Progressive Greetings October 2023

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From The Editor

ON THE CARDS By the time you read this The Henries greeting card awards event will have happened. Going on previous form for the industry’s ‘big night’, I am hoping for a wonderfully joyous evening of shared celebration and appreciation of the sheer wealth of creative talent as well as the huge number of great people involved in our ‘world’. I am privy to the winners and so know that some of those taking home those shiny trophies only came onto the scene very recently while others are well loved brands. This is one of the main aspects I love about the greeting card industry – it is ever evolving, with new ranges and designs keeping up with consumer needs and expectations even without us, as members of the public, realising it.

Moreover, each card sent plays a positive role in a relationship between a minimum of two people.

After the dampening effect that the postal strikes had on Christmas card sending last year, it is wonderful that the GCA #Cardmitment PR and marketing campaign, has got off to such a blinding start. Clinching a prime chunk of BBC Breakfast TV programme on October 2 as well as a whole lot of radio airplay on the same day was a PR dream come true, with my friends Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA and David Byk, ceo of GBCC/Ling Design superbly pushing the positive message of sending cards and diverting the focus away from the cost of first class stamps going up by 15p, by reinforcing that the cost of second class has remained the same.

I love the creative work that Sarah Jackson of Stormy Knight has

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Above: Friday 1 December sees the return of The Ladder Club after a four year break, the one day seminar for newbie publishers that was co-founded by Lynn Tait (who sadly died in 2017) and PG’s Jakki Brown. (See news and pages 33-35).

Left: Michael Apter of Edinburgh’s Paper Tiger (centre), who kicked off a 100 Day Countdown to Christmas on the retailer’s social media was happy to catch up with Earlybird’s Heidi Early (right) and PG’s Jakki Brown at the GCA Conference.

Below: Stormy Knight’s Sarah Jackson at the GCA Conference with three of the posters she created for the Christmas #Cardmitment campaign.

come up for the #Cardmitment toolkit, which involves posters for retailers to feature in their shops in the run up to Christmas, that was launched officially at the incredible GCA Conference & AGM in Leeds recently. (See News and pages 23-31 to read just some of the highlights) As came out loud and clear at the Conference, the UK greeting card industry is holding its head up high, with the British public spending £1.5 billion on greeting cards in the last year despite a slight dip in volume and encouraging with 16-24 year olds showing the largest growth in greeting card engagement.

Amanda, quite rightly urged everyone at the Conference to do their bit and show their Cardmitment. “If we all do a little bit, it adds up to a lot.”

The more cards we send, the better, upping the happiness quota of the nation with no nasty side effects!

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What’s Inside?

CONTENTS 20

42

9-19 News All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.

37-41 Focus on…Words & Sentiments Feel the Love PG asked publishers to pick one of their greeting card designs that they feel says it the best.

20-21 Talking Shop A Sense of Perspective

42-43 Products of Change The Paper Trail

David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi shares his perspective on a number of current industry issues.

Sustainable membership hub, Products of Change sets the scene on the industry’s environmental landscape.

22-23 Cardsharp Smoke and Mirrors PG columnist muses on how “Accountants know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing”.

45-47 Focus on…Sustainability Paths to Progress Those in the greeting card community share the latest in their sustainable developments.

25-27 Viewpoints Clawing at the Copycats Opinions from publishers, a notable brand creative and stalwart retailer on the thorny issue of copying.

49-51 Innovations

28-31 GCA Conference and AGM The Cardmitments

53 Art Source Ave Maria

PG joined the packed audience at the GCA Conference & AGM to rejoice in the resilience of our industry.

Lisbon-based artist Maria Matos shares her creative life and loves.

33-35 The Ladder Club Climbing The Ladder

55-56 What’s Hot?

A host of new ranges and designs.

A quad of retailers lift the lid on their best-selling ranges.

As The Ladder Club prepares for its resurrection, PG catches up with some of the hundreds of Ladder Clubbies.

57-66 Sources of Supply

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Copyright© 2023. 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.

Ian Hyder

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

Greeting Cards for BBC Breakfast TV and radio stations spread positive PR The GCA had the eyes and ears of millions at the start of this month, using the widespread media coverage – both on BBC Breakfast TV and radio stations galore - to ram home the positive messages of the joys and importance of sending and receiving cards as part of its #Cardmitment PR and marketing campaign.

BBC Breakfast’s presenter Ben Boulos broadcast live from Great British Card Company’s Gloucester warehouse and design studio on October 2, with the implementation of Royal Mail’s latest firstclass stamp price rise being the news hook to cover the greeting card industry.

In two large segments on the UK’s most-watched morning TV programme, totalling over 10 minutes, Ben interviewed GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson, GBCC chief executive David Byk, and the publisher’s head of creative Lucy Ledger and designer Sophie Thorne.

Telling viewers that card-sending is getting more expensive with the 15p rise in firstclass stamps to £1.25, Ben’s point that the second-class price is staying the same at 75p was reiterated by both Amanda and David.

“We're always concerned about price increases,” David said, “but we believe the industry is fairly robust in terms of why people send greeting cards. It's not just about the price – and there's always a second-class option as well which makes life rather more reasonable, for something which has a very great value.”

Drawing on the recent GCA Market Report, Ben explained that Britons spend £1.5billion on greeting cards and send more cards per head than any other country, and the GBCC warehouse alone delivers 50million cards a year to retailers in the UK and across the world – featuring thank you, wedding and birthday designs that he pulled off the warehouse shelves as he walked around.

To the suggestion it might be more environmentally friendly to send digital cards or texts, Amanda responded; “It's not the

same though is it? And, of course, cards are made of paper so they are recyclable. But most people keep cards.

They're really important keepsakes. I think we've all got cards from grandparents and people no longer here.

They're actually very, very precious because you see their handwriting, it reminds you of the relationship, and the sentiment of that person, so cards are really important.”

As Ben was pictured in GBCC’s warehouse, marvelling at the card displays and volume of Christmas designs, he also asked whether dynamic pricing could help, with stamps cheaper for specific times of year and occasions.

“We'd love that,” Amanda said. “I think

especially with Christmas, greeting cards are a very emotional send. Christmas has a lot of nostalgia involved, happy memories, so we essentially try and create the magic.”

And there was even a special treat for the BBC Breakfast team in the shape of a unique card which Sophie, a finalist in The Henries Most Promising Young Designer or Artist 2023 - hand drew from Ben’s suggestions, featuring the TV channel’s mascot Pudsey Bear with colourful balloons which reflected the programme’s colours.

As well as appearing on BBC Breakfast, on the same day Amanda Fergusson’s media stardom for the industry also extended to appearing on various BBC radio stations, including 5 Live, Radio Scotland, 6X Music, the lunchtime news on Radio 2 and Three Counties Radio.

Above: BBC Breakfast’s Ben Boulos in the GBCC warehouse next to an N Smith cardboard postbox with a topper made by Pam Sorrell, aunt of Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies in Stevenage.

Above middle: David Byk, ceo of Ling/GBCC being interviewed on TV. Below middle: Amanda Fergusson getting the industry message across to Ben Boulos.

Below: Ben with Sophie Thorne, Lucy Ledger and the special Pudsey Bear design.

Getting tooled up

we'd all love cheaper stamps at Christmas because, of course, Christmas cards are a really key part of our nation's fabric. We love decorating our homes with them and it's a really important time to connect with people.

“We've actually got a #Cardmitment campaign going on now where we're encouraging everyone to commit to send more cards because it's such a joyous thing to go to the door and see a handwritten envelope on the mat from somebody you care about. So, we'd say, start writing your Christmas cards now and putting little notes in!”

Going to where “the magic happens”, Ben went into the GBCC’s design studio to get a first-hand experience of what is involved in creating a greeting card.

Explaining how the design side works Lucy told Ben: “We start with trends, colour palettes and things like that. But

The GCA’s #Cardmitment campaign has stepped up with the release of free toolkits and retailer packs.

The new assets include a flyer about getting involved with the campaign, posters for retailers to encourage consumers to send cards, and even a tent card with last posting dates for Christmas.

The toolkit, which has been designed

by Sarah Jackson, founder of Stormy Knight and produced by Graphite Creative, is being sent out by Abacus Cards, Belly Button Designs, Caroline Gardner, Emotional Rescue, GBCC/Ling, Hallmark, Ohh Deer, Paper Salad, Paperlink, Raspberry Blossom, Ricicle Cards, Second Nature and UK Greetings to retail customers with their orders, as well as being available to download free from the GCA website or by emailing the GCA’s membership manager Adriana Lovesy on adriana@gca.cards to request one.

Below: There are various posters in the #Cardmitment toolkit.

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NEWS TOP STORY

All Systems Go

CAPS in administration

PG Live 2024 registration is open “The leaves are turning colour, the conkers are ripening and the nights are closing in, but giving yourself something to look forward…Progressive Greetings Live 2024 is open for registration,” exclaimed Jim Bullough, operations director of PG Live, the greeting card industry’s dedicated trade show that takes place next June, 4-5 at London’s Business Design Centre.

“Opening registration this early means that retailers and overseas distributors can get the PG Live dates firmly planned in. We already have over 150 incredible exhibitors who have booked their stands, with many more to follow – from well-loved brands to sparkling new start-ups - and we want the long run-up to work for them, so we couldn’t resist going live on our new website,” Jim told PG. He assured that the well-loved fav elements of PG Live would be part of the 2024 show – from the free lunches, tea trollies and opening night party to the ‘all exclusive’ packages for exhibitors (involving

Above: PG Live fans are already jumping for joy at the prospect of the 2024 show!

Below: The home page of the reinvigorated PG Live website.

lighting and furniture for their stands) – but revealed that some new elements would further add to the positive, friendly vibe of the exhibition.

“Following on from the launch of the Springboard Intro section at this June’s show, which created an innovative entry point solution for publishers, we have worked with our friends at The Imaging Centre to refine this and also to develop a vibrant Upper Village area in the gallery bays for flourishing emerging companies.”

On a practical level, Jim assured that registering to attend the 2024 show is super easy. “Everyone hates filling in forms, it is not what PG Live about, so we have further simplified the process to minimise frustration and maximise enthusiasm.” www.progressivegreetingslive.com

Profits soar 72% at Card Factory Profits at Card Factory have soared 72.7% to £24.7million in the greeting card retail giant’s half-year results – with store sales growing by 10.5%.

The interim results for the six months to 31 July 2023, show group revenue was £220.8m, up 11.5% on the same period a year before, reflecting “continued good momentum” particularly in its core stores business.

Above: CEO Darcy Card Factory’s ceo Darcy Willson-Rymer said: “Our value and quality proposition and the strength of our store estate resonates with customers Willson-Rymer. and positions us well to navigate the challenging economic backdrop in the run up to the Christmas trading season.”

With profits rising from £14.3m in the first half of the 2022-2023 financial year, to £24.7m, store sales grew by 10.5%, which the group said reflected its value and quality proposition, store range and layout developments and its targeted price increases.

Another key driver in revenue growth came from its gifts and celebration essentials, where sales rose by 13.1% on a like-for-like basis and there was continued growth in its greeting cards offering, which saw sales grow by 7.7%.

However, the retailer said online sales dropped 13.1% “as anticipated”.

(See pages 28-31) Left: One of Card Factory’s new stores in the Middle East.

The Card And Party Store (CAPS), the Burybased wholesaler of greeting cards, party, floristry, toys, stationery and balloons has Above: The huge CAPS warehouse in Bury. collapsed into voluntary administration after 27 years in business – with its retail customers finding out via Facebook.

The notice of the appointment of administrators for CAPS was filed at Companies House on Saturday, 30 September, with Manubhai Govindbhai Mistry and Hemal Mistry, of Horsfields, in Bury, having been appointed as joint administrators on 13 September.

Early in September the CAPS website carried a ‘temporarily closed’ notice with no explanation then, in a Facebook post, the Bury business run by directors Paul and Michelle Wood said the last day of trading was Monday 25 September, adding: “It has been a very stressful and upsetting time for us all here at Card And Party Store and it has been a difficult decision to make. We just wanted to say that we are so grateful to all our lovely customers who we got to know over the years and who kept us going for so long, we cannot thank you enough.”

On the Facebook post many loyal customers left messages of sadness and support.

Mooch’s wheely good idea Going eco has been a wheely good idea for indie Mooch London owners Sandra O'Connell and Evelyn O'Flaherty as the pair have signed up to an electric cargo bike service - Urban City Couriers - for their five greeting card and gift stores.

“We’ve started to use this service primarily to help both Evelyn and myself from taking stock between shops ourselves,” Sandra told PG. “We felt passionate about finding an eco-solution while supporting another small business.”

Sandra added: “It would be cheaper for us to use a van service such as UPS or DHL, but this clogs up our roads. We just feel this service is ideal for our needs and fits with our ethos as a business. We keep most of our stock in one store room and this way we can replenish the shops.”

It’s the latest in Mooch’s eco-friendly and sustainable practices where the retailer duo recycle everything through a recycling service, use recyclable ribbons for giftwrapping customers’ purchases, and buy through Above: The eco-cargo bike service is working companies committed to for Mooch London. reducing waste, as well as giving staff the train fare to travel between shops to encourage them to use public transport, plus installing more energy efficient bulbs with timed lights in the shops at night, and have moved fully away from plastic wrap for all card stock.

(See pages 42-47).

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www.abacuscards.co.uk |

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NEWS TOP STORY

Taking Council

Upbeat Mood at GCA Conference Packed audience enjoy a smorgasbord of tasty talks Left: The Royal Armouries in Leeds was abuzz with greetings folk a few weeks ago.

Below left: The day’s speakers (from left) Chris Bryan, past president and Second Nature; Sarah Laker, Stationery Supplies; Adriana Lovesy, GCA; Darren Cave, new president and UK Greetings; Karen Wilson, new vice-president and Paper Salad; Adam Dury, Card Factory; Wendy Jones-Blackett, Wendy Jones-Blackett; and David Falkner, GCA council member and Cardology Bottom: Indie Sarah Laker in full flow.

Positive news from the GCA annual Market Report amplified the upbeat vibe at the industry association conference which took place at the Royal Armouries in Leeds at the end of last month, attended by over 180 GCA publisher, retailer and supplier members.

Attendees were captivated by the speeches from indie retailer Sarah Laker, who shared her ideas for getting customers in front of the cards at her two Stationery Supplies stores in Marple and Wilmslow; Kantar’s consumer insights from 2023, the GCA annual Market Report presented by council member David Falkner, of Cardology; Card Factory coo Adam Dury on the market, publishers, suppliers and how the retailer works; and Wendy JonesBlackett revealing the hobby that got out of hand led to becoming a publisher.

And Adam also put in an impressive performance on sustainability, production and supply, covering for Mark Jessett, of paper supplier G.F Smith, who was called away unexpectedly,

The meeting was topped and tailed by GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson who outlined the association’s aims and achievements over the past year, including the New Creative Talent portal on the website with links to colleges and universities, plus the #Cardmitment campaign which is aimed at re-engaging the public with Christmas card sending this year following the damaging postal strike issues during the last festive season, and the reminder to everyone about the 75p second-class stamp which allows a card to be sent anywhere in the UK for the price of a bar of chocolate.

In her closing words, Amanda stressed that the card industry is in really good shape. “We've heard the stats; we’re in a good place, but we all need to keep sending cards.

So, let's all get going with Christmas! If we all do our little bits, it adds up to a lot!”

(See pages 28-29)

The AGM part of the recent GCA meeting saw thanks being given to Rachel Hare, of Belly Button Designs; Caroline Gardner’s Carolyn Verderame, and Adriana Lovesy, Above: Darren Cave of Mrs Lovesy, who delivering his inaugural presidential address. stepped down from the GCA council, though Adriana is still very much involved, now as membership and marketing manager.

Joining the Council are Georgina Fihosy, of AfroTouch Design; Brainbox Candy’s Mark Williams, and Wendy Jones-Blackett.

It was also the swansong for outgoing president Chris Bryan, of Second Nature, after two years in the role who handed over the baton to UK Greetings’ customer and channel director, Darren Cave.

