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EIH Awards 2021 - open for entry and nomination!
Above: What More’s Tony Grimshaw was impressed by youngsters’ recycling.
What More praises young recyclers What More director Tony Grimshaw OBE joined MP Sara Britcliffe (pictured) in a visit to St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School (near to What More’s headquarters) to congratulate pupils on their inspirational recycling initiatives. The school children are giving plastic a second life by making ecobricks: plastic bottles stuffed tight with single use plastic. They have made enough to construct an entire classroom. Tony Grimshaw told the children how What More is also creating reusable products from "single use" plastics with its Wham Upcycled range. Children at the school have also been using What More's Wham boxes as improvised greenhouses to grow vegetables for the school's kitchen. "Plastic can have a second life. Everything can be recycled if you're creative about it, and that's what these inspirational kids are doing," said Tony.
The online portal for The Excellence in Housewares Awards 2021 is now open for entries. The deadline for entries and nominations is July 9. There are awards categories to recognise and reward housewares suppliers and retailers right across the spectrum. “Like no other time in history, over the past year the housewares industry has stepped up to help consumers. Even throughout the lockdowns retailers have shown their passion and tenacity for serving their communities while suppliers have developed products to over deliver on consumer expectations. Now is the time to shout about their great many achievements,” commented Jo Howard, editor of Progressive Housewares, which owns and organises the EIH awards. Entry into all of the awards categories, as ever, is free of charge. To enter any of the awards categories, suppliers and retailers should Above: Among the winners of EIH 20: Sharon Wake and Geraldine Burke, cookshop buyers at Barkers, Northallerton create an account (easily done) and then just log in with The Best Department Store (Independent) trophy. between now and the deadline. See Below: Dexam’s warehouse team with The Excellence in Service 2020 trophy. www.excellenceinhousewaresawards.co.uk All product categories will be judged online by an extensive panel of retailers. Meanwhile suppliers are urged to nominate who they believe have been the housewares heroes on the retail front via the EIH website, the link on HousewaresNews.net or by emailing PH editor Jo Howard at joh@max-publishing.co,uk Meanwhile, the PH team is gearing up for a magnificent industry reunion at The Excellence in Housewares Awards in London on Thursday 6 October, to be held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. Once again, the EIH Awards are backed by leading names across the housewares industry, with BHETA and Bira among big name sponsors.
Queen’s Award for Aydya Dundee-based housewares company Aydya Group has been awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise. The company exports Any Sharp knife sharpeners and Ion8 eco-friendly water bottles to more than 50 countries around the world. The Award comes as Aydya Group embarks on ambitious expansion plans to grow its business by 60% in new markets, including the USA, and build its brands in the UK and across Europe. Exports already account for around 30% of Aydya’s turnover, with half Above: Aydya founder Yusuf Okhai with Ion8 bottles. of its international sales coming from the EU. The family-owned business has grown ten-fold in the last four years. “We are honoured to receive The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, which recognises the global reach of business, with exports to dozens of countries around the world,” states Aydya founder Yusuf Okhai. Aydya Group donates around 10% of its annual profits to charity through the company’s own charitable organisation, the Medea Charitable Trust, with over £600,000 donated since 2009. The company has also designed one of its Ion8 bottles in collaboration with Friends of the Earth to raise awareness of the charity as well as wider environmental issues.
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John Lewis highlights ANYDAY tableware
Below: John Lewis’ ANYDAY Ribbed Mug in the new TV advertisement.
John Lewis’ new TV advertising campaign for its ANYDAY own label brand includes homing in on some of the housewares products that features in the retailer’s new value range. The commercial depicts a series of everyday household scenes, including a home worker and his cat, who drinks from an ANYDAY mug, and children arguing over a broken ANYDAY bowl. Launched in April, the ANYDAY ranges currently includes over 2,400 ‘great value’ products across homeware, technology, baby care and baby clothing. The new brand is part of the retailer’s ‘turnaround strategy,’ with aims to ‘grow market leadership across homeware.’ Pippa Wicks, executive director at John Lewis says the range “signals a step-change in the modernising of our brand.” The retailer states that customer research shows that 60% of UK adults are more money conscious now than they were at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
HOUSEWARES
