Progressive Greetings September 2019

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Leader

On The Cards It makes me smile just writing it, but Morris dancers were odds on to become the industry’s new best friends, with some highfalutin action to avert a costly and confusing challenge for our industry. Curious? Can I hear the bells in your brain jiggling away? With a thwack of their sticks and a purposeful jaunt in their step Morris dancers from all over the country descended on Westminster recently to protest against the scraping of the early May Bank Holiday in favour of the planned shift to the following Friday next year to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Various MPs, and even Minister Amber Rudd, have raised their hankies in the air in support of the Morris men and women who are outraged by the many May Day events that will have to be cancelled if the traditional May Day Bank Holiday remains scrapped in 2019. Now, if only the UK’s calendar and diary publishers frustrated by the last minute announcement of the date change (that has resulted in either expensive reprints or products already produced going on sale showing the wrong 2019 holiday date) then the Danilo, BrownTrout, Carousel, Avonside and B2B players such as Rose Calendars could have got togged up and joined the merry dance.

Forging relationships with allies, even unlikely ones, is the name of the game in politics at the moment, but the same can be said in business.

There are times when, irrespective of the ferocity of competition, that individual targets need to be put to one side and the focus be placed on the greater goal. It has been so great to hear how this

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Above: Cheers from all the great judges at The Henries 2019 Judging Day! (See pages 29-31).

Left: Simon Elvin with PG’s Jakki Brown.

Below: PG’s Warren Lomax (left) at The Henries judging with Love It’s Will and Amanda Oscroft, who always get involved with the community activity in Bury St Edmunds and Stamford where their shops are based.

is happening more and more in local communities, with indie retailers coming together to reinvigorate their local landscape, taking the attitude that by doing so you create something greater than the sum of its parts.

I recently had the absolute pleasure of spending a few hours with greeting card maestro Simon Elvin, as part of my research into the GCA’s rich 100-year history (see pages 76-77). Having been a member of the GCA (and its former reincarnation, the GCCA) for over 50 years, he is well qualified to comment on the merits of joining the trade association.

Back in 1968, when he started his first card company, Image Arts, he highlighted how greeting cards were not as omnipresent as they are now. “It was a much smaller industry, with far fewer publishers and retailers stocking them.” He took the far-sighted view, despite being a newbie business, “if we, as card publishers, collectively took steps to grow a healthy industry then all of those within it would have a better chance of prospering.” He was not wrong about this as the GCA’s centenary milestone testifies.

The plans are really coming together for a stonking GCA Centenary Celebration Conference and AGM on October 17, being held at Westminster’s Central Hall (see page 11). All we need now is a willing group of Morris dancers!

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Contents

What’s Inside?

77

sue:

this is Within ENRIES EH 19 TH 20 LISTS FINA

80

31 9-19

29-31

78-79

News

Henries’ Judges’ Views

Retailer Face to Face

Wonderful Histories

Onto A Winner

This year’s Henries’ judges rise to the historical challenge inspired by this year being the GCA’s centenary.

Retas 2019 winner, Rachel and Paul Roberts, co-owners of Mooch, discuss their swift business expansion.

33-70

80-81

The Henries Awards Finalists 2019

Licensing Lookout

20-21 Over The Counter

The Party Line David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, discusses Britain’s new PM and his use of positive language.

Two Way Traffic With Brand Licensing Europe approaching (October 1-3), PG spotlights the growth in greeting card design licensing.

22-23 Cardsharp

71-75

Redefining Dictionary Definitions

Innovations

Cardsharp muses over topical events happening in the industry.

Lovely greeting card product, many launching at Autumn Fair and Top Drawer in September.

83

24-25

76-77

84-85

Viewpoints

In Conversation With... Simon Elvin

Tasting Local Flavour

Ignoring Advice

Following on from last month’s PG, more retailers reveal how reflecting their region is working for them.

With plans underway for the GCA’s 100th anniversary, Simon Elvin shares how the trade has evolved over the 50+ years in which he has been working.

Art Source

26-27 The Henries 2019 Judging Process

What’s Hot? 87-88 Jeremy’s Journal

Rising Retail Jeremy Corner of publisher Blue Eyed Sun reveals a new networking-event for independent card and gift retailers.

Golden Years 89-103

A ‘behind the scenes’ view of the judging process for The Henries awards 2019.

Classified Subscribe to Progressive Greetings from £60 (UK) to £90 (International).

You can organise this quickly and easily online at our secure site: Max-Subscriptions.net For assistance, please email maxsubscriptions@marketingreinforc ements.co.uk or call 0207 700 6740.

Tracey Arnaud

Jakki Brown

Warren Lomax

Gale Astley

Ian Hyder

Editor/Joint Owner

Joint Owner

Deputy Editor

Joint Owner

Sales Manager

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Copyright© 2019. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of publication, the publishers cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for the standing of advertisers nor any organisation mentioned in the text. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.

PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Amanda Fergusson 020 7619 9266 Email: gca@max-publishing.co.uk www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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NEWS TOP STORY

Publishers Explode With Excitement The Henries 2019 finalists’ news spreads like wildfire “Bloody fantastic… I’m chuffed to bits!” exclaimed Jo Wilson, owner of Dandelion Stationery, a sentiment shared by the myriad of greeting card publishers when they found out the news at the start of August that they had reached the finals in The Henries 2019 product awards.

“We were all absolutely stunned to see the nominations - to have five nominations for Paper Salad and another one for our licensed range by Glick, - it is a dream come true! Thank you to all the judges, you have made our year!” Karen Wilson, co-owner of Paper Salad exclaimed.

The judging responsibility lay entirely in the hands of The Henries’ 2019 Judging Panel, which comprised 50 retail buyers from top multiples through to leading retailing independents.

“This year’s Henries attracted a record number of entries - well over 14,000 cards and wrappings - that were submitted by well over 200 different publishers, from the humungous to the tiny and everything in between. Reaching the finals against such world-beating competition is a real feat - testament to the abundant creativity within our industry,” commented Jakki Brown, editor and co-owner of Progressive Greetings, which owns and organises The Henries.

The best service providers

In addition to Paper Salad’s multiple nominations, among the other publishers to have received several nominations in the finalists’ list are Paperlink (which appear in seven categories), while Rosie Made A Thing and UK Greetings each earned five nominations. It is a great year too for Redback whose ranges are feted in four categories, with Paper Rose/The Art Group/Avocado Designs also receiving four mentions. In fact the Simon Elvin group (of which Paper Rose and Glick are a part) achieved seven nominations in total.

(See pages 33-70 for all the finalists and pages 26-27 for the judging process) Above: (Left-right) Paperchase’s Daisy Enticott and Megan Douglas with Waterstones’ Hazel Walker and Claire Quinn at The Henries judging.

Top Drawer ups its eco focus

Tom Allen to host The Henries The winners of all the award categories will be revealed at a spectacular Henries Ball that is to be hosted by the incredibly popular comedian Tom Allen. Known for his unique style of sharp, acerbic wit and camp comedic storytelling, Tom has become a household name in the UK. As well as his own sell-out tours, Tom has co-hosted Bake Off: The Professionals, appears regularly on Mock The Week, Live At The Apollo, The Apprentice You’re Fired, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Cats Does Countdown and BBC Radio 4’s Just a Minute.

The lavish Henries event will take on a ‘100 Years of Greeting Cards’ theme, in celebration of the GCA’s centenary year, on Thursday 3 October at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, overlooking Hyde Park.

The gorgeous Henries 2019 ticket was designed by Lucie Whitehall, lead designer of The Art File, and is being produced by Windles on GF Smith board.

To book tickets for the 'industry's big night' go online via Max-Tickets.net or contact Clare Hollick, our awards manager on T: 01733 294524 M: 07769 905959 or via email: clare@keystonecomms.co.uk. he

H e n ri

reet i ng C a ds of G

Indies voted in droves for the card publishers who excel on the service front to arrive at the finalists for the hotly contested Henries’ Best Service to the Independent Retailer Award 2019.

“Being able to rely on a good service from their suppliers is cited as a top priority for all greeting card independent retailers, an importance reflected in so many indies pledging their votes for this year’s Best Service award,” explained Warren Lomax, joint md of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Henries greeting card industry awards.

The nomination process involved all independent greeting card retailers who were invited to submit their votes for the three card publishers they felt have offered them the top service in the last year.

Among those to make it into the top ten and are contenders for the prestigious Bronze, Silver and Gold trophies (above), are (in alphabetical order) Cherry Orchard Publishing, International Cards and Gifts, Nigel Quiney Publications, Noel Tatt, Pigment Publications, Second Nature, UK Greetings, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Woodmansterne Publications and Words ‘n’ Wishes.

See page 69 to also see which publishers came in 11th-20th positions in the service stakes.

es

Above right: Tom Allen is to host The Henries.

Left: The inside of the beautiful Henries ticket.

Right: Lucie Whitehead, lead designer of The Art File, designed The Henries ticket.

As well as speaking at Autumn Fair, PG columnist Jeremy Corner will be curating this year’s eco trail at Top Drawer, which takes place at London’s Olympia from September 8-10.

“The world is rapidly waking up to environmental concerns and the need to consume more consciously,” Jeremy told PG. “Retailers, suppliers and supply chains are vital to this change, both in the actions they take and the way they share their stories to spread the word. I respect Top Drawer’s decision to recognise and support brands taking action in regards to sustainability. It is certainly reflective of the steps needed to be taken by the industry as a whole.” www.topdrawer.co.uk Above: Eco trail curator Jeremy Corner.

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NEWS A day of judgement

TOP STORY

Olly Tress Headlines At GCA’s AGM Oliver Bonas’ head honcho adds to 100th anniversary event Oliver Tress, co-founder of Oliver Bonas, the fast growing fashion and lifestyle retailer, has been announced as a keynote speaker at the Greeting Card Association’s (GCA) 100th Anniversary Celebration Conference and AGM that will take place at Westminster’s Central Hall on Thursday 17 October 2019.

The day event, in addition to a packed agenda of top speakers and panelists, will also include a specially curated exhibition of greeting cards over the last 100 years.

“The 100th anniversary of the GCA is a milestone that deserves to be marked and celebrated, but even more importantly, we need our AGM and conference to champion the present as well as embrace the future’s opportunities and challenges for our industry,” Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the Greeting Card Association (GCA) told PG. “We are delighted that Olly was willing to speak, as he truly is a retailer of our time whose stores help to perpetuate the contemporary consumer’s appetite for greeting cards.”

As well as speakers galore and the presentation of findings of the GCA UK

Greeting Card Market Report into the health and wealth of our industry, the event will also include a high profile panel discussion on the sector’s environmental developments, a hot topic for retailers and publishers alike, with associate member suppliers on hand to answer questions and provide solutions.

All GCA members and Associate Members are now able to reserve a place at the GCA’s 100th Anniversary Celebration Conference & AGM. The cost (including lunch) is £84 (including VAT) per person. Attending the AGM at the very beginning is free of charge.

Bookings can be made online via www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk in the news section.

Above and below Oliver Bonas’ Olly Tress will speak at the GCA’s 100th Anniversary Celebration Conference and AGM at Westminster’s Central Hall.

Westminster beckons The GCA Conference and AGM venue of Central Hall Westminster is fascinating and impressive. Opened in 1912, the building, initially known as Methodist Central Hall, established itself as a prime setting for current affairs, debates and concerts. Its claims to fame include hosting first-ever meeting of the UN (in 1946). In 1966, the FIFA World Cup Trophy was stolen from the Library, where it was the centrepiece of an exhibition before being recovered a few days later, thanks to Pickles the dog!

“Just like the GCA, Central Hall has a rich heritage, and like the Association has a legacy to continue. The GCA’s formation aside, 1919 was also significant as it was when the Treaty of Versailles was signed after the carnage of the First World War; this was celebrated with a great Allied procession through London, passing through Westminster, where in November of that year Nancy Astor became the first woman to be able to take the oath and sit in the House of Commons, only a few steps from Central Hall, making it even more appropriate as the place to mark the GCA’s milestone,” elaborates Amanda.

Caroline Gardner has waitrose colab in the bag Greeting card, gift and stationery company, Caroline Gardner, has collaborated with Waitrose & Partners on a range of tote bags, the sales of which will raise funds for the Meningitis Now charity.

The new bag collection, which feature Caroline Gardner’s distinctive designs, comprises two foldaway pouch totes that are made from recycled plastic bottles as well as two large shopping bags made from juco, a blend of jute and cotton.

This follows on from the publisher’s decision to go ‘starkers’ on its cards, swopping cellowrap for a patent-pending InFold tri-fold corner tab that grips the card with the envelope with a peelable sticker applied to the reverse of the card. Coming into affect in October, the publisher predicts that once it works through to all its ranges, the companywide change to using the InFold will save the use of 11,000 plastic bags every day of the week.

Above: The Caroline Gardner new bags, available from Waitrose, that are helping to raise money for Meningitis Now.

A savvy group of 50 retail card buyers had their work cut out when they undertook the collective responsibility of deciding which of the 14,000 cards and giftwrappings entered into The Henries should reach the finals.

Here’s what some of judges had to say about The Henries’ Judging Day… l Nigel Hamilton-Evans, co-owner of Boroughbridge Post Office: “BRILLIANT, FANTASTIC, AWESOME!!!!!!! I loved it. It was great to see new designs and ranges that excite me and in turn will excite my customers.

I also met some great people who share the same passion as I do for greeting cards. I thought that PG Live was fabulous because it felt like we were a group of buyers that were part of a big family and at The Henries judging you all pulled it off again.”

Below: Nigel Hamilton-Evans considering one of the entries.

l Sarah Moughtin, John Lewis & Partners’

assistant buyer: “Being a Henries Judge is an amazing experience. I just so love cards, both as a buyer and a consumer. Being faced with such a vast array of great designs, it was wonderful to be able to vote for those which really stood out by clinching that all important emotional engagement.” l Sally Matson, owner of Red Card, Petworth: “This is my favourite day of the year. It is a fabulous ‘buying trip’ - getting to see the best of what is out there altogether, as well as tracking the trends.”

Below: (Right-left) Red Card's Sally Matson with Unit 7's Andrea Pinder and Cardies' Jo Sorrell.

l Emma Tanner, buyer of Sainsbury’s: “It’s my first year as a Henries judge and I’ve loved it. As I am working on our standalone card selection, that will go live in stores on Boxing Day, this was perfect. I will definitely be contacting a fair few publishers after spotting some fabulous designs.” l Hazel Walker, senior buyer for Waterstones: “I felt so excited to be back as a judge, especially now I am at Waterstones.

There were so many good quality entries that selecting five in each was tough. The area I felt had really moved on was Relations & Occasions as so many publishers are now putting in so much effort, which was great to see.”

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Join us at

Top Drawer 8th - 10th Sept, stand F11

To see our brand-new October card launch, AW19 gift lines, new cards & Christmas range.

luca@carolinegardner.com, 020 8288 9696, www.carolinegardner.com

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NEWS TOP STORY

The Card Board Speaks Out Whale & Bird’s forum signs up 80+ members The Card Board is a new online forum for greeting card publishers that is being spearheaded by Whale & Bird’s Jamie Macdonald and Mary Harris.

“The general idea for a central forum/group/whatever, centered around card publishers to discuss what's going on within our lovely little industry has been in the back of my mind for a little while, but I wasn't really sure if anyone else would be interested in the idea,” Whale & Bird’s founder Jamie told PG. He need not have worried as only a few weeks since it has gone live over 80 publishers have pledged their support to the initiative, wasting no time in signing up as members, free of charge.

Thanking fellow publisher Jack Thorpe of Paper Plane for coming up with the name, The Card Board, Jamie said that this is very much a general forum for card publishers of all shapes and sizes to share information, exchange views and foster a feeling of togetherness.

“We love the ‘socialness’ of trade shows and always meet lots of lovely publishers, but after that trade show everyone goes home and we don't see or hear from any of these people until the next show. We see The Card Board as bridging that social gap and along the way hopefully we also become a good central resource of community and information for other publishers,” says Jamie.

He acknowledges the existence of The Ladder Club and PG Live’s

Springboard Facebook groups, but points out that if you haven't been to a Ladder Club seminar or exhibited in the Springboard section of PG Live then these groups aren't open to you.

“I remember what it was like when I first started Whale & Bird. I didn't have a clue what I was doing (and arguably still don't several years later) and would have loved something like The Card Board to have been available to ask questions. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience in the card world and it seems a bit of a shame that it's not really easily accessible. With The Card Board we wanted to create something that any card publisher can get involved with,” says Jamie.

As well as a General Chat area, The Card Board online includes an Ask The Community section, which is already filling up with input, and Jamie hopes that over time “it will turn into a great resource of questions and answers.”

Among the subjects that have come up already include dealing with late payers, advice on product photography, warehousing, hand-finishing complexities and trade exhibitions.

“We know it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but the more people who sign up and get involved, the better the community will be!” says Jamie.

Any publisher’s wishing to join can do so from the website www.thecardboard.co.uk.

Top: The Card Board is free to all card publishers, irrespective of size.

Middle: Jamie Macdonald and partner Mary Harris.

Above: A design from Whale & Bird's Forest Friends range.

Thinking Of You Week With the countdown now underway for this year’s Thinking Of You Week (which takes place September 22 to 28) greeting card retailers are urged download the branded Thinking Of You Week PoS material, which includes a banner, poster and flyers from www.thinkingofyouweek.cards/toolkit.

"Thinking of You Week, now in its sixth year, is attracting more and more retail involvement each year,” states the GCA’s ceo Amanda Ferguson. “Retail promotions have highlighted the opportunity to send a card to someone you care about, just because, to share a joke or for its beautiful image, or just to say ‘Thinking of You’.”

During the week, those taking part will be encouraged to share photos, videos and stories via social media using the hash tag #Thinkingofyouweek The concept behind the initiative is to create a wave of happiness and caring through sending greeting cards.

Tesco’s Naked Charity Card Approach In something of a step-change in the approach to its own brand everyday greeting cards, Tesco has introduced a range of charity cards in support of three health charities - Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation and Diabetes UK. The rear of all the cards details how the supermarket will donate £100,000 to the three charities, the logos of which feature atop the Tesco pledge, ‘Little helps for healthier living’.

The bespoke card collection also has high eco-credentials as the cards are sold ‘naked’, feature no glitter and are printed in the UK on board that is either 100% or 50% recyclable.

“We wanted to create something with true values at its core and are really proud of our new own brand range,” Sara Gibson, Tesco’s buying manager of cards and giftwrap told PG. The new greeting card selection is being rolled out to all of Tesco’s main stores as a designated display. All the same size and printed on textured board, the cards retail between £1.00 and £2.00.

Above: The new card range is being highlighted on Tesco’s card racks.

Fart and Toast from Splimple Splimple’s founder, Stuart Cauldwell has hit the bookshelves with Fart and Toast, the card publisher’s second book. The publisher’s comedic writing skills come to the fore in the new 450-page book. The novel is about a good-hearted baker from Stratford-uponAvon who collects belly button fluff, knows a thing or two about potatoes and presents fourth rate concerts at an elderly care home. What's more, the plot includes a swan murderer and a rock star with a broken penis.

Wordsmith extraordinaire Stuart, makes quick work of summing up his second book: “Well, I’d say it’s a humorous, slightly surreal, vaguely romantic, faintly satirical, quirky, adult fiction mystery, if that helps!”

The book is available now on Amazon and the Kindle version will be released shortly.

Above: Splimple founder and owner Stuart Caldwell with a copy of his new book, Fart and Toast.

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Celebrating iconic style.

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NEWS Britain’s Best Garden Photographer’s card focus

TOP STORY

Card Factory Stockpiles Value bucks the trend, reporting rising sales Card Factory proved yet again that it is performing ahead of general retail patterns, reporting a 5.5% increase in total sales and like-for-like was up by 1.2% in the six months to July.

However, ceo Karen Hubbard admitted that the drop in footfall as well as a pervasive feeling of uncertainty had dampened the chain’s performance.

“We are cognisant of the economic and political uncertainty and weaker consumer confidence," she stated, admitting that while the company remains “broadly” on track for the full year, it is hedging its bets in the event of a no-deal Brexit and has started stockpiling, thereby increasing costs in the short-term.

The UK’s largest specialist card retailer is now nudging close to that magical 1,000 store milestone (trading from 979 stores as of July 31), having added an additional 26 stores during the previous six months. Added to this, is the brand’s presence in other stores, notably Aldi and Matalan in the UK and Reject Shop in Australia.

While the media coverage of the retailer’s results was largely positive, The Times went in heavy on the fact that Card

Below: Card Factory is edging close to its 1,000 store milestone.

Factory’s Father’s Day sales did not match the record breaking Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day events experienced by the multiple. Under the heading of ‘Card Factory flops as Father’s Day misses the post’ misaligned with the news that its sales were actually well up; the newspaper used an image of David Beckham on Father’s Day to attract attention.

The news item then cited research findings from analytics company Global Data, based on a poll of 2,000 consumers, which revealed almost a third believed that Father’s Day was less important than Mother’s Day. The newspaper quoted how the proportion of those polled who bought cards for Father’s Day fell to 68.5%, down from 73.4% a year earlier.

Speakers line up for The Ladder Club 2019 Within minutes of the date being revealed for this year’s The Ladder Club seminar for would-be, newbie and emerging publishers, the bookings started stacking up.

Taking place on Thursday 28 November, the one day seminar will happen in London for the first time, at the Business Design Centre in Islington.

Leading independent retailer (and PG columnist), David Robertson is to travel down from Scotland to share his insightful retail perspective, while leading sales agent Rosie Trow will also be joining the speaker line-up.

The packed agenda (the details of which are currently being finalised) will cover the rudiments of greeting card publishing - avoiding the early pitfalls, production queries and quandaries, how to price your cards, how to get your cards to market, agents, preparing for trade shows, licensing, export and much more.

The cost of attending is £90 (+VAT). Booking a place can be done easily online on www.maxsubscriptions.net/tickets/, or by contacting Clare Hollick of Keystone Communications (who looks after the booking for The Ladder Club) on clare@keystonecomms.co.uk, or call her on 01733 294524.

There will be a ‘meet up’ dinner the evening before The Ladder Club, which is especially useful and enjoyable.

This will be held in a pub close to the BDC. Above: The Ladder Club will take place at the Business Design Centre in London for the first time.

Left: JP Pozzi’s David Robertson will be speaking at this year’s Ladder Club. Pictured here with Fiona Trees, owner of Memorable Moments, Ripon (centre) with daughter Jen Trees at The Retas 2019.

Clive Nichols, already hailed ‘Britain’s Best Garden Photographer’ (by Photo Plus the Canon magazine), is now extending his claim to fame into greeting cards. He has built up an abundant photo library having taken over 90,000 images of gardens and flowers and also written and photographed two books in association with the Royal Horticultural Society on how to photograph gardens and flowers ‘Photographing Plants & Gardens’ and ‘The Art of Flower & Garden Photography’.

Woodmansterne has launched a greeting card collection that centres around Clive’s garden photography.

Sharing his tips on photographing gardens, Clive says, “The key is to get into gardens very early in the morning, usually around dawn, when the light is at its best.

We call this the ‘golden hour’, and again in the evening just before sunset.”

Above: Woodmansterne is publishing some of Clive’s wide and close-up shots in the new card range.

Sea-ing is believing Among the titles that are bound to pique the consumer’s interest is Carousel Calendars’ Sea Change calendar that has been created in collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society, a leading marine charity dedicated to protecting the seas around the UK through the creation of well-managed protected areas.

Forming part of Carousel Calendars’ own commitments to reducing plastic waste, following trials of a new packaging idea to replace the outer shrink-wrap for an easily-recyclable cardboard envelope, the Sea Change title was a clear choice for this new approach.

It joins several other calendars in the Carousel range to be adopting this packaging.

The Sea Change calendar promotes the work that the Marine Conservation Society does with pages packed with information, including statistics that highlight the plight, quotes from famous environmentalists, scientists and advisors, and tips and tasks that provide clear and easy to follow advice on how to reduce reliance on plastics and nonrecyclable materials.

Above: The new Sea Change 2020 calendar from Carousel Calendars.

FOR THE LATEST NEWS VISIT PGBUZZ.net PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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NEWS TOP STORY

Meet Retail Guru Mary Portas ‘Queen of Shops’ to give keynote speech at Autumn Fair Visitors to the Autumn Fair (September 1- 4 at the NEC, Birmingham) will have the opportunity to hear the ‘Queen of shops’ retail consultant, broadcaster and author Mary Portas speak.

Mary will be sharing her insights (at the NEC show on Monday September 2 at 2pm) into where the high street is thriving, and will also be explaining how retailers can save their stores through the relationships they build with their customers.

Adding to the occasion, attendees will have the chance to receive one of 50 signed copies of Mary's new book, Work Like A Woman: A Manifesto Of Change.

Another ‘celeb’ making his way to the show is retail entrepreneur and former Dragon, Theo Paphitis. Following the success of the #SBS Pavilion at last year’s Autumn Fair, the show has once again teamed up with Theo, who will be sharing his views on the last 12 months in retail at 2pm on Tuesday September 3.

Among the other highlights at the reedited show - which, this September, has moved to the Atrium at the NEC, is a focus on sustainability.

The show will host talks and workshops from leaders in sustainability, to include PG columnist and md of Blue Eyed Sun, Jeremy Corner, who will be

speaking about how retailers can cut single-use plastics. “I recently shot, edited and shared 31 videos about my Plastic Free July Challenge to raise awareness and experience about how challenging it was,” Jeremy told PG, “and I will be sharing that with attendees in my talk Going Plastic Free: Where do you start and why?” (Blue Eyed Sun will be exhibiting in Hall 6; stand A43).

Other leading sustainability names at the show include James George, business engagement manager at the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, who will be discussing the evolving nature of the circular economy and what true sustainability looks like; Agnès Gendry, head of buying at Lush Cosmetics, who will be explaining how the company works with suppliers to understand their ethical and sustainable credentials in order to drive visibility in its supply chain; and David Meller, responsible sourcing director at NSF International, whose session ‘Plastic Isn’t The Problem’ will educate buyers on the bigger plastics picture. www.autumnfair.com (See page 71 for some of the products that will be on show at Autumn Fair).

Above: Mary Portas will be among the keynote speakers at Autumn Fair on September 2.

Sara Davies pushes the envelope in the Den Greeting card making has been brought into the limelight, with Sara Davies making her debut as the youngest ‘Dragon’ ever on the BBC Dragons’ Den programme.

“I’ve been a fan of the show since it started, I was even invited to pitch on the show 13 years ago so it feels like I’ve come a full circle.” Sara revealed in all manner of media in the run up to the series’ start.

The ebullient 35 year-old, who hails from County Durham, has made her £millions from greeting cards and other crafted products. Having founded Crafter’s Companion, a crafter’s brand 13 years ago from her bedroom whilst at university, as well as hosting her own craft programme Be Creative TV, the company now turns over £35 million a year and employs over 190 staff across the UK, US and Europe. In addition to being on sale online and via the shopping channels, the company’s products are also sold by retailers, including Paperchase and John Lewis.

When she was a 21-year-old management student on a placement at a local papercraft company she had two crucial insights. The first of these was that millions of people like to make their own greeting cards. The second was to create the Enveloper, a shaped piece of MDF that helped home crafters to make bespoke envelopes.

(See Cardsharp pages 22-23).

Above: Sara Davies (second left) has joined the other Dragons on series 17, including (right-left) Peter Jones, Tej Lalvani, Deborah Meaden and Touker Suleyman. Theo Paphitis (not pictured) returns to replace Touker for four episodes.

Clintons HQ above the shop The Clintons’ buying group really can have their fingers on the pulse of what’s selling in its stores now that the headquarters of the specialist multiple has moved to above its Loughton High Street store.

Marking the end of an era, Clintons moved out of The Crystal Building and adjacent offices in Loughton that have been its HQ for decades to relocate to the 4,000 square foot space above its Loughton High Street store.

Coinciding with this shift, other headquarters’ functions have relocated to the retail group’s Crosby premises in Northampton where its in-house creative hub has been established.

Explaining about the changes, which reflect the increasing vertical integration of the business, Eddie Shepherd, ceo of Clintons said: “The move out of an expensive legacy site into a more compact, efficient premises is both a welcome and necessary move. The financial benefit achieved through this move will be invested back into the business to support our strategy of becoming a more vertically integrated, standalone business.”

Above: Clintons’ buying team is now very close to the customer.

Isle of Man card-centric Christmas stamps The Isle of Man Post Office’s Christmas stamp designs for this year are to centre around Christmas cards - and invited UK publishers to submit Christmas card designs (from previous years’ ranges) for consideration.

This exciting development was sparked by Maxine Cannon, general manager of stamps & coins for the Isle of Man Post Office, learning that this year is the 100th anniversary of the Greeting Card Association (GCA) .

For Maxine, featuring Christmas cards on the stamps underlines her “mission in life”, which she says “is to get more people writing by hand - you can’t put a text message on the mantlepiece!” she stressed to PG. “If we could get more Christmas cards posted that would be just fabulous,” added Maxine.

Above: The Isle of Man Post Office is looking to fanfare Christmas cards on its festive stamps this year.

FOR THE LATEST NEWS VISIT PGBUZZ.net PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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OVER THE COUNTER

The Party Line Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, discusses the use of Britain’s new PM’s positive language and how to harness it to get ahead.

It is quite simple, you don’t discuss politics or religion when it comes to retail businesses.

But why?

Well, as you are dealing with such a cross section of the public you never know what everyone is thinking. Taking a very public stance on certain politics can alienate customers and that is the last thing you need.

Personally, I have felt for a long time that politics is more about actually point scoring from all sides rather than concentrating on the tasks at hand. In truth, it seems to be the civil servants that do the lion’s share of the work.

Jamie Halcro Johnston MSP, appointed shadow minister for Jobs, Employability and Training, is visiting our local Chamber of Commerce in a few weeks and I have signed up to attend. As is customary with these things you have to submit your questions in advance, or at least highlight the areas you want to tackle because they need to have the answers ready!

I wanted to use this opportunity to raise the following issues with the minister that I feel affect us all: l Lack of true support for the High Street there’s a sticking plaster approach currently. l Inconsistency in decisions at local and national government. One example being the granting of Class 1 retail to many out of town developments. l Business rates - the current scheme is punitive and does not encourage growth. l Internet tax - the taxes on many of these online companies are being avoided and are unfair considering the high street rates bricks 20

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

and mortar retailers face. They should have to pay appropriate tariffs to make it a level playing field. l Living Wage - the 4.9% annual increase hits small to medium enterprises who have to keep finding that money when it is outstripping inflation. This is a very taboo subject as everyone wants to reward staff but equally paying the increase/pension etc has resulted in many businesses reviewing/cutting staff. l Corporation Tax changes and how little it really benefits the type of business we are. l Finally, there is little incentive to grow businesses and create jobs as in truth the risk to reward is not there, particularly in our retail sector For me, all these questions actually gel together to create the huge problems that retailers face.

These current challenges of course, against the backdrop of uncertainty over life in general, means customers are less keen to spend.

Our industry, like many others, is changing and in my opinion people don’t really want to buy ‘stuff’ anymore. Thankfully, they do seem to want to buy cards though and they continue to be our core. It is just whether that will be enough to keep us all going.

Having raised these points in many business meetings over the last few years, I had to grasp the opportunity to speak to a minister, not from any political standpoint, but simply from the stance that this is my business and these are my concerns for myself and my 60 odd staff.

We find ourselves now with a new PM in Boris! The very fact that I would write that

Above: Comedy, The Thick of It, satirises British government’s inner workings.

Below left: The risk to reward is lacking in the retail sector - a card from Danilo’s Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups. Bottom: New PM, Boris Johnson.

sentence with his middle name as apposed to Mrs May or Mr Corbyn in itself means that he has played a clever game of setting himself up in a different way.

Bumbling fool, liar, old Etonian, charismatic, great leader - your opinion may be one, all or none of these, but the bottom line is he is here to stay and we are going to have to deal with what he and his new cabinet do in these coming months.

In terms of Brexit, and the impact that would have on us small operators, no-one is really sure, and again I think that we have to concentrate on us and what we are doing rather than worry about something that we will have little influence over. Certainty is what we are looking for and a decision of some kind is key.

What I did find very interesting though is the way that Boris has been speaking. The tone, the jokes, the clever use of words, and perhaps more than anything the narrative of ‘we will, we can and we are’. There is no self-doubt. There is no bending. There

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OVER THE COUNTER maybe is no chance of this narrative making a difference, but it is at its very core, well, very American; ‘Optimism on steroids’ as Jacob Rees-Mogg said.

We find ourselves with the two most powerful men in the world sharing a style, rhetoric and hair coiffure, but can an attitude of mind and forcefulness of belief guarantee an outcome? Well we will see. America as a country has built into its psyche that with hard work, determination and fortitude you can achieve the American Dream. I would argue that if you don’t have that unshakeable selfbelief and a work ethic that you will never achieve anything.

The interesting thing for me is whether positive words can actually help your mindset? I am by nature a very positive person and push myself, and perhaps my business, too far. My ambitions can be too high. My belief and goals are too great. But I keep pushing and telling myself that they are a reality. This is what struck me with Boris.

So far, like him or loathe him, he is saying what he is saying with passion, fun and a certainty that gets people behind him.

“Never mind the backstop, the buck stops here.” Can anyone remember any other sound-bites that Corbyn, May, Gove, Watson, Swinson, Sturgeon has said recently? I can’t.

Thinking about all this Brexit talk, it was all largely negative language and now it is ‘we will and we can.’

So, translating this into our own business life, how many of you have said the following: ‘The situation is impossible… I’m hopeless at that… I’ll never figure that out…

Ill try but… It’s a nightmare… I can’t cope with numbers…’

If you have answered yes to any, all or similar, then subconsciously you may well have been sabotaging your own success.

Recently challenges have possibly weighed me down a little, and a little of that language has crept in - is something I would never have allowed before. Boris and his bluster has made me look at it and think again.

Right: Just like a boxer, selfbelief is key.

Below: You can do it, yes you can! The power of positive words.

Your words hold immense power, and they are your fuel for your confidence and ambition.

If you don’t believe what you say and how you say it then why will anyone else? ‘Your words are the house in which you live in’ is a saying that actually makes a lot of sense.

Using positive language about yourself and your situations will help you to achieve what you want. You need to make that first impression. You need to make that connection. You need to carry yourself.

Using the right words doesn’t only affect your confidence but also how others around you see you. I know lots of people who find trade shows or supplier meetings difficult, but it is how you carry yourself on these trade stands and in these discussions that will depend on how companies see you.

What does it matter? I do believe if you are confident companies will want to deal with you and work with you more. You might be able to secure some extra terms. The companies will probably trust you a little more if you need a little extra time to pay a bill.

Simple little things, but things that can make a practical difference in your business.

I know that some people are naturally confident. I was thrust up to speak in church at the age of eight so I am used to it, but there are things that you can do to help you channel your inner Boris.

Firstly, monitor yourself or get someone to help you in a fun way over a 24-hour period to see when and where you use negative language. This can be the starting point for change. Then it is a case of making a decision to replace passive, imprecise, negative language with energised words.

When speaking positively it is not only about the actual words. You need to: 1. Hold yourself properly - shoulders back, stand straight, smile but not grin, eye contact, amplify your presence.

2. Reframe forward - replace ‘I can’t, I don’t’ with ‘I will, I can, I enjoy’.

3. Avoid absolutes - change ‘no one listens to me’ and say ‘how can I make them pay more attention to what I say?’

4. Don’t apologise for your opinion don’t preface sentences with ‘I’m sorry but… ’. Stand by what you believe in.

5. Be committed - stop trying: ‘I will try and get back to you, I will try and hit my deadline’. Commit to the act and if you don’t make it, deal with it at the time.

6. Limit the labels - you were not born late or disorganised so take action to change what people perceive of you.

7. Rephrase your problems - be more ‘it's a challenge’, rather than ‘I am drowning in work’. Everyone has problems but view them as challenges as opposed to negatives and it will make them easier to achieve. You are far more capable than you think.

Optimism and positivity of course are perhaps not enough on their own to solve all the problems. With every positive decision there will be negative elements, and perhaps we have to accept that compromise is always the best way forward. We have to find a way to be positive even if we don’t like the situation we are in.

In business just now I cannot change the rates, or the internet tax, or the footfall, or the minimum wage, but I have to find a way to deal with them positively as I have no intention of going anywhere, and moaning only drags you down.

So remembering how I project and speak is important, while still being honest with myself - that is the hard and challenging part. I need to be a boxer - where there is no room for self-doubt. I need to keep up my self-belief when thinking about my opponent and before I step through those ropes, or I will find myself flat on the floor quick sharp.

So far Boris’ opponents have been kept at bay as he has ducked and slipped around the difficult questions. To quote him: “My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars”. He has obviously changed this rhetoric greatly, so maybe, just maybe, he will sort this bloody deal out after all!

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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CARDSHARP

Redef ining Dictionary Def initions Antidisestablishmentarianism. For some reason that word, the longest in the English Dictionary, popped into Cardsharp’s head recently. It was coined in the 19th century to describe opposition to the political movement for disestablishment of the Church of England from the British State. As to why it came into Cardsharp’s brain may be something to do with hearing of the plans for the Greeting Card Association’s 100th Anniversary celebrations thereby prompting thoughts on the industry’s history, or it could be down to watching new Dragon, Sara Davies, breathe her own fire in the Den of the BBC TV series.

Cardsharp shuts the dictionary and attempts to define the current ‘establishment’ in the greeting card sector.

The BBC’s Dragons’ Den is not Cardsharp’s regular Sunday night viewing.

To his mind, after so many years, the format of the TV programme has become a bit stale. Most of the businesses or protobusinesses entering ‘the Den’ in the later series seemed more interested in drumming up publicity than genuinely seeking to grow into substantial concerns.

But unable to miss all the advance publicity that there was to be a young dynamic female Dragon joining the established fire breathers, Cardsharp was intrigued, especially as she has a connection to the card sector. New Dragon Sara Davies is a 34 year-old selfconfessed “Straight Talking Geordie Lass”, who started her business at the age of 19 while still at university. And what’s more she has made her estimated £35 million fortune indirectly through greeting cards.

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vigour made the other established Dragons seem very grizzled. Adorned resplendently in pink high heels, she described one suitor’s ideas as “All fur coat and no knickers” as she joshed with fellow Dragon, Touker Suleyman, referring to him jokingly as “Uncle Toukey”. What Sara was doing, whether wittingly or unwittingly, was breaking the mould, taking on an ‘Establishment’, and in the process becoming part of a new ‘Establishment’.

Above: New Dragon, Sara Davies.

Right: PG Live’s lunch hall was sponsored and decorated by Tache and Louise Tiler, two publishers who only started five years ago.

As a student she had spotted the huge popularity of greeting card crafting as a hobby and so developed a device for home envelope making. Since then the ‘Crafting Queen’, the moniker the show’s producers have now given her, has sold millions of these devices around the world, not to mention all the other accoutrements for the home crafter brigade to make cards at home - or, at least fill up the stash in ‘back bedrooms’ throughout the UK for well intentioned creative projects.

Anyhow, to Cardsharp’s mind, Sara’s appearance on the programme is like a breath of fresh dragon’s fire. Her relative youth and

‘The Establishment’ is a term used to describe a dominant group or authority in a nation, organisation or a market. The Establishment’s influence is said to be dominant within this. It is a term that can be used as an insult or plaudit, depending on whether you are a member or on the outside of ‘it’.

The greeting card publishing fraternity has always had a form of Establishment at the top. In the 1970s, and until the late 1980s, it was the pin-suited greeting card publishers that occupied that position.

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CARDSHARP These guys (and they were almost exclusively male!) were in fact more manufacturers than publishers. They jealously guarded their dominant market position and attempted to keep new entrants out by many means. From what Cardsharp has heard, price fixing over brandy and cigars allegedly went on behind closed doors!

All that changed in the 1990s as a series of thrusting ‘disrupters’ smashed through this cozy cartel: Characters like Andrew Brownsword, who started out as a small house kitchen table publisher and finished his illustrious greeting card career as the first ‘Brit’ ever to sit on Hallmark’s main board. Or Don Lewin, the son of a chimney sweep, who came from such humble beginnings to dominate greeting card retailing in Britain’s high streets. And in Don’s wake, came a whole raft of newish publishers who owed their subsequent success from their card sales through Clintons - Carte Blanche, Paper Rose, Paperlink, Emotional Rescue, Portico, to name but a handful. Younger readers may not be aware just quite how big and powerful Clintons was then in retail, with the power to make or break a publisher’s businesses. Clintons was virtually a generic term for greeting cards.

Cardsharp reflected how many of these publishing companies, the erstwhile Baby Boomers, are still around and doing very well thank you! Meanwhile, some others have fallen on leaner times, with Grassroots and Gemma as sad example of this year’s business failures.

Then there are other publishers, like Wishing Well and Camden Graphics, which have gone on to be absorbed by larger publishers. Some of the founding entrepreneurs of some of those companies that made their name in the 1990s, like Woodmansterne, Second Nature and Danilo have, or are in the process of, passing the baton on to the next generation.

But there is no doubt these publishers, and the many more that broke the mould in the 90s, subsequently became the new publishing Establishment in ‘the noughties’ and beyond, and into ‘the teenies’, along of course with the big two American publishing giants, Hallmark and UKG. They have occupied those positions for so long, not due to any cosy cartel, but by continued creative product excellence in a highly competitive market.

Above: Clintons’ founder Don Lewin.

Below: The Who’s Pete Townsend.

So what point is Cardsharp making?

Well in 2019 he has observed a shift, not decisive, but nevertheless noticeable, that a new breed of younger Generation X’ers and Millennial publishers are breaking down the walls of the Establishment.

To Cardsharp there was no watershed moment but a number of key indicators that this has been happening. Go to any major middle to upmarket card retailer and its card pockets are likely to be filled with products from publishers that only started out in this millennium. Belly Button, Paper Salad, Janie Wilson, Five Dollar Shake, Wendy Jones-Blackett all started out in the noughties, while Pigment and The Art File only really got going properly then.

Redback, Ohh Deer, Dandelion Stationery and Rosie Made A Thing, who are currently so hot, only started in the last decade.

And this shift is reflected in this year’s Henries finalists. Cardsharp has seen how broad the judging panel was, yet so many of these interloper publishers have made the finals - and many with multiple entries. Rosie Made A Thing has an incredible five mentions in the finalists’ line-up, Paper Salad also has five, Redback two, Lagom two, Sally Scaffardi Design two, to name just a handful. Given that the judges judge blind, this is testament to their respective creative prowess.

Moreover, Cardsharp noticed in The Henries’ Best Service to the Independent Retailer Award, one of these 21st century companies, Wendy Jones-Blackett, has made it into the ‘Top Ten’, the first time this has ever happened in the history of The Henries.

At PG Live this year, the lunch and party suite was sponsored and decorated in amazing fashion by two young publishers, Tache and Louise Tiler, both celebrating just

five years in business. And both of these publishers have also made The Henries finals again this year.

So why are these publishers making such inroads into a mature flat market?

Cardsharp thinks there are a number of reasons. Many of the buyers, even of the major chains, are getting younger and are keen to buy in designs that give a more contemporary look that would appeal to themselves as consumers.

Secondly, the cream of the new generation of greeting card designers with original ideas are, as we have seen, increasingly ‘doing it for themselves’. In the past, great greeting card artists like Deborah Jones who created Forever Friends, or Mike Payne who first drew Tatty Teddy, worked for publishers, not as publishers. These days it is very hard for established publishers to attract the best talent. These talented individuals are already running their own successful businesses! Hence that is why so many of their ranges stand out in the racks.

Nothing stays the same forever, and Cardsharp is not suggesting that there is a revolution going on, just that the card publishing establishment is evolving at a rate we have not seen for some time. Some of these new successful publishers will join the Establishment if they have not already.

And, Cardsharp reflects, finally, the socalled ‘Rock Royalty’ of Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and Pete Townsend of The Who, that were once the ultimate rebels and outsiders, are now considered pillars of the establishment. Cardsharp was then reminded of a line in The Who’s rip-roaring anthem Won’t Get Fooled Again - “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!”

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VIEWPOINTS

Tasting

Local Flavour Denise Laird, co-owner of Spirito, Glasgow: The tribal call: “I sense that there has been an increasing interest in local communities and businesses. This may be a reaction to the woes on the High Street combined with a realisation that communities without thriving businesses would be far less interesting places to live in. In our area people seem to be increasingly interested in connecting more with each other and there are now a number of websites, such as Nextdoor where residents can join to discuss local matters of interest.”

Local action: “We have been really interested in both building and maintaining a local flavour since we opened back in 2000.

Stocking greeting cards and products designed and produced locally is a good way of making the shop feel more personal and individual, and as buyers we really get to know the people behind the designs as they will often pop in to personally deliver their orders.

Plus, customers always appreciate the story behind the products too. We have a selection of local and Scottishthemed cards and products in the shop, as although we are not situated on the tourist trail our customers often like to buy local products and also take them or send them to friends and relatives much further afield.

Publishers that we source these from include Pink Pig Cards, who has a great selection of Scottish cards within its range - I particularly love the wedding card design where the groom wears a kilt. Plus you can also personalise Christmas cards by adding your city or town.

Glaswegians are known to love humour and the ‘Glasgow Patter’ on greeting cards by local designer Top: Retailers are increasingly catering for local flavours with their card selections.

Above middle: One of its Scottish designs from Pink Pig Cards.

Above: Spirito’s Denise Laird with The Handcrafted Card Company’s Mark Lewis on the publisher’s stand at the Harrogate Home and Gift show.

Right: One of Lisa Donati’s Gie It Laldy coasters that taps into the Glasgow sense

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“Local shop for local people - there is nothing for you here”, was the line Edward and Tubbs, the Royston Vasey shopkeepers in the off-beat TV comedy series The League of Gentlemen used to say to see off ‘strangers’.

Following on from last month’s PG, retailers reveal how stocking cards and gifts that reflect their locality, be it specific captions, subject matter or artists/publishers from the vicinity of the store, is working for them. and publisher Lisa Donati (of Gie It Laldy), based on the same street as our store, are always popular with the locals.

I am also a big fan of the Glasgow Map card by The Art File, while Periodic Society also has stylish Scottish cards which are a little quirky, including some scenic and some with iconic stags and Highland cattle.”

Favourite flavours: “I think the best thing about Scotland is the Glasgow humour. There is the iconic Glasgow statue of the Duke of Wellington horseback outside the Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art and there is always a traffic cone perched on his head!”

Debbie Pritchard, owner of Bookends in Christchurch: Tribal calling: “The nautical theme here is extremely strong and always has been. These designs appeal to our locals and our tourists alike.”

Local action: “We always have four flags flying, two of which are local as they are the Dorset flag and the Bournemouth FC flag!

Our local cards mainly feature images of coastal scenes.

We have a spinner of cards by local photographer, Roger Holman, along with two watercolour artists John Dimmett and Paul Craven.”

Above: Being on the Dorset coast, Bookends has always done well with the nautical theme.

Above right: A Paul Craven design featuring the Dorset coastline.

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VIEWPOINTS Maggie Wynn, owner of Just Cards, Honiton:

Sonya Haandrikman-Sibbald, co-owner of Celebrations in Carlisle: The tribal call: “It has become increasingly significant for retailers to support and promote their local community through stocking ‘locally made’ or products that mention their location.

We initially saw this from our instore café bar in which it has always been vital to stock local produce but we have certainly seen the demand in the retail business grow over time.

Due to the changes in buying habits it has become progressively more important for high street retailers to expand into niche products and services which the supermarkets or the internet do not offer. The High Street has changed so much over the past decade and although consumers want the convenience of internet shopping they still want their High Street to be available for them when they want or need it.

There is a real sense of quality and community spirit when supporting local that a mainstream product or supplier just can’t compete with.”

Local action: “With the Lake District being named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017, we have seen an increase in sales of the photographic cards we stock from Chris Ceaser Photography which show famous and idyllic images of The Lakes. The new Carlisle Lake District Airport, which has recently opened, is fantastic for our area and really opens up links for both business and leisure travellers alike.

Carlisle city centre is beaming with culture and history, and the old town hall and monument feature on Christmas cards we had produced through Salmon Publishing. Noel Tatt also produces packs of cards with ‘Christmas wishes from Carlisle’. But for those who are more concerned about the football scores we had some cards made by White Cotton Cards that say ‘Happy Birthday to a Carlisle United Fan!’ (Not that they will be too ‘happy’ given the team’s current performance!)”

Favourite flavours: “The Lake District is one of the most beautiful national parks in the world and we are so blessed to have that on our doorstep.”

Top: (Left-right) Celebrations Sonya Haandrikman-Sibbald, Heather Hodgson and Tanya Haandrikman at Harrogate Home and Gift promoting the GCA’s Thinking of You Week banner.

Above: A White Cotton Cards’ design to send to a Newcastle United fan.

Right: Celebrations is gearing up for a tasting session instore of The Lakes Distillery products.

Tribal call: “We have all our regular customers who are now our friends all year round and then the added bonus of all the visitors throughout the holidays. We have found that people really like to support their local independent retailers, as they love having the diversity in their high streets.

We have definitely had an increase in trade in the last two years as people like to stay local, save on petrol and there’s much cheaper parking than in the cities.”

Local action: “Throughout the summer we always have a Devon Scene window display featuring all the local scenic cards and calendars showcasing our local ranges. We also support our local publishers such as Glebe Cottage with its lovely photographic cards. Also since PG Live we have added Dollyhotdogs who are based in the beautiful Devon countryside and specialise in art illustration cards and we also offer Adrian Oakes’ photographic cards of Devon, Dartmoor and Exmoor.

We do well with locally captioned cards, such as ‘Best Husband in Devon’ from Holy Mackerel (which used to be based in nearby Sidmouth and does us proud) while White Cotton Cards also does an excellent range.”

Above right: Maggie Wynn in her shop holding a Holy Mackerel card to ‘Devon’s finest Prosecco Princess’ which is what Maggie said she was after the recent Retas event!

Above: A Devon-centric design from Holy Mackerel.

Katrina Pollock, co-owner of Coorie Doon, Gorouck: The tribal call: “I really believe there is increase in ‘all things local’. I think people are fed up with the larger shops selling the same products. From what my customers have been saying, they love coming in to the shop and finding different cards and products.”

Local action: “We love our greeting cards here and although we’re a wee shop, we try to cater for all sorts of occasions and all kinds of prices. We sell a lot of Scottish cards, rather than purely local ones (although we do have local postcards and a couple of greeting cards, which feature our town name).

The Scottish cards we sell the most of are from Truly Scotland. Having difficulty in Above: Katrina Pollock with a handful finding what I was looking for in Scottish of Truly Scotland cards. greeting cards, my husband and myself decided to have a go at producing them ourselves so set up Truly Scotland to reflect our Scottish dialect (both in fun and in Scottish proverbs and quotes). There is never a day goes by when I don’t sell our cards and we’re thrilled as they are now in over 40 other shops in Scotland.

As well as cards, we sell a lot of lovely, quality Scottish products. We want to reflect the affection we have and the spirit of our amazingly diverse, beautiful country so we try to do that with the products we sell - from greeting cards to candles, lovely bath and body products, framed prints of the local area, local and regional calendars and many other things, all made in Scotland.”

Favourite flavours: “It’s the beauty and atmosphere of the place but for the fun side, it’s definitely the friendliest (and wackiest) people on the planet!!”

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The Henries 2019 Judging Process

Golden Years

Below: The Henries 2019 judges and the PG team.

Bottom: (Left-right) Emma Paisey (Daisy Park), Jo Sorrell (Cardies) and Andrew Webb (Scribbler).

This year’s Henries awards celebrates 2019 being the centenary of the UK Greeting Card Association (GCA), so will take on a ‘Hundred Years of Greeting Cards’ theme.

With The Henries 2019 being a golden adoration of greeting cards, PG shares a ‘behind the scenes’ view of the judging process for The Henries 2019 and to witness how the finalists are arrived at.

Who Judged The Henries?

The entire responsibility of judging the product entries to this year’s Henries lay in the collective hands of the judging panel, made up entirely of retailers. The judging panel comprised around 50 leading greeting card retail buyers, from right across the retail spectrum. The panel included buyers from leading independents, department stores, large specialist chains, medium-sized groups, supermarkets, garden centres, bookshops, varietal stores and online operators.

The Henries 2019 Judging Panel Abigail Ball, assistant buyer of cards and stationery for Fenwick (nine stores) Anne Barber, owner of In Heaven at Home, Market Harborough Sarah Barrington, owner of Blue Dog, Clare Sarah Bertram, assistant merchandiser for Scribbler (36 stores) Georgina Black, owner of Pretty Shiny Shop, Stroud Green Dale Boreham, design manager of Moonpig Debbie Brown, owner of First Class Greetings and Plum Green, Hadleigh Jerry Brown, owner of First Class Greetings and Plum Green, Hadleigh Stuart Delahoy, owner of Set Design, Leicester Megan Douglas, assistant buyer of Paperchase (180 stores) Michelle Ellingham, owner of Box of Delights, Flitwick Daisy Enticott, buyer for Paperchase (180