Progressive Greetings October 2024

Designed as an accompaniment to the groundbreaking BBC series , this collection captures the brilliance and drama of nature.

ON THE CARDS

‘We do this not because it is easy, but because we thought it would be easy,’ was the statement Mark Callaby, md of Ohh Deer, flashed up on the big screen at the recent GCA Conference and AGM at the end of his entertaining and enlightening speech about the journey himself and Jamie Mitchell, his partner in life and business have been on since the inception of company. It was a sentiment that raised many knowing smiles in the very connected audience of 185 publishers, retailers and suppliers.

Unlike the invariably vocational callings of becoming a doctor, nurse, priest or schoolteacher most of us cardies stumbled into this industry from a myriad of wibbly wobbly paths, but once initiated, there is rarely no getting out. You very quickly become enthralled in its wondersthe products, those who ‘inhabit’ the greeting card world with you as well as the all-important human connections that greeting cards forge between people, each and every day.

All this and more are exactly why we do all fight the good fight with all our might, to confront the challenges we face in our own businesses as well as for the industry at large. As was revealed at the wonderfully engaging GCA Conference and AGM (see pages 25-27), the British public’s love of greeting cards is super strong – happily spending £1.51 billion on single cards in the last year alone – but we all need to do our bit to keep this passion alive, especially in the face of very real concerns regarding Royal Mail’s service efficiency and the mounting costs of stamps. The GCA-driven Cardmitment campaign gained real traction last year in protecting and promoting Christmas and everyday card sending like never before, but none of us who earn a bean from this great industry can afford to be complacent, especially given that a move to every other day postal delivery for 2nd class mail is very much on the cards. If you haven’t done so already, I implore you to write to your MPs (a downloadable letter template is on the GCA website, www.gca.cards) and do whatever you can to engage with your local community to bang the drum about the joys and importance of sending cards.

Quite rightly, overlaying everything we do as individuals, businesses and as an industry as a whole, is the pressure to

@Prog_Greetings

consider the sustainability issues of what we do and how we do it. We collectively have good reason to feel super proud of the ground we have gained on the sustainable front, be it in largely having ditched cellowrapping, the vast majority of cards having FSC credentials and thanks to some impressive reshoring, UK manufacturing being the norm for everyday cards. But with the need to adhere to EUDR regulations as well as other eco measures on the horizon, being forewarned is forearmed, hence our extensive Focus on Sustainability section in this edition (see pages 47-53).

Easy it may not be, but goodness me, how lucky are we to be part of this lovely community?!

Regards

Left: Mark Callaby, md and cofounder of Ohh Deer with a lasting message for attendees. Below left: PG’s Jakki Brown (centre) on the sustainable membership company Products of Change’s stand at the recent Brand Licensing Europe show with colleagues (right-left) Ian Hyder, Nicola Webster, Kathryn Brand, Helena Mansell-Stopher, Samantha Loveday and Rob Willis.

Below: The industry is mourning the very sad loss of Toni Cresswell, longstanding member of the Emotional Rescue team (see page19). Pictured here (left) with PG’s Jakki Brown at the Licensing Awards a few years ago.

CONTENTS

9-19 News

All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.

20-21 Talking Shop Taking The Punches

David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi reflects on how everyone loves a comeback story.

22-23 Cardsharp Biz Wiz Of Oz

Cardsharp finds out more about the Aussie billionaire Brett Blundy who has acquired an 8% stake in Cardfactory.

25-27 GCA Conference and AGM Shipshape And Bristol Fashion

Just some of the thrills and spills from the recent blockbuster GCA Conference and AGM which took place at Bristol’s Harbour Hotel.

29-31 Retailer Face to Face Man and Boy

PG was all ears as James Taylor, trading director of Cardzone group recounted the first few chapters of his retailing memoirs.

32-33 In Conversation with…In Real Life Life’s Realities

Former Paperchase colleagues turned business partners, Clare Morant and Kitty Chan, share their hopes and dreams for In Real Life, their new stationery and greeting card company.

Jakki

Tracey Arnaud Sales Manager traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

35-37 Innovations

A host of new ranges and designs.

41-43 Focus on…Words & Sentiments Words Worth

PG delves into how the language of cards truly is an art form, celebrating publishers’ skills in conveying the words and sentiment better than the sender could say themselves.

47-53 Focus on Sustainability Plans For The Planet

As an industry that is totally reliant on a natural resource in the shape of paper and board, PG spotlights sustainable developments from publishers and suppliers as well as confronting some of the ongoing issues.

55 Art Source Hooking Up

Artist and illustrator Lucy Hook shares her creative story.

56-57 What’s Hot?

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

58-67 Sources of Supply

Tracey Bearton Features Editor traceyb@max-publishing.co.uk

TOP STORY

Cardfactory Clinches Aldi Deal

Costs knock profits as CF acquires Garlanna and US expansion confirmed

Extra costs have knocked Cardfactory’s profits, but the UK’s largest greeting card retailer of 1,073 stores (in UK and ROI) shared plenty of good news in its interim results (for the six months to 31 July), with its card sales up, a deal secured to supply all Aldi’s UK stores with everyday cards, an acquisition of the Garlanna publishing business in Ireland, expansion into the US confirmed, and a bolstered partnership down under with The Reject Shop.

Combined sales performance for spring season ranges demonstrated positive like-forlike performance with a particularly positive showing on Valentine's Day across cards –up 8.3% – and gifting – up 6.8% – which included range development to reflect the growth of family celebrations of this occasion.

On the gift and celebration essentials side, new categories and expansion have seen a baby gifting range introduced, while soft toy sales were up 27% like-for-like, confectionery rose 30%, and licensed ranges saw a 17% increase.

In the six weeks since the period ended, Cardfactory has secured a multi-year agreement with Aldi, Britain’s fourth biggest supermarket to be the exclusive everyday greeting card supplier across the full 1,020-plus UK and Republic of Ireland estate. This is a step up from the previous arrangement when it shared the estate with IG Design Group for everyday cards.

Cardfactory has also secured entry into the US market through a nationwide wholesale retail partnership which will roll out in time for Christmas – the retailer’s name has not yet been unveiled.

And Cardfactory has just completed the acquisition of Co Wicklow-based card publisher and wholesaler

Garlanna Holdings, from founders Alan and Jackie MacNamee, which strengthens its position in Ireland.

“Well, that’s it,” Alan told. “We finally took the decision to retire. It was not an easy one as I love the industry but, after 40 odd years, when someone comes knocking and creates an exit we decided to take it. I’ll be staying as consultant for a couple of months only.”

Down in OZ, Cardfactory is at advanced discussion stage with The Reject Shop to renew the multi-year agreement including an extension to a fullservice model and seasonal range supply.

Cardfactory results showed first-half revenue increased by 5.9% to £233.8million compared to a year prior, but the adjusted pre-tax profit dropped by £7.6m to £14.5m due to higher costs resulting from freight inflation, the phasing of strategic investments, and increases in the National Living Wage.

There was strong revenue growth in stores, with LFL sales overall up 3.7%, with cards up 1%.

Flagging up Caring at Christmas

There was plenty of flag waving at the GCA’s recent AGM & Conference as the greeting card industry gears up for the 2024 Caring At Christmas campaign. Almost 100 care homes and care home groups have come forward already saying that they are looking for card publishers and retailers to partner with for this year’s Caring at Christmas card writing initiative, many of which have already completed a questionnaire with their full details, meaning they are ready to be paired up with someone from the greeting card community. There was a map of the UK on show at the recent AGM and Conference enabling attendees to add their flag, committing to run a Christmas card writing event.

Matt Genower, Five Dollar Shake’s coowner and MD is the brains behind the scheme that launched last year with great success, bringing rewards to all those who participated.

Determined to expand this wonderful initiative this year, Matt tapped into a Care Home Activity Organiser Facebook group, which has over 16,000 members, posting a message about the Caring at Christmas initiative, asking anyone interested to get in touch with Adriana Lovesy at the GCA.

“It is still early days, but already almost 100 care homes and care home groups have been in touch, keen to instigate Christmas card writing events in their locations,” Matt told. “For anyone who participated last year will tell you, this is such a rewarding experience both for the care home residents as well as those from the greeting card community who made contact with the care homes.”

Oliver Bonas admits reality of costs dampening profits while sales soar

Lifestyle retail chain Oliver Bonas, winner of The Retas Best Non-Specialist Multiple Retailer Of Greeting Cards in 2023, and a finalist in the 2024 awards, has seen its profits falter as it has battled growing interest rates and high inflation.

In stark contrast to 2022, where profits at OB surged 21% to £9.1m from £7.7m, the year to 31 December, 2023, saw a

drop to £6.8m, while sales were up 18% to £136m.

The retailer, which trades from 83 outlets and sells a surprisingly large amount of greeting cards said the overall economic backdrop over 2023 led to “subdued discretionary consumer spending”, noting it continued to invest in its store estate over the year, opening seven new shops as well

as relocating or increasing the size of eight others.

The retailer has confirmed it remains committed to its multichannel approach, and is to continue to invest in new stores, relocations, refurbishments and its websites.

Right: Oliver Bonas’ store in Kingston’s Bentalls Centre.

Above: Kicking off Caring at Christmas early, Bristol publishers Stormy Knight, Penguin Ink and Ricicle Cards went into local care home, Bishopsmeans Lodge to create cards with residents that Alpha Colour Printers will be printing.

Below: Five $’s Matt Genower with Alpha Colour Printers’ Amy Mulgrew with the Caring at Christmas map at the recent GCA conference.

Right: Cardfactory everyday cards are to be sold throughout Aldi’s UK and ROI estate.

Top: Alan and Jackie MacNamee have sold their Garlanna business to Cardfactory.

Above: Cardfactory clinched the Radar award at The Licensing Awards. Chief commercial officer Adam Dury, along with colleagues collected the trophy.

TOP STORY

GCA Call For Govt Action

Cardies urged to contact MPs over Royal Mail’s delivery cut plans

The deep concern over the future of Royal Mail’s reliable and affordable delivery service has reached new heights in the last few weeks, with the GCA now urging all members of the greeting card community to contact their MPs to press home the importance of protecting our postal service.

The call to action was partly in reaction to the presentation by Royal Mail’s head of public affairs Fiona Hamilton’s at the recent GCA AGM and Conference. A letter, available to download from the GCA website for cardies to adapt for their MPs, raises the fact that Ofcom has accepted Royal Mail’s plan to slash second-class deliveries to just two or three days a week, the delivery company’s determination to abandon the letters and cards side to chase parcels business, that the division of costs is unclear despite both sharing considerable elements of the same delivery network, and that the business is still failing to meet its legally-binding delivery targets while giving executives runaway pay and bonuses.

This comes hot on the heels of the greeting card industry’s fury at Royal Mail’s announcement of a 22% increase in the price of a first-class stamp to £1.65 just a day after Ofcom recommended cutting Saturdays out of the second-class delivery schedule.

Fiona was quoting from the notes provided by David Gold, director of external affairs and policy, who was supposed to be the keynote speaker at the GCA AGM & Conference on 19 September, but due to family issues cancelled the day before, which meant that the promised Q&A session became mainly questions with few answers.

Since the conference, GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson and council member and Cardology director David Falkner, who leads the RM sub-committee, have been working with the association’s PR firm Arena on the future strategy.

“We’ve met to review the conference and our campaign plans.” Amanda explained. “We now need to encourage everyone to download the letter – headed ‘urgent concern about Royal Mail price increases and the future of our affordable postal service’ – and write to their MPs to highlight the issues we are concerned about and which members raised at the conference.”

(See pages 25-31 for more on the GCA Conference)

Moonpig partners with The Entertainer

Leading online greeting card retailer Moonpig has partnered with the UK’s largest independent toy store The Entertainer to offer a selection of its products alongside its personalised cards.

A range of more than 200 toys from The Entertainer and its sister brand Early Learning Centre, including properties such as PAW Patrol, Barbie and Squishmallows, has launched on Moonpig’s website. The new

Hallmark wins Co-Op’s Pioneer Award

differently.

Making a difference has earned Hallmark a special award from the Co-Op, recognising the greeting card company’s commitment to making a positive impact.

Part of the retailer’s annual Pioneer Awards, the Pioneering The Co-Op Difference title celebrates the consumer cooperative’s different way of doing business, awarding those suppliers that support the retailer’s action on the things that matter to customers.

Hallmark has a long-standing partnership with Co-Op, supplying cards and gift packaging across its store estate, and the award recognises the publisher’s contributions in several key areas, including charity partnerships and diversity, equality, and inclusion, and reflects its commitment to making a positive impact both within Co-Op and the wider community.

“We are thrilled to see Hallmark win the Celebrating The Co-Op Difference Pioneer Award,” said Sophie Martin, Co-Op’s buyer for gifts, cards, wrap, seasonal non-food and cookshop. “We’re proud to partner with such an amazing team and it’s a deserving recognition of all the hard work over the last couple of years.”

Hallmark was one of three finalists in the category, beating household papers supplier Wepa UK and soft drinks firm Britvic to lift the trophy.

ranges of bestselling toys from are priced from £12 to £35, and feature a mixture of soft toy characters from popular children's books and shows, including The Gruffalo and Peter Rabbit, plus sets from Hot Wheels, Bluey, Peppa Pig and Playmobil.

The Entertainer group CEO Andrew Murphy OBE said: “Our partnership with Moonpig is

testament to the versatility, as well as the attractiveness, of this offer. We can't wait to launch on Moonpig, and welcome them as a Toy Box partner alongside Matalan, M&S, Tesco and a host of other retailers across the globe.”

Above: Hallmark’s team collect the Pioneering The Co-Op Difference award Below: Co-Op aims to do things

Above: Amanda Fergusson, ceo of GCA at the Conference with a photo of Royal Mail’s David Gold on the big screen.

Above: Royal Mail’s Fiona Hamilton delivering words that did not bring comfort to the audience at the GCA Conference.

Right: Michael Apter, owner of the Paper Tiger group in Edinburgh has flagged the issue to his retail customers asking them to complete a survey about their postal habits.

Left: The Entertainer, ELC offer went live on Moonpig’s website recently.

TOP STORY

Great participation in TOYW

Lots

of love for 10th anniversary of Thinking of You Week

With participation from thousands of retail rooftops, personalised paintings, great window and instore displays, visits to the elderly and free card giveaways made for a fantastic 10th anniversary Thinking Of You Week.

Celebrating the Send A Card, Deliver A Smile mantra to its fullest, the greeting card industry helped everyone harness the emotional power of cards for the GCA initiative, TOYW, which ran until Sunday, 22 September. UK Greetings worked with major retailers across the country to promote TOYW. Among these was Tesco which put the publisher’s POS strips across their card racks while Sainsbury’s had UKG TOYW shippers and clipstrips in many stores.

On the indie front House of Cards celebrated with special goodie bags as giveaways for customers at its seven stores in the Home Counties. “We gave away 2,500 cards,” said co-owner Miles Robinson, “with each goodie bag containing five cards donated by Bexy Boo , Lucilla Lavender , Paper Shed , Paperlink and Wrendale . All were wrapped in a branded belly band kindly printed by Windles and The Imaging Centre with a flyer explaining what Thinking Of You Week is all about.”

Handpicked By Henrietta owner Sarah Halsall took TOYW to the people in Poynton, with support from Cherry Orchard Publishing to make a special delivery to Hope Green Care Home. Sarah explained: “The year five children at Lower Park School have written cards to all the residents with wonderful illustrations too.”

Meanwhile over 30 personalised sketches helped raise £280 for the East Cheshire Hospice through the TOYW event at Stationery Supplies in Wilmslow, where Tracey Colliston from Ginger Betty spent a day in store sketching her trademark woodland characters in return for a donation.

Shop owner Sarah Laker said: “Customers were also able to have a go on our stationery lucky dip, try some delicious ginger biscuits or buy some raffle tickets while listening to live cello music.”

