steered the business

Left: The first Cath Tate Cards’ design. Right: Cath at a 1990 show.

through several recessions but thinks the pandemic was perhaps biggest blow to the card industry with stores closed for months. She said: “However, what was impressive over the pandemic was the incredible resilience and fighting-spirit that we saw in so many of our long-standing customers. In particular the independent retailers who found incredible ways to stay afloat, creating new digital ways to sell, doing local deliveries to people isolating and even virtual shop tours to customers via a video call so customers could still continue to order and support their local shop. The localisation of the UK is certainly something we’re seeing as a result of the last couple of years and that might be no bad thing.”

As to the most significant change Cath has witnessed over the past 40 years, she

picks out “the spread of higher quality greeting cards in chains and supermarkets. This affected the independent card shops, which when we started out were the only shops that we sold to. Gradually over the years, chains like Scribbler and Paperchase have appeared and the independents have had to up their game to survive. At the same time, the structures of some of the chains and supermarkets have become more centralised with more central buying and the shop managers having less say in what they can order in.”

As to the highlights Cath picks out the nub of being a card publisher: “being able to actually produce greeting cards from initial concept through to design and watching it emerge as a pleasing product, I also love getting to know our customers, who have been a lovely bunch of people, and getting to know our fellow card producers who also have been a great support network – and getting an Honorary Achievement Award at The Henries in 2020 was pretty good!”

Future plans include continuing to produce products both Cath and Rosie love and are proud of, as well as building on their best-selling iconic ranges and expanding their work with some amazing new artists whose design styles are a bit of a new era for Cath Tate.

Cath added: “We look forward to working with exciting new people and continuing to collaborate with our existing artists, to see what brilliant new ideas they come up with!”

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Left: Rosie and Cath at Top Drawer 2022.

25 Years: Sharing the love

The Art File is quite rightly going for it with its 25th anniversary celebrations, with the publisher having a year long programme of activities and initiatives lined up.

James Mace, sales and marketing manager of The Art File was just a toddler when his parents, Ged and Karen started the greeting card publishing company. Both he and the company have done a lot of growing up since then!

“We plan to celebrate The Art File’s 25th birthday throughout 2022 as we want to thank everyone who has helped us achieve this milestone, which includes giving our independent customers the chance to win some lovely prizes,” reveals Ged Mace, managing director of The Art File. “We’ll be running a shop window competition for both everyday and Christmas products, with prizes for the winners. In addition, at PG Live, Harrogate Home & Gift and Autumn Fair, we will be randomly picking an order placed at each one of these shows to receive a £250 credit off the order - because we like to share the love!” Ged added.

Over the past quarter-century, the Nottingham-based publisher has expanded from greeting cards into giftwrap and social stationery, with in-house designers and licensed collections winning plenty of awards and accolades. As to the major changes since The Art File’s early days, Ged says “When we started the company, publishers were largely still selling in dozens per design. The market moved to units of six a couple of years later. The other more recent phenomenon has been the positive move to unwrapped cards which has helped futureproof our industry to meet the expectations of the consumer.”

One aspect that Ged stresses has remained constant throughout the last two and a half decades is “the high level of innovation that’s prevalent within our industry. Design and creativity will always be central to the success of our market. Amazing designers, state-of-the-art printers and papermills continue to wow me with their originality and forward thinking. Card sending is very much still a core value of the great British public.”

When put on the spot to pick out some of the highlights since The Art File’s birth, Ged is in no doubt that the “number one would have to be building a brilliant team of talented people at The Art File and I am very proud of all of them. We could not have achieved all that we have without our supercharged dedicated team.” He also mentions the “wonderful feeling” of winning awards. “We’ve been fortunate to be recognised for the collections we publish on numerous occasions. Another highlight was being presented with The Queen’s Award For Export. Personally, it’s a continued thrill to be part of a business that makes people smile every day. We are genuinely looking forward to the company’s journey over the next 25 years, in our eyes, the story has only just begun.”