“Despite the challenges and tribulations associated with trading in the current cost-of-living crisis, our industry continues to remain robust. The tradition of sending cards is very much alive, it resonates with people. It's an easy and inexpensive way to show you care. The strength of this tradition is in no small way due to the work of people in this room, your colleagues and those working in our industry,” said Darren. “Continuing to engage the consumer remains key to our shared success, and I know by working together, we can ensure this fabulous industry continues to thrive,” he added.

Left: Chris Bryant with a portrait that was done as a surprise by Paper Salad’s Karen Wilson.

Earlybird’s cheeps to 20 years Twenty years as an indie card retailer is definitely something to be proud of, and that’s what Dom and Heidi Early are celebrating as cofounders of Earlybird Designs greeting card outlet and card publishing business.

“We used to supply the shop that we moved into with Dom’s card designs,” Heidi explained. “The owner wanted to give up the shop so asked if we wanted to take on the lease, it was only three years so we thought it was worth the risk!”

And, two decades after signing up for the short-term tenancy in the trendy north London enclave of Stoke Newington, the business is still going strong – with a few changes along the way, including a wedding, two children, beating the 2008 recession, moving premises to the other end of the street, launching their own publishing arm, getting through Brexit and now weathering the current cost-of-living crisis.

“There’s never a dull moment in retail, we’re constantly learning, pivoting and finding new ways to engage with our customers, I feel very proud about that” Heidi added.

Heidi also chairs the Stoke Newington Business Association: “I think High Streets are vital to the future of our communities and we have to work together to convince customers that we’re worth getting off their sofa for – we have to give them reasons to step through our doors every day.”

To celebrate the big birthday, employee and long-term customer Hannah Sharman designed a promotional postcard and created a social media card giveaway and lucky dip for shop customers.

Left: Heidi outside Earlybird on its 20th birthday.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Peartree Heybridge To Close Long established publisher hopes the name will live on Long established greeting card publisher, Peartree Heybridge is to cease trading. The decision, taken by founders and brothers Mike and John Partridge, and fellow director Louise Martin was announced at the end of September, with the company to stop accepting orders at the end of October.

“For many years my brother John, fellow-director Louise Martin and I have been dedicated to building our business in a fascinating industry that’s full of hardworking, talented, creative and inspirational people. We want to thank sincerely all the employees, customers, artists, agents, printers and many others who’ve helped us on our journey.” Mike told PG. “We’ve enjoyed every moment and we have no regrets, but the time is now right for us to concentrate on personal interests and challenges.”

The publisher has long been the sole greeting card licensee for the work of Sarah Boddy, the artist behind the gentle humour of the Camilla & Rose as well as the nature drawings of Beetanical, and also offers Annie Tempest’s Tottering-ByGently and Bev Williams’ Spring Chicken ranges as well as Pugh’s cartoons.

Although the business itself will cease trading it’s understood negotiations are underway in the hope that the Peartree Heybridge brand will live on within the card and gift industry.

Left: A very happy John Partridge with The Henries 2022 Award seeing Camilla & Rose go into the Henry Cole Classic Hall Of Fame.

Below: Camilla & Rose showcases Sarah Boddy’s gentle humour.

The business began in the mid 1980s when Mike met the team from Pictura, the major Sweden-based publisher when they were attending the then Harrogate Gift Fair and stayed at the B&B he owned and ran with his wife in the Yorkshire town – he’s still based there, and is now a Harrogate Town fan and his original love for West Ham plays second fiddle.

After six months as a “very naïve” sales agent, Mike was joined by his brother John and they began representing other publishers and gift manufacturers, including Bev Williams, under the name Peartree Sales & Marketing.

They expanded during the 90s with a national sales force, appointing LB Warehousing – who they still work with – as their fulfilment House. They changed the company name to Peartree Heybridge Ltd in 2003, with Louise joining a year later and subsequently becoming a shareholder and joint director.

Mike added: “We have witnessed enormous change, most significantly those resulting from the internet, digitalisation and methods of communication.

These have affected every facet of the business, including order processing – in our early days we hand-wrote invoices! And, of course, all this has happened against a backdrop of more and more intense competition, generated by a growing army of highly-talented artists and designers.

Nevertheless, we have relished meeting all these challenges and steering our business in an ever-changing environment.”

Above: Buying a 2024 Elvis calendar or diary means you can enter the prize draw.

All shook up over Elvis prize Danilo is celebrating its 45th anniversary with a competition that offers the chance to win an amazing trip for two to Elvis Presley’s Graceland home.

It was Danilo founder’s Laurence Prince’s trip to America in 1978 to meet Colonel Tom Parker [Elvis’ manager] which led to the setting up of the company, with the king of rock ’n’ roll being its first licensed calendar. So, all those who buy an official 2024 Elvis Presley calendar or diary from www.danilo.com and sign up to its Danilo and Graceland newsletters by 31 October are in with a chance of winning the trip.

Above: Danilo is offering an amazing prize to celebrate its 45th birthday linked to its first Elvis calendar for 1979.

Danilo teamed up with Authentic Brands Group to offer the trip for two to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee, including a two-night stay at The Guest House on site, Elvis Entourage VIP tickets to tour the king’s home, a £500 travel voucher, lunch at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, and dinner at Delta’s Kitchen.

“The king of rock ’n’ roll has always been at the heart of this company and, since that first calendar was published, we have sold approximately five million Elvis calendars to date,” confirmed Claire Bates, Danilo’s marketing manager, The 2023 Elvis calendar returned to Danilo’s top 10 with a new entry at number two, helped by renewed interest in his life and music thanks to last year’s biographical blockbuster from director Baz Luhrmann.

Court accepts deal to save Clintons

Above: The axe has fallen on 38 Clintons stores.

A court-approved deal has been struck which looks to have saved Clintons from collapse for at least a year, although the restructuring plan means the closure of 38 of the greeting card retailer’s stores.

The Evening Standard reported that the insolvency court accepted the plan on Friday, 25 August, presented by restructuring experts FRP Advisory and law firm Jones Day. The Clintons’ deal means the retailer escapes paying full business rates and rent for the 38 unprofitable sites. This means that the affected landlords

and local councils will receive only 8.6p for every £1 owed by the greetings specialist, which financial advisors had said was currently insolvent.

Clintons is owned personally by the Weiss family, who also still own 40% of American Greetings, UK Greetings’ parent company.

The Weiss family are also the company’s main creditor and have agreed to provide a revolving loan facility that should be enough to keep the chain alive for the next 12 months.

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NEWS TOP STORY

The Ladder Club is back!

Seminar is set for Friday 1 December and md of Max Publishing. “Although lovely Lynn sadly passed away in June 2017, her legacy lives on in The Ladder Club, which has played a part in hundreds and hundreds of publishers’ business journeys and Above: The Ladder Club will take The Ladder industry friendships.” place this December, the first time Club is back!

The vision for The Ladder Club has been in four years, at Islington’s Business Design Centre.

Having not embraced by key trade suppliers, existing card Below: The ‘class’ of The Ladder taken place publishers, retailers, agents, the GCA and other Club 2019 with the speakers. since 2019, industry experts who have given their time to this ‘in a nutshell’ one day seminar speak at the seminars and offer support. about greeting card publishing is Loyal Ladder Club sponsors, including GF aimed at would-be, newbie and Smith, The Imaging Centre, Loxleys and emerging publishers.

Enveco have already pledged their support for The date has been set for the 2023 this year’s seminar, as has the GCA. Ladder Club seminar as Friday 1 Among the confirmed speakers are Ged December, to take place at the Mace, md of The Art File who will take Business Design Centre in Islington, attendees through how to cost out their cards; London from 10.00am-5.00pm.

Sally Matson, owner of Red Card in Petworth, The packed one-day agenda will cover who will share what she as a leading indie the rudiments of greeting card publishing looks for in publishers and their products; while – avoiding the common pitfalls, how to two former Ladder Clubbies, Hannah Dale, price your cards to make sure you are founder of Wrendale Designs and Iain making money, production quandaries, Hamilton, founder of Bewilderbeest will how to get your cards to market, what impart their gems of wisdom. retailers want, what makes The cost of attending agents tick, making the The Ladder Club most of trade shows as well seminar is £90 (+VAT) as where licensing, export – the same price as it and brokerage come in. was in 2019. To book “I cannot quite believe it your place at The is almost 25 years ago that Ladder Club 2023, my dear friend, Lynn Tait head to the dedicated and I launched The Ladder secure site maxClub, with the mission of helping would-be tickets.net or, you can contact Jim Bullough of or fledgling greeting card publishers climb Max Publishing (who is looking after the onto the greeting card ‘ladder’ by avoiding bookings for The Ladder Club this year) on the common pitfalls while enjoying jimb@max-publishing.co.uk or call him on embracing the sense of camaraderie that 07734 111633. is all pervasive in our industry,” said Jakki (See pages 33-35 for some Ladder Brown, editor of Progressive Greetings Clubbies’ stories)

Wrendale’s Hannah Dale is the business Hannah Dale, founder of Wrendale Designs is celebrating 10 years of her greeting card and gift company in spectacular fashion – with a trio of nominations in the National Business Women’s Awards.

The founder and creative mind behind Wrendale, Hannah has built the business from her farmhouse kitchen in Lincolnshire to a turnover of more than £15million in a decade, and is in the running for the Business Woman Of The Year Medium (£10m-£25m turnover), International Woman’s Award, and Northern England Business Woman Of The Year. The awards event is on 15 November.

Above: Hannah Dale is a finalist in three National Business Women’s Awards categories.

Scribbler expands with Lite kiosk Scribbler and Fujifilm have expanded their collaboration with the Lite version of the in-store kiosk, giving retailers access to 2,000 greeting cards within a wall-mounted display.

Having taken greeting card print-on-demand to a whole new level with the roll-out of its first instant card kiosk in a footprint of less than one metre square – which was showcased to the industry at PG Live in June – Scribbler Lite works on the same principle, but in a compact countertop or wall-mounted option, thereby broadening its appeal.

Left: Wallmounted and countertop options make Scribbler Lite attractive to smaller retailers.

Tall Boy Prints expands into retail Right: (left-right) Karen Tall Boy Prints, the sister company to The Art File, which hitherto only operated as a B2C Mace, Ged Mace, Mica business has now been opened up to retailers.

Dunbar and James Mace on Last month’s Autumn Fair marked the official trade launch of Tall Boy Prints, at which the wall the inaugural Tall Boy Prints’ stand at Autumn Fair. art company exhibited on a stand adjacent to that of The Art File.

“We have had a very positive response to Tall Boy with many of our existing retail customers seeing merit in stocking the framed and unframed prints,” commented Ged Mace, managing director of The Art File.

Tall Boy Prints, which was co-founded by Ged and his son James Mace, who is also sales and marketing manager of The Art File launched two years ago as an online consumer business.

“We have learned a lot about consumer buying habits of wall art and so now feel confident to offer the Tall Boy portfolio to retailers too,” said Ged. The Tall Boy Prints portfolio now comprises over 400 artworks, which are available framed or unframed. The designs include several licensed V&A collections as well as Japanese wall art, John French photography, location-based designs, retro and contemporary artworks.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Thinking And Doing for TOYW GCA initiative spreads joy over special week Carers cared for, delightful oldies, wonderful windows and fabulous flowers – there was plenty going on for to make sure the GCA’s Thinking Of You Week 2023 (which ran September 18-24) message was shared.

Making sure other people know you care is the whole premise of Thinking Of You Week, and Belly Button Designs helped people whose job is caring – NHS staff.

“This year we supported Manchester Foundation Trust over 10 locations,” Belly Button’s head of sales Michelle Hindle told PG. The company donated thinking of you greeting cards to all the NHS staff on the ICU wards to give to someone they are thinking of.

In Belly Button’s two shops, in Stockport and Didsbury, each customer was given a free Thinking of You card with every purchase during the week.

Heyyy Cards’ owners Dan and Yvette Clarkson teamed up with indie retailer Jo McBeath at Chirpy in Chapel Allerton for an event which offered a personalised printing service of the Two Finger Salute Henriesfinalist collection featuring American Sign Language (ASL), alongside a raffle, cake sale and fun activities.

Jonathan Crosby, founder of Stripey Cats went back to his roots and hooked up with his old school, Whitehaven St James’ Juniors to donate a supply of cards for the pupils to write and send to friends and family during TOYW. At Woodmansterne, head of marketing Kate Leach and marketing coordinator Kirsty Bullivant took a selection of cards in to local care home Bushey House Beaumont.

Kate said, “It was such a heart-warming day

Lift-off for Archway’s new look

hearing stories of who the cards were being sent to and why. It really highlighted the Above: Red Card’s TOYW window. power of sending a Above right: Belly Button Designs supported NHS workers. greeting card.”

Bottom: House of Cards went for Hallmark combined it again for TOYW. TOYW with an ecofriendly vibe as the sponsor of the 2023 PG Live lunchroom repurposed the fabulous flowers made to decorate the venue, with the aid of James Cropper and its Vanguard papers.

Eve Benson, trade marketing manager, told PG: “After the wonderful responses we received to the Gallery Hall decorations we realised we could use the centrepieces to help us bring joy elsewhere too – so we asked Hallmarkers to nominate locations such as schools, care homes, and hospitals in their area.”

A final 15 locations were then selected from all the nominees and Hallmark’s unique flower arrangements were duly delivered. Hallmark also set up writing stations alongside cards, envelopes and pens to get everyone involved in sending someone warm thoughts.

As ever House of Cards, the Home Counties retail group was an enthusiastic TOYW supporter, creating wonderful displays across its seven stores, including the Woodley outlet where there was a special area set aside for customers with delicious cakes and sweets to enjoy as they wrote their cards.

Relief at demise of Connect for 2024 The greeting card community was so relieved by Hyve Group’s decision.to scrap its Connect meetings system for both Spring and Autumn Fairs in 2024 following a swathe of industry feedback as to its failings for exhibitors and retail buyers.

Encapsulating the views of many, Emma Ball, founder of Emma Ball Ltd, said: “I’m pleasantly surprised by it all to be honest. Power to the people! Hopefully a line can now be drawn and we can all get on with enjoying trade shows once again!”

Having sent a detailed document to Hyve detailing Connect’s shortcomings for its publisher and retailer members, GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson told PG: “This is the right decision for Hyve to make for

The launch of a smart Above: The new Archway Cards new website and branding. company rebrand has Below: Amy with given Archway Cards founder Chris in the warehouse. lift-off as the greeting card wholesaler and distributor looks to the next 40 years.

Having just celebrated four decades as part of the greeting card industry, the Norwich-based business still carries the name from where Chris Dyball set up the business on its first site in the city, behind an archway.

And the latest upgrade of the website – which md Chris and his technical director and operations director husband and wife team of Dan and Amy Beeby launched 13 years ago to broaden the company reach and serve customers further afield – is now live, with an opening 10% off the first three orders offer for new accounts.

“While the traditional wholesale market declined during the rise of supermarkets, discounters and postal changes, the online side brought new opportunities into our business helping us to survive the gradual decline of our local catchment,” said Dan. “We have just launched the third reinvention of our website.”

While still a traditional cash-andcarry warehouse at its heart, Archway has expanded by building strong partnerships with DTR companies, such as Second Nature, Ling Design, Nigel Quiney, and Paper Rose – with the Great British Card Company the latest to join the fold.

Connect at Spring Fair and Autumn Fair. I’m so glad the situation has been resolved. I have been informed that the extensive submission the GCA made detailing Connect’s shortcomings for our members – backed up by real data from exhibiting publishers and retailer visitors – had a bearing on the decision that has been made. Thank you to everyone who contributed, enabling us to put forward such a strong and credible case for Nicola Meadows (divisional md) and Hyve to consider.”

As Amanda pointed out: “By us all working together, fostering a greater understanding of each other’s businesses, situations like this can hopefully be avoided in the future.”

Above: Brainbox Candy’s Ben Hickman used humour to make his point about Connect.

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OVER THE

COUNTER

BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.

A Sense of

Perspective

Inset: Things are not always as they first seem.

Perspective is a word that we sometimes overlook. Invariably, there is of course no right or wrong, it really comes down to how you feel or think towards a subject.