Dobbies to close 17 sites

Dobbies has announced the planned closure of 17 unprofitable outlets by the end of the year in a restructuring plan. Of the current 77-strong estate – all of which have significant card, calendar and stationery sales –all six Little Dobbies sites in Cheltenham, Chiswick, Clifton, Richmond, Stockbridge, and Westbourne Grove are due to close as are full-size stores in Altrincham, Antrim, Gloucester, Gosforth, Harlestone Heath, Huntingdon, Inverness, King’s Lynn, Pennine, Reading, and Stratford-upon-Avon.

The 160-year-old garden centre chain is thought to have faced another difficult period after racking up losses of £130.2million in the year to 5 March, 2023, a huge drop from the £21.3m loss the year prior, blaming high inflation and unseasonable weather as dampening sales. It has now stated its aim is to “address historically uneconomical rent costs and ensure a return to sustainable profitability” which, alongside other “tangible cost savings” will secure its long-term future and allow “access to future investment”.

The business was sold by Tesco to a group of investors in 2016 and is now controlled by major US investor Ares Management after a restructuring of its debt 18 months ago. The new plan will affect 465 of the retailer’s 3,600 employees, with work underway with landlords to seek temporary rent reductions at a further nine

Stormy Knight’s charity work’s in the Pink for Off The Record

Helping youngsters is the key to Stormy Knight’s latest collaboration as the Bristol-based publisher teamed up with illustrator Rosie Pink to raise money for charity and promote Thinking of You Week.

The new range of eight support cards, which debuted at the recent Top Drawer show, has been specifically designed to send to someone going through a difficult time and 10% of net sales will go to Off The Record mental health charity and social movement for and by young people aged 11-25.

Stormy Knight director Sarah Jackson told PG: “The messaging feels more appropriate and contemporary than the traditional sympathy/support cards that are more common. We’ve collaborated with Rosie, who is from Bristol like ourselves, and OTR is a charity close to her heart so it feels like a brilliant fit.”

Above: House of Cards’ Tring store in TOYW livery and the packs of giveaway cards.

Above: All the town and city centre Little Dobbies outlets are to close.

Below: Rosie Pink and Stormy Knight are giving back to Off the Record.

Below: Handpicked By Henrietta owner Sarah Halsall and school children made a special TOYW delivery to a care home.

Bottom: Ginger Betty’s Tracey Colliston creating in Stationery Supplies.

TOP STORY

BGC Rebrands As Tiger Feet

Card, party and gift wholesaler steps up offer for indies

Tiger Feet is the new name for Budget Greeting Cards, announced as part of the UK’s largest greeting card wholesaler’s rebrand.

Aiming to better represent BGC’s product offering of greeting cards, partyware and giftware, the company –which won the Best Greeting Card Wholesaler in The Retas awards in July –also wants to align its online and in-person shopping experiences to better serve the independent sector.

Akhtar Zahid, ceo of Tiger Feet said: “The BGC brand has been established for over 35 years and our success has been guided by listening to the needs of our customers. We are thrilled to announce our rebrand as the latest step to better serve the whole market.”

This rebrand to Tiger Feet follows in the footsteps of the trade and assets of Paul White Ltd and Tiger Feet Party Ltd T/A Tiger Feet Direct back in March, and the refresh includes an updated brand, new website, streamlined vision as well as mission and values with the aim to remove the budget cash and carry heritage and lead the way in wholesale commerce with a trading network for businesses, professionals and individuals.

Akhtar added: “Our mission is to build a seamless commerce

Nichola

Lambert joins The Art File

There are two new faces at The Art File who jumped straight in at the deep end of the greeting card industry by being introduced to customers on the publisher’s stand at the recent Autumn Fair

experience tailored to the needs of businesses and professionals that offers unparalleled product selection, competitive pricing and exceptional service to drive success and satisfaction. We look forward to building strong relationships with old and new customers.”

With headquarters in Manchester, the company supplies an extensive range of greeting cards, balloons, gifts and partyware across a network of eight warehouses in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Dublin, Gateshead, Manchester and Nottingham.

Dominique Schurman gets back into retail

Akhtar said the brand’s focus for the rest of 2024 is to ensure it continues to give customers the range of products they need at the best possible price to stay competitive.

Famed US greeting card exponent and former Clintons’ boss, Dominique Schurman has returned to the retail side of the industry with the opening of the first store under her personal Niquea.D brand.

The bricks and mortar outlet opened recently in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania in the latest move for Dominique as she builds the brand she founded, and which goes backs to her family firm roots, with her son Jonathan Magal as director of operations.

Dominique has more than 35 years’ experience with greeting card retail and publishing, having taken over the Schurman Retail Group founded by her parents Marcel and Margrit in 1950, which included the Papyrus greeting card store brand that was sold to American Greetings in 2009, along with a stake in the family firm.

In 2012, when American Greetings appointed SRG to manage the Clintons retail group in the UK, Dominique led the rebrand. She also was keen to bring the Papyrus brand concept to the UK, but a trademark issue meant that she instead opened a couple of shops under the Jolie Papier brand.

Dominique handed the Clintons’ reins over to Eddie Shepard in 2017 to concentrate on her SRG responsibilities. In 2020 all SRG retail outlets closed.

Back to the recent development, Jonathan introduced Dominique at the recent Niquea.D opening, where she said: “This is really an important moment for us, it’s been quite a journey getting here, lots of ups and down, and fun experiences along the way. We’re very proud to be here.”

Experienced retail buyer,

Nichola Lambert has joined as national accounts manager for the Nottinghambased publisher, while Priya Kaur has been welcomed as sales coordinator.

“I’ve been in retail for 22 years at Wilko, in product development and as a buyer for different categories,” she told PG. Over her 14 years in a buying role for the Wilko retail chain, Nichola’s remit spanned toys, homeware accessories, Halloween, DIY and healthcare products.

When Wilko went into liquidation last year Nichola moved to global toy company Jakks Pacific as national account manager for its Disguise fancy dress division before joining The Art File.

Fellow newbie to the team, Priya’s role involves sales and office support for the publisher’s domestic field-based sales team, alongside helping at trade shows.

“My background is in sales, but this is the nicest sales role that I’ve ever had. I’ve just come from the civil service so it’s a complete change!” said Priya.

Above: The new website is up and running with the Tiger Feet branding.

Below: Tiger Feet, ceo Akhtar Zahid (centre) with The Retas trophy that was presented to him by (right) Ade Longe, md of Sensations/Express Yourself, sponsor of this award, with host Andrew Ryan.

Top: Nichola Lambert.

Above: Priya Kaur.

Top: Dominique at the opening of the new Niquea.D store. Above: Inside the new store.

Museums & Galleries is proud to offer a cast of much-loved character brands in its iconic ‘The Illustrators’ range. From Paddington to Roald Dahl, Brambly Hedge to Wind in the Willows, Guess How Much I Love You and more, it’s the range with big personality and nostalgic pulling power.

TOP STORY

Festive Season Underway

Indies, multiples and department stores cosy up for Christmas

With a lot riding on a strong run up to Christmas, festive trading is underway for indies and multiples alike. Medici Gallery in London’s Kensington was very quick off the blocks, with its Advents and Christmas ‘room’ in full festive glory in August, even pipping Selfridges to a Christmas showcase.

John Lewis has not held back either on getting into the Christmas spirit early this year. It ramped up its activity since announcing higher profits and the return of the Never Knowingly Undersold pledge, unveiling the festive shop across its stores, revealing a three part advertising campaign and with a Waterstones shop opening in its Oxford Street flagship store.

Christmas shops opened in 35 of John Lewis stores at the end of September, offering everything from Christmas cards, trees and baubles to gifting and wreaths in the stores’ dedicated areas.

JLP’s online Christmas shop opened in August and sales of individual baubles are up 130% on last year already, while customers are already stocking up on gifting essentials, with sales of wrapping paper up 87% year on year.

John Lewis’ Christmas buyer Lisa Cherry said: “This year, our Christmas themes celebrate the diverse spirit of Christmas and are inspired by a celebration of contrasts.

Our four themes Sugar & Spice, Wisdom & Wonder, Dawn & Dusk and Trinket & Treasure have each been thoughtfully curated by our team of expert buyers and designers with the intention of bringing joy into the home this festive season.”

John Lewis Partnership recently announced it had almost halved losses in the first half of the year to 27 July, with total revenue edging up 2% to £5.2billion while pre-tax losses improved from £59million to £30m thanks to improved sales from its Waitrose supermarket side.

JLP CEO Nish Kankiwala said: “These results confirm that our transformation plan is working and we expect profits to grow significantly for the full year, a marked improvement from where we were two years ago.”

With most of its profits historically coming in the second half of the year, he added: “We’re well set up for a positive peak trading period and on target to significantly improve our performance for the full year.”

Windles v Woodmansterne Wayzgoose

Football, tug of war, fun races and bucking bronco saw a good time being had by all at the annual printers’ Wayzgoose tournament where Woodmansterne and Windles battled it out.

Some 150 staff from the two companies (and a few guests) embraced the historic celebration which traditionally marked the end of summer and the start of working by candlelight. Windles clinched the winning trophy for

PG Live leads to licensing

PG Live has gone the dogs in a good way as two more deals licensing deals have come out of the show and a third is being worked on.

Major gift and homewares company, Lesser & Pavey has now signed up both Paper Shed Design and Robert James Hull for giftware ranges after discovering the two publishers and their doggy designs at the annual specialist greeting card trade show.

Above: Paper Shed’s Dan and Jo’s animals are moving from cards to gift products.

Below: Rob James Hull’s artwork captures the doggy characters.

“Lots of our customers had told us how popular Paper Shed’s cards are and recommended we looked into licensing their designs for giftware,” Lesser & Pavey director Jonny Greves told PG.

“With Robert James Hull, we saw his Dogs cards at PG Live and thought they were a really nice fun way to represent the different breeds and his artwork really captures the characters of dogs – both of those can go down as PG Live finds, and hopefully the other one too, we’re still in discussion with them.”

At Paper Shed, owners and designers Dan and Jo O’Brien are “delighted” to be working with L&P using a selection of their bestselling designs from its Buttercup Farm, Bucklebury Wood, Pawsitively Purrrfect and Absolutely Barking ranges.

the fourth time, Woodies’ Watford and Milton Keynes teams each having won once.

Seth Woodmansterne, md of Woodmansterne explained that the Wayzgoose tradition dates back to the mid-17th century, and the friendly rivals decided to revive the tradition in 2017, adding: “It was a printers’ party where the master printer would take his crew to the pub. We’re delighted that Windles continue to join us with their competitive spirit, I really like that 450 years ago the boss decided to honour his team, and we’re carrying that on.”

The event also raised money for the Greenfingers children’s charity that builds hospice and therapeutic gardens.

Right: Medici Gallery was in full Christmas flow in August.

Below: Sugar & Spice is one of John Lewis’ Christmas trends.

Bottom: The addition of a Waterstones in JL’s Oxford St store will add to its appeal.

Above right: Team captains on the podium, Windles’ Casey Wallington and Sarah Clements, Woodies’ Rob Keen and Ryan Kershaw, and Wickies’ Nigel Babb and Carol Ford

Left: Seth Woodmansterne riding the bucking bronco.

Cards to heaven

Sad loss of Toni Cresswell

Emo stalwart dies shortly after pancreatic cancer diagnosis

Toni Cresswell, the well-loved and respected Emotional Rescue stalwart and long-time product manager, has sadly died having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer just two months previously. Toni passed away peacefully at home in no pain, with her husband Ian and daughter Bryher by her side. A familiar face at all industry events, Toni’s infectious smile, warm heart, and incredible talents meant she was a wonderful team mate to all those at Emotional Rescue as well as loyal and trusted friend to many in the greeting card community.

“Toni’s passing has devastated us all at Emo,” said David Greaves, co-owner of Emotional Rescue. “Her bravery and dignity throughout this ordeal have been humbling beyond words. We are immensely proud of Toni and we’ll miss her terribly.”

messages of love and support from those in the greeting card community during her short illness” citing the wave of texts, flowers, emails, and greeting cards sent “were of great comfort to her” Toni, who gained a BA in fine art at Cheltenham Art College cut her teeth in the card industry with Peter Reichwald and Chris Wilcox at the original Paper House publishing business, starting out in the mid 80s as an art assistant, progressing up through the ranks to studio manager. She left to join Emotional Rescue to further her career in 1996 where she was always a key member of the team.

Paying tribute to Toni’s character and skills, David highlighted her “unparalleled product knowledge, insightful contributions, and sheer hard work have been instrumental in Emotional Rescue's success over the past 28 years and we are very thankful to her. “I’ll just check that with Toni” has been my mantra for much of the last three decades.”

Brett Smith, MD of Emotional Rescue had the tough job of contacting the many Emo customers who knew Toni with the sad news. He shared how Toni had been overwhelmed with “the

“Toni was everyone’s friend and everyone’s work mum,” Emo’s creative director Jennie Rutter told PG. “She genuinely cared and always had a smile and a shoulder if needed. Her product knowledge was outstanding and the relationships she built with customers and industry colleagues were exemplary, and for her, seemingly effortless.”

In tribute to Toni, half the funds raised by the raffle at The Henries awards event are to be donated to Pancreatic Cancer UK charity while Cardgains has announced the charity as its partner for 2025.

Post boxes for messages to heaven is one way greeting cards are increasingly helping people to cope with the loss of a loved one. None of the cards and letters are opened, they’re stored securely then are turned into compost which is used in memorial gardens.

Following on from the post box which Royal Mail donated to Gedling Crematorium in Nottinghamshire a few months ago, Bedford’s Norse Road Crematorium now has its own Post Box To Heaven, and one has now also been installed at Ampthill Cemetery.

Ampthill Town Council said it was a “heart-warming initiative” by young residents and sisters Ava and Ella Cross who unveiled the white-painted post box to heaven, having written in “to ask if a special post box could be installed in the cemetery for people to send letters or cards to a loved one they have lost”.

Of the Bedford one, borough cllr Phillippa MartinMoran-Bryant said: “It’s a touching and innovative way to help people cope with loss. It provides a physical outlet for emotions, allowing individuals to express their feelings and remember their loved ones in a personal and heartfelt manner.”

The post box in the garden of remembrance at Gedling came about after nine-year-old Matilda Handy told mum Leanne she wanted to write to her grandparents who had passed away.

Gedling Crematorium’s spokesperson said: “The post box enables people to write letters, cards and messages to those they have lost, and post them. That includes letters, postcards, birthday cards, anniversary cards, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards or Christmas cards. Our post box is available to anyone who feels they may benefit from it.”

Leanne explained: “Matilda was always saying she wished we could send Mamma and Grandad birthday and Christmas cards for them to read. She was four when my mum died, and never met my dad and wished we could still send them birthday and Christmas cards for them to read.”

Spot on

Rosie Made A Thing

received a five-star review recently from a member of the public who used one of its bestselling Gin & Frolics designs –

“you’re never too old to throw on some leopard skin and be bloody fabulous” – to honour her 96-yearold mum at her funeral.

“She loved an animal print,” the reviewer said. “As a remembrance, all who attended her funeral (celebration of life) wore animal print and the ladies who attended were given this coaster to think of her when resting their glass of wine. Fabulous xx”

Above: The well-loved and respected Toni Cresswell will be sadly missed. Below: Toni (third left) at The Henries last year with Emo colleagues.

Above: Sisters Ava and Ella unveiled the letters to heaven box in Ampthill.

Taking The Punches

of great success followed by a major fall or setback only for the team/person to rise again and triumph in a spectacular way.

I am writing this after watching AJ get knocked spark out by the young lion Dubois. In the boxing world AJ was the experienced former champion. He had previously fought in front of 96,000 people and won, yet this time he hardly landed a punch and went out on his shield trying valiantly to turn it round. Right away he spoke about coming back and revenging the loss.

So, what’s your fighting spirit?!

Prior to the recent high profile AJ v Dubois boxing match, Liam Gallagher belted out three of Oasis’ greatest tunes as a something of a warm-up to next year’s mega sellout comeback concerts. Some 15 years after they imploded in France, the Gallagher brothers are back, bringing their swagger and noise to 50-year-olds wanting to relive their youth as well as a new generation of gig goers. Being of the former, my Stone Island outfit is pressed, my Red Stripe is chilling and I am mad for it, and there are still 11 months to go!

There are so many examples of comebacks of which I could fill this column, but it got me thinking about where I am in business and where some others in are sector are too.

Judging by the LinkedIn posts, several of the presenters at the recent GCA conference and AGM spoke about their respective struggles, triumphs and acts of

challenges apply to everyone - from retailers to publishers and all points in between. Length of operation, experience and even wealth may not be enough to solve things. It is often sheer willpower and determination that will be the deciding factors.

A question that has been asked often in these last few years is whether retail businesses can lift themselves off the floor when all is lost?

Obviously, they can go under and start again. They can wipe out debt - limited company = limited responsibility - and we have seen that many times in cards and gifts. Paperchase may seem like a footnote, but it bounced back a few times, though never making it back to where it needed to be.

Clintons is perhaps the biggest possible comeback story in our sector as the once all mighty orange 900+ store behemoth is now being reborn under the leadership of the Taylor family. Our sector needs a Clintons. It needs it to keep the RRP of cards at a decent level and offer a credible alternative to Cardfactory.

Being privileged enough to know Cardzone directors Paul and James Taylor (now Clintons’ owners) pretty well, if anyone can drive Clintons off the ropes and back to the centre of the ring with punches swinging, it’s them. I do believe however it will take a boxer mentality; a belief that it will actually happen.

Looking at my own situation in recent times, it has been hard. On the back of our strongest years, around 2015 we went on a very aggressive growth path, investing heavily in buying and fitting out our

Top: There was no maybe about it, David’s 50th birthday cake show paid full homage to Oasis.

Above: The reunion of the Gallagher brothers has sparked a whole wave of Oasis licensing deals through Global Merchandising Services. (Photo credit: Kevin Cummins)

Inset: Are you ready to roll with the punches?

buildings. In essence I had the guts, but I didn’t have the knowledge or dedication to my craft that I do now.

Even though it looked like I had learned valuable lessons I then shot for the stars with a destination gift/restaurant project and while the concept I still believe is fantastic, the numbers behind building it quite simply were way above my reach financially.

Of course Covid happened in the middle of all this and threw everything into chaos. This bloodied my nose and left my head spinning.

Banks have also become suspicious of retail. They are not keen on lending large amounts to those in the sector, but somewhere in my head I thought I would/could fund it. I had always managed before, but selling my home as I had done previously is now not an option for me as I now have a wife and a toddler.

Taking a pause, a break, or maybe even doing a full 180 degree U-turn can feel incredibly daunting, like you're somehow going to be ‘left behind’ or become ‘off track’.

Whether you’re an athlete, an entrepreneur or an artist, listening to both your body and mind when they’re asking (or

In recent weeks we have implemented new card controls with one store with another happening in November and the final one in January.

Within those controls we have new publishers, returning publishers and ones that I feel need to take a break as the product is perhaps not as relevant as it was for our customers.

begging) for a break is one of the smartest things you can do. Sure, it can be scary to step onto the sidelines for a bit, but it’s important to remember that your own personal timeline is the only one that matters, and it’s never too late to pause and then go on to aim to achieve greatness. Sometimes a comeback has to happen as it forces you to change everything. This can be essential to bring you forward in a more manageable way.

That is what I love about publishers, you can maybe count one out then they come roaring back with a new design style, finish or board and suddenly they are back being super important to you.

A case in point is Hallmark. There has been a lot of chat around one of the industry’s former ‘heavyweights’ in our sector. While there has been some talk of its drop in service levels and move to obscure captions and designs as they try to clinch too many niches, I sense that the publisher is planning a major relaunch for 2025 with a revamped salesforce for indies, a change of attitude at the top and a renewed approach to product.

Gift companies can be even more cyclical than cards. Just now some brands, notably Jellycat are working everywhere and yet some of our other winning brands can be

more popular in Scotland and the North of England than they are further south.

There is no magic wand to give us all the answers, but I see the value in resting ranges rather than burning bridges as you can be wrong. My agent pal tells the story of how he turned down Trivial Pursuits before it became massive and my Mum also initially rejected both TY and Charlie Bears before they each became a phenomenon.

When I think of comebacks in business they don’t come any better or bigger than Apple. Back in 1985 with Steve Jobs fired and the company reporting a $1billion annual loss, Apple looked finished. It took bringing Jobs back and a loan from Microsoft’s Bill Gates to start to turn things round with a new simple philosophy of design-led goods.

Now as we stand today nearly 40 years later, Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world. I could go on… Starbucks nearly failed in 2008 due to embarking on too rapid a growth path, Netflix made a decision to split its business which almost broke it and Marvel too was almost crushed before becoming the most valuable movie franchises in history.

The point is that big businesses can fail and make the same mistakes that you and I do. Every one of us can make a mistake and as the boxer Mike Tyson said: “Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth”.

So, what will you do when you get punched? Will you crumble to the canvas like AJ and stay there or will you bounce back right up and demand a rematch?

l To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com

Above: The future was definitely orange in Clinton Cards’ heyday, a prominence the Taylors are looking to resurrect. Right: David Robertson’s risk taking has scaled back since he became a husband and father to toddler Hudson and Hiro.

Above and right: Starbucks and Marvel are among the big brands who almost faltered.

Above right: Iron Mike has packed a punch on the philosophy front too as well as in the ring.

Biz Wiz of Oz

A mega-wealthy and successful Aussie tycoon has recently taken an 8.1% stake in Cardfactory, and that was before the recent expansion news from the UK’s largest greeting card retailer was revealed in the group’s interim results.

Cardsharp looks at the significance of all this for the PLC and the wider greeting card industry.

Firstly, Cardsharp has a full disclosure to make. In April 2020 during that weird and surreal time of the first Covid lockdown and the world seemed to be going mad, Cardsharp observed the share price of listed retail chains drop through the floor and in particular that of Cardfactory. At one stage a few years before the share price had been over £3.00, but a series of operational problems and disappointing results had seen the share price drop by half before the pandemic.

But then in the madness, and the retail lockdown, the share price went into free fall, dropping down as low as 28 pence. At that stage Cardsharp took a calculated punt and invested in some

Above: Brett Blundy, Cardfactory’s new significant shareholder is something of a business wizard of Oz.

Below: Cardsharp does not feel that Cardfactory’s share price reflects its performance.

Bottom left: Cardfactory’s trial with Just Eat for delivery will have piqued interest.

Bottom right: Brett Blundy is understood to be planning a plunge back into the bra sector.

Cardfactory shares. This was a profitable company with a robust business model and a history of making good profits. Yet its share price was at little better than a junk stock. And amid the lockdown madness, Moonpig, which had never made anything

like the profit of Cardfactory, floated on the stock exchange at £3.20.

Luckily for Cardsharp, post the lockdowns Cardfactory, with a much strengthened management team in place, started to make a steady recovery. It negotiated enough finance to see itself through the difficult times. The share price started to recover and a series of positive financial statements about performance started to emerge.

This culminated in the announcement of a sparkling set of end of year results in April. In contrast to most of the high street, Cardfactory had a great Christmas trading period.

Over the year to January, Cardfactory achieved double digit sales increase taking the turnover to over £half a billion. Like for like sales were up 7.7% and most impressively pre-tax profits were up 25% to £65 million, making nonsense of that earlier 28 pence share price. And shareholders were obviously happy with CEO, Darcy Willson-Rymer, reelected with a massive 99.9% of the votes cast. A dividend was even paid to shareholders for the first time in years.

Cardsharp expected the share price to shoot up, but after settling at around the £1 mark for the previous year, very

little happened. Surprisingly to Cardsharp, it even dropped a little and remained becalmed until a couple of months ago.

Then everything started to change. The share price experienced a sudden rise of 20%. A certain Australian billionaire, Brett Blundy, bought an 8% share of Cardfactory and certain financial journalists started to take note, reluctantly recognising both Cardfactory and the wider greeting card industry’s resilience.

It came then as a bit of a surprise that Cardfactory’s recently announced half yearly financials showed a year on year decrease in profits. There was a healthy 5.9% increase in revenue, but this was more than offset by an increase in costs resulting from increased shipping and wage costs as a result in the increase in the National Living Wage. Despite the announcement of the acquisition of Irish publisher, Garlanna and the winning of the entire Aldi everyday card business in the UK (having only previously supplied half the estate, with IG Design Group looking after the other half), the City reacted badly, almost wiping out the share price increase of the previous few months. Cardsharp’s view for what it is worth is that this is just a blip and the overall momentum is positive. Time will tell.

But who is Cardfactory’s mysterious billionaire investor, Brett Blundy? Initial research by Cardsharp found that according to Forbes his net worth is £1.7 billion. His private investment company registered in Singapore is called BBRC. His career started inauspiciously in 1980 with a single record shop with the dreadful name of Disco Duck.

reputation of being an entrepreneurial genius. He was involved in the Sydney Bridge Walk, now such a huge part of the tourist circuit there, cutting through myriad of health and safety rules to gain approval. The walk takes three hours on average and costs $198. Not a bad return! He also set up and then sold in 2018 (for $500 million), a hugely successful retail chain called Bras N Things (and has recently announced he is to launch back into this market, Cardsharp will keep abreast of developments on that front!), and Sanity Entertainment, which in its time was a household name and a huge online seller of entertainment. Clearly, reflects Cardsharp, this man has the golden touch. So, he obviously sees potential in Cardfactory.

a relationship which is being further strengthened. Perhaps Brett sees further possibilities for Cardfactory down under.

Or perhaps mused Cardsharp, like previous Antipodean entrepreneurs, Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Packer, he has just outgrown the Australian market and is looking to make his mark globally.

And just as Cardsharp was penning this, news has come through that Blundy’s investment company BBRC, has sold a 14% stake in the Australian footwear conglomerate Accent for around $160 million to Mike Ashley’s Fraser Group, the owner among other things of Sports Direct. Does Mr Blundy see more future in greeting cards than shoes? Sentiment before smelly feet?

At present Cardfactory does have a presence in Australia, through branded concessions within the value retailer, The Reject Shop,

But Cardsharp wanted to know a little more about this Mr Blundy, so sought the opinion of one of his Aussie cardie friends. Apparently in Oz, he has the

Brett Blundy aside, there certainly does seem to be a lot happening in the Cardfactory world with its recently announced international expansion into the US, on the back of its activity in South Africa through SA Greetings as well as The Middle East.

There has also been quite a lot of ‘insider buying’ of shares recently with Darcy Willson-Rymer acquiring another chunk, which is normally a sign of management confidence.

So, whatever the short term implications of the interim financials, the prospects are certainly promising, for shareholders at least.

What does this all mean for the industry?

Well, it means that after all the bad headlines regarding the Royal Mail and the multiple failures of Paperchase, there are some positives circling about the UK greeting card industry. The fact that one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs wants to invest £millions in our greeting card industry must be cause for celebration…“Throw another shrimp on the barbie, Cobber!”

Right: Cardfactory’s presence on the Australian retail scene is within The Reject Shop.

Below: Cardsharp sees the Aussie’s investment as flaming good news not just for Cardfactory, but also the sector as a whole.

Bottom left: BBRC, Brett Blundy’s investment company has sold a 14% stake in the Australian footwear conglomerate Accent, which includes the Hoka brands to UK’s Fraser Group.

Full of emotional highs and a strong sense of togetherness, the recent GCA 2024 Conference and AGM delivered the good news that greeting card sales have not only increased – now topping £1.51 billion – but disappointingly Royal Mail stuck firmly to the assertion that its loss-making activities can only be helped by changing the universal service obligation, with moves to every other day second class delivery seemingly on the cards.

PG hot-footed it to Bristol’s majestic Harbour Hotel to join what was the best-ever attended GCA annual gathering.

Ship Shape Bristol Fashion

The city that has given us an amazing suspension bridge, laughing gas, Darth Vader, HMV’s Nipper the dog, Elizabeth Blackwell, Banksy, Lee Evans, hot air balloons, Cary Grant, Fry’s Chocolate Cream bar, Russell Howard and Ribena has a new accolade to add to its many achievements, as Bristol was the location of the recent GCA Conference and AGM, and it was certainly a memorable one.

It was big, it was bold, it was meaningful. Whether you were someone who has been involved in this industry for many years or a newbie, publishers, retailers and suppliers were

to right: Schmoozing started the evening before at an event at the Dirty Martini bar, co-sponsored by Emotional Rescue and Ling/GBCC. (Left-right) David Byk (Ling/GBCC) with Emo’s David Greaves, Jen Rutter and Brett Smith; A triumphant trio. (Left-right) Retailer Kaye Thurgood (Sincerely Yours), publisher Wendy Jones-Blackett (Wendy Jones-Blackett) and agent Rosie Trow getting in the mood for the Conference; Edinburgh-based retailer Micheal Apter of Paper Tiger (right) enjoyed a catch up with longtime pal U Studio Design’s owner Tony Cresswell at the pre-event drinks party. At the ready to check everyone in. (Left-right) GCA’s Adriana Lovesy, Ricicle Cards’ David Nichols-Rice and Raspberry Blossom’s Rebecca Green.

united for the greater good of the UK greeting card industry.

The agenda certainly touched lots of buttons – the deep concerns surrounding Royal Mail were confronted head on, the lids were lifted on facts that shape our industry, there was a double whammy of publisher perspectives from Ohh Deer’s Mark Callaby and James Ellis’ James Stevens, while Cardzone’s trading director James Taylor shared his/the retailer group’s boy to man story (see pages 29-31). And in between all this there was a strong plotline of a pulsating greeting card community

Left: Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA (centre back row) with members of the Council. (Left-right) Karen Wilson (Paper Salad), Daniel Prince (Danilo), Rebecca Green (Raspberry Blossom), David Byk (Ling/GBCC), Georgina Fihosy (AfroTouch Design), Mark Williams (Brainbox Candy), Darren Cave (UKG), Warren Lomax (PG), Fiona Pitt (Hallmark), Mark Callaby (Ohh Deer), Jakki Brown (PG), Nick Carey (Abacus), Chris Bryant (Second Nature), Sarah Jackson (Stormy Knight), Wendy Jones-Blackett, Seth Woodmansterne (Woodmansterne) and Rosie Tate (Cath Tate Cards).

Below: GCA president Darren Cave, commercial director of UKG, reminded the audience of how 94% of the UK population send cards, but with almost 50% of these being sent by post, he stressed how we all need a reliable and affordable service from Royal Mail.

spirit that is engaged, undaunted and fired up for more collective activity that will protect and nurture our world leading industry.

As Amanda Fergusson, ceo of GCA summed up: “My love affair with greeting cards started in 1979 as a Saturday girl in a card shop. I joined the industry properly ten years later as a national accounts manager at The Andrew Brownsword Collection. Admittedly much has changed in our industry in the last 35 years, but we continue to lead the world in greeting card innovation and design, because we have the passion and the gumption in abundance… and long may that continue.”

Below: The livery for this year’s GCA conference was created by Bristol-based illustrator and card publisher, Emily Nash.

Left

The Not-so-Daily Mail

A big draw for the day was Royal Mail’s appearance where head of public affairs Fiona Hamilton stood in for the expected speaker David Gold, director of external affairs and policy.

Though she was as prepared as she could have been, it was always on the cards that it would be a tough gig for Royal Mail’s Fiona Hamilton. And Fiona was well aware she was not delivering news that the audience wanted to hear. Sure, Fiona covered Royal Mail's financial challenges, noting losses of £419 million in 2022-2023 and £348 million in 2023-2024, and highlighted the progress on the modernisation agenda, including the business recovery and transformation agreement with the Communication Workers Union following the damaging 2022-23 industrial action, but her scenesetter did not unfortunately lead to the good news uplift everyone had been hoping for.

Emphasising Royal Mail’s insistence on the importance of USO reform, Fiona cited a decline in letter volumes and the need for parcel growth. She then laid out the proposed changes to second-class delivery aiming to balance cost and service – Ofcom has proposed accepting the cutting of

Saturday deliveries and cited moving to an every-other-day model, while first class mail would still have a six-day delivery.

Fiona said: “One of the plans is that on the days where second class isn't being delivered on your street, we would move first class onto the van network, and the van network is then delivering parcels and firstclass letters.

“I appreciate that you won't understand, but that actually allows us to take out the cost associated with the postman or woman going up the street every day while continuing to deliver that service, so protecting the revenue as much as taking the cost out, because it's a balance between revenue and cost. From our perspective, our proposal is about protecting, not dismantling, but protecting it longer term.”

Fully accepting this was not the scenario cardies wanted to be presented with, Fiona then took questions from the audience on concerns about pricing, reliability, how increased stamp costs threaten the financial viability of the post office network, and the impact on the greeting card industry.

Jakki Brown who raised the much-vaunted idea of discounted Christmas card stamps as happens in Australia.

“It’s not something that we're going to do,” Fiona said, “Putting aside how we would actually administer it, for us what's really key is that we maintain the one price goes anywhere to every address across the country, and a stamp is the same price for everybody, every day of the year, whether they go into the corner shop or the post office or the supermarket. So, I'm afraid, that's not something we'll be looking at.”

In true media professional style, Fiona adroitly dodged many of the points raised, although these and other queries will feature in a follow-up meeting GCA has in the pipeline with Royal Mail.

The only straight answer came to PG’s

Not the early Christmas greeting the audience had hoped to hear, but the cardies’ campaigning continues.

“Yes, this is a David and Goliath fight,” Cardology director David Falkner, GCA council member and lead on Royal Mail issues, told the audience. But as he summed up: “Doing nothing is not enough. I’m reminded of those “What did you do in the war Daddy?” conversations. For me, this is one of those moments.”

(See news page 10 for more)

Below left to right: Bexy Hassett of Bexy Boo with a giant version of the special Thinking of You Week card she designed, that was produced and given to all attendees who were encouraged to write them and post them in the N Smith-created post box; Bristol-based publisher James Stevens, owner of James Ellis Stevens relayed the sustainable stance he has taken with his business;

Far right: (left-right) WHSmith’s Claire Castle and Scarlett Ford with Ohh Deer’s Mark Callaby who enthralled and entertained the audience with his publishing journey.

Above: “We hear your concerns… we know you want us to do better,” was how Royal Mail’s Fiona Hamilton began her presentation.

Below left: Fiona assured how Royal Mail is recruiting more workers to enable smoother Christmas deliveries this year.

Below left: (left-right) Royal Mail’s Fiona Hamilton, Woodmansterne’s Seth Woodmansterne, Arena PR’s Nick Agarwal and Andrea Ross and Cardology’s David Falkner.

Embracing The Facts

“I'm pleased to say it’s clear the British public continues to be highly engaged with greeting cards. Despite economic uncertainty, inflation, the war in Ukraine and challenges with Royal Mail, the greeting card market proved resilient in 2023,” stated Seth Woodmansterne, md of Woodmansterne Publications and GCA Council member as he shared the topline figures of the upcoming GCA UK Greeting Card Market Annual Report.

Seth revealed that the British public spent £1.51billion on single greeting cards in the last year, an encouraging 4% increase on the previous year’s £1.45billion.

volumes decreased slightly, being 2% down to 799.7million single cards, excluding Christmas and Easter packs, from 814.8million.

Christmas single cards hit 11.7% of sales with an

average £1.94, a rise from £1.77, and 11.4% of retail volume, while spring seasons have the highest average price at £2.15, a rise from £2.06, making 11% of sales and 9.7% of volume.

Seth elaborated that the rise is partly down to increased prices with the average everyday card retail price now £1.86 up from £1.76 the year prior, as overall sales

Augmenting the good news were the figures shared by market research company Kantar which is based on the buying habits of 60,000 households. Sally Ball, business unit director of retail at the research company echoed that the greeting card market is “in growth”, with the average household spending £35 a year on cards, shopping an average of 10 times a year for greeting cards, a slight dip on previous periods. However, she stressed how it is the sales around seasonal events that are showing the fastest growth rates.

While, according to Kantar’s data, grocers still account for 35% of greeting card sales, Sally revealed that many of the supermarkets have been losing out of late to specialists with online sales also having risen, now standing at 22%.

Sainsbury’s however was cited as one of the fastest growing card retailers along with Cards Direct, Moonpig and Etsy.

“This is probably down to people doing fewer ‘big shops’ than they did previously,” purported Sally.

Kantar’s data also lifts the lid on the demographics and geographical densities of card buyers, with Londoners letting the side down on the card buying front (the average household in England’s capital city only spending £21 a year on cards). While empty nesters and retirees, which now make up 50% of the population, are active on the card buying front, those in the prefamily sector need a bit more encouragement, only spending an average of £26 a year on cards.

“Seasons are key, but we must also drive other occasions outside of these key events in order to further grow the market,” suggests Sally.

Above: One of the slides shared by Seth Woodmansterne from the soon to be published GCA UK Market Report.

Left: Kantar’s Sally Ball reiterated how the UK greeting card market is showing resilience.

Below left: Kantar has been tracking where the public buy their greeting cards and specialist stores, which account for 45% of sales are up 7.7%.

Below left to right: Bristol-based Stormy Knight’s Sarah Jackson was heavily involved in the event and also the designer of the Cardmitment posters. She oversaw attendees affixing their flags of commitment to the Caring at Christmas 2024 activities; Down to a tea! Cheers from retailers (left-right) Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker, Cardfactory’s Adam Dury and Cardzone’s Paul Taylor; Travelling over from Ireland (far right and third right) Watermark Cards’ Paul Slater and Brian Murtagh with Words ‘n’ Wishes’ Rod Brown (far left) and PG’s Warren Lomax.

MAN AND BOY

From a school holiday job of breaking down cardboard in a store’s backroom to negotiating with landlords as part of the major acquisition of Clintons, James Taylor has come a long way as a person and businessman, but then so too has the Cardzone Group, headed up by his father Paul now topping 300 stores and a sibling publishing business that owns Simon Elvin, Glick and Polytint. It is a good story already, but as the tone of James’ talk at the GCA Conference left the audience in no doubt, there are many future chapters to come.

Like all good stories, you need great characters, turns of fate, challenges and dramas confronted, a sprinkling of humour, chuck in a pandemic, a cost-of-living crisis, and the crescendo of attaining an ambitious goal seems all the sweeter. All this and more were covered in James’ presentation, delivered at whistlestop speed - he is a man who ran his first London Marathon this year, in under three and a half hours, after all – to an enthralled audience of publishers, retailers, suppliers. And arguably listening most intently of all, having not been privy to what he was going to say, were James’ parents and co-directors, Paul and Chris.

Starting at the very beginning, James recounted how the origins of what is now the

It all started in Sheffield, in a dark room at the back of a shop with a garish purple and green fascia, with stock piled high floor to ceiling. “I remember rummaging through boxes, finding cards covered in teddy bears or watering cans with flowers popping out the end of their spouts, cellophane was everywhere. I was 12 years old and this was my first impression of greeting cards and retail. Surprisingly, nearly 20 years on, I chose this as a career!” was how James Taylor, trading director of Cardzone set the tone for his peppy keynote address at the recent GCA Conference and AGM.

PG lapped up the insights shared of growing up with a growing family-run card business.

UK’s largest privately owned greeting card retail chain can be traced back to a single shop in Sheffield that was owned by Jo Hancock, someone Paul Taylor had worked with previously.

“My dad approached Jo about his ambitions to build up a chain of shops, combining her focus on the store operations and his skill set in running a business, an agreement was struck and their Cardzone journey began,” said James.

As well as occasionally popping into stores and Paul White’s wholesalers with his Dad, invariably enroute to cricket sessions, schoolboy James was also roped in to help during the Christmas rush.

“Seasonal times meant it was all hands on deck and it really was a family affair. One Christmas Eve I remember taking £5,000 with Jo and the store manager Heather working the tills, my mum was tidying cards and myself, my dad and my younger cousin Harry were on security!” recalled James. “I must admit that cards overwhelmed me at that age, I couldn’t get my head around the vast choice of options with what felt like few differences, the layout plans and how you had to ensure the correct balances on displays. Even to this day it’s fair to admit that my merchandising skills aren’t the best, but I’m confident they’re better than my Dad’s!” he revealed.

With more of a focus on sports than school, when James finished his A levels, he admits: “I hadn’t thought much about what the future would hold”. As luck would have it, or “probably out of sympathy” believes

Above: James Taylor on stage at the recent GCA Conference and AGM sharing his and Cardzone’s story thus far. Below: The first Cardzone store.

James, his dad offered him a full time job in the warehouse/wholesale side.

This coincided with what James sees as a significant milestone for Cardzone, its acquisition of Special Occasions, a group of 14 stores in the South West and Wales, taking the company away from its Midlands’ roots. “Having a store in Monmouth felt like we’d moved up in the world and the business had become dead posh overnight! There were also stores in Hereford and Tewkesbury, both of which were thriving

Like father like son

“I’ve always loved working with my dad, and I think the biggest reasons for this are because he’s honest, continuously challenges me and has consistently set a very high standard of himself which I have always looked up to,” James told the audience. “I love the passion he shows when talking business and networking with a whole raft of different people. This could be smaller retail business owners, suppliers or different multiples, some of whom have far more successful businesses than ours. What’s most impressive is that this is still the case for my dad after working in the industry for almost 40 years!”

Left: A younger James on a trip to the Far East with HTI.

Right: A current Cardzone store look is a far cry to those in the early days.

Below left: Taking over Hallmark’s factory outlet stores has enabled Cardzone to expand into outlet malls.

Below: A Card Centre store in Carmarthen, which strengthened the group’s position in Wales.

towns back then, cards sales were strong, and competition wasn’t such an issue. I believe these new stores had a big bearing on the change in the company’s direction with our move to a more premium card offering,” stated James.

James not only enjoyed his time in the warehouse/wholesale business, but learned a lot too, including a real appreciation of people.

“I used to love it when the reps from a variety of companies would call in for their orders, everyone was always so friendly and helpful and answered the many inquisitive questions I had. Mike Coster from Simon Elvin was one regular face who would come in each month and I find it incredible that, roughly 10 years later, my parents were able to buy Paper Design Group, of which Simon Elvin is one of the businesses,” said James. “Mike was always so charming and never pushy, respecting the decision making of a young lad barely out of school. Those two years in the warehouse, although not the most glamorous, have forged valuable long-term relationships and taught me a great deal.”

Keen to expand his knowledge, James then joined HTI, a children’s toy company, gaining experience in buying, involving Far East business trips.

“Going from working in a small warehouse

team to an office of over 50 people was a big change but something I enjoyed quickly and an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up, as I knew there was more out there for me than staying in Mansfield,” believes James whose skill set soon expanded to include costings, negotiation, margins, department strategy, range building and competitive evaluation.

After a couple of years the urge to rejoin the family business, with his newfound knowledge was all the more alluring as Cardzone had just acquired 14 of Hallmark’s outlet stores.

“It really was a game changer-type deal that gave Cardzone an added dimension trading on busy discount outlets in a partnership with Hallmark which involved maintaining the Hallmark trading name. To date, this deal has been the most fruitful acquisition the company has done and gave us a foot hold into higher profile locations with stronger traffic and consumer appetite to spend,” revealed James.

With new stores, bolstered by the acquisition of Card Centre group in Wales, James extended his responsibilities to managing a cluster or stores on top of a buying role, while always with an eye on more store opportunities, including those from the indie sector.

“We pitched ourselves as a great exit option for these people who owned nice stores and were contemplating retirement, seeing this as a way of us continuing to grow at a steady level, rather than opening new stores with no previous goodwill in an already saturated market,” said James, a strategy which continues today.

However, the big prize of Clintons was there on the horizon, but it took a few attempts to clinch the deal. Back in 2018 when Cardzone was trading from 120 stores and Clintons had close to 340, he and Paul flew out to Tel Aviv for a meeting with Clintons’ billionaire co-owner Zev Weiss. “It really does make me laugh at the size of the sort of deal we were hoping to pull off here – it had a real David and Goliath feel about it!” revealed James. “These guys were the sharpest operators we had ever come across.”

Relaying one surreal memory, James recounted that Zev asked him to list what he would do differently from a gifting and distribution perspective in Clintons. “There I was, a 25-year-old who’d been back in the family business for less than three years telling one of the most successful people ever in our industry how a part of his business should do things better! There was plenty of blagging involved!” recalls James.

The Clintons deal didn’t get across the line that time, which James acknowledges was fortunate, especially given that Covid hit the year later causing mayhem to lives and businesses.

Then, in March this year, after what must be one of the longest retail courtships, Cardzone acquired Clintons.

“It was a strange feeling as Dad and I travelled in the car together to Clintons’ head office for the first time and phoned all our larger suppliers and friends to break the news to them,” recalled James. “There was a variety of reactions to the news, some people expected it, wished the deal could’ve happened sooner and felt we would make a real success of the business. Others were shocked and felt we were bordering on the edge of insanity given the size of the undertaking in today’s retail landscape.”

As James elucidated: “Entrepreneurship is about calculated risk taking in the hope of achieving profit and there is a large element of that here when you consider the shape of this modern-day former giant of the High Street which has suffered and shrunk over many years. The bottom line of these things though, is that we would have never gone

working on a relaunch of Clintons in the spring, with the support of Clintons’ loyal store staff.

“We know we won’t get everything right and have already made some mistakes, but I’ll be damned if we don’t give a far bigger opportunity and responsibility to these people, given all their experience and commitment in their various shop locations,” said James. “We are aiming to deliver an experience that you can’t find elsewhere on the High Street. This will be a combination of refits, relocations and new store openings. With the heritage of the Clintons brand and a forward-thinking new store concept, we believe there will be appetite for the brand in further locations. We’ve made some big decisions in a short space of time. The truth is, as long as your stores

through with the acquisition if we didn’t firmly believe we could do a better job of running Clintons with our very different management style approach.”

The hard work of doing that “better job” is now underway, with James and the team

stay open to trade and there’s a plan behind what you’re doing, only good will come of it and any pain will be short term.”

He may have started his time at Cardzone as a boy, but James Taylor has most definitely manned up.

Top: The Cardzone group operates under several brands, including Mooch, the Northampton-based gift retailing group it acquired a couple of years ago.

Above: The connection with the Weiss family (former owners of Clintons) continues as Jeff Weiss (pictured left with Paul Taylor) is on the Cardzone board and the Weiss family has a 10% share in the business.

Right: Still very much a family business. James with his parents Paul and Christine at the recent GCA AGM and Conference. Alex, James’ sister heads up the marketing for the company.

Below: A Cardzone team shot from 2019 with James (far right), Paul (fourth left) and Jo Hancock (third left).

With the stand exuding confident branding and extensive collections of stationery and greeting cards, when In Real Life debuted at the recent Top Drawer exhibition, it was very apparent that this is no rookie start-up.

PG caught up in real life with the former Paperchase colleagues turned business partners, Clare Morant and Kitty Chan, about their hopes and dreams for their new stationery and greeting card company.

LIFE’S REALITIES

consumers are looking for is always an advantage for a new business hoping to make its mark in the competitive worlds of greeting cards and stationery, so Clare Morant and Kitty Chan are a few steps ahead with their greeting card and stationery company, In Real Life.

Only a few weeks since the launch at Top Drawer and the products are already debuting in Waterstones and indies, and the demand has been such that several lines have already sold out on its website and on Faire.

Clare and Kitty's journey began with a shared passion for design and all things stationery, having spent many years crafting innovative products for Paperchase during the retail chain’s heyday, pushing the boundaries with trendsetting yet affordable ranges, that were revered the world over.

Following the sad demise of the muchloved retailer, Clare moved on to become buying manager at WHSmith’s new retail concept brand Curi.o.city, while Kitty

industry experience plays a big part in their new company.

became a WHS buyer. But with an itch to flex their entrepreneurial drive and to develop their own products, they took a leap and launched their own company. And they are bringing a few friends along on the journey, with several colleagues from the former Paperchase design team playing their part, having created 12 ranges of greeting cards which form part of In Real Life’s inaugural portfolio.

Clare freely admits that her and Kitty’s combined

While Clare has the title of managing director and Kitty’s sign off is product director of the new business, they both share the same focus. “We worked closely together for 10 years at Paperchase, scoping out the trends and turning them into saleable products, so know each other’s strengths and weaknesses – I freely admit that Kitty is much better at logistics than me!” revealed Clare. “However, together we can bring valuable insight into what product formats resonate with customers, the price points customers expect for paper products, the ideal factories to collaborate with, and how to innovate around customer needs while prioritising sustainability and commerciality,” summed up Clare.

As Kitty added: “We have a deep understanding of how to collaborate effectively with buyers, being well acquainted with their targets, buying cycles and margin expectations.”

This experience is already paying dividends as In Real Life’s Colourology planners and Luminary notebook collections are debuting in Waterstones this

Above: In Real Life’s co-founders Clare Morant (right) and Kitty Chan on the stand at Top Drawer. Below left: Clare and Kitty are ‘hands on’ with product development and marketing. Below right: One of the colourways in the Colourology collection.

month – certainly a strong start for a completely new brand.

The company name is key to its ethos of giving people a break from the digital clutter, “a chance to pause, reflect and focus on what truly matters,” Clare explained. “Whether you're writing down your thoughts, sketching out new ideas or writing a lovely greeting card to someone you care about, we believe in the value of embracing those analogue moments. We hope our products encourage people to unplug, unwind and find a more organised and balanced life, one page at a time.”

At the heart of the stand at the recent Top Drawer was the colourful Colourology daily and weekly planner collection which Clare explained has been “created to capture personalities in every shade”, delving “into the intricate relationship between colour and emotion, exploring how different hues can influence mood and wellbeing”.

in collaboration with former Paperchase designers Laura Girling, Jessica Holt, Emily Hopgood, Laura Bertinelli and Jessica Eyre, each reflecting current trends with their own style. Also on board is David Howard who was senior brand content manager at the retailer.

These are the first of their stationery ranges to launch at retail, with follow-ups of Expressions and Petalscape collections in the pipeline to land in the spring.

Alongside the stationery, the dozen greeting card collections have been crafted

or greeting cards, at the heart of everything we do is design-driven innovation. We're dedicated to delivering high-quality, functional designs that meet real-life needs, striking the perfect balance between style and practicality.”

While Clare was saddened by the eventual collapse of Paperchase, as she rightly points out, “There were so many good years. We interpreted trends like no other retailer, we brought ranges to market that were really different to anything else in the stationery and greeting card sector, more reflective of what was happening in fashion and interiors not just in the UK, but worldwide. We were continually pushing for new techniques and formats. And this trend-leading position is something we are aiming for now with In Real Life,” said Clare, clearly inspired by the potential.

All the In Real Life greeting card ranges are being printed in the UK, while the initial stationery collections have been produced in the Far East by manufacturers that Clare and Kitty know first hand. “Sustainability is an important consideration for us. The Far East factories we have partnered with are masters at different techniques while sharing our sustainability ethos and commitment to plastic-free packaging,” assured Clare. “We are also working on our next projects which includes a range of notebooks that will be made in the UK,” she revealed.

Having already clinched and delivered into Waterstones, neither Clare nor Kitty are not scared by the inherent numbers or financial outlay in supplying multiples, but they also are delighted to supply indies.

“Independent retailers are really important as they have special relationships with their customers. We have launched on Faire to enable us to supply the independent channel,” said Kitty.

While clearly enjoying being the other side of the counter, Clare admits that there are clearly some differences between being a supplier compared to the role of a buyer.

“For starters, now Kitty and I are the ones sending the emails to retailers asking: ‘Can you please get back to me on this?’. Times have changed, but we’re loving it!”

Left: The portfolio includes various stationery formats.

Far left: Kitty and Clare (2nd and 3rd right) with their old Paperchase pals David Howard, Laura Girling, Jessica Holt and Emily Hopgood, and they’re also working with Laura Bertinelli and Jessica Eyre on greeting cards.

Left: Some of the products in the Petalscape collection which will be available in a few months.

Below: There’s a wide range of designs across the inaugural 12 card collections.

A harvest festival of new products that have launched recently…

Wheely Good

On the Move is a new range of children’s cards from Emily Nash Illustration. The bright and whimsical A6 cards feature a range of humorous animal characters, off in a hurry to their next adventure, each using a different mode of transport. Printed on high quality 180gsm Old Mill Stucco board, they come nested with a 100% recycled kraft envelope.

Emily Nash Illustration 07891 339 686 www.emilynashillustration.com

Emotional Treasures

Hitting The Bullseye

Pink Pig has launched eight new designs into its Three Up sports/hobbies/occupations collection with new designs for darts players, nurses, birdwatchers, bakers, joiners, bookworms and wild campers. Additionally, 14 new fun Scottish titles have joined its giftwrap collection covering both birthdays and occasions. Measuring 50x70mm, the sheets are printed on FSC-accredited paper.

Pink Pig Cards  07583088596 www.pinkpigcards.co.uk

Crumble and Core has considerably expanded its collections of keepsake cards. The extensive Ceramic Keepsake Cards collection – including a detachable hanging ceramic ornament or ceramic magnet – encompasses designs for birthdays, Christmas as well as those for new baby, wedding, good luck, love and friendship. All British designed and made, the cards come with a Kraft recycled envelope.

Crumble and Core 01825 841412

Coasting Along

Natural Festivities

Bird & Co Studio’s charity Wild Snow Globes Christmas card collection, in aid of Wildlife Trust, has been created to celebrate the beauty of the countryside during the winter months while also being conscious and protective of the native wild animals. The range includes illustrated die-cut designs showing farmland, garden and woodland environments with tips included relating to that habitat as to how to help the wildlife living there. The cards are printed on 100% recycled FSC paper and are supplied with recycled kraft envelopes. Bird & Co Studio 07962421805 www.birdandcostudio.com

Sad Losses

Rush Design has released seven new Sympathy designs into its Blossom collection. These elegant cards feature thoughtful captions including Loss of a Loved One, There are No Words and Loss of a Pet. All 155mm square, they are printed on a quality FSC board, finished with silver foil and come with an off-white luxury envelope, wrapped in eco cello bags.

Rush Design 01788 521745 www.rushdesign.co.uk

Kali Stileman Publishing’s latest greeting card range is a celebration of the beautiful British coast that are suitable for every occasion. This collection features lovely sea scenes with colourful boats as well as some iconic British landmarks.

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

A harvest festival of new products that have launched recently…

Heart Of The Matter

Love is in the air at Apple & Clover, as the publisher has just launched 17 new Valentine’s designs for 2025. The designs include adorable dogs and cats plus other heartfelt designs with each hand-finished in the UK with a ribbon bow. All 155mm square, the cards are printed on FSCcertified board.

Apple & Clover 07790 900976

Amy-ing High

Continuing is successful relationship with artist Amy Hodkin, Earlybird Designs has extended its AMY range with some new quirky designs. The designs are drawn from Amy's sketchbook with trending frogs, Siamese dancing cats and leopard print tights! Printed on 100% recycled board, each comes with a kraft fleck envelope. Earlybird Designs 020 7923 3504 www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk

Stationery Shakers

‘Poster child’ for all things sustainable in the stationery sector, VENT for Change’s new Luxury Collection is made in Italy from recycled leather in powder pink and emerald green. The collection includes A4 tablet/document wallets, A5 wire-bound folios and notebooks, pocket A6 notebooks, plus a pen and pencil case.

VENT for Change 07395 284788 www.ventforchange.co.uk

Golden Moments

Rosanna Rossi recently released Sunburst, a collection of over 40 greeting cards including both masculine and feminine designs to suit any occasion. All 150mm square, each card is finished with eye-catching raised gold or copper foil accents and presented with a cream or eco kraft envelope.

Rosanna Rossi 07900 698 522

www.rosanna-rossi.co.uk

Floral Delights

Claire Louise’s new Powder Bloom collection exudes enchanting artwork that draws inspiration from the exquisite beauty of botanical flowers and the wonders of nature in the garden. The collection encompasses 12 greeting cards as well as complimentary giftware. All 155mm square, the cards are accompanied by a white envelope.

Claire Louise 07715 373344

www.claire-louise.co.uk

On The Monet

Coinciding with The Courtauld’s major exhibition: Monet and London. Views of the Thames, ArtPress Publishing has launched a licensed range of cards and card wallets featuring the art of this archetypal painter of the Impressionist movement. The everyday wallet contains six cards of two designs while the Christmas wallet has 10 cards of one design and accompanying envelopes. ArtPress Publishing 020 7231 2923

www.art-press.co.uk

A harvest festival of new products that have launched recently…

Festive Fun

There are 36 open and relation captions in Sabivo Design’s new Christmas range. This contemporary range is hand-illustrated, with the designs featuring an abundance of winter foliage, berries and cute woodland animals and pets, covered in a dusting of snow and twinkling stars. The designs, all 145mm square are handfinished with cup flower sequins and 3D stars and are supplied with festive red envelopes, wrapped in biodegradable cello bags.

Sabivo Design 01858 683 278  www.sabivo.co.uk

Telling Tails

Waving Hello

Lighthouses, seagulls and the sea feature in Dandelion Stationery’s coastal-themed cards, taking the recipient back to warm sunny days! Designed and printed in the UK on sustainable FSC board, they are hand-finished with subtle flitter and supplied with recycled envelopes. These cards are available nested or cellowrapped.

Dandelion Stationery 01332 504940 www.dandelionstationery.co.uk

Adding an extra dimension to its new Number Pop-tails children’s collection of dinosaurs and narwhals age cards is some innovative die-cutting which means that the dinos’ tail and narwhal’s tusk stands proud. There are 14 designs in the range, with each card accompanied by a kraft envelope.

Pretty Little Scribbles 07843852801 www.prettylittlescribbles.com

Loving It Bigtime

Louise Mulgrew’s Big Love range features an eclectic mix of colours and florals with lots of luxury foiling to finish off the designs. All 150mm square and blank inside, the cards are 100% recyclable, printed on a luxe, matte FSC-certified board with a subtle gold foil finish. Louise Mulgrew 01273 783833   www.louisemulgrew.com

Weekday Wonders

I Don’t Like Mondays is the latest card range from You’ve Got Pen On Your Face. The 35 uplifting designs span everyday, occasions, relations and Christmas, with some quirky punnery and foiled accents. The cards come with various coloured envelopes, selected to suit the design.   You’ve Got Pen On Your Face 07958555900 youvegotpenonyourface.com

Make The Booking

Fawn & Thistle has branched out into brass bookmarks. Celebrating literary greats with a feline twist, the inaugural collection includes Jane Pawsten, William Shakespurr and Frankatstein. Each is made from 0.5mm thick brass, lasercut and engraved with an illustration by Fawn & Thistle founder, Kirsten McNee.

Fawn & Thistle 07545590406

www.fawnandthistle.com/ www.fawnandthistletrade.com

®

BRAND NEW from the go-to brand for verse and sentiment, introduces its colourful new range of Greetings Cards and Gifts.

FREE premium quality Acrylic Spinner when you purchase the new range 43cm square footprint delivers an incredible £1,295 retail value and a profit of £728.40

Includes impulse & premium price points

High quality, extremely colourful & eye-catching Card & Gift designs

Complimentary captions on gifts feature key sentiment

Giftable product types with heartfelt sentiment

by Jonny Javelin

Our stunning new watercolour range launches with 9 code 75 titles in the main male captions. A definite ‘go-to’ greeting card for every great guy out there!

The language of cards truly is an art form, with the power of conveying the words and sentiment better than the sender could say themselves. PG delves into the changes happening as so-called ‘traditional’ cards are being modernised, while contemporary captions keep evolving, pushing out some of the longer-serving phrases.

WORDS WORTH

on greeting cards it’s often the actual words that people want to read.

Matching the right level of sentiment for what the sender wants to convey to the recipient really matters and just has to have the right tone.

“Language for the more traditional card has had to modernise, communicating with today’s consumers who are looking for their own traditional cards,” summed up Carte Blanche Greetings’ marketing manager Grace Elphinstone.

She said the company has remained true to the Wishing Well brand’s traditional roots but added: “People are living longer, but are younger at heart than perhaps in older generations, therefore they enjoy and appreciate slightly more modern imagery and themes.

“Words and sentiment remain incredibly important and form a vital part of the buying decision, so we must consider matching the tone

the card.”

While revered for its humour offer, Emotional Rescue also has an increasing footing in the sentiment camp, having won The Henries award for Best Contemporary Words & Sentiments Range last year with Senti, and clinching it in this year’s Traditional W&S category with Scene It.

Creative director Jen Rutter said:

“Language and sentiment are so important to the sending situation. Looser, more contemporary language has found its way into some of our top sellers, clearly people want to find new, more contemporary ways to

bring a more personal level to the send.

“While some customers want a 12-line verse declaring their undying love, for others it just doesn’t suit the nature of their relationship or personalities. It’s great customers are being offered that choice.”

At the heart of sending greeting cards lies the power of the editorial within them.

“The right words can create a profound emotional connection between the sender and the recipient,” believes Hallmark’s head of writing Ruth Turner-Blood. “Expressing feelings can sometimes be challenging to articulate and, especially when this is the case, crafted sentiments provide the perfect way to do this in a way that helps bridge the emotional gap.

“Even though times may be changing, our consumer research hears that many people still want to send some friends and family members a longer, more classicallywritten poetic verse, not only because

Inset: An appropriate design from Holy Mackerel’s Vinegar and Brown Paper range.

they want to say something emotionally meaningful, expressing appreciation and love, but also because that’s what they know will create a positive reaction when the recipient receives it.”

Over the years, Jonny Javelin has continued to produce popular traditional ranges with words and sentiments to match the style and caption, and the extremely successful Velvet is still in high demand.

But co-owner Jonny Spears confirmed the verse style and length have changed to match the updated captions and imagery: “For Christmas Velvet, for example, we’re tending not to use very old-fashioned words such as ‘yuletide’ and simply replace with ‘Christmas time’.”

The size of it

As The Henries awards categories reflect, there is still a divide between contemporary and traditional words and sentiment of which designers and publishers are aware, as they need to decide where to aim their ranges.

Hallmark’s head of writing Ruth Turner-Blood believes that “Length of sentiment is usually a key distinction with traditional often viewed as lengthy and expressive through the amount of words using heightened vocabulary, versus contemporary using more trend-led vocabulary and being short and punchy – mirroring contemporary communication in general.”

At Carte Blanche it’s size that matters as Grace Elphinstone, marketing manager explained: “With traditional cards the sender will typically see great value in the size of the card and see it as an important buying decision. There’s often an insert allowing for even more verse while, in general contemporary cards are more likely to be smaller in size and usually have fewer words and lighter sentiment than a traditional card.”

Nicola Elders actually sees four categories – traditional designs through and through, traditional greetings with a modern or contemporary art feel, contemporary greetings phrases with a traditional feel and then the really contemporary cards.

“Depending on who you ask you'll probably get a different answer, but that's one of the things I love about the greeting card world – it's fully inclusive, there's something for everyone!”

know how important the relationship with your loved ones is – I have two daughters myself and we cherish all the memories shared, the comfort and care you give them, the journeys and experience you take as they grow and the pride you have.

“It's why we continue to develop carefully-designed ranges with thoughtful messaging.”

And at Ling’s sibling company Great British Card Company its head of design Lucy Ledger explained that she spends a great deal of time researching and developing new sentiment cards.

and customers. It’s a completely new look with delicate hand-painted watercolours alongside some really heartfelt captions suitable for today’s customers.”

Supporting the continuing need for traditional sentiment cards, IC&G recently released its Most Especially For You range. As creative director Amanda Miles commented: “Some of them have six verses of traditional sentiment. We tentatively only released a small collection as we believed there was a gap in the market for high commitment verse cards, and they’ve been well received with sales supporting the move.”

However, the verse length is still determined by the caption, sentiment and size of the card as there’s still a huge market for sentimental verses and traditional cards, while other more modern or cute ranges have a shorter verse that’s punchier.

He added: “A traditional words and sentiments style of card can also include those with wordy verses inside and not just those with many words on the front of a card whereas, compared to a contemporary version where a style is more graphic, there may be only words on the front and very few or none inside.”

At Ling Design head of design Clare Twigger draws inspiration from her own life: “I

“One of my favourite new refreshes is our Word For Word collection, developed in response to feedback from our sales team

Petimo founder Sophie Edwards, added: “These days, people are embracing authenticity, simplicity and honesty. By ensuring that cards feel real and relatable, words and sentiments designs continue to play a key role in how we connect with one another.”

UK Greetings is a maestro at understanding that the way consumers communicate is evolving all the time. From people who want to say a lot to those who want simple greetings in an interesting way, everyone is different, so the publisher caters for all tastes and tones with its words and sentiment.

Its heartfelt ranges, such as Word Portraits and the award-winning Helen Steiner Rice give customers beautifully crafted and multilayered themed pieces, while Little Voice,

Above: Hallmark uses verse in various styles. Above right: Delicate watercolours and turn of phrase from GBCC.

Above: A more traditional design from Hallmark. Above right: Carte Blanche’s Wishing Well trad cards tend to be larger.

Above: Relationships matter at Ling. Above right: Words are important on Jonny Javelin cards.

Above: Carte Blanche’s Wishing Well has traditional roots.

Above right: A design from Emotional Rescue’s Senti range that was created in collaboration with Paper Salad.

Love & Doodles and The Edit offer heartfelt messages but in a contemporary voice.

As Dandelion’s founder Jo Wilson sums up: “Words

& Sentiments cards, whether traditional or contemporary, fill a real demand in the market for people wanting cards to send a particular message that the sender struggles to put into their own words. They can be a hug in a card just when someone needs it the most.

“I think the key difference is simply the vocabulary used along with the expressions and tone. They work hand in hand, and each has its place.”

Understand the lingo

And, as consumers demand captions for every sending situation now, Words ’N’ Wishes’ studio manager Tony Cottrell believes: “There will always be the requirement for traditional verse, “however, the younger generation have the requirement of a hybrid card that has less text, something punchier, maybe text-based

As language changes cards have developed a lingua franca using new wording for the sentiments that people want to convey.

Changing language has made a difference at Dandelion Stationery where founder Jo Wilson has seen a strong shift in wellness cards: “There’s a lot more call for phrases other than Get Well Soon – I wouldn’t say it’s been replaced, as there is a still a market for this, but there’s a strong demand for cards that offer similar but different sentiments such as Speedy Recovery, Thinking Of You, Here For You, and cancer and other specific illness cards.”

Fox Under The Moon deals with a lot of customers who have friends or relatives with a terminal illness, and co-founder Stacey McNeill commented: “It’s such a difficult thing to find a suitable card for someone who’s ill, but not going to get better. You want to show them you care and that they’re being so brave, but Get Well Soon really isn’t appropriate at all.”

Lorraine Bradley, founder of Rush Design concurs: “Phrases like Hope You’re Feeling Brighter have appeared as an alternative to Get Well, and some great new phrases like Sending Sunshine, Here For You and Big Hugs.”

Dandelion’s Jo Wilson has also tracked that while Congratulations and Well Done are regular sends, in recent years she’s seen an increase in demand for slightly different words to the traditional congrats captions, “such as You Did It!, Whoop Whoop, Cheers, and So Proud Of You that could fit a huge variety of occasions.”

The rise of positive affirmations is something IC&G’s creative director Amanda Miles has noticed, along with titles such as

Sending A Hug and Thinking Of You is still strong.

or sometimes humour with a softer, more emotional punchline.”

As Tony summed up: “The price of a stamp may have increased, but the value of knowing you can help make someone’s day with a thoughtful card that costs less than half the price of a cup of coffee, is a sentiment which the industry should feel rightfully proud.”

And Kali Stileman’s Jemima Stileman confirmed that: “Customers love positive affirmations! Perhaps in a post-Covid era people want something bright and optimistic to show their nearest and dearest they care. Our Carpe Diem card is one of our bestsellers.”

Nicola Elders agreed: “There's definitely more of an awareness of mental health these days, after awful years in terms of housing crisis, Covid, cost-of-living crisis, etc, and I think this is having an impact on the cards being designed and purchased.”

“There is certainly a trend for words expressing real care and kindness with sympathy phrases like Loss Of A Loved One and There Are No Words as alternatives to In Deepest Sympathy.”

With mental health at the forefront of everyday conversations along with the need to support family, friends and neighbours, Words ’N’ Wishes has found an upsurge in inspirational cards with I Saw This And Thought Of You an increasing send to someone just to brighten their day and gift them a lift.

WnW’s studio manager Tony Cottrell said: “These cards are uplifting with messages like You Are Braver Than You Know And Stronger Than You Think. This type of card hits the spot for both the purchaser and the receiver as the wellbeing that it gives both parties helps to make everyone feel a little better.”

Redback’s business development specialist, Pippa Jephcott added: “We’ve noticed a shift towards a more playful and expressive style, a less formal, more light-hearted approach to wordology, which feels more authentic and personal to both sender and recipient.”

Above left: Six verses feature on the cards in IC&G’s new release. Above right: New sentiments from Oh Squirrel.

Above left: Dandelion is famed for its editorial tone. Above right: Seize the day says Kali Stileman. Below left: Fox Under The Moon’s bestseller. Below middle: Rush’s captions have evolved. Below right: An uplift from Words ’N’ Wishes.

Left: Petimo’s messaging takes centre stage. Below: UKG caters for all tastes.

The global greeting card gathering of publishers, retailers, overseas distributors and suppliers

Tuesday 3 June and Wednesday 4 June 2025

London’s Business Design Centre

Progressive Greetings Live 2025… is all set to be a big bouncing baby!

Over 150 fabulous companies have already booked their stands for Progressive Greetings Live 2025…and there are stands available to suit all budgets

The gestation period for a human baby is nine months… the same amount of time until PG Live 2025!

PG Live is an incredible two day international celebration of greeting card publishers, retailers, overseas distributors and suppliers, where business meets pleasure.

Get excited, be a part of it…no hot towels required!

An upbeat vibe, newness galore – and free refreshments, lunch and opening night party, PG Live 2025 is not to be missed!

Here’s just a ‘starter for ten’ of some of the great exhibitors who will be showing at PG Live 2025, with many more to join them - all will be ready to give you a warm welcome…

ABACUS CARDS

ABBOT PRINT

ALFF A BET

ALL SHADES CARDS

ALLJOY DESIGN

ALPHA COLOUR PRINTERS

ANTHOLOGY CARDS

APPLE & CLOVER

ARRTHI

THE ART FILE

ARTPRESS

AVANTI PRESS

BADGERBEE DESIGNS

BELLY BUTTON DESIGNS

BEWILDERBEEST

BEXY BOO

BIRD & CO STUDIO

BLUE KIWI DESIGN

BOLD & BRIGHT

BRAINBOX CANDY

CAMBRIDGE CONFECTIONERY

CARDGAINS

CARDOLOGY

CAROUSEL CALENDARS

CARTE BLANCHE GREETINGS

CATH TATE

CHURCHILL GIFTS

CINNAMON AITCH

CITRUS BUNN

CLARE MADDICOTT PUBLICATIONS

COACH HOUSE

CREATIVE SPARROW

THE CURIOUS PANCAKE

CUMMINS & PAPYRUS

DANDELION GREETINGS

DANDELION STATIONERY

DANILO

DEAN MORRIS CARDS

DESIGNER GREETINGS

DEVA DESIGNS

DINOSAURS DOING STUFF

DOTS ALLOWED

DYSON DESIGN

EARLYBIRD

EAST END PRINTS

ELEANOR BOWMER

EMILY NASH ILLUSTRATION

EMOTIONAL RESCUE

ENVECO

FEATHER & HARE

FEDRIGONI

FI MOSZORO DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION

FIVE DOLLAR SHAKE

FOX UNDER THE MOON

GABRIELLE SOLLY ILLUSTRATION

GREAT BRITISH CARD COMPANY (GBCC)

GREETING CARD ASSOCIATION

GENIALITY ART

GINGER BETTY

GO LA LA

GRACE JACKSON DESIGNS

GRAPHITE CREATIVE

HAHNEMUHLE

HALLMARK

HAPPY STREET

HEATHER TREFUSIS ART

HEYYY CARDS

HYPE

HYVE

THE IMAGING CENTRE

JELLY ARMCHAIR

JESSIE MAEVE STUDIO

KALI STILEMAN PUBLISHING

KATIE TINKLER ILLUSTRATION

KDEE DESIGNS

LAURA DARRINGTON DESIGN

LETTERBOX LANE

LIFE CHARMS

LIL WABBIT

LING DESIGN

LITTLE PAPER SOUL

LITTLE ROGLETS

LOLA DESIGN

LORENZO ZANGHERI ART

LOUISE MULGREW

LOUISE TYLER

LOVELY PAPER STUFF

LOWLANDS STUDIOS

LOXLEYS

LUCILLA LAVENDER

LUCKY INK

LUCY MAGGIE DESIGNS

LYDIA.LONDON

MUSEUMS & GALLERIES

MARINA B

MAX MADE ME

MEGAN CLAIRE

MERAKI

MIFKINS

MINT PUBLISHING

N SMITH

NIGEL QUINEY PUBLICATIONS

NOEL TATT

NOT AT ALL JACK

NOT TODAY TUESDAY

OBJECTABLES

OHH DEER

ORIGAMO

PANGO PRODUCTIONS

PAPER BIRD

PAPER MIRCHI

PAPER ROSE

PAPER SALAD

PAPER SHED

PAPERLINK

PAPERSHEEP

PARTISAN PRODUCTS

PATTERN BY MEL

PEAR TREE PRESS

PENGUIN INK

PENNY KENNEDY

PICKLED PRINTS

PICKLED TUNA

PIGMENT

PLEWSY

THE PORCH FAIRIES

PORTFOLIO

PRINTS DOODLE

PRETTY LITTLE SCRIBBLES

PUNTASTIC

QUITTING HOLLYWOOD

RAINIE COLLECTIONS

RASPBERRY BLOSSOM

REDBACK CARDS

RICICLE CARDS

ROSANNA ROSSI

ROSIE MADE A THING

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS

RUSH DESIGN

SABIVO DESIGNS

SAKINA SAIDI

SARAH KELLEHER SENSATIONS

THE SHERWOOD GROUP

SKYLIGHT MEDIA

STEPHANIE DAVIES

STOATS & WEASELS

STORMY KNIGHT

STRIPEY CATS

STUDIO BOKETTO

STUDIO FREWB

TACHE

TRACKS PUBLISHING

TWO FOR JOY

UK GREETINGS

UNIQUE PAPER

VEB

VERSED AID

WENDY BELL DESIGNS

WENDY JONES-BLACKETT

WHITE COTTON CARDS

WINDLES

WOODMANSTERNE

ZOE SPRY

As an industry that is totally reliant on a natural resource in the shape of paper and board, the greeting cards sector has been one of the most enthusiastic and self-driven exponents of the sustainability movement. From naked cards to recyclable wrap, biodegradable glitter to BCorp status, PG spotlights how just some of the industry’s publishers and suppliers are doing their bit to safeguard the planet.

Plans for the planet

To BCorp or not to BCorp

Earning BCorp certification shows a business is fully committed to sustainability on both the eco and staffing fronts and the greetings industry is embracing the move.

Of the 8,814 B Corp firms across the globe, there are 2,890 in the UK, and these include greeting card and allied companies Wrendale Designs, Talking Tables, Once Upon A Tuesday, paper company G.F Smith and most recently, Ohh Deer

As Ohh Deer co-owner Mark Callaby explained: “This means that our company meets high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.”

The globally-recognised certification confirms a business meets and maintains high standards of social and environmental impact, and is actively engaged in the building of a better world for us all.

It addresses the entirety of a company’s operations, covering five key impact areas of governance, workers, community, environment and customers, in rigorous process where applicants must provide evidence of socially and environmentally-responsible practices relating to energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency, and legally embed their commitment to purpose beyond profit in their company articles.

“This is a huge milestone for our company and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to ensuring that our business positively impacts our customers, our community, our colleagues

and the planet,” Wrendale Designs’ founder Hannah Dale said.

At G.F Smith, the company has further underlined its sustainability commitment by being granted global exclusivity for selling Notpla’s fullyrecyclable board made from seaweed, and MD Gareth Sheekey said the values represented by BCorp “go hand in hand with our long-term strategy”, adding that “it is not a badge of honour as much as a declaration of intent”.

As well as being a global leader in designled table and party products, Talking Tables has celebrated its 25th year with BCorp status, and diversified into giftwrappings which it unveiled at PG Live in June, and earlier this year Good Tuesday – just renamed from Once Upon A Tuesday – is among the first stationery brands to become certified.

Wrapping it up

Constantly reviewing the product allows giftwrap company Penny Kennedy to continuously look for more sustainable solutions.

“All our luxury rollwrap is already recyclable and FSC,” explained brand manager Emma Puzey, “and from January 2025 certain ranges will be available either wrapped in recycled shrink wrap or in a non-wrapped solution with a paper sleeve and tear tab, reducing our impact on the environment.”

On top of this, its bags are recyclable, tissue comes in recyclable packaging and its Christmas crackers have plastic-free content.

“We do all of this while making sure that both the product and the design are of the utmost quality and desirable,” assured Emma.

Above: (top to bottom) Ohh Deer, G.F Smith and Wrendale are all BCorp certified.

Above: All Penny Kennedy bags are recyclable.

Speakers unveiled for POC event

The rebranded Products Of Change Conference has announced the first names set to lead this year’s conversation at this year’s event, which will take place on 6 November at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Hailed the “most inspiring and engaging industry event ever attended” by audience members, including many from the greetings world such as Danilo, UK Greetings, The Eco-friendly Card Company and Carousel Calendars, the event that used be known as the Sustainability In Licensing Conference (SiLC) is open for bookings.

Membership organisation Products Of Change (POC) has unveiled its new brand identity for the agenda-setting and era-defining annual sustainability event, showcasing the depth and breadth of the industries and business sectors the sustainability education platform reaches.

Lego Group, Primark and Asda are among the speakers with the opening keynote being Tony’s Chocolonely Carousel Calendars will join FSC Blockchain and DK Books in an exploration of the EU’s new Deforestation Regulation and its direct impact on the international publishing industry, which will have a major impact on greeting card publishers (see page 52).

Other topics include the latest update on what the POC community

Journeying to net zero

They’re all fired up about the future at Danilo Promotions, as the licensed calendar and card publisher is working towards net zero by 2050 and has offset its Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2023, working with www.carbonfootprint.com to plant trees in the UK and become carbon neutral within those scopes.

has been doing to create an officially-recognised industry standard framework for measuring, tracking, and reducing the sector’s Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions.

POC founder and CEO Helena Mansell-Stopher said: “As Products Of Change enters its fifth year, we are honoured to showcase the industry’s innovative solutions and achievements not just of the last 12 months, but in cumulation of the past five years of industry development, too. By continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible, we demonstrate the power of collaboration and highlight the incredible potential within the greeting card and allied sectors.”

Ticket options are available at www.productsofchange.com/allevents/poc-conference-2024 for those wishing to attend all-day and in-person, including networking opportunities with the day’s speakers and delegates, or for global audiences to watch the event from the comfort of their own offices as it is live-streamed across the world.

“It’s a fantastic start, but we’re just getting warmed up!” said Danilo’s MD Daniel Prince. “One of our top priorities is energy efficiency. We’ll be conducting energy and heat audits to find new ways to slash our energy consumption and lower our carbon footprint. And we’re making it easy for our team to go green too! We’ve installed free EV charging points at our Waltham Abbey office, giving staff the nudge that they need to switch to electric vehicles and help us all drive down emissions.

“We’re also pushing for greener, healthier ways to get to work. Our office now has brandnew showers, and we’ve officially joined the Cycle To Work scheme. Whether it’s cycling, walking, or car-pooling, we’re committed to supporting staff in making eco-friendly travel choices, helping us reduce our reliance on traditional, high-emission transport.”

On the product front, Danilo will be rolling out digital passports to show how sustainable each item is, packaging will also continue to get more green upgrades, with more recyclable materials and less waste being a top priority, its working on partnerships to help recycle products at the end of their lifecycle, supporting the circular economy.

The supply chain is going green too, with the company aiming to cut Scope 3 emissions by 42% by 2030, working to ensure sustainability is built into every stage of production, alongside holding more digital meetings to minimise travel-related emissions.

Daniel added: “The cherry on top is that we’re investing in our team’s sustainability knowledge, with training coming soon to give employees the tools and insights to think and act green – whether that’s in product design, packaging decisions, or day-to-day operations.”

Active forest

Starting in 2025, Santoro plans to transition from plastic to paper packaging for both its 3D Swing and Pirouette Card collections. It’s a significant move for the company as it continues to prioritise sustainable production practices for all paper card products, maximising the recycling of both materials and energy at every stage. Currently, the wood that makes up every 3D product is sourced from an active forest meaning whenever one trees is felled and processed for the 3D Pop Ups, it’s replaced with three new seedlings, maintaining a fullycurated forest.

Below: Santoro is phasing out plastic packaging.

Above right and below: Danilo has free EV chargers, offsetting emissions and an inhouse green team.

Left: The Eco-friendly Card Co’s Sue Morris met the Wombles at the 2023 conference.

UKG’s on a roll

UK Greetings is continuing to expand its sustainability efforts with its plastic-free branded rollwraps the latest in a long line of sustainability developments.

“Our products use FSC C007625 certified paper and boards sourced from sustainable, well-managed forests and other controlled sources,” explained Chris Shaw, head of UKG’s safety and sustainability.

UKG is now four years into a partnership with the World Land Trust, whose aim is to protect the world’s most biologically significant and threatened habitats acre by acre. Through this collaboration, it secures and protects land while offsetting the carbon footprint for all cards.

UKG’s head of brand Louise James said: “As part of our ongoing commitment to look for new opportunities and innovative ways to make our products sustainable we are very excited about the introduction of our new tear strip on roll wrap, available from January 2025 and on all Christmas 2025 designs.

“This new roll wrap is 100% recyclable, replaces traditional plastic shrink wrap and maintains ease of use for consumers.”

To bring this innovation to its portfolio, UKG has made a substantial investment in cutting-edge manufacturing equipment, and operations director Richard Wilkinson commented: “This investment in new technology underscores our dedication to sustainability. It allows us to pioneer eco-friendly solutions while maintaining the high quality our customers expect.”

Looking to the future, all new UKG branded gift dressing products will be 100% recyclable, FSC certified, and plastic-free, gift bags will

Wooden it be lovely

Creating a reusable product in a disposable world is the ethos behind Meraki Notebooks as co-owners Steve Baker and Andy Bird put their knowledge to good use.

Working together at Folio, Andy’s print finishing business, they know all about notebooks, producing 50,000 a month, but they wanted something different, bespoke and high end so came up with the concept of wooden covers with replaceable inner pages.

The customisable covers protect the pages making the notebook more resilient to wear and tear, and there’s a wide choice of woods, and engraving to really personalise each one.

Steve explained: “We wanted to create a reusable product in a disposable world and, while you pay a premium for our wooden covers we thought having the ability to replace and swap in and out the inner pages was the way forward in terms of sustainability and being different to our competitors.”

Instead of buying entirely new notebooks you only need to purchase new paper refills.

feature recyclable paper handles, and seasonal boxed cards will be 100% plastic-free, marking another significant step in UKG’s ongoing sustainability journey.

“All UKG cards are already plastic and glitter-free, fully FSC-certified, and 100% carbon balanced,” Louise added. “We’re proud to report that 97% of our cards are fully recyclable, a figure that continues to rise. In a significant step forward, we've increased the use of recycled materials in our products.

At this year’s PG Live we launched over new Evergreen card range featuring fully-recycled board, 100% recyclability, FSC certification, and vegetable-based inks.”

The focus is not just on product, over the last year UKG has made substantial progress in reducing its environmental impact.

Chris said: “Through significant investments in state-of-the-art equipment, enabling us to substantially reduce our carbon footprint by producing more products in the UK. In 2023 alone, we produced over 155million greeting cards in our UK facilities. Looking ahead, our vision is to have 85% of single card production through our Cannon Way facility in Dewsbury, Yorkshire within the next three years.

“Our commitment to sustainability extends even further and beyond manufacturing, installing the latest technology in insulated roofing panels at our everyday distribution centre, which will lower our Scope 1 emissions. Additionally, we've implemented LED lighting throughout all our facilities, resulting in energy savings of 1.6 million kWh, equivalent to approximately 400 tonnes of CO2e.”

Cut the cr*p

Focusing on the bigger environmental picture has always been the case at Windles Group where co-owner Bruce Podmore and his team have brought in numerous innovations to make sure the print specialist does exactly that.

And now Windles has put its cards on the table – literally! – with the Cut The Cr*p pack to explain to customers exactly what goes on behind the scenes to make it all happen in a sustainable way.

The pack, which is downloadable or available as a set of cards to keep on your desk, explains what happens at Windles, including useful information, design tips for the processes available and handy industry knowledge.

“We take the sustainable and ethical practices of our business very seriously,” marketing manager Michelle Mills stated. “We’re regularly audited and reviewed for all of our certifications and standards. We are committed to the Ethical Trading Initiative and implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human rights. As a family-owned company, we hold core values such as integrity and honesty paramount to everyone connected within the business.

“All of our products, processes and techniques are underpinned with 35 years of expertise. Projects are evaluated for their sustainability, recyclability, life-cycle and function to ensure they are fit-for-purpose and that appropriate materials and finishes are selected.”

From the self-driven Loop-It initiative that guides everything at the business to reduce both Windles and clients’ impact on the environment, through wate management, biomass and energy recovery, ink varnishes and coatings, product wrapping – or not, paper and board sourcing, site and building efficiencies, biodegradable plastics, and local sourcing, through the various in-house processes such as Cold Foil, Colourise, Kard Klasp and paper banding, to the purpose-built production house in Thame complete with badger sett, bat hotel, and wormery, Cut The Cr*p covers it all.

Above: Reshoring to UK manufacturing and sustainability improvements is important at UKG.

Above: Windles’ new pack covers its eco story.

Above: Merkai’s wooden cover and refillable pad options are cost-effective.

Staying naked is good

The clue is in the name at The Eco-friendly Card Company where co-owners Sue and Scott Morrish have spent over 30 years running their business on sustainable principles.

One of the biggest changes in the card industry over the last five years is the push from publishers to offer naked cards, and The Ecofriendly Card Company now has about 70% of orders sent just with the card clasp label rather than in compostable bags.

so less waste. We use a lightweight ‘wrap’ for our mixed charity Christmas packs which, together with a label, protects the cards and holds them in place.”

For Sue, it’s also important to look behind the scenes of any business to assess the environmental impact that isn’t seen by the end consumer, such as hidden plastic and excess materials used in transit packaging to retailers.

However, co-owner Sue questions the sustainability sense of some new packaging options. “I’m not convinced that some of the plastic-free boxed Christmas packaging is the best choice environmentally though,” said Sue. “The weight of these boxes, and therefore the carbon footprint, far exceeds the weight of a compostable bag, and then there’s also the printing and finishing –sometimes quite ornate – of the boxes too, which further adds to the environmental impact.”

Confronting this, Sue has come up with “a compromise solution using the minimal amount of paper, and no complicated die-cut shapes,

A paper trail

She added: “We try to minimise the impact of our transit packaging by using paper bands cut down from old calendar or brochure make-ready sheets from the printers and, where we send naked cards, we pack them in glassine paper bags to keep them protected in transit. These are not only recyclable but also attractive and many retailers then keep them as bags to reuse at the counter!”

Revealing one environmental bugbear that Sue is looking to improve on, is the backing paper or release liner for labels. “In theory this is recyclable, but there’s no scheme I’m aware of that’s accessible to card publishers, where we could send backing paper from labels to be recycled.

It would be great if we could work as an industry to try and create a solution for this,” Sue highlighted.

With every item in Woodmansterne’s new gift packaging collection made entirely from paper, the publisher continues its sustainability strides.

Sustainability was a major focus of Woodmansterne’s recent launch into giftwrappings, with all products being fully recyclable and made from sustainable-sourced materials. The gift tags are made from sturdy paper and can be fastened with the 100% paper string, while each roll of wrap is protected by a paper sleeve easily opened using the pull-down kraft tab, and the tissue paper and gift tag multipacks are packaged in kraft paper, while the gift bags feature strong woven paper handles.

Head of marketing Louisa Guelce explained this is the latest in Woodmansterne’s sustainability initiatives having been a pioneer since the 1980s, when the publisher first used recycled boards for its greeting cards, moving to solely FSC paper by 1998.

The company’s own printing operations achieved FSC certified status in 2009, and the luxury envelopes used for all cards have been made from 100% post-consumer waste recycled paper since 2017.

Since 2019’s Smart Seal replaced its polypropylene bags, thereby removing over 50 tonnes of plastic from the process each year, it has gone on to replace the cellobags in its Christmas charity packs with first a plastic band and now a paper band and Smart Seal, meaning that the product range is completely plasticpackaging free – and the packing processes also use paper bands round trade units.

“Our commitment to sustainability also extends to operations,” Louisa added, as distribution now runs from the net carbon-neutral build warehouse in Milton Keynes, equipped with 99 skylights that flood the warehouse with natural light, a water solar array to pre-heat hot water, a rainwater harvesting system to flush the loos and sensor-driven ambient-adjusting LED lighting, plus 393 solar panels supplying over a third of the site’s overall electricity consumption.

The warehouse is 99.8% plastic-free, with plastic only used for pallet wrapping and some poly-backed tape processes, while transit boxes are cut to size to reduce the need for paper void-fill and are sealed with webbed paper tape to maximise recycling.

All that glitters

In a significant step towards environmental responsibility, IC&G has announced the launch of new sustainable glitter which allows the publisher to offer the same dazzling sparkle that customers love, without compromising the planet.

IC&G has carefully sourced 90% biodegradable glitter, made from plant-based materials, that breaks down naturally in the environment.

“We believe creativity shouldn’t come at the cost of the environment,” said creative director Amanda Miles. “By transitioning to sustainable glitter, we’re taking a small yet impactful step towards reducing our environmental footprint. We’re proud to offer our customers the chance to celebrate special moments with a touch of sparkle that doesn’t harm the planet.”

The new sustainable glitter will be available across IC&G’s entire range of greeting cards, and Amanda said the initiative aligns with its broader sustainability goals, which include a World Land Trust partnership, promoting recycling, and supporting environmentally-friendly production practices.

Above: Everything’s paper in Woodmansterne’s giftwrappings range.

Above and left: Minimal paper packaging for festive packs.

Above: Keeping the sparkle without harming the planet.

What’s all the fuss about the EUDR?

As it stands, by 30 December this year, the European Deforestation Regulation will be in full force, bringing with it data requirements “never seen before”. But so much is still uncertain. Rob Hutchins, Products of Change’s content editor explores what is known so far… It was a moment of revelation when Steve Plackett, md of Carousel Calendars opened a Due Diligence Report from one of the company’s largest, European paper suppliers to find the majority of its pulp had been sourced from trees in Brazil.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. A business as eager to comply with incoming EU Deforestation Regulations (EUDR), as this particular paper mill has been, is clearly a paper mill with little to hide.

“It’s just very interesting because you would easily assume that a European paper mill would source its paper from forests in Europe,” says Steve. “But no, there it is in its reported data: 79% of pulp sourced from Brazil.”

Under the incoming European Deforestation Regulation, the only assumption we can rightfully make is that all assumptions are about to be subverted. Seldom are we ready to believe that activity linked to forest degradation is making its way into our domestic markets, but the truth of the matter is, the EU is the world’s second-largest importer of products associated with deforestation.

EUDR is the Commission’s attempt to reduce its contribution to global deforestation and forest degradation by demanding a level of transparency “unlike we’ve ever seen before”.

“For the European forest and wood sector, the change is less dramatic. We already have the EU Timber Regulation in place, which establishes some requirements for deforestation-free wood sourcing,” says Niina Niemela, senior manager of sustainability at the European paper supplier, UPM

“However, the broader impact of the EUDR is significant. This regulation will affect, not only the wood industry, but also six other commodities, influencing how operators and traders conduct business globally.”

comply or not. That will be for businesses to know, to work with their supply chains to collect the right data and then provide it when the retailers ask.”

Luckily, Carousel Calendars is working with the kind of paper suppliers – Sappi and UPM being the largest of them – that make the collection of data a smoother process.

“From the EUDR perspective, our role is significant,” says UPM’s Niina. “We are part of the supply chain, acting as both an operator placing commodities on the market and a producer of paper. We also sell paper to the market as a trader.”

The kind of data UPM is providing drills right down to not only the percentage of pulp sourced from each country of origin, but the tree species processed within each as well as first attempts to provide the geolocation of the source.

There are, however, plenty of unknowns circling the EUDR discussion, including possible delays and – thanks to ongoing squabbles across EU member states and global economies –questions over whether it will be implemented at all.

Under the assumption that all will go to plan by 30 December, the primary concern for many, though, is simply where all this data is to be stored once it’s been compiled. The IT system through which the due diligence statements are to be submitted is only now being developed by the Commission which predicts it will be active by as late as 2028.

“It makes it difficult to develop business’ own IT systems that would need to be compatible with the EU system,” sympathises Niina. “The Regulation is partly open to interpretation and the EU Commission has so far not published a clear guidance related to some of its core requirements. So, there’s uncertainty about how this all should be applied in practice.”

Among those seven commodities is paper and pulp. And implementing the required levels of traceability and due diligence processes, says Niina, “will be a major undertaking for businesses.”

Steve can already attest to this. He’s sifted through all 40 pages of the EUDR documentation and whittled it down to ten – filled with the most salient points for the publishing business.

As an SME, Carousel Calendars’ obligation to report on this level of traceability data doesn’t kick in until six months after the legislation comes into full force on the 30 December. By which point it’s largely anticipated that much of the product – those Christmas greeting cards and 2025 calendars – would have already sold through.

But that doesn’t stop a supermarket giant like Tesco – one of Carousel’s retail customers – asking for that data now.

“While most businesses in the greeting card sector will be SMEs, the like of Tesco isn’t. And it has reporting obligations that need to be fulfilled in time for December 30,” Steve explains. “The thing is, it’s not up to the retailer to tell you whether you need to

But that ought not diminish the importance of doing it. In the past 30 years, between 1990 and 2020, approximately 1.8 million square kilometres of forest has been lost globally, seven times the size of the United Kingdom. And deforestation is a major contributor to climate change and biodiversity loss, two of humanity’s most pressing threats.

“The EUDR is therefore essential to addressing this issue,” states Niina. “I recommend that businesses first familiarise themselves with the details that the EU has shared. Then, reach out to suppliers and partners within their value chain to discuss potential solutions. Especially important is to involve the IT function in an early stage to ensure the data solutions.”

As for what the future of the EUDR will look like, all bets are off. Steve predicts that eventually, responsibility for data collection will fall on the paper mills and suppliers which will “provide businesses with Due Diligence numbers” to give to retailers. “But right now, we really cannot take anything for granted,” he says.

Both Steve and Niina will be taking part in a special panel session at the Products of Change Conference on November 6 this year dedicated to the topic of EUDR (see page 48) where they will be joined by representatives from international publisher, DK Books and FSC.

Above: Calendar envelopes offer plastic-free protection for Carousel.

A date with plastic-free

As a leading publisher of over 1,000 calendar titles, Carousel Worldwide has been committed to sustainability by transitioning many of its main volume ranges to plastic-free packaging over the past six years.

With an impressive range of 248 calendars available in various formats, including slims, walls, A5, and A4 sizes, and the largest selection of regional and local-view products Carousel’s MD Steve Plackett said: “This year and next, our goal is to extend this initiative to more of our regional calendars. The challenge lies in finding innovative ways to retain protective envelopes while eliminating shrink wrap. Our trial last

Natural inspiration

Henries-award winner Emily Byrd takes inspiration from the natural world so decided to set up her eco-conscious paper goods brand Bird & Co Studio, which uses recycled or FSC paper, plus board made from bamboo, agricultural waste and plantable seed paper.

She explained: “A big driver for me was seeing first-hand the damaging impact singleuse items were having on our wildlife. Historically, greeting cards were made from virgin paper, used chemical dyes, and included embellishments like glitter or plastic.”

Emily’s tack has been to focus on the illustrated aesthetic and not use plastic coatings, embellishments or glitter that make cards harder to recycle.

“I also encourage recipients to keep or reuse cards rather than throwing them away – our fine art cards can be framed or sent as a postcard after use,” says Emily.

Only supplying cards naked or with a biodegradable cello, and packed using recycled materials, Emily works with suppliers that share her eco ethos, printing in the UK in small batches or on demand to reduce waste and using water-based and plant-based inks wherever possible. She also has a tree-planting scheme with Ecologi to help reduce the carbon footprint and also supports charities such as the Wildlife Trust that are helping to protect and restore local wild habitats.

year with 17 titles proved successful, allowing us to move our entire A4 range – an additional 122 titles – to plastic-free packaging.”

Carousel has also developed a creative packaging solution for its Week to View midi calendars that retains the popular pencil feature without the need for plastic. The solution took several years to perfect, and offers an appealing presentation while being environmentally friendly.

Additionally, the entire National Railway Museum range of 14 titles has also transitioned to plastic-free packaging.

Steve added: “Equally, if not more important, we’re now in our fifth year of actively measuring and reducing our Scope 1, 2, and 3 carbon emissions, reinforcing our commitment to a 46% reduction by 2030. This near-term net zero target compels us to take immediate, meaningful action, ensuring we don't defer responsibility to future generations.”

Sparkle without damage

Unique Paper Company is incredibly frustrated that its recyclable branded Bioglitter is not being embraced by the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) for its sustainability status.

Even though company director Lydia Scamponi has had the giftwrap with Bioglitter detailing laboratory tested (so has certification to prove it’s recyclable), the CPI can’t get past the word ‘glitter’ in the brand name, despite it being made from cellulose, as is paper, and containing no plastics.

“We have committed a lot of time, and expense in moving towards a more sustainable product that is both better for the planet while still satisfying our customer demands,” Lydia explained, “and it’s incredibly frustrating when it’s clear to me that our papers, that are over 98% paper by weight, should be fully recycled.”

The CPI’s stance aligns with the Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2024, which explicitly categorise paper products with adhered glitter as non-recyclable, so Unique currently prints ‘eco-friendly Bioglitter’ on the reverse of the wrap to tell consumers it’s not the microplastic version, but Lydia really wants to be able to change that to state ‘fully recyclable’.

“I submitted some of our paper to the CPI laboratory as I felt this was really the only way to prove categorically if our paper would pass recyclability testing – which of course, it did!” said Lydia. “I have written to our local MP and asked him to look into updating this regulation to reflect the development in new technology and introduction of biodegradable Bioglitter – it is strange that a few days after highlighting that our product is recyclable via the CPI’s own testing process, this Papercycle certification scheme has been dropped.”

Addressing the question of why have glitter at all, Lydia said: “The demand for glitter is still very much there – it’s what our business has been built on and we’ve worked hard to grow our reputation as a UK manufacturer of high-quality wrapping paper, including glitter effects! We’re proud to be British-based brand still manufacturing our own wrap in the UK, and not having to rely on importing from abroad.”

While expanding the non-glitter option, Lydia believes people love that bit of sparkle especially at Christmas, and they are phasing out standard glitter, with new designs only containing biodegradable Bioglitter.

There is some hope though as the CPI’s executive director sustainable products Dimitra Rappou has now written to Lydia to “clarify that the CPI guidelines reflect the preferred position of the paper industry based on expert opinions”.

He added: “However, they are not mandates for packaging design, and do not determine the acceptability or recyclability of specific packaging formats. Importantly, the guidelines do not suggest that products falling outside our recommendations are unrecyclable. Instead, they are intended to guide designers towards practices that are likely to enhance recyclability.”

Above: Bird & Co’s cards can be reused and recycled.

All Carousel A4 calendars are plastic-free.

Above: Sparkle without worry from Unique.

Art Source

Hooking Up

Lucy Hook is a Yorkshire-based illustrator who trained in surface pattern design at Leeds Arts University. There she learned the skills to commercialise her passion for art and illustration, creating bright, fun, and quirky illustrations designed to bring sunshine to people’s lives, which since graduating five years ago have gone on to shine across many greeting card ranges.

Here she shares her creative journey, inspirations and how she brings her ideas to life.

"From a young age I’ve always known I would become a creative. Not one to sit still, I was always busy making something, whether that be a paper collage or a hand-painted card for someone’s birthday. I always had ideas rushing around my head and found art was a great way to channel this creativity.

My time at university is really where my creativity and love for the industry flourished. When I first visited Leeds Arts University - which at the time was called Leeds College of Art - I instantly fell in love with the light drenched studio, where I would go on to complete three of the best years of my life, working on exciting modules and live industry briefs. I really got a feel for how I could translate my love for art and design into a career I was really passionate about.

Even though my studies were mainly based on pattern design, in the five years since graduating I have evolved into greeting card design, but still love to make pattern collections and imagine them on everything from cute kids’ clothing to funky party wear!

Since graduating I’ve worked with some amazing brands, creating artwork for everything

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

from cocktail menus and gin bottles to greeting cards and wrapping paper.

At university I expressed my ideas a lot through paper cutting and was inspired by artists such as Matisse as well as contemporary artists such as Tracey English and Clover Robin. I’ve now evolved more into digital drawing on my iPad and I love to explore the endless textures you can create with such ease and little mess! When I’m not designing, you’ll probably find me in the kitchen baking, using my creative skills to decorate birthday cakes and trying out new exciting flavours.

Over the past year I have been proudly represented by Advocate Art and feel I have really flourished with the help and guidance of their dedicated agents. I have had the time and space to really hone my commercial skills and have been lucky enough to license my greeting designs to some fabulous companies around the globe.

Over the years I have found it so important to try out different styles and constantly experiment with new techniques. I have sometimes felt scared to try things due to a fear of failure or not liking the outcome, however sometimes my best ideas come out of a happy accident from trying something new.

Through my work I hope to bring a smile to everyone's faces and make birthdays and special occasions that much more special."

l Lucy Hook is represented by Advocate Art for licensing and commissions.

. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge.

Above left: Lucy Hook aim is to create designs that bring a smile to everyone’s face.

Above: Lucy’s adapts her style to suit the brief and occasion.

Above right: Paper cuts, such as those by Matisse, is one of Lucy’s influences.

Right: Above: A love of nature comes out in Lucy’s work.

Below: Just like this design she created, Lucy is always looking optimistically to the future.

Below right: A love of baking often features in Lucy’s work.

PG ASKED A TRIO OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS

Olivia and Peter Reilly, co-owners of Little Boat Gifts, Brightlingsea Oh! They do like to be beside the seaside at Little Boat Gifts where Olivia and Peter Reilly have been building up the Brightlingsea shop for nine years now – and Olivia runs her own publishing company Olivia Goddard Designs.

“We love the classic finish and wide range of subjects covered.”

“New to us this year, we were drawn to the almost watercolour look.”

“Customers love the play on words and often multi buy.”

“Being a coastal shop, customers love our bright and bold seasideinspired designs, particularly in children's ages.”

“The artwork is bright and cheerful and works for any age group.”

“Beautiful book-shaped cards with lovely illustrations, foil and great play on words.”

“Covers a range of subjects and colour palettes.”

“Features a wide range of subjects and activities. We love the little carefully embossed details on each card.”

“Cards to keep out on display. Our customers love the details in each layer.”

“New to us. We ordered these with our Sunshine Ticket at PG Live. Bright and fun pop-up animals which come with a selfadhesive pad so they can then be displayed on the wall.”

“With our customers thinking more about sustainability this ticks all the boxes, and also features contemporary designs that work for a multitude of occasions.”

“These little boxes with sentiments on each contain a mini porcelain figure matching the wording.”

Right: Own brand Fun In

The Sun meets the seaside theme.

Right: Cinnamon Aitch’s Cobalt hits the spot.

Right: Storybook from The Art File.

Right: A Wallypops 3D from Ink & Ivy.

Sam Whittington, owner of Sewsilver, Worthing

Fans of Great British Sewing Bee might make a beeline for Sewsilver in Worthing, but the name comes from owner Sam Whittington’s initials and the silver jewellery she sells alongside her greeting cards and other gifts.

Category Name of Publisher

Everyday Relations & Occasions

Humour

Dandelion Stationery

Abacus Cards

Twizler

Bold & Bright

Five-Dollar Shake

Rosie Made a Thing

Dyson Design

Ginger Betty

Abacus Cards

3D/Pop-Ups

Gifts

Alljoy Design

Wilberry

Product/Name Range

Words Of Wisdom

Azalea Belgravia

Canine Humour

Jeffrey & Janice

Gin & Frolics

Automotive Art by

Brian James

Owl’s Nest

BBC Springwatch, BBC Country File and BBC Wild Isles

Message In A Bottle

Eco Cuddlies

Comments

“They have every occasion covered and get the sentiment just right.”

“These eye-catching cards have a premiumlook finish but without a high-end price tag.”

“A light-hearted take on life.”

International Focus

“Customers chuckle at the irreverent antics of this cheeky pair.”

“These are absolutely beautiful female age cards.”

“Rosie’s cards sell well across all ranges, but we do really well with ages in particular.”

“A real hit since we placed our first order at PG Live Stunning, design-led cards with a fabulous vintage feel.”

“Understated but undeniably cute creatures that hit the spot.”

“Enchanting photographic images from the natural world - ideal for any occasion.”

“I love how they’ve developed the designs to encompass the bottle, making the tableau really come to life.”

“Just brilliant. I love their eco credentials. Every part - from the fur to the thread, stuffing and label – is made from recycled materials.”

Dorothy Popplewell, owner of Greetings of Haxby, Yorkshire

There’s 35 years of family history embedded in Greetings of Haxby which Dorothy Popplewell runs with daughter Amy Hardman-Mountford.

Category Name of Publisher

Everyday

Relations & Occasions

Humour

Children’s

Adult Ages

Art

Photographic

3D/Pop-Ups

Gifts

Nigel Quiney IC&G

IC&G UK Greetings Paperlink GBCC

Jonny Javelin UK Greetings

IC&G Words ’N’ Wishes

Green Pebble Alex Clark Art Whistlefish

John Potter Me&McQ

Joe Davies

Product/Name Range Comments

Flower Press; Pizazz Generally

Relation/age combination cards

Giggles

General humour

General humour

Twingles

Disney

Year You Were Born

Year You Were Born

General

General

General

General

General

New baby, wedding and anniversary products

“Constant bestsellers; always new designs.” “Good sellers.”

“These cards fly out. Designs are regularly refreshed.”

“These all sell so well for us.”

“These designs are our bestsellers.”

“Both publishers sell very well in this category.”

“Our favourites and sell really well, as do designs from Alex Clark Art and Whistlefish.”

“A local photographer whose cards of our beautiful Yorkshire scenery are very popular.”

“These intricate and gorgeous designs sell well.”

“Gifts for new babies are in constant demand.”

Right: Five Dollar Shake’s Stargazing.

Right: Me&McQ’s pop-ups sell well.

Right: Eco gifts from Wilberry.

Right: a funny from Twizler.

Right: NQP’s Pizazz has constantly updated designs.

Right : Green Pebble’s art cards are favourites.

Right: Milestones marked Five Dollar style

Stargazing; Mimosa Moon

PRODUCT DIRECTORY l PRODUCT DIRECTORY l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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.

PRODUCT DIRECTORY l PRODUCT DIRECTORY l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

To

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.

Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Partyware Brands: Blossom & Bows Card Essentials Greetings Impressions In Touch

Isabel s Garden Planet Happy Sentiments With You In Mind Word Play Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors

Simon Elvin Limited

Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE

Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com

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

BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics. METHOD OF SALE: SENSATIONS –Direct to retail XPRESS YOURSELF –Now one of the leading wholesale publisher suppliers in the UK Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories contact

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

Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

APPOINTMENTS l APPOINTMENTS l APPOINTMENTS

WE’RE HIRING! F/T EXPERIENCED UK KEY ACCOUNTS MANAGER

We are a multi award-winning gift packaging publisher supplying high quality retailers worldwide. We have a unique opportunity to bring a highly experienced and inspirational Key Accounts Manager to our team, who can help continue our growth on this exciting journey.

We are looking for an individual that can develop account strategies, nurture existing client relationships, develop new client relationships and assess ongoing performance, driving the overall business’ continued growth in the UK. The successful candidate will be highly motivated, dynamic and confident with strong negotiation skills; a model communicator with killer presentation skills.

Key Objectives

Increase sales by nurturing existing client relationships, establishing a strong basis of trust with the businesses most important clients

Acquire new clients and build long term relationships

Develop effective customer strategies to achieve sales targets, owning the growth and profitability of the client portfolio

Manage multiple client relationships and projects, juggling many moving parts, keeping strategic plans aligned to the critical path

Essentials

A proven track record of successful account management, minimum 3 years

Strong negotiation skills

Experience of working within the Gift Wrap, Greeting Card or Gifting sector would be advantageous

Salary negotiable with performance based bonus, added perks and company car

For full job description or to apply, please email Becky Dobson, Managing Director quoting ref KAM1809: becky@glick.co.uk

equired gents r A

aqu ds Pl Woor More than W ands includ selling br ading WPL Gifts is a Le

aq in Pl Hang Ups T

acancy 1 Va V ants e Pl Lov

ots. er P Flow w and Ne ues and Br armers Gifts, artw es, He ing Inside Out Mugs, Gift supplier with best Teerritories w Tw in T o T

efo ands, Her est Midl We W Woorcestershire, rdshire, W

acancy 2 Va V

Hertfordshire