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Left: Then - first trade show, Spring Fair 1998. Below: (right-left) Ged, Karen and James Mace.

18 Years: Mauritius v Gilmorton

Like most couples with two small children who run a business, Laura Darrington and partner Ross Harrison have a great plan for celebrating the coming-of-age of Laura Darrington Designs - they’re off to Mauritius for a twoweek all-inclusive knees-up with 25 of their closest friends! However, the reality of life will instead see tea and cake being served in their offices in the wonderfully-named Clayton Willey Grocers building in Gilmorton.

Drawing on techniques learned from her textiles degree to create handmade cards, Laura started her publishing business with the help of a Prince’s Trust business loan 18 years ago. Since then she’s moved her ‘HQ’ from a far-from-ideal small room in a house shared with four friends, to the rickety loft of their first small terraced home, then into the Old Baptist Chapel in Huncote before settling in a characterful ex-Victorian hotel.

And she’s collected no less than three Henries Awards along the way, in 2009, 2011 and 2012, followed by a Louie Award from the US GCA in 2017.

Ross - left his 15-year career in university sport to join the family business in 2016, but Laura hasn’t yet told him his real job is “to tidy the back room” - she explained: “Customer loyalty and the consistency of key accounts to continually support our little brand over the years has really been the bedrock of our success. Without their backing we wouldn’t be celebrating 18 years in business.”

Ross says that the challenges experienced in the High Street prompted

Left: Laura hard at work. Above: A couple of Laura Darrington’s latest designs.

Laura Darrington to place a “greater focus on exploring new revenue streams from further afield. For example, our export and licensing portfolio has really grown over the last six years.”

However, Laura and Ross remain “hopeful that the greeting card industry will continue to thrive in what has been an evolving marketplace these last couple of years. It’s testament to the incredibly talented people that make the greeting card industry so great - and long may it continue.”

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10 Years: Taking flight thanks to Docs

Doc Martens and peace doves are behind Paper Bird’s 10-year journey, which began when founder Una Joy met graphic designer Emma, then officially took flight at PG Live 2012.

Una and Emma designed the packaging for Paloma’s Paper Birds, decorative paper peace doves inspired by Picasso’s Paloma And The Dove, and which first appeared four years earlier as alternative Christmas decorations for South London Bookseller Crow, when the 2003 Iraq War began, and which are still fluttering across the ceiling there. Moving on to 2011 and Una began serious work on her card company, with talented Emma transforming her drawings by adding clever twists and riffs for

Far right: Paper Bird’s first design was Cockatoo's New Shoes. Right: A Paper Bird Dog's Big Love Cake because it's a big birthday. Below: Paper Bird’s stand at PG Live 2019.

the first 100 greeting card designs ready for PG Live.

Una explained: “We used The Imaging Centre’s print-per-order system which gave us the opportunity for a test run. What wasn’t ordered by shops would not be printed. Emma and I spent a year designing and curating the images. I’d worked as a bookseller for 20 years so there had to be a bookmark on the back.

Our first PG Live ended with the huge confidence boost of being taken on by London agents Dave and Sarah Cowling. This is the brightest of many highlights - we would not be where we are without our agents.”

Paper Bird now publishes over 1,000 designs, featuring the work of 17 artists. “Some of our first designs are still best sellers, notably Cockatoo’s New Shoes, a portrait of my aunt as a cockatoo - she did look a little like a cockatoo. When I was caring for her as she had dementia, she loved trying on my clumpy boots. She had tiny feet and always wore very elegant court shoes. She would look down at her feet in my Doc Martens and delight in the absurdity. So, I thank her for inspiring Cockatoo’s New Shoes - and for the small inheritance which made realising Paper Bird a little easier.

To celebrate making it to 10 with lots of zip left, we’re launching Bijou, a collection of postcard-sized cards - there might be some cake too.”

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