In the past month there have been several topics, about which I have been asked for my views – notably The Ladder Club, exhibiting at trade shows, Clintons, Connect and copying – all of which called for a sense of perspective.

How many times have you thought you have had a great trading week in the shop and then you look back at the takings and it wasn’t as good as you thought?

How many times have you thought you had answered the email or had done that piece of work and then find that quite simply you hadn’t.

And it works the other way round too. The old adage of ‘is your glass half full or half empty?’ springs to mind and this will usually come down to either the subject or your state of mind.

This month there have been many things that I have been asked my perspective on and I wanted to share some of them with you.

The return of The Ladder Club (taking place on December 1) for fledgling publishers (with support from several key

Right: Two ways of looking at things.

Below: Like marathon runners, running a business is best taken one step at a time.

suppliers) is one that was easy to give my comment on. The Ladder Club has been responsible for making so many designers’ dreams a reality. Whether it is one range or long-term success, the nurturing aspect of this one day seminar and the resultant 20 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

friendships made has been missed for the last four years and is much needed.

I was also asked to join a Zoom meeting with a group of newbie exhibitors preparing for their first Autumn Fair/Top Drawer arranged by the GCA who do so much to promote and protect the industry. This was easy for me in so much as I have been attending trade shows for many years and gave my experience of what I like and don’t like on a stand, how you are welcomed, how you are left to view the cards and what is the best way to follow up that initial interest.

The recent controversy around Hyve’s meetings initiative Connect also cropped up.

So glad that since that meeting, Hyve cancelled Connect for next year’s Spring Fair and Autumn Fair. I couldn’t see why or how it would ever work in our sector as most indie buyers, me included, just want to walk a show, immerse yourself in it. They don’t want to rush from meeting to meeting.

Another thorny issue which seems to have raised its ugly head again in the card trade is copying. Certainly, we have all looked at a range of cards and thought “wow that is so like x.”

Whether companies use the words “inspired by” or “our interpretation of” or that

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OVER THE COUNTER Far left: Wise words from American businessman, author, and columnist Allen Harold ‘Al’ Neuharth.

Left: David is maddened by Clintons’ latest offload of debts.

Below: Passage from the catwalk to copycat fast fashion has speeded up.

“these are the fashion colours” there are so many different ways to look at where the line of copying is overstepped.

I reached out to some publishers to hear it from their perspective.

One of them responded with, “I’d love to know what the designers of the catwalk dresses feel like when a version of their high end creation ends up in a high street fashion store seven weeks later? Does it dent the sales of the high fashion item? The massive difference is the two brands occupy totally different retail spaces and serve completely different consumers. I’d love to say it’s the same in greeting cards, but it’s just not. One way or another we’re mostly challenging for similar space in high streets around the country where consumers are just looking for pretty, funny, inspirational cards.”

Another publisher believes, “that the market is suffering from stage fright where people are scared to design or try something new. And whenever anyone does break cover they are immediately targeted for ‘inspiration’.”

They clarified further, “that some smaller designers seem to think a way of getting going and established is to follow what is out there while some larger publishers who operate controls/brokerage will use sales info of other publishers’ designs and then bring out their own version of something that is working well.”

All felt that in well ideal world, buyers would recognise the blatant copies and then take a stand and not buy them. Fortunately, there are retailers who are really ‘on it’ and this is what they do. But if the last few years is anything to go by then this is not the majority.

Admittedly it is difficult for buyers to always know who came up with what first. Also, many designers have worked for other publishers

and then started on their own so there is inevitably a style crossover.

Personally, I think that the really blatant stuff should be called out and we should do our best to support the true innovators out there.

The next hot topic that I have had many discussions about is Clintons. For me the deal that it has struck with landlords and councils, letting them off rents and business rates, is quite simply unfair. Unfair to the industry, unfair to their competitors and ultimately unfair to themselves.

From my perspective Clintons has been poorly run and poorly managed. Yes, they will have suffered the effects of Covid and High St decline, but so has everyone. They have now reset twice and what makes them think resetting with little true change planned will make any difference now? They simply seem to be managing down, being allowed to close failing stores getting cheaper rents and rates and wiping away debts while many smaller retailers don’t have the power to negotiate these types of deals.

Where do they go from here? How do they fit into the High Street and what market do they serve? Their gifting is uninspiring, they are neither cheap or Left: David Robertson (right) with Woodmansterne’s Andy Paterson at The Ladder Club 2019 at which they both gave presentations.

niche enough to be expensive and the greeting cards selection, well they are what they are.

I simply don’t know what they are; they are relying on being the place that people go to when passing. You can clearly describe a Card Factory or an indie, but how do you describe a Clintons?

My perspective is that Clintons, while once the leader, is now becoming irrelevant. It is almost like a football player who should have retired; whose legs have gone, but they keep trying to live on past glories.

Often success or failure in your own business is all about perspective. In the last few weeks I have spoken to people starting out as well as those with long established businesses. Short-term failures can be hidden in long-term successes, while quick wins can sometimes lead to future losses.

The marathon analogy, like a glass half-full, rings true with me. A marathon is something that is a daunting prospect to many, yet over 1.3 million people run one each year. Every person completes it in the same way: one step at a time. The marathon, just like business, is not a sprint. In a sprint, every step and every second is significant. But over 26.2 miles, the stumbles, slowdowns, or even complete stops do not define the race. As long as you are committed to your goal of finishing (and growing your business), then you’ll push through towards the end.

In stressful times, this analogy can help keep you composed. By remaining calm, you’ll be more likely to make the best longterm decisions.

In life, in business, in relationships with friends, families or colleagues we can all be guilty of looking at others and perceiving that their lives are easier, better, more fulfilled than ours. The reality however is often very different.

Business and life can be a lonely place and support from your peers through chats, the GCA, trade shows and interactions are crucial in keeping things in the right perspective!

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cardsharp

Smoke and mirrors “Accountants know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing” is something Cardsharp often quotes, in jest to one of his best friends, a financial accountant who has worked for many major blue-chip PLCs during his career. While a bit different to the stereotype, because of his chosen profession as a ‘Bean Counter’, he was long ago given the nickname ‘Beany’, a moniker he delights in as it appeals to his great sense of humour.

With Beany always able to see through the hype, Cardsharp asked for his realistic take on Moonpig’s latest set of financials that the company announced at the end of September.

Nickyl Raithatha, CEO of market leading online greeting card operator Moonpig, was very bullish with his comments when announcing its full year results recently.

Annual turnover for the year rose to £320 million, an increase of 5.2% on the previous financial year and Moonpig showed “resilient profitability and robust cash generation”. And profit adjusted for EBITDA was up 12.4% to

22 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

£84 million. “We have laid the groundwork for our expected return to organic growth for FY24,” he added.

Cardsharp wondered if he was one of little faith. In previous columns Cardsharp has poured a lot of cold water on both Moonpig’s past performance and future prospects, musing that its share price at the time of its IPO launch in February 2021 was ludicrously high at £3.50, and the company had exploited the sales boost it was enjoying because of Covid lockdowns to aid the IPO. He had contrasted still to his mind Moonpig’s overvalued share price with that of Card Factory, the market leading bricks and mortar greeting card

Above: Are financials a true reflection or a case of smoke and mirrors?

Below left: Nickyl Raithatha, ceo of Moonpig remains bullish about the company’s future growth.

retailer, whose share price was struggling at around the £1 mark, despite a fine return to profitability in the last year.

So, Cardsharp asked his financial friend, Beany for his interpretation of the Moonpig results. As to Beany’s response: “It’s a classic case of smoke and mirrors” he commented, and “Always be suspicious of profits before EBITDA in any financial statement.”

So, what exactly is profit before EBITDA? Usually it is defined as profits incurred before tax, unusual and infrequent items, including but not limited to, merger or restructuring charges, goodwill or impairments.

In other words, given compliant auditors, you can bung everything and the kitchen sink into that EBITDA figure in order to flatter your profit results and to try and boost your share price.

Moonpig’s ‘real’ pre-tax profit dropped to £34.9 million, down 12.6 % on the previous year. Sales were up by 5.2%, but this seems to have been down to increasing the price of its cards, not to volume growth.

Some were obviously impressed by the statement and the share price briefly rallied to £1.70 before dropping back nearer to £1.60.

This is well under the IPO price of £3.50 and the £4.40 per share that it was at its peak in 2021. If you bought a £1,000 worth of shares then your investment would be worth about £360 now.

Despite the company’s bullish predictions, Cardsharp sees rain clouds ahead. Postal delivery times getting longer and less

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predictable are going to be a problem, as is the lack, at present, of any tracking system for delivery. And perhaps the greatest challenge will be the huge marketing expense of acquiring new customers which is the perennial challenge for all online companies once the bountiful investment cash runs out.

And despite the company’s claim that cash flow is positive, Moonpig in its history has never issued a dividend to shareholders.

Moonpig has always tried to portray itself as a technology company at heart, and although this was never really ever true, the illusion worked well for it at the time of the IPO. Now with tech out of favour it looks like a liability.

A couple of years ago, Moonpig was predicting that the market share of online greeting cards would rise exponentially every year after reaching around 15% in the Covid era. Yet the latest GCA Market Report estimates that this dropped back in 2022 to around 11%, on a par with pre-pandemic levels. One thing is clear, whatever the myriad of challenges bricks and mortar greeting card

Right: Some bean counters are better than others, believes Cardsharp.

Below right: Card Factory has received the thumbs up for its recent figures.

Below left: The online/mobile sales of greeting cards have not reached the heights Moonpig and others were predicting during Covid.

retailing is facing, it is more than holding its own from the online threat. And what’s more the industry remains pretty unique in that the vast majority of its sales are still from the high street rather than via the internet.

So, compare and contrast, Moonpig makes a profit of £32 million on a turnover of £320 million and the share price is £1.70, while in its last set of full year results Card Factory, the UK’s largest bricks and mortar retailer, showed a 368% increase in profits to £52 million on sales of £463 million. And yet its share price hovers around the £1 mark.

Moonpig has never paid a dividend to shareholders while Card Factory paid one every year from 2014 when it went public until the pandemic. And they may well announce one again in 2024.

And as Cardsharp scribed this, Card Factory, announced its interim results covering the six month period up until the end of July. And they confirmed a very solid performance with instore sales up 10% likefor-like by and half yearly profits up to £24 million. Interestingly online sales were down by 13%. You would think the City would love this, but nothing dramatic happened to the share price.

Three years ago, Card Factory’s share

price was a quarter of what it is now at 25pence, while two and a half years ago, Moonpig’s was £4.40, three times higher than it is now. Clearly some bean counters are better at counting the beans than others, concludes Cardsharp!

big ticks for bricks The dramatic collapse of Wilko, following on from the failures in our sector of Paperchase and Clintons, gives the impression to many that traditional retailing is in crisis. Sure, it not without its challenges, especially with the current costof-living crisis, but it is not all doom and gloom as the success of Card Factory shows. And the failures of those aforementioned chains were mainly down to poor strategy and leadership, which is why they were outgunned by shrewder better run competitors.

The high streets and malls are certainly evolving and one of the most positive developments in recent months is the market readjustment of rents. It would seem both

multiples and independent retailers are starting to use market forces to their own advantage by giving the landlords a good kicking. After years of them calling the shots, the boot is on the other foot.

Cardsharp hears that considerable rent reductions are being negotiated, even in prime positions. He read that shoe repair specialists, Timpsons had reduced its rent bill by 32% in the last year. This market readjustment is most welcome.

The big issue now though is Business Rates. Now rents have come down, for many retailers the business rate bill is as high or even higher than the rent. Business Rates used to be around 30% of the costs, now they represent around 50%. The next

Above: Wilko is another name that is set to disappear from the the high street.

government, which ever persuasion it might be, desperately needs to recalibrate so the big ecommerce companies with their massive hanger style distribution outlets, share a much larger and fairer share of the burden.

5PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 23

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25-27_Viewpoints.qxp_Grid 03/10/2023 10:28 Page 1

VIEWPOINTS

Clawing at While the UK greeting card industry is seen as leading the world on the deisgn front, amplifying the noise created by publisher Central 23 being taken to task over a number of copying claims from different greeting card publishers, is the saddening view held by many in the industry that copying and passing off is on the rise in our sector.

PG canvassed opinion from leading publishers, a notable brand creative and stalwart retailer on this thorny issue.

A Retailer Perspective Sean Austin, owner of Austin and Co, Malvern: ““Before being a shopkeeper, the majority of my working life was as a librarian where the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 was daily reading, and if librarians were ever to have a version of the Hippocratic Oath, it would be that you would protect original works.

Above: Sean Austin, a man of Copyright, and your appreciation of principle.

Right: Sean was so disappointed original work, doesn't leave you after to see that Bewilderbeest was one of the publishers whose all those years. You see it everywhere designs had been copied by and you wonder how some blatant Central 23 and was glad that the publisher has been called out copies get away with it; whether it is and has now put in place new stringent measures to ensure walking down this won’t happen again. the aisle of a discount supermarket and seeing what looks like a packet of Oreos, but isn't.

Or reading of caterpillar cake wars in the press.

Some would say homage, pastiche, influenced, parody or trend-driven, but I've begun to notice a fair amount of outand-out plagiarism. And the greeting card industry is not exempt. I totally

understand being in a trend-driven industry that you are going to get some similarity in product. Given the thousands of creatives in the UK, there could be designers at opposite ends of the country who working in isolation come up with similar designs if you were to give them a list of trends. I think that's something that the industry accepts.

It's when you see designs that are blatant copies; never mind the so-called ‘7 points of similarity’, the whole design is a copy.”

What action do you take when you see examples of copying?

“I had an occasion earlier in the year when I saw what I thought were designs by Paper Plane and Bewilderbeest, but had been produced by someone else.

In these cases, as well as in others, when I receive samples or a catalogue which features what I see as blatant copies, they/it goes straight into recycling. We, as retailers have a responsibility to stand by our principles and protect the original creators.”

How does copying impact on you as a retailer?

“There’s a shop nearby which has produced its own range of greeting cards that are very similar to a range I stock. The text, the layout the phrases are all the same.

So, what stops them from being a copy?

They're not the same size, and the envelope is a different colour. They are being sold for £1 each whereas I sell the 'original' for £2.95. I confronted the shop PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 25

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VIEWPOINTS owner who said they saw the images Above: Austin & Co always prides itself on its own look, both inside and out. on the internet and just copied them because 'everything is free on the internet'.

In my opinion, they are exact copies, but not having enough similarity means they are allowed to continue. It gets to the point when you think: ‘Shall I just go home this evening and knock up a range of similar looking cards on Canva and get them printed myself?’. Of course

A Designer’s Perspective Sara Miller, creator of Sara Miller London: “The UK creative scene and greeting card industry in particular are well-known internationally for their creativity and wealth of new ideas, with a reputation for ingenuity. In recent years I think we are more and more aware of similar looking designs being created, with copycat ranges and successful design styles being ripped-off.

As to why I think copying is happening and what is facilitating it – this is a challenging as well as a very competitive market in which publishers and retailers are looking for quick wins. I think it can be really tempting to choose the easy option and not go through the creative struggle for originality which takes time and money. And as more and more instances go unchallenged - often just ‘close to the bone’ and maybe not full blown copyright infringement - this also creates and environment where it is ‘accepted’ as par for the course.

In addition, it is also a genuine worry that some publishers who now offer planning and brokerage services as well as publishing their own ranges have access to sales data which can pose itself as a conflict of interest. I believe this leads to an obvious temptation to ‘cash in’, especially as you have visibility on what are the most successful designs/ranges. It is no coincidence that these publishers seem to come out with look-a-like ranges.”

What experiences have you endured on copying?

“Our designs have been ripped off many times over the years and each time we’ve pursued legal action which we’ve won. We have challenged copied designs on greeting cards, gift wrap, purses, candles and in each case had the products removed from sale and compensation paid. We are currently pursuing an infringement on a line of stationery with a high street retailer.

Just a few weeks ago a couple of my friends (non-creatives) separately messaged me with some photos of greeting card displays, genuinely confused at seeing another publisher’s cards next to ours, which they thought looked very similar. They had such a similar look and feel that when they picked them up, they were surprised that they weren’t Sara Miller London designs.

At times in the past, I’ve looked at designs and thought they are too similar, but I realise it’s very personal for me, but when people I know 26 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

I wouldn’t, but it is galling when copied designs in a nearby retailer impacts on the selection you've curated.

Most of the time this curation includes a certain level of exclusivity and I do feel that publishers should take action if they feel they have been copied, to protect their IP as well as their retail stockists.

From my perspective when a nearby retailer starts stocking a copied range it dilutes the work that I've put into making my collection as unique as it can possibly be.

It is just wrong and I feel some of our uniqueness has been stolen from me as a retailer, let alone the damage to the publisher in question.”

are actually sending me messages genuinely confused then it’s a red flag that these products are overstepping the mark.

Having poured my heart and soul into building the brand, working through the night in the early days, it really is soul destroying to see copycat ranges trying to imitate the Sara Miller London look far too closely.”

How have you approached copying incidents?

“The success of SML as a brand came from creating a look which was brand new, fresh and unique and I feel fiercely protective of our IP. It’s tiresome, but we take it very seriously and will always do everything we need to protect the brand. We register all of our designs with the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and this helps when we have infringement issues and we always pursue where we believe something has been copied.”

What would your message be to new designers and would-be copiers?

“Resist the temptation and don’t be encouraged by anyone within your businesses to take inspiration from other greeting card ranges. Look outside the industry, and take pride in finding inspiration from authentic sources – nature, things outside the industry etc and challenge yourself to find the next new look, trend etc rather than following the crowd.”

Left: Sara Miller is fiercely protective of her brand’s IP. Below: The Sara Miller London brand is now licensed across a myriad of products, from wallpaper to tableware, home fragrance to greeting cards.

Bottom: A few of the Sara Miller London greeting cards that are published under licence by The Art File.

What damage does copying do to your brand and the sector as a whole?

“Essentially it dilutes our brand’s USP and causes customer confusion, particularly when they are buying into the look that we have established, and ultimately if customers are offered potentially cheaper look-a-like ranges this directly hits revenue.

For the sector as a whole it reduces the variety and diversity within the greeting card market, and doesn’t deliver what retailers are really looking for – and that is something that is new/different original and exciting.”

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VIEWPOINTS A Greeting Card Publisher’s Perspective Karen Wilson and Clare Williams, co-founders of Paper Salad: “Although copying or (influencing) has been around since we started Paper Salad, back in 2005, we have never seen it as prolific as it is today, not just for us, but for several innovative publishers who have made a mark for themselves in our industry.”

we have found that our brand is being increasingly copied. We can’t count the number of times per week we are sent images from customers, agents, friends and colleagues who are concerned that “so and so’s cards look just like yours”!! At a recent trade show we counted six companies that had ranges incredibly similar to ours. You could say that colours, print finishes and imagery are all trend-related, but a trend can be interpreted in hundreds or even thousands of ways.

A trend isn’t seeing how successful a specific design or range is and recreating some of the same!

It is when all the elements of our brand are put together meaning that you can’t tell who the publisher is that we have a problem. This is called ‘passing off’ and can have a detrimental effect on a brand. This has an even greater effect when we are all selling to the same market.

In many cases the copied ranges are usually priced lower, adding even more challenges for the originators.”

Why do you think copying has been on the Above: Karen Wilson, co-founder of rise in our sector?

Paper Salad on the publisher’s stand at the recent Autumn Fair next to a “We believe the main reasons for the rise in copying is sign warning would-be copiers. because it is so hard to challenge. It is time-consuming, Below: This distinctive Paper Salad stressful and very expensive and in most cases, there is design treatment has been copied by several card publishers. nothing to gain.

Copying usually comes from companies who don’t have a recognisable brand and just dip in and out of what they see is the ‘hot’ company of the moment!

Added to this, there is the direct copying, usually from Chinese companies where the design has not been changed at all, and these are easy to spot. The real danger is incidents where other publishers have made subtle changes to designs as these are far harder to challenge.”

How has copying affected Paper Salad?

“Our mantra has always been to bring out new ranges and move on, leaving the copiers behind. The only problem is that it is becoming harder to do this as over the past two years or so

A Greeting Card Publisher’s Perspective Martin Powderly, creative director of Pigment: “On a positive note, I don’t think copying is such a big problem in our industry. We just all need to be vigilant and respectful of the amazing and ongoing creative investment throughout our sector.

Exceptional levels of individual creative expression have driven our industry. Originality, innovation and dignity remain strong, and forums like PG keep it that way. Each year the category develops hundreds of distinctive new looks …The Henries awards being the living proof, but in reality none of us really fully ‘own’ these looks. If someone creates a new look or even a new genre which becomes a hit, others will probably join in. That has always been the case.

But having said all that I also agree that some long standing conventions have slipped in recent years. Blaming a handful of freelance brigands is not a fix. I have seen a few publishers

What would like to see happen on this front?

“We feel strongly that the whole industry needs to make a stand moving forward, it is in everyone’s best interests to make sure that we have an innovative and vibrant market. Surely shops won’t want everything looking the same. It is with this in mind that we have decided enough is enough and we are reacting to it and will ‘call it out’ when we see it, formally challenging it.

All this is extremely time-consuming and very costly, but feel we have no other option as we have to protect our brand and company or risk losing it! We are passionate about drawing attention to the problem; to protect the industry as a whole and are trying to set a precedent to help some fellow smaller publishers who don’t have the time or money to challenge it. There is no room for copying in our industry!”

deconstruct other publisher’s ‘hit’ ranges and rework them with a few changes to ‘blur the lines.”

Left: Martin Powderly does not feel copying is such a big problem.

Below: Pigment tracks trends and features upcoming ones in its brand new catalogue, including Creative Chaos Theory.

Bottom: Pigment’s decision to licence Lucia Heffernan’s designs fits in with what Martin sees as part of a Nourish and Nature trend.

What is a publisher’s responsibility on copying?

“In a mature industry like ours, as publishers we all have a responsibility to check that our content is wholly original and not close to existing copyrights. However, on the flip side we should not overreact too quickly when we see something that feels invasive. Technically none of us own the trends and in some cases, it could be coincidence.

There is so much respect and community in our category that I am confident that with a bit of vigilance most of us will keep originality at the forefront.”

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GCA Conference and AGM

the card

#Cardmitments

It was something of a facts and figures fest at the recent GCA Conference and AGM. Sounds a bit dreary? Not at all, with colourful brushstrokes, they each helped to paint a true picture of the greeting card industry today and seemingly, it is indeed a very pleasant scene.

Presentations from consumer insights agency Kantar, card retailing market leader Cardfactory and the GCA’s own annual Market Report highlighted how the industry is worth £1.5billion, how card buying penetration is growing, that consumers are turning away from online back towards bricks and mortar, and encouragingly how the youth really are embracing card buying.

“The ONS suggests that, generally across retail, 26.5% of consumer spend is now going online,” GCA council member and Cardology co-owner David Falkner told the audience, before bringing it into a greeting card context, with a stat that sets us somewhat apart from other consumer goods markets. “In our industry, we're now down to an 11% share [for online sales]”.

While in other sectors this would have been seen as a cause to feel downhearted, in the greeting card scene not so, as it is a reflection of a strong bounce back sales in physical shops, with the buying 28 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

The Commitments film and musical, based on the novel

by Roddy Doyle, featured star performers, each contributing to a wonderfully uplifting experience that ignited an appreciative audience.

The recent GCA Conference and AGM, which took place at the Royal Armouries in Leeds, very much echoed this, with the 180 members of the greeting card community who attended, all leaving very much in tune, and full of voice to amplify the #Cardmitment campaign chorus.

PG shares some of the high notes from a trio of speakers whose insights delivered reassurance about the resilience of the UK greeting card market, backed up by data to prove it’s bucking the downward trend of the current costof-living crisis.

Above and above left: The passion, the talent, the feelgood tingles are common to both The Commitments 1991 film and the GCA’s recent #Cardmitment-focused Conference and AGM. Below left: Cardology’s David Falkner in full performance mode.

Below right: The GCA Market Report paints a reassuring picture.

public preferring to see, hold and compare the cards they are buying, rather than clicking a button.

Reinforcing the robustness of the Market Report research findings, David explained that 90% of the data in the recent Market Report “is directly underpinned” by responses from GCA members, with the rest backed up by publicly-available

sources, David said the association had looked back at previous years and resized the market to ensure the year-on-year comparisons are credible, and added: “The impressive thing is that we still believe the UK greeting card market is worth over £1.45bn per year – and that's just single cards alone.”

In an “exceptionally resilient market” David revealed that volumes fell by just 2% in 2022 v 2021, a paltry amount when compared to the “post-pandemic horror shows” in other sectors he used as examples, such as furniture which fell by

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24% and outdoor products which declined 19.6%. Moreover, he stressed this slight dip in greeting card volumes is despite the “added complexity of the postal strikes” which will have had a dampening effect on everyday cards as well as Christmas cards.

As David summed up: “We've now very much got a different market. On the High Street we've seen some real solid performances in the value sector and in the national sector. Prices on the High Street have fallen, but the average UK single card prices have stayed steady. And what's interesting is for the 11% that is being sold online, those cards are now commanding prices that are over 85% more than their High Street equivalent.”

Having delivered such an enlightening presentation at last year’s GCA Conference about the shifts in consumer greeting card behaviour overlayed with macro trends, a Kantar double act, this time Moneeba Baloch and Ni Wang took to the podium to deliver the second helping of stats for the day, and very tasty they were too.

Kantar’s team of panellists is surveyed every three months for their perception on finances and feelings towards the current climate, where inflation is currently at 12.7% but is beginning to fall.

Consumer insights director Moneeba said the panellists are then divided into three groups to gauge how they are feeling in the cost-of-living crisis as this indicates how they are likely to curb spending on nonessentials. Kantar’s latest figures show a growing third

reporting cards purchased in store, and cards for the last year is at almost £1.2billion.

“In our July data, we are seeing that value has gone up by 9%, which is more significant compared to year-onyear data. While we do Left: The GCA Market Report’s see that item price findings prove how resilient the greeting card market is. increase has contributed to Above: Kantar’s Moneeba Baloch (left) and Ni Wang shared their this gross, the good news is company’s incredible insights. we've also seen volume feel they going up by almost 3% on cards.” are now ‘comfortable’, as a group which Ni said there were 26.7m card shoppers says it is ‘not having to restrict their last year, a 1.2% increase on the previous spending’, while 42% are managing OK year. She highlighted how there has been a “and that’s decreasing, people are moving bit of a shift away from buying cards from towards the managing comfortably bracket, supermarket towards high street specialists. but sadly, a quarter of the population are Consumers have been “visiting still struggling”. supermarkets to buy cards less often, and Moneeba added: “The general when they do, they are spending much merchandise area, that's everything nonless” Ni relayed but “compared to that the food, is in decline but, actually, greeting High Street, which consists of celebration cards in the last year in the physical space gift shops as well as department stores, are is growing, and, among all this change and doing much better, both of these channels uncertainty, there are plenty of opportunities are in growth”. to drive growth.”

On the drive to grow the industry and Her colleague Ni Wang delved deeper attract customers, Ni said loyalty into the greeting card industry: “Greeting programmes are having “positive impacts” cards have taken a very positive impact and the new HFSS regulations restricting from inflation. We [Kantar] are only the placement of food products high in fat, sugar or salt have seen supermarkets such as Lidl, Aldi and Sainsbury’s place “inexpensive items” such as greeting cards, gift packs, and gift wraps by the till.

“It's a very good opportunity for secondary sighting,” Ni said. “People don't always remember that they need a card until they see it, and when people do have a gift in their basket, when they look at the cards, they might remember.

As to the changing shape of the population and its likely impact on card buying, Moneeba added: “The declining birth rate means considering Left: Kantar’s findings show that greeting cards sales are most definitely a shining light within the general merchandise arena with sales up 3% while GM generally is down 1%.

Also, shoppers are returning to card buying right across the age groups, with empty nesters and retirees leading the pack.

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a view that the market’s worth about £1.4bn for a couple of years. For first time ever, all three views from the GCA, Kantar and ourselves have come within about £80million of each other.”“We believe that 40m UK adults buy greeting cards per year, last year that equated to 73% of the nation, this year it’s 80%, again, reason to believe that more people are engaging more with this category across the entire industry.”

Above: Cardfactory’s Adam Dury was one of the most impressive speakers at the Conference.

Right: Celebrations, of which cards are a part, is holding up well, explained Adam Dury.

Below middle: The GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson added her upbeat message in her grand finale.

Bottom: Great news, the youth sector is growing on cards.

events outside of birthdays is still really important and really relevant. And not forgetting the most important purpose for our industry, driving sentiment with shoppers.”

And, she highlighted that compared to other ‘gifting’ products, such as flowers and toys, greeting cards remain “the most accessible, cheapest gifting item” in the public’s ‘basket’.

It was then the turn of Cardfactory’s coo Adam Dury, whose experience of presenting to City analysts stood him in good stead as he moved comfortably around the stage, moving swiftly from Cardfactory’s financials to consumer habits, without any need to refer to his script.

He generously shared the retail giant’s data which is gained from its annual survey of 4,500 respondents, now in its sixth year commissioned through Dynamic Data, confirming that as a business, its revenue split is now somewhere in the region of an 8020 split between stores and online.

He added: “We know our customers have found things tough, but celebrations remain incredibly resilient. Our view of the UK retail market, is that we believe it's worth £1.4bn and we've had

Explaining that Cardfactory manufactures 160m cards each year in its Printcraft facility, which are sold across its 1,032 stores as well as the online shop, Adam said sales wise, the retail group now has close to a 50-50 split between cards and gifting but this will probably grow gifting accounting for 54% within three to four years.

“Cards are super important,” he said, “but

it’s also important you have the gifts to go with it. The whole gifting market is worth £13.4bn in the UK,” although Cardfactory is looking at a £10bn market as that covers relevant products such as soft toys, confectionery and speciality.And the retailer has identified a clear opportunity with the younger generation, with Adam showing a slide which he described as “telling us that the younger audience are really into cards” and adding that he hoped “lots of eyes will open with huge reasons to believe, lots of optimism, a huge positivity”.

Adam added: “The 16-to-24 year olds now have the highest cards per buyer rate, and that's been a continuing trend since 2020. We as a business and we as an industry have a huge responsibility to work with this group and help when they come on the card journey.

“There's clearly probably three life stages in there, secondary education, possibly university and first stages of a family, we work with that group now and think about what they're telling us, ‘I like people to know I'm thinking about them,’ and this is their words to us, ‘a card is more personal than an email or text’ – must remind my 13 year old, because I'm sure he's not quite there yet – ‘cards can be a keepsake for special occasions’, and ‘this is a nice way to connect with people’.

“As feedback from that age group, it's just another brilliant reason to believe in the industry. The headline message is that we should look ahead with a huge amount of confidence.”

Providing the last crescendo of industry feelgood, in her closing words Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA said: “The British love cards as we've seen the stats today. We're in really good shape as an industry. We work with a product that brings joy to people.

Our industry is world leading.

There is so much innovation in this room and in our industry. And the enthusiasm for the product we produce continues, with 90% of the UK population sending cards every single year. So, let's all pull together to support each other and keep this industry moving forward and growing and growing!”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 31

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The Ladder Club

Inset: A scene from the 2016 Ladder Club with co-founders Lynn Tait and PG’s Jakki Brown holding the ladder and longtime speaker, Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun, second right at the front.

Ladder CLIMBING

After a break of four years, The Ladder Club is being resurrected. The one day seminar aimed at helping would-be and fledgling greeting card publishers being organised by Progressive Greetings to take place on December 1 at London’s Business Design Centre (see News).

With hundreds of greeting card publishers joining the alumni over the last 20+ years, PG caught up with just a handful of these Ladder Clubbies about what attending meant to them and their business.

Karen Wilson and Claire Williams, co-founders of Paper Salad The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?

“Not only did we attend The Ladder Club once before we set up Paper Salad, but we did it again the year after just to make sure we had all of our ducks in a row and hadn’t missed anything!!

We clearly remember travelling back home to Manchester on the train after the first time we attended, our heads combusting with the amount of information we had received, we were excited and scared at the same time. We knew we were about to begin an incredible journey and had already made new friends who have been part of our lives ever since.

That was over 20 years ago. It is fantastic that The Ladder Club will be back this year, the quality of publishers that have attended and enjoyed huge success is a testament to the knowledge imparted from the participating suppliers and publishers. It would be hard to find another industry that is so sharing in helping competitors to enter the market and genuinely assisting them in their journey.”

Lasting memories/stand out moments?

“When we were asked to talk by Lynn Tait at some subsequent Ladder Club events, we were surprised, over-awed and terrified in equal measure, but we managed to overcome our fears and tell our story.

Over the years we have received a fantastic response by publishers who were motivated by our experience.”

Your advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“Our advice to any Ladder Club newbies, would be to listen, take loads of notes and refer back to them often, the advice you will receive will be from industry professionals who really do ‘know their stuff’.”

Above: Having attended as newbies Karen Wilson (right) and Claire Williams spoke at several Ladder Club events, including in 2015 at which they shared the news of how a licensing collaboration with an Australian childrenswear company was featured in a magazine.

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The Ladder Club

Megan Purdie, founder of Megan Claire

Hannah Dale, founder of Wrendale Designs The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business? ““The Ladder Club was so important to me in the early days of my business. I’m so pleased that it is starting again, Lynn’s legacy lives on!

When I started Wrendale, I had no experience in any aspect of the industry at all. I had no idea about the best printing techniques for greeting cards or how to market my designs. The Ladder Club was like shining a light on everything and I definitely avoided making some simple mistakes in the early days as a result of the advice I was given. I don’t know of any other industry that takes care of its members like ours and The Ladder Club is part of this.”

Lasting memories/stand out moments?

“There were so many highlights for me - I was so inspired and in awe of the success of Karen and Claire from Paper Salad. I

The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?

“The most valuable takeaway was learning about how the industry worked, such as selling in units of six, carriage paid orders, mark up, the valley of death (navigating a growing business and recruiting staff). All of this was very eye-opening and specific to the industry, such first hand knowledge you’d struggle to find elsewhere.”

Above: Wrendale Designs made its sparkling debut at PG Live 2012. Founder Hannah Dale was overjoyed to receive two Silver Tickets from House of Cards’ Nigel Williamson.

remember Jeremy Corner’s talk being incredibly useful and I still refer back now to some of the things he said. I think I’d been a bit lost in the few years leading up to starting Wrendale and as the idea of this new business started to form something inside me woke up again and The Ladder Club was a big part of this for me. I don’t think I slept the night after, I was so excited and just couldn't wait to get going.”

Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“Slow and steady wins the race (as Lynn Tait said to me).

Sometimes it can be tempting to say “yes” to everything, but make sure you can cope and the balance sheet works for you.”

Below: Having attended The Ladder Club previously, (right) Megan Purdie, founder of Megan Claire was one of the speakers at the 2018 seminar, as was Andy Pearce, founder of Thortful, with Megan’s mum, Gill (left) there too.

Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“Be original!”

Rebecca Green, founder of Raspberry Blossom The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?

“There is no other course out there which is such good value - you get access to a room full of industry speakers who are so relevant to your business and who are all willing to give you the best advice from their own experience.

They have been there and done it and often made mistakes along the way and are open to passing on their tips, so then hopefully you don’t have to make those mistakes too! Not only do you listen to the presentations throughout the day and get so many tips for your business, but you also can network during lunch and meet other people who are at a similar stage to you. When you are starting out and possibly leaving a job you don’t have a team, so it is valuable to make friends and connect with people that you might need to call upon for support and advice along your business journey.”

Lasting memories/stand out moments?

“Some stand out memories was the presentation by Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed 34 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Lasting memories/stand out moments?

“Despite being warned of the hard times when running a greeting card business, I remember coming away thinking ‘this is definitely possible’. The talk by Paper Salad’s Karen and Claire made me realise there was longevity in being a publisher. At first it felt like a huge achievement to be publishing for a year and now I’ve been doing it for 12!”

Sun. Coming from a creative background, finance isn’t my strong point so his tips teaching about the more financial side of business and what margins and costs you should be applying to your products, were really valuable. These insider tips really helped me make sure my greeting cards were commercial for stores to buy them and that I was making enough money to grow a business.

I also met Mark Jessett at The Ladder Club and he became my GF Smith point of contact.

Above: Raspberry Blossom’s (left) Rebecca and Mark Green at the 2016 Ladder Club with Julie Brightly, who was working for Enveco at the time.

After The Ladder Club we met for coffee and I showed him some of my first designs and we chatted paper and finishes. This is when I decided on a collection, I launched called Golden Moments that used GF Smith’s beautiful Colorplan papers and a gold foil finish. It was a bold move as I had to invest in more items and the papers were more expensive, however I think these decisions helped me stand out at my first trade show and led me to be stocked in Paperchase, Waterstones and Oliver Bonas within the first year of Raspberry Blossom.

I also loved the talk from Hannah and Jack Dale from Wrendale, who were in the infancy of their business and taking the industry on by storm! It was just so inspiring to see a company flourish and think that one day it could be Raspberry Blossom!

Honestly, so much was covered from finance, to warehousing, fulfilment, printing and paper, trade shows…the list goes on!”

Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“Take lots of notes and ask lots of questions!

You have an opportunity to really get a head start in your business.”

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The Ladder Club

Jessica Hogarth, founder of Jessica Hogarth The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?

“Attending The Ladder Club was just so lovely, first and foremost for networking and making friends with other members. Working in a small business on your own can sometimes be a bit lonely and you can think only you are facing the challenges you come up against. It’s reassuring to talk to other people and see that you’re often going through the same things.”

Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“My advice would be to take a big notebook and don’t be afraid to ask questions! You’ll make contacts and potentially some friends for life. The greeting card industry is so friendly and The Ladder Club really shows this.”

Below: Jess Hogarth’s business has expanded considerably since her early days at The Ladder Club.

In Gatwick airport she spotted some of the My Temple Giftware which is produced under licence featuring her illustrations.

Amanda and Frank Mountain, co-owners of Lola Design The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?

“The Ladder Club was of huge value to us at the beginning of our journey into greeting card publishing. We literally turned up with a blank piece of paper and all of our notes helped us to plan how to go about setting the foundations for Lola Design today.

Being in the same room as key suppliers and hearing from key retailers such as House of Cards who were really generous to share their time with us and insights into their selection process and key captions.

Meeting and hearing from established publishers and understanding the pitfalls was of course invaluable too.

Lasting memories/stand out moments?

“The standout thing for me at the time was Lynn explaining the 2.4 calculation to work out the invoice price working

Right: Frank and Amanda Mountain, owners of Lola Design.

back from RRP. Also, Brainbox Candy’s Mark Williams and Ben Hickman presenting their pie charts – we were in stitches!”

Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“The world has changed enormously since we started and there are many routes into greeting card publishing now - licensing, selling B2B or B2C, or even a combination of these. It can be really confusing and overwhelming and hard to know where to start.

Having access to The Ladder Club is an amazing opportunity as there are not many industries that are so helpful in supporting start-ups. We would highly recommend it – it’s really one ‘not’ to miss.”

Above: A pie chart diagram which formed part of a hilarious talk from the Brainbox Candy boys at the 2015 event.

John Higgins, co-founder of Go La La The value of The Ladder Club to you/your business?

“It’s so good to see The Ladder Club is back. We were new to the game when we attended our first one (in 2017 I think) and it was so useful we went again.

The Ladder Club is a packed day, but it enables budding publishers to learn more about the business they are embarking on.

For us it was great that it gave us the opportunity to network with many others in a similar position to ourselves, and with the day filled with talks from speakers from across the industry there was the opportunity to learn valuable information as well as many of the hazards and pitfalls to avoid.

Ged Mace, MD of The Art File who spoke when we went, was definitely a highlight. Having been in the business for years he knows the industry inside out; he’s an engaging speaker and offers great advice. It’s also valuable to hear from

other publishers and their journey. We listened to Wendy Jones-Blackett when we went and this year it is the turn of Iain Hamilton of Bewilderbeest.

It was informative to listen to talks either by or giving information on, the other side of the fence too – the card buyers, the agents, the brokers, and those who may want to licence your products, as well as printing companies, envelope companies; all things that we were pretty clueless about.”

Lasting memories/stand out moments?

“Valuable information we took away was that you don’t want to be too precious about your designs; just because you want to sell them it doesn’t mean others want to buy them, but at the same time a few knockbacks in the early days doesn’t mean you should give up. Don’t print thousands of cards of one design until you’ve tested the waters, and think carefully before trying to expand too quickly. Don’t spend money you can’t afford and don’t discount too heavily just to attract a sale.”

Advice to would-be Ladder Clubbies?

“My best advice would be if you unsure about going, don’t be and book yourself a place. When there, take plenty of notes, and in the coffee and lunch breaks speak to as many people as you can. It’s amazing what you can learn from other newbies as well as the established faces. It’s a friendly industry and The Ladder Club is a great place to start.”

Above: (right-left) Go La La’s John Higgins with Objectables’ Tim Gould and Jelly Armchair’s Cat Faulkner at the 2017 Ladder Club event.

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Focus on: Words and sentiments

Sentiment is at the heart of all greeting cards – it’s the very reason for the send. While the images attract the eye, it is invariably the words that clinch the sale, encapsulating the feeling the sender wants to convey to the recipient. From traditional lengthy verses through to succinct contemporary phrasing which boil sentiments down to just a few words, PG has asked publishers to pick just one of their greeting card designs that they feel says it the best…

Inset: Words matter as they convey the sentiment at the heart of all greeting cards.

Voicing feelings

Powerful and heartfelt Amanda Miles, creative director, International Cards & Gifts “One of my favourites is a Daughter birthday card we created 18 months ago. For me this strikes a chord, because I’m a mum of two daughters and the words in this card hit the mark, particularly the line ‘For laughter’s never far away whenever you are near’ as this is the perfect sentiment for a very special daughter.

In the third verse it goes on to say, ‘you make life even brighter, for all your special ways’ – this captures a very personal and special side of the relationship and the daughter you’re sending it to.

In fact, all three verses within this card are heartfelt and sincere and, for me, that’s what makes a credible, special card. The imagery is fun, cheery, and celebratory, so sits well with the verses, as it’s key that both work together to make a card very special.

Four years ago, we released a new range of traditionalstyle cards, Avec Amor, a collection that continues to sell well, even through the recent tough retail times.

Each design has rhyming verse, full of warmth and always about celebrating the recipient. It's about sending joy and love in an envelope because you can’t always be there, or because it’s hard to find the right words at the time.”

Far left: Above: This IC&G daughter design hits the mark.

Left: Avec Amor has rhyming verse.

Emma Bryan, founder of Emma Bryan Design “I created Softly Spoken in my first year in business in 2020. As I was getting to grips with designing birthday and occasion cards, we went into lockdown and, suddenly, I found I had different emotions to express.

Softly Spoken was the result of the sentiments that I was saying and sending to my family and friends at that time – it’s difficult to recall now how unknown and frightening that Above: Togetherness in words in Emma Bryan’s Softly Spoken range. period was, when we didn’t know how long it would continue, and sending greeting cards became a lifeline when walking to the post box during our permitted hour of exercise was the only time we could be outside each day.

I was elated when the range was nominated for a Henries that year which demonstrated our shared craving for deep connection and meaningful words.

To my great delight, the range is still going strong and features in nearly all orders I send out. In tough times, meaningful words matter and, as we become more comfortable at expressing our emotions, I think it’s a trend that’s set to continue. “

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 37

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Focus on: Words and sentiments

Encapsulating the wonder

Spearheading sentiment Jonny Spears, managing director of Jonny Javelin Card Co “The Special Friend pink gin design is from our Signature range, and a caption that we brought out about four years ago now – wow how time flies!

It’s a consistently good seller, in our top 20, but we also chose it because it’s one of my personal favourites. Not only that, but the girls in the office choose this card regularly when they want to send a card to a friend.

We don’t know why we like it, but it’s probably a combination of the fresh colours – the lime green is probably a bit unusual for us – the modern gin and tonic theme is perfect, and the shorter but perfectly-worded sentiment inside.

The Words & Sentiment category has been our bread and butter since we started many moons ago. And over the last 12 years – yes, 12! – it’s been Velvet that has played the starring role. These are generally longer verses for our code 75 titles but their consistency clearly shows that many people still prefer a card to say the words they want to say.

We refresh the poems to introduce new phrases over the years, a Jonny Javelin Niece card 20 years ago would never include a ‘Shout-Out’, but it could now!

Our Signature range was introduced to keep the sentiments perhaps that little bit shorter while still getting the personal message across.

This range is probably for a slightly younger market in general, however, it’s only a matter of time before these customers become more sentimental in life and switch to Velvet!”

Left: Pink gin is a great seller in the Signature range.

Above: Jonny and Mandy Spears.

Maternal instincts Emma Bragg, writing director at Hallmark “More than almost all other captions, Mum is one where emotion and sentiment are extremely important. This Mum design has proved to be very successful for us and we’ve included variations of it in our range for the last five years.

One of the reasons is that, for many, rhyming verse is a writing form that continues to be an appealing and preferred way to deliver a heartfelt message. Also, the piece acknowledges the busy lives we lead and expresses how much a mum means to us, with specific reference to talking, listening and caring.

These specific themes are relevant and relatable for many consumers who are looking for the perfect card to celebrate the special relationship they have with their mum.

Our consumers continue to tell us that finding the right words is essential when choosing a card. No matter what the occasion or the design may be, the messaging is not something they are willing to compromise. Consumers rely on our sentiment ranges to help them say the important things they sometimes struggle to find the time, or the words, to express themselves.”

Above: Contemporary artwork combine with heartfelt emotions in this Hallmark card.

38 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Rachel Broadhead, brand manager of UK Greetings “This beautiful mum send perfectly encapsulates what’s so wonderful about UKG’s female line. It’s fresh and modern with colourful flowers being perfectly paired with gold foil to create a send that catches the eye and appeals to a multitude of people.

All the while, it features a heartfelt verse that perfectly portrays what Above: Motherly love everyone would like to say from UKG. to their own amazing mum on a special occasion. This card is an update of a previous bestseller and covers themes of love and gratitude, and is fully sustainable.

We’re delighted that this card is part of our fantastic Female Relations collection which was feted in the Best Traditional Words & Sentiment category in this year’s Henries awards.”

Timely text takes Tony Cottrell, studio manager of Words ‘N’ Wishes “Moments In Time has become a flagship range for Words ’N’ Wishes as we feel it epitomises, both in design and sentiment, our take on the current modern/traditional verse card – and it’s once again reached the finals in The Henries 2023 Best Traditional Words & Sentiment category.

This design, a Friend caption in a code 75 with an insert embellished with fluted foil, was the original design for the range from our in-house artist Kate Hughes.

Kate wanted a look and style that represented a watercolour design that stood out as a pull-out artwork as opposed to traditional icons within a design. The sentiment isn’t rhyming, but as if you were saying it yourself to the recipient, using language we use every day, which allows this to cover a broad age demographic, thus giving the retailer a greater opportunity of sales.

Within our current offering of Moments In Time we have in excess of 100 designs covering occasions, relations, ages and Christmas with additional open birthday designs offering different price codes.”

Above: Tony Cotterill (right) with Hannah Curtis, co-founder of Creative Sparrow during this year’s Cardgains Charity walk.

Left: Conversational sentiment features on this Moments in Time design.

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Focus on: Words and sentiments

Positive vibe The art of words Sarah Tanser, studio manager for Grass Roots at Paper Rose “Our Sentiments range encompasses the timeless appeal of traditional words and verses for Grass Roots.

Featuring a delicate watercolour floral border adorned with intricate foil detailing, this card exudes elegance. Its centrepiece is the carefully crafted verse, thoughtfully highlighted with a font change to underscore its significance.

This design is a bestseller in our collection, a testament to how the art of words can beautifully complement intricate design elements.”

Above: A Grass Roots design that goes to the art of the matter.

Helen Dyson, founder of Dyson Design “My choice reflects a real trend towards a more positive vibe. We received this comment from a customer who had bought several of this card from Harvington Hall: ‘From my point of view they make perfect alternatives to Sympathy or Get Well cards. They allow a positive approach and offer something different. They also offer just sending a fillip to someone at any time.”

Above: A cheery uplift from Dyson Design.

Animal magic Hilda Richardson, co-founder of Cardigan Cards “It’s so hard to pick one particular design or title out of the thousands that we have produced over the last 30 years. However, there are two which we’re currently struggling to keep on our shelves and many customers buy them in multiple packs – which is wonderful.

The first one is our Over The Bridge title for the loss of a beloved pet, and the other is A Birthday Message From The Dog. I am and always have been a huge animal lover and my inspiration for these verses come directly from my own experience with the animals that I’ve been lucky enough in one way or another to have shared my life.

They say the British are a nation of animal lovers and I don't think they’re far wrong!”

Send with pride Rosie Tate, Cath Tate Cards “This design, from the 2023 Henries Awards shortlisted range Sending Sunshine, is one of my favourite cards.

Customers love it as it really jumps out from the shelf with its vibrant design.

It’s a top-selling card which I think is because it’s a bright and joyful card to send to someone you’re proud of for any number of reasons.

It’s designed by the brilliant Claire Cousins who worked with us to develop Sending Sunshine as a range of cards that express sentiments that are sometimes hard to articulate. It’s a range which includes a mix of empathy and sympathy as well as celebratory cards like this one.”

Above: Rosie Tate preparing to write some Thinking of You Week cards..

Left: Affirmation from this Cath Tate Sending Sunshine design

Left: A Cardigan Cards’ design that puts into words what a wag of the tail really means.

Making an impression Charlotte Parsons, everyday design manager, Noel Tatt Group “We have picked a current top seller from our long-standing Lasting Impressions range, which some may be surprised to see is a male relation design.

We feel this design sells so well as it stands out with its celebratory feel, strong colouring and impactful textured foiling, paired with sentiment that relates to the imagery in the design that’s light yet meaningful.

We work closely with a number of copywriters to try to achieve a harmonious design where the sentiment and imagery are aligned, which creates the most successful designs.”

Right: Light yet meaningful was the aim of the emotion expressed on this Noel Tatt design.

Covering all situations Chaye Lee McQuade, co-owner of Scentiment Gifts “In my search for a loving card to send to my partner, I felt there was a need for a design that could cover many situations.

We all find it difficult at times to put into words what we really feel, and a quote somehow just knows how to convey it.

I love this particular design as I can send just as a thank you to tell them how much they’re appreciated any day of the year.

There are a A Scentiment Gifts’ design few birthday titles Above: from its Henries-finalist Quotes N Quips range that melts the heart. within this Quotes Left: Chaye with her Scentiment N Quips range, Gifts’ business partner, Richard Marsden. but the majority have been specifically designed with a special quote or message to send for any occasion.”

Continued on page 41 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 39

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Focus on: Words and sentiments

Delivering a smile Jo Wilson, director of Dandelion Stationery “The card I have chosen is actually a fairly new addition to our collection, but we’ve featured various cancer-related cards in our portfolio for a number of Above: Jo Wilson has a years. This design sums way with words. up my thoughts on this awful disease.

Unfortunately, I have had reason to send this card, and other previous cancer designs, to close friends and family, some of whom are no longer with us.

My mum was, in fact, the inspiration for the first cancer card I created. These cards can help people give virtual love and hugs when they just don’t know what to say. They’re proof that sending a card can deliver a smile even in the toughest of situations.”

Left: This Words of Wisdom design sends support in tough times.

On a personal note Katie Wagstaff, founder of Oh Squirrel “This sentiment has been in the range for a number of years, originally starting out life as an art print, and moved on to a greeting card – and coming soon, as part of our Biodegradable Glitter collection, which is a finalist in The Henries’ Best Contemporary Words & Sentiment award category.

It's something that started out life as a personal note I made to myself – ...but what if it all goes right? – when starting Oh Squirrel as someone who 99% of the time expects everything to go wrong!

I shared the scribble online and it really resonated. As a card it's gone on to inspire and mean so much to so many people. I've had the privilege of being told stories of what these words have meant to people going through struggles or trying something new.

The design is simply my unedited handwriting. I think the honesty that you see in handwriting makes the message all the more powerful.

People send this card for a myriad of reasons – starting a new job, going on a big adventure or just as a you got this to someone who’s having a tough time. I'm really proud of it!”

Above: Encouragement personified on this Oh Squirrel card.

Just turn left Dean Morris, Dean Morris Cards “Do I Look Like I Fly Economy? is my modern sentiment card as it’s a message that has, for a long time, related to me.

All my friends know I like my travel and that, wherever possible, in a comfier class Left: The real deal from of seat than economy – Dean Morris. well, for flights over five Above: Dean embracing the sunshine. hours anyway!

Some people will spend a fortune on expensive fashion labels, or their car, or home improvements. Even cosmetic surgery. For me it’s turning left on a plane and a nice hotel at the end of it.

I love that this particular card has also been popular with airline staff and, when clocking my name on boarding passes, I’ve been recognised as the ‘guy that does the cards’. Love that!

That said, as I’m typing this, I’m all packed and ready for my package flight to Benidorm so I do like to keep it real from time to time!”

Just be yourself Tracey Colliston, founder of Ginger Betty “We launched our Words & More range at Spring Fair this year and it has been really well received. I wanted to get messages across which aren’t too long and to hit the spot with just the right amount of words.

The one card that speaks to me most is the ‘Just Be You’ design – I really wanted to get across how important it is to be yourself and embrace every bit of who you are.

It’s a personal favourite as I often see young people, and older, struggling with confidence and not feeling comfortable with who they are, feeling held back. Sometimes just reading a small message can really resonate and hopefully help someone a little bit. The rabbit releasing the butterfly is saying ‘be free and be yourself’.

Our keepsake cards have more words and are perfect to pop into a purse as a little reminder of what’s being said.

These have sentiments to brighten someone’s day, offer words of encouragement, and to remind someone how much they’re loved.”

Above: A cheers from Tracey Colliston.

Right: Self-affirming sentiment on this Words & More card from Ginger Betty.

Expression of support Abi Tippetts and Roz Berkeley-Hill, co-owners of Tipperleyhill “As two artists who work closely together, we draw inspiration from our own experiences and interactions. Our latest collection of empathetic cards has a special significance for both Abi and I as, within the span of a month, we encountered several personal challenges. A dear friend’s cancer diagnosis, a relative’s battle with depression, and the heart-breaking experience of a close one's miscarriage.

We found it difficult to find a card that truly captured the support we wanted to convey to our loved ones so Abi penned the words which are often hard to find, making up this new card collection comprising six different quote cards, each one capturing a different facet of empathy and understanding.

We want to ensure these cards offer comfort and a heartfelt expression of support to those experiencing challenging or changing times.”

Above: An empathetic Tipperleyhill design.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 41

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Focus on…Sustainability

News from the Greeting Card Association last month that 80% of greeting cards sold in the UK are now cello-free made for some uplifting reading. In the same week that the UK’s Prime Minister reneged on his green policies and threw the country’s Net Zero 2050 strategy into total jeopardy, it’s heartening to see the greeting card industry taking the position of leadership on the sustainability front.

With incoming legislation set to change the environmental landscape upon which business operate from EPR and CSRD to the European Green Deal – that will force businesses to act more responsibly or pay the hefty price, Rob Hutchins, editor and community manager of sustainable membership organisation, Products of Change fronts PG’s Focus on Sustainability section, by considering what this might all mean for the greeting card sector…

Inset: The UK greeting card industry is accepting the urgency of nurturing a circular economy.

The Paper Trail Short of making jokes about greeting cards having more spine than the current UK government, perhaps the country’s leaders could have done with tapping into the GCA Market Report just to get a real idea of the voting public. Referencing the 17% increase in GCA publisher members reportedly now removing cellophane from their greeting cards and a further 7% pledging to do so over the coming two years, GCA ceo, Amanda Fergusson applauded the industry for being

Joining the POC journey As part of its mission to help transition the greeting card industry to a positive and more sustainable future, Products of Change has established a Paper Goods Workstream to facilitate the connections and conversations that can kick start the positive actions in this voyage of sustainable development.

Products of Change now has over 160 member companies, which include Amscan, Belly Button Designs, Danilo, Cath Tate Cards, Carousel Calendars, The Eco-friendly Card Company, GCA, Glick, Hallmark Cards, Out of the Blue Studios, Progressive Greetings and Talking Tables. www.productsofchange.com

“significantly more open-minded to investing in sustainable processes than a year ago, despite the economic backdrop.”

No less than 63% of publishers already ensure their cards are fully recyclable, while a further 11%, Amanda explains, are “on a mission to make this so in the next two years.”

Whether intentioned or not, that two-year marker bears remarkable significance. We’re on the cusp of a new era for business with incoming legislation promising to deliver some dramatic changes to the landscape upon which it operates. The European Green Deal, new laws on Extended Producer Responsibility, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directives will each directly impact the way in which we

work, as gradually we experience a shift from the ‘take, make, throwaway’, linear model of operating towards a more circular economy.

The rhetoric around these legislative changes coming through has been strong. An agreed draft UN Plastic Treaty, for example – a bill drawn up to curb the production of single-use plastic – wants to ‘cut off the head of the toxic single-use snake’, while the passing of the EU Nature Restoration law earlier this year was hailed a ‘victory for scientists, young people, and a lot of businesses,’ with promises made to safeguard biodiversity. New EU laws against importing products linked to deforestation will also have global reverberations, particularly among governments like Brazil (home to 60% of the Amazon rainforest) which must now decide how it will balance a domestic economy with its rich bioeconomic heritage.

Okay, so what’s any of this got to do with greeting cards? Let’s take a closer look.

Across the EU, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws will impact how products are packaged and how that packaging is handled throughout the product’s entire lifecycle. The legislation will make producers themselves responsible for the collection, sorting, recycling, or disposal of their product packaging by forcing businesses to pay for the management of it.

Left: Products of Change’s founder Helena MansellStopher with colleague Rob Hutchins.

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Focus on…Sustainability The aim of the law is to transfer the annual £1.7bn financial burden of household packaging waste collection from taxpayers to producers, while generating accountability across waste streams, and making companies think more sustainably about their packaging. And this is going to be applied to all types of packaging.

Publishers selling packaged goods under their brand name, importers bringing packaged products into the UK, online marketplaces, and sellers who sell packaged products or packaging to the end user are all going to be liable under these new laws.

Now, the regulations do define packaging as ‘all products of any nature to be used for the containment, protection, handling, delivery, and presentation of goods’. It’s a broad brush that would theoretically cover greeting card envelopes too. However, EPR will only be applied to ‘producers’ handling over 25 tonnes of packaging a year. So, unless you’re shifting in the region of four million envelopes a year, it’s unlikely to be an area that makes too much impact to your numbers. But that doesn’t mean it won’t need recording. Along with any cello wrap still being used and packaging used for packaged everyday or Christmas cards, everything will be up for scrutiny.

It sounds severe because it is. The European Union has made its intention to reach Net Zero by 2050 very clear, and to be the first to do so. With such lofty ambitions come some heavyweight policies to back it up, the most influential of which will be delivered through the European Green Deal and applied to anyone currently dealing with or wishing to deal with the European marketplace.

The biggest shifts will likely be felt through legislation around the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Digital Product Passport which will force businesses to become more transparent when it comes to measuring and showcasing their

Going solar A committed Products of Change member, Danilo Promotions embraces eco challenges as opportunities to innovate and continuously improve all aspects of its business.

At the beginning of this year, the greeting card and calendar specialist had solar panels installed at its Waltham Abby base having been awarded grant assistance through the Eastern New Energy Grant Programme.

“We are also moving each year towards reducing more and more plastic from our products packaging,” said md Daniel Prince, “and, for 2023, we have increased the amount of plastic-free calendars by 15% year-on-year while we’re continuing to make progress in searching for new and cost-efficient ways to reduce our cello wrapping on gift wrap, ensuring we communicate frequently with our suppliers and retailers to discuss new ideas.

“We also appreciate that tackling the climate crisis requires collaboration at all levels, so we remain an active member of POC and the GCA, where discussions are ongoing within the greeting card industry on how we can all work together to improve sustainability.

“With sustainability high up on the agenda for Danilo, we are excited to see

the new ideas that are developed and the implementation of even more environmentally-friendly practices in the months and years to come.”

Top: Harnessing the sun’s power at Danilo.

Above: Danilo is cutting its plastic packaging on calendars by 15% year on year.

environmental impacts. Over the coming years, the Digital Product Passport will be introduced to enable customers to make informed and conscientious choices about the products they purchase. The technology – QR codes that contain information about all impact areas along a product’s journey from the source to Right: Abacus Cards is one publisher who has taken sizeable steps on the sustainability front, including swopping cellowrap for either fully-recyclable paper belly bands or wrapped with Nativia clear bio-based film bags, which are compostable, biodegradable or recyclable.

Below: Encouraging sustainability progress is reflected in the new GCA Market Report.

the shelf – will roll-out across the highest impact industries first, such as textiles and apparel, but there is full intention that these will eventually be found across all products.

From here, it’s no real leap to envisage data collection, measuring, traceability and transparency across the supply chain becoming the new currency with which partnerships are formed between suppliers and retailers. The clearer and more substantial your data is today, the easier those partnerships are likely to align tomorrow.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 43

THE GLOBAL GREETING CARD GATHERING OF PUBLISHERS, RETAILERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND SUPPLIERS

PG Live has lots of great retailer fans…

“PG Live was SO very good and we came away completely inspired.

Everyone we saw brought their A game to the show. There was lots of inspiration, newness and clear points of difference between the stands. We came en masse as it’s such a great show and we see it as important for everyone to come along to see the publishers and all the new product they have been developing and are on working on.”

Sam Ody, lead buying manager of everyday cards for Tesco

“I really feel that PG Live is absolutely the heart of our industry. It’s our absolute favourite show from both a publisher and retailer perspective. There’s everyone there who I love and want to talk to. We really feel looked after - the free tea and coffee, the free lunch, the drinks in the evening - all of these really make it stand out as a show. This kind of connection and community is absolutely priceless.”

Heidi Early, co-owner of Earlybird Designs in Stoke Newington

SAVE THE DATE Don’t miss PG Live 2024

Tuesday 4 June – Wednesday 5 June Business Design Centre, London +44 (0) 7734 111633 www.progressivegreetingslive.com @PGLiveLondon #pglive2024

44_PG_October 2023.indd 1

“What a show! We love visiting PG Live, as it always has such a great atmosphere – and this year’s event felt particularly inspiring and there really seemed to be excitement in the air! It was lovely to see so many card publishers under one roof, existing suppliers, as well as discovering some new ones. We came away excited and inspired, with a very long list of highlights – the product standard was so high!”

Hazel Walker, senior buyer of Waterstones

A fabulous exhibitor line-up, from brand new start-ups to well-loved brands An upbeat vibe, newness galore - and free refreshments, lunch and opening night party

CELEBRATING THE BEST IN OUR INDUSTRY – THE PRODUCTS AND THE PEOPLE

Registration is now live at: www.progressivegreetingslive.com

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Focus on…Sustainability

Inset: The greeting card industry is navigating the sustainable route of progress.

Paths to progress

PG shares a handful of developments by publishers, retailers and suppliers on their respective sustainable journeys.

Timely markers To mark The Eco-friendly Card Company’s 30th anniversary as a pioneering sustainable greeting card publisher, Sue Morrish, who co-owns the company with her husband Scott, highlighted areas of real progress – one for each decade – and looks to the future with a trio of ideas on her wish list.

Mid-90s to mid-noughties: “The biggest change in the 90s was the founding of The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which began in 1993 as a voluntary certification for sustainable forestry, promoting environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world’s forests.

Nowadays, you'll see the FSC tick-tree logo on many cards, however in the mid-90s many cards still had statements printed on them such as ‘from sustainable forests’ which environmental charities claimed were meaningless and unverifiable.

Initially concerned with Right: The FSC logo is seen on most greeting cards nowadays.

Below: UK Greetings has totally wood products, it was in the redesigned its model line through the early 2000s that FSC paper sustainability lens. products started to become available – in 2006 The Eco-friendly Card Co in 2007 – we now offset with The World Land was the first direct-to-retail card publisher to Trust and CO2 Balance. This was the era become FSC-certified which meant that where Bob The Builder urged us all to Reduce, customers buying our cards could be sure Reuse, Recycle and green issues were in the the paper we used came from responsible media a lot but, in retrospect, did we forest management.” do enough, quickly enough? I don't think so.”

Mid-noughties to 2010s: “We may think 2010s to 2020s: “The last decade has been that talk of our carbon footprints is very dominated by stories of plastic pollution – we current, but it was in the early 2000s that it were all shocked by the images of the drifts of became something environmentally- plastic in our oceans on BBC's Blue Planet. concerned businesses started to engage in.

The environmental problems posed by The original CarbonNeutral Company was plastic waste led responses across the globe, founded in 2002 and businesses across all including the UK Plastics Pact which calls for industries started to think of ways of reducing 100% of all plastic packaging to be recyclable, carbon emissions by cutting waste and energy reusable or compostable by 2025 – not long to use, and using off-setting. go now!

We became a CarbonNeutral company The greeting card industry has responded to

UK Greetings Sustainability journey “By the end of this year UK Greetings will have reshored 60% of its production to the UK,” confirmed Ceri Stirland, ceo of UKG, highlighting just one of the company’s many improvements on the environmental front, something she really championed when she was GCA president in 2017.

As part of this, in something of an historic turnaround, the company is once again manufacturing in Dewsbury, having invested in printing, die-cutting, foiling, folding machinery for its greeting cards as well as a rollwrap facility.

The publisher’s sustainable strategy also includes designing and creating products with sound sustainable credentials as well as through improvements throughout its entire business. Since summer 2021 all new everyday card designs launched have been plastic and glitter-free with all seasonal and boxed cards following suit from 2022.

As Julian McGowan, creative director of creative services explains: “We continue to look for new and exciting sustainable and

ethical processes and finishes to delight the consumer while focusing on artisan techniques, such as beautiful foiling, embossing and die-cutting.

All our products are 100% FSC and all our paper and boards are sourced from sustainable, wellmanaged forests. FSC is our standard and we use fully recycled premium board for designs in a large proportion of our line.”

Though many of UKG’s cards are fully recyclable, where it does have attachments, these are now either keepsakes to cherish or paper-based and fully recyclable at the end of the card’s life. All of its envelopes, gift bags and roll wraps are now fully recyclable.

When UKG introduced its ‘Go Naked’ initiative in 2019, the company removed over 250 tonnes of cello bags from single cards in one huge swoop. “We continued to build on this and use innovative ways of packaging and protecting product that is paper based and ensues circularity,” says Julian.

In 2021 UKG commenced a long-term partnership with the World Land Trust whose aim is to protect the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats acre by acre. WLT secures and protects land and offsets the carbon footprint for all of UKG’s cards.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 45

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Focus on…Sustainability this by offering alternative forms of packaging for single cards, such as compostable bags, paper bands or cardclasp labels.

And the ditching of cello bags on cards in supermarkets has reduced the amount of plastics used by the greeting card Above: Sue Morrish celebrated using paper industry significantly, with made from coffee cups in 2015.

Right: A Kate Andrew design from The the added benefit Eco-friendly Card Co. partnership between industry to big retailers that it makes and government – so it's seen unsold or off-plan cards easier to recycle – I as worthwhile and attractive to think a lesson from Bob The Builder may be make quality recycled boards using UK postappropriate here, reduce and reuse should consumer waste.” come before recycle!

Wish 2 - Compostable infrastructure: Additionally, some publishers have “Despite the UK Plastics Pact stating that made efforts to remove plastic-based finishes packaging being compostable was one of the from their products, which would otherwise options by 2025, progress on infrastructure for render them unrecyclable, like glitter and the collection of compostable waste here in plastic laminates.” the UK is painstakingly slow.

Wish 1 - UK-made recycled paper: “It's Earlier this year US president Joe Biden currently not possible to buy a UKstated that all plastics in America should be made recycled single-sided coated board for replaced with bio-based polymers within cards, instead most recycled products are the next two decades, but the UK has no being imported from Europe, which seems to such vision. be far ahead of the game when it comes There are fantastic options we can use in to collecting and recycling post-consumer our industry, for both sending out goods waste. (eg mushroom and starch-based void fill) and With the exception of G.F Smith's Coffeefor retail packaging (glassine, cellulose, Cup papers, the few uncoated recycled compostable bio-polymers), but we need options made in the UK aren't even using national infrastructure so these products British-recycled pulp anyway! We either ship don't just end up being incinerated or our used paper to the EU for processing, or dumped in landfill. turn it into low-quality newsprint or loo roll.

We currently offer a collection programme It's crazy but this is something that needs a for our PLA bags with TerraCycle, but we

Independent green thinking While the big retail boys make a lot of noise about ecocampaigns, sustainability is also incredibly important for indie retailers, who are determined to make their mark.

Respondents to PG’s recent annual Retail Barometer made their views known, with 82% saying environmental considerations played a part in customers’ card buying in the last year, with 63% saying sustainability concerns had impacted on greeting card buying decisions during that period.

The reduction in the number of cello-wrapped cards stocked was the main step indies took on the environmental front in 2022, with 81% doing so, while 18% of respondents moved to just stocking naked cards.

And the dramatic decline on the glitter front continues with 53% noting that they’re stocking far fewer products featuring the sparkly stuff, while the great improvements over the past few years meant the number of retailers reducing the use of plastic bags in the shop has dropped to 53% - but only because so many have already made that move – with 2% introducing bags for life for customers, and 25% making greater use of paper bags.

Right: PG’s annual Retail Barometer findings reflects indies’ eco concerns.

46 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

need something better in the long term that's accessible for everyone.”

Wish 3 - Better solutions for packaging Christmas cards: “With the desire to state that products are plastic-free many industries, not just greeting cards, have dropped bags altogether in favour of paperbased packaging. Initially this seems great, it's plastic-free, consumers can recycle it and it's derived from wood, which is a natural product, rather than fossil fuels. However, I’m concerned we may have swapped from the problem of plastic film for that of massively increasing the carbon footprint of these products.

Take Christmas packs for example, a bag for a pack of 10x120mm cards would weigh less that 2g, whereas the cardboard box that's now used instead can weigh in excess of 20g.

And it's not just the obvious weight difference, boxes are often irregular shapes which means even though the end product maybe 20g, a lot more board is used and then disposed of as waste when the box is cut out from the sheet – then there’s the environmental impact of printing these boxes, some of which have foils and glitters on to make the packaging look Christmassy.

I would love publishers to look at the full impact of moving from bags to these sophisticated die-cut boxes – there must be other options that we can explore as an industry that have a smaller carbon footprint. It would be great to have the ability to share different ideas for the good of the planet.”

Persuading staff to be more sustainable (19%) and being more vigilant on the recycling front (43%) show eco-concerns are continuing to drill down into indie retail life – with 4% of respondents even changing their energy provider for green reasons.

45-47_Sustainability.qxp_Grid 02/10/2023 18:02 Page 3

International Focus Focus FocusInternational on…Sustainability

Join the band Established in 1854, greeting card printer Loxleys is living proof of sustainability as a business, but it continues to push the boundaries on the environmental front too. Its new high-speed paper banding line has given greeting card publishers a more sustainable solution to transit packing with the capacity to eliminate up to 6.2 tonnes of single use plastic from the greeting card supply chain a year.

Only a few months on from its installation in June, and 1.5million cards have already been processed by the banding machine, saving around half a ton of OPP plastic already.

The success of this Above: Danilo’s Minions cards on Loxleys’ paper banding machine. plastic-free packaging solution has led to further investment in sustainable solutions, with Loxleys subsequently modifying two of its existing traditional plastic-based packaging lines to offer paper banding of cards in multiples, with the envelope nested in the middle of the card, with the additional option of a secure-seal label if required.

“There has been a great deal of interest in our paper banding solution,” md Tony Lorriman explained, “with publishers looking to reduce the environmental impact of their greeting cards by removing plastic from the supply chain.”.

The card that keeps on giving Publisher Greentings has taken the resusable concept to heights with its approach to cards – its original collection features cards which are sold with extra inserts and envelopes so they can be reused at least three times.

Now the publisher has a new range of sustainable cards that are made entirely from postconsumer or agricultural waste, with the added value of 10% from sales going to Fareshare, which works to fight hunger and reduce food waste in the UK. The original Greentings designs are also made from the same waste products, sustainable inks and wrapped in recyclable twine, so are completely Above: Greentings’ resuable and recyclable cards. biodegradable and each sender includes the spare inserts and envelopes so the recipient is encouraged to put in a new one and send the card on, with extra insert packs available to buy separately so it can be used even more than the expected three times.

“To us, reusing cards seemed inevitable in a world where reusable items are becoming commonplace,” Greentings’ founder Kerry Linacre said. “At one point, people wouldn’t dream of reusing a gift bag, but in today’s world it would feel perverse not to. Greentings maintains the personal touch of a traditional card, but we’ve added removable inserts, meaning that the love can continue to be sent, forever.”

What makes the cards really special and appealing to tech-savvy folk is that every card has a unique serial number printed inside which customers can input into their account on the publisher’s website to see where in the world their card ends up.

Mindful travel

Above: Heather Trefusis.

Taking inspiration from travel is a known theme for any artist, but Herts-based publisher Heather Trefusis has added an eco aspect.

Having always been mindful of minimising the environmental impact of the greeting cards she designs and produces based on her own watercolour artwork, Heather said: “I believe efforts should go further than choosing materials and suppliers responsibly though, and carefully consider the environmental impact of every stage of production – starting with my point of inspiration.

"A lot of my paintings are inspired by my travels, so I realised that I need to think carefully about where I'm going and the impact of that trip. This thought process has taken me to some fascinating places, from an agri-tourismo in Italy where I learned about organic farming, to a carbon neutral nature reserve in Greece which is home to hundreds of endangered bird species. Each place I go teaches me something and influences me both personally and professionally."

Last year, Heather travelled to Finland's Arctic Circle where she met reindeer farmers and learned about the traditional herding methods that they use which benefit biodiversity in the area, which in turn became the inspiration behind her latest Christmas range, Snow Globes.

Above: Heather’s Snow Globes range was inspired by her Finnish trip.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 47

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03/10/2023 19:00

PG Innovations October 2023..qxp_38-39/40-41 03/10/2023 19:16 Page 1

A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.

Think You Saurus?

From giant T-Rexes to thundering Stegosauruses with everything Jurassic in between, The Dinosaurs Are Coming! is the latest range from Dyson Design. There are 24 bright and bold designs in the collection, which also include fun facts to intrigue enquiring little minds.

Dyson Design 0116 285 5725 www.dysondesign.com

Animal Magic GBCC is really going for it, launching 11 new everyday ranges as well as additions to existing brands in its January 2024 Everyday Collection. Set to make its debut as part of this is Animalia, a range aimed at animal lovers everywhere. This range of nine beautifully hand drawn cards feature both domestic lovelies as well as rural wildlife. Square in format, they come with a kraft envelope.

The Great British Card Company 01452 888999 www.greatbritishcards.co.uk

Abundant Jollity Over 80 brand new designs have just been added to Jolly Awesome’s portfolio. Covering a variety of everyday designs, Spring, and a male-centric range of birthday cards, these are the fruits of the publisher’s creative director Matt Nguyen as well as Jolly Awesome friends Matt Joyce and Rosie Foden.

The cards are A6, come with a white envelope and can be individually packed with eco labels or cellowrapped.

Jolly Awesome 07904383876 www.jollyawesome.com

Floral Tribute

Natural Leaning Storigraphic has taken inspiration from nature with its new Assembly Series. This cross-category collection features six bold pattern designs across sustainably produced giftwrap, paperware, stationery, accessories and homeware. All products are plastic-free with 5% of sales profit donated to homelessness charity, Crisis UK, and a portion of each sale allocated to planting a young native tree across the world.

Storigraphic 07966288373 www.storigraphic.com

Jonny Javelin has gone all flowery with its new Blossom range. Designed by in-house artist Yvonne Howard, Blossom is a contemporary and fresh take on the ever-popular floral theme, pitched as the next step on from the publisher’s much-loved Secret Garden range. The inaugural collection comprises nine female relation captions, all 9” x 6” with a printed insert and a short four-line verse.

The Jonny Javelin Card Company 01423 563740 www.jonnyjavelin.co.uk

Festive Frolics Lucy Maggie Designs has released a new collection of six, colourful greeting cards just in time for Christmas. Packed full of classic Lucy Maggie Designs’ humour, they are certain to raise some extra smiles this winter. The cards are printed on 350gsm textured board and are available plastic-free or in cello.

Lucy Maggie Designs 07763239731 www.lucymaggiedesigns.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 49

PG Innovations October 2023..qxp_38-39/40-41 03/10/2023 19:16 Page 2

A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.

Call of the Wild Building on its reputation for creating designs which fanfare the natural world and to encourage its protection, Feather & Hare has augmented its Great British Wildlife range with some new additions which celebrate the flora and fauna of the UK. All 10 designs are printed on sustainably sourced off-white 300gsm textured board and each card comes with a recycled kraft envelope.

Feather & Hare 07890 750409 www.featherandhare.co.uk

Boxing Clever Love Country has removed all plastic from its popular boxed card sets and redesigned them into 100% plastic-free eco-friendly boxes with a fully illustrated wrap-around sleeve. There are 12 different themed boxes, such as Dogs, Robins, Flowers, Woodland Animals, Bees, and a further four Festive Collections, all featuring Sarah Reilly’s heartwarming watercolours.

Love Country 01502 507352 www.lovecountryuk.co.uk

Feline Happy Drawn to Cats is Kat Lynas’ brand new card collection, which as its name suggests, aims to bringing joy to cat enthusiasts of all ages. This fun range comprises 93 colourful and quirky designs that, having debuted on Thortful, are now being launched to retail. Each 127x177mm card is printed on premium 300gsm FSC-certified paper stock and is accompanied by a white envelope.

Kat Lynas 07816 046723 www.katlynas.com

Bang On Designed and doodled by Dandelion team member Meg, while head banging to heavy metal music and eating the occasional jam sandwich, Oddball is a fun and colourful collection of cards featuring quirky animal illustrations and contemporary sentiments.

The cards are printed in the UK on sustainable FSC board and come supplied with a crisp white envelope.

Dandelion Stationery 01332 504940 www.dandeliontationery.co.uk

Bloomin’ Delights The new ArtPress range, An English Garden by Jane Ormes features flowers gathered from the artist’s own garden and a friend’s allotment. The watercolour designs, printed on textured board, are bright and vibrant, injecting a contemporary style into a traditional subject matter. The range comprises eight everyday blank card designs, 150mm square, which are accompanied by a Kraft recycled envelope.

ArtPress Publishing 020 7231 2923 www.art-press.co.uk

Sky’s The Limit As part of its continual investment in the traditional and sentiments category IC&G has just released several new collections for delivery this December to start 2024 off with a buzz. Among these is Skylight, 13 designs which feature loose, organic feel illustrations in a contemporary colour palette with short modern heartfelt sentiments.

International Cards & Gifts 01202 897494 www.icgcards.com

50 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

PG Innovations October 2023..qxp_38-39/40-41 03/10/2023 19:17 Page 3

A selection of products being launched to pep up retailers’ displays.

Stellar Line-up Celestial is the new mystical, cosmic range from the A Gift From The Gods galaxy. Stylish metallic gold foil print on pristine white card bring the delicately drawn illustrations by award-winning Nottingham illustrator Deborah Panesar to life with phrases including Get Your Goddess On, You Are My Dream Odyssey, A Gift From The Gods and You Are A Star. The A6 cards and envelopes are packaged in either a compostable polybag or with a branded, peelable card clasp.

A Gift From The Gods 020 7987 1577 www.agiftfromthegods.com

Teenage Kicks Ling Design has over 18 new everyday collections ready for delivery in December. Among these is Harlow, a range of 10 age cards that are set to resonate with the fussiest of 12-to-16 year olds. The designs feature an ontrend colour palette with bold simple numbers enhanced by some strong gold foiling to make this range really stand out. Each card comes with a kraft envelope.

Ling Design 01892 838574 www.lingdesign.co.uk

Shedloads of Christmas Creating Christmas cards during a summer heatwave is exactly the sort of madcap behaviour the Comedy Card Company enjoys. “A shed in the back garden, with a bloke staring blankly at a computer screen, is in fact our epicentre of creativity” claims the publisher. There are 30 new Christmas designs so far – with a few more to come. They all come with recycled Kraft envelopes, supplied naked or cello-wrapped.

Comedy Card Company 07885 027381 www.comedycardtrade.co.uk

Full On Fauna Petals and Wings Flutterby, one of Wishing Well Studios (from Carte Blanche Greetings) best performing new specialist ranges has now been expanded into everyday female captions. Inspired by an English flower garden in full bloom, the designs feature beautiful florals teamed with delicate fluttering butterflies, finished with gold foil to give a touch of luxe.

Carte Blanche Greetings 01243 792600 www.cbgtrader.co.uk

Crumble & Core has welcomed an Animal collection of 24 designs into its menagerie, covering both everyday and Valentine’s Day. While still in keeping with the publisher’s watercolour look, the imagery of this new range features both bright and pastel colours. The everyday designs incorporate gold foiling and come with gold envelopes while the four Valentine’s designs have red foiling and come with red envelopes.

Crumble and Core 01825 841412 www.crumbleandcore.com

Rising To The Occasion Kali Stileman Publishing has new occasions cards coming out of its ears! This new greeting card collection, comprising 20 new designs, feature all manner of occasions, with everything from Bon Voyage and Happy Retirement to Wishing you a Speedy Recovery. All the cards are printed on a linen textured board.

Kali Stileman Publishing 01305 848899 www.kalistileman.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 51

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Art Source

Ave Maria

With a background in scientific illustration – Lisbon-based Maria Matos brings together exceptional draughtsmanship with her beautifully intricate work celebrating the golden age of illustration.

Here she shares her creative life and loves…

"I’ve been drawing since I was a child. I remember always carrying pencils and paper with me everywhere. It was always something I excelled at and was known for.

Despite that, I didn’t really ever think of it as a career, I didn’t even know anyone who did it as a profession and was successful.

However, I tried the rational path and changed course in high school, but then I realised that drawing and art was all I wanted to do. Today I recognise that, much more than a choice, it is my way of seeing the world.

Probably more than technical skill, it is my sensitivity that makes me a visual artist.

I studied in Lisbon, first photography and visual culture before undertaking my Master’s degree in Drawing.

I found my true style when I freed myself from what I felt I was expected to do from others. What I always wanted to draw is what fascinated me in the picture books of fairy tales that marked my childhood. And in a way, I still feel very connected to the child that I was.

I am very much inspired by the golden age of illustration, from the late 19th century to the beginning of the 20th. I like to think that my illustrations establish a bridge between this heritage and a more delicate, feminine and contemporary approach.

My recurring themes are the representation of female figures in a fantastic universe, strongly inspired by traditional fairy tales, framed with fauna, flora with complex and detailed patterns.

Above: Maria Matos.

Above middle: You can see Maria’s fascination with fairytales in this detailed artwork.

Middle: Some festive cheer by Maria.

Right: Florals and moths unite in this image.

Above right: Maria’s homage to Frida Kahlo.

Background: A rich depiction by Maria.

A big part of my passion for illustration is the painting process. All my illustrations are completely hand-painted in watercolours that I do a tiny brush.

The whole process can take quite a long time, although I am fairly quick and effective. It is something of a meditative process where I allow myself to make mistakes and then work with them.

I have a few favourite artists, but if I had to choose I would say Gustav Klimt. His work is very inspiring to me. It's chaotic in its forms and detail, but manages to capture a great serenity in its characters.

Seeing his paintings live was one of the most moving experiences I've ever had. I would also include Wes Anderson and photographer Tim Walker as favourites.

My dream is to illustrate picture books and to be able to do it with total creative and financial freedom. I recently realised that I would also like my illustrations to be used as patterns, perhaps on clothes or any products close to people's everyday lives, including greeting cards, of course.

In recent years I have been exploring giant moths as a major theme in my illustrations. I find them fascinating creatures and I like to treat them as beautiful works of nature. It's been amazing to have the time to explore a subject that inspires me so much and that I get to have so much freedom to do so.

I was asked recently by Jehane Boden-Spiers, founder of Jehane, the creative agency who represents me, what was the best piece of advice I have ever been given. That would have to be: “Do what makes you happy and never give up on it, no matter how hard it is.” It is something that resonates with me.” l Maria Matos is represented by Jehane for

licensing and commissions. (www.jehane.com)

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

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.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 53

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55-56_What's Hot_GF.qxp_Grid 04/10/2023 19:39 Page 1

PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS Gillian Farrelly, owner of Bonjour Cards & Gifts, Barnoldswick. A popular long-established large card and gift shop in a former milltown in Lancashire.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

UK Greetings Nigel Quiney

Across the range Pizazz

“Such a vast selection of styles.”

“A range that constantly evolves.”

Relations & Occasions

Cardigan Cards IC&G

Loving Words Generally

“Great wordy cards.”

“Clean designs on quality board; good value for money.”

Hand-finished

Five Dollar Shake

Generally

“Special cards.”

Humour

UKG Emotional Rescue Bold & Bright

Giggles Paper Salad collabs Generally

“A top seller for 22 years!”

“Tongue-in-cheek humour.”

“Great, even the naughty ones!”

Cute

Carte Blanche UKG IC&G Ginger Betty

Me to You Boofle Barley Bear Owl’s Nest

“The classics and the new cuties do well for us.”

Photographic

Heritage Cards

Local scenes

“Scenes of Pendle Hill are popular.”

3D/Pop-ups

Alljoy Design

Message in a Bottle; Miniature World Pop-ups Generally

“We do so well with 3D cards.”

Second Nature Me & McQ

Top: UKG’s Boofle celebrates his 15th birthday this year.

Above: A Message in a Bottle design from Alljoy Design.

Louise Harvey, co-owner of The Richard Harvey Collection, Shipston-on-Stour.

A lifestyle and furniture store with a dedicated greeting card department.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Dandelion

Words of Wisdom

“So much to choose from.”

Female birthdays

Artbeat (Art Marketing)

Angie’s Ladies

“Relatable humour.”

Male birthdays

Woodmansterne

Mambo

“Cool, contemporary designs.”

Female Humour

Paper House (GBCC)

Look At It This Way

“Customers giggle away at these cards.”

Male humour

Whistlefish

Gerry Plumb

“Unique and fun illustrations.”

Animal-related

Artbeat (Art Marketing) GBCC

Gracie Tapner Animalfunction; Peter Cross

“Great captions and unique illustrations.”

“They hit the spot.”

Adult Ages

Woodmansterne

Quentin Blake

Such appealing characterful illustrations.”

Keeping in Touch

Dandelion Stationery

Words of Wisdom

“They always come up with just the right words to say.”

Top: Angie’s Ladies designs.

Above: Gerry Plumb design from Whistlefish.

Photographic

Woodmansterne

National Trust

“Have wide appeal.”

Quirky

Simon Drew

Spot the…’

“Can keep people guessing the answers for hours.”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 55

55-56_What's Hot_GF.qxp_Grid 04/10/2023 19:39 Page 2

Jinny Semmens, owner of Cardtime in Penzance.

A popular greeting card shop in a West Cornish town.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Nigel Quiney Cherry Orchard

Pizazz Grace

“Both very popular as they are beautiful, reasonably priced cards.”

Humour

Woodmansterne

Loose Parts; Speed Bump; Comedy Club

“For lovers of quirky humour.”

Relations & Occasions

UK Greetings

Gibson

“They have recently added some fabulous new cards to their range.”

Art

Love from the Artist

Local artists

“Lizzie Black’s and Alan Furneaux’s local scenes sell really well for us.”

Pop-ups

Me & McQ

Everyday and Christmas

“People love these stunning pop-up cards.”

Keeping in touch

Dandelion Stationery

Words of Wisdom

“The bespoke cards, eg ‘Sending you a hug from Penzance’ do especially well.”

Giftwrap

Glick

All the ranges

“The patterned tissue paper in particular is very popular.”

Gifts

Gifted Stationery

Writing sets, notelets, sticky notes, shopping list pads, pen sets etc

“Beautiful co-ordinated designs at reasonable prices.”

Top: A Speed Bump design from Woodmansterne.

Above: An Alan Furneaux design from Love from the Artist.

Heather Lacey, owner of Treasures in South Norwood, London.

A gift and card shop in a busy south London high street.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Cherry Orchard

Grace; Grayson

AfroTouch Designs

Across the board

“A great selection and a good range of men’s cards.”

“Beautiful African fabric-finished cards that are extremely popular.”

Relations & Occasions

IC&G UK Greetings

Eternal Various

“A much-loved wordy range.”

“A huge selection across the board.”

Humour

Rosie Made a Thing

Babble Gin & Frolics

“These cards always produce a giggle or two.”

Children

Rachel Ellen Sylvia Prince

Various General

“Very colourful and eye-catching ranges.”

“Beautiful diverse Afrocentric cards and gifts.”

Adult ages

Five Dollar Shake

Across the board

Jonny Javelin

Velvet

“Stunningly luxurious cards, for those special occasions.”

“A vast selection of colourful, detailed illustrations and words.”

Nyha Graphics

Nyha Graphics

Redback Cards

Moji

Top: AfroTouch’s “A cute range of bright multicultural designs. Both cards are popular in children and adults love them.”

Treasures.

A beautiful “A gift on a card! Reusable peel off patch. Great fun.” Above: photographic

Art

Sarah Kelleher

Botanical Gold

“Vibrant outstanding cards.”

Photographic

Carpe Lumen

Various

“Stunning scenes.”

3D Pop Up

Special Delivery Cards

General

“Fabulous 3D animal cards that are loved by all.”

Keeping in touch

Hammond Gower IC&G

Various Various

“Stylish cards with thoughtful quotes.”

“Heartfelt words.”

Gift wrappings

Crosswear Trading

Various

“A large selection of gift bags and wonderful double-sided gift wrap.”

Cute

56 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

design from Carpe Lumen.

57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:54 Page 57

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1b-Ѳbv|v |_mb1 u;;ࢼm] -u7v "r; S end i n g YO Y OU OU

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A w o n d e rf u l Eid!

Including firm favourites and brand new designs

Ch C hin nese ese

Brands include: Keepsakes, Words of Love, Jelly Beans, Bella Rose, Champagne and many more

HE IS

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

THE

WAY

THE AND TRUTH

LIFE

THE

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

Polissh Po h

Te T el: 0161 1 64 641 0 06 655 Email: m sales@daav sales@d avora.co.uk 135 Hea 13 135 eaton Moorr Rd | Stockp ock kpor port ort SK4 4HY 4 4H HY

58 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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

57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:54 Page 59

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

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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.

Brand naames Pizazz, Pizazz Gallery, G Pizazz Limited Edition, PPizazz for Men, Flow wer Press, Drift Away, Doodle, Art of Nature, Whatt a Picture A

originalposter.com

Cloudesley House, Shire Hill, Saffron Walden, CB11 3FB

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

+

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.

THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!

01932 267 300

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

)

Great brands, Great service Bespoke planning We can help with all your planning requirements.

From smaller displays to redeveloping complete card departments

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.

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

@NoelTattGroup 01227 811 600 sales@noeltatt.co.uk www.noeltatt.co.uk

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

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

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 59

57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:54 Page 60

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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Send Love e ( all year round )

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

info@papersheddesign.com www.papersheddesign.com tel: 0118 9744283

t: 0208 6138 085

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

paperbirdpublishing.co.uk u

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

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

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

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

@ @paperlinkcards

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

Greetting i g Card C ds

Brands:

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

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

Quality Greeting Cards ww ww.passelllpublisshin ng.com m iinfo nfo o@ o @ pas sellpu lpu ublis shin ng n g..com @pas sel ublis shin m

01423 876311 www.peartreeheybridge.co.uk

60 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE Peartree Small Ad.indd 6

24/02/2022 15:52

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

57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:55 Page 61

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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

DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

Market Leaders in

Verse &

entimen

an extensive range of superior quality,

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

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

www.cbgtrader.co.uk or call our customer services team on

+44(0)1243 792600

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 www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk

We offffer a COMPREHEN

MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm

range of high Greeting Cards f ALL Occasions,

CHRISTMAS an

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

Season f Sale:

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

Tel: 01942 233201

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 61

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DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

l DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

LONDON

WALES

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

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED BAGS

BAGS

Manufacturers of 30% recycled content packag ging

ST

ABL

E BA

G

ABL

E BA

G

62 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

BDP

www.transrappackag ging.co.uk sales@transrap.cco.uk CALL US TODA AY

01773 537 7810

30 YEARS EXPERIENCE - QUA ALITY SERVICE EXTENSIVE STOCK RANGE - QUICK K DELIVERY Y ASSURED

ST

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

OMPO

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57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:55 Page 63

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BAGS

l CLASSIFIED

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CRAFT & ORNAMENT

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

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

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

ENVELOPES

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

01 90 83 78 86 6

GIVE E YOUR

V VIP

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

FOIL LB BLOCKING NG G

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

FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours

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

Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes

AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA

100% Recycled Paper Available

8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED

PAPER

Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags

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

Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request

ORDER ON LINE AT: www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 63

57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:55 Page 64

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED

l ENVELOPES

l ENVELOPES

l CLASSIFIED

l ENVELOPES

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

01 90 83 78 86 6

ENVELOPES

l CLASSIFIED

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 YOUR COMPLIMENTA TARY RY ENVELOPE OR NOTEBOOK WATCH PA PACK SWA

FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS

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

PAPER

100% Recycled Paper Available

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

Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request

ORDER ON LINE AT: www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com

Manuffa acturers off high quality envelopes 10 popular greetings card sizes in stock recycled & kraft envelopes in stock RECYCLED PA P APER

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

Hello Cards are FSC approved digital printers, offering high quality print at competitive prices, working with both large and small publishers. Contact us to discuss your requirements.

CALL US TODAY

01773 537810

www.transrappackaging.co.uk sales@transrap.co.uk

Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk 64 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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

Additional Services • Foiling with no dies • Inhouse fulfilment

• Distribution • Wiro Bound Notebooks

T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk

www.hellocards.co.uk

57-67_Classified Complete 2023.qxp 02/10/2023 18:55 Page 65

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

PJ PRINT LONDON THE SPECIALIST GREETINGS CARD PRINTER Litho Print

D Die-cutting

Digital Print

F ering Flitt

Foiling

Packing

Embossing

D Distribution

The Capitals Only Specialist Greeting Card Printer All Industry Finishes Available In-House Including Laser Cutting

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

www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk

The Print Works Colville Road, Acton, London, W3 8BL E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk Tel: 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 65

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CLASSIFIED

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l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

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WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION

Same day order turna around Accurate fulfilment Value added only as you sell the product Exclusively Greeting Cards Dedicated Account Managers 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 T JSV EPP WXSGO QSZIQIRXW EVI SYV ERH .8 WYTTSVXIH F] E GSQTVILIRWMZI TETIV XVEMP JS LEPPQEVOW 4YV GER HS ETTVSEGL QIERW [I EVI LETT] XS WSPZI ]SYV TVSFPIQW 4YXWSYVGMRK ]SYV [EVILSYWMRK STIVEXMSR VIPIEWIW ]SYV XMQI XS CREA AT TE/MARKET/SELL/ MANAGE/ /GROW THE BUSINESS =S = SYV FYWMRIWW MW SYV FYWMRIWW FYWMRIWW TPIEWI Z ZMWMX SYV [IF WMXI ERH WII SYX QSVI GEPP Ly [LEX SYV GYWXSQIVW WE] XLIR XS ǻRH S Lynda Raymond ERH TIVLETW [I GER EVVERKI XS QIIX ERH HMWGYWW ]SYV RIIHW . EQ WYVI XLEX [I GER G LIPT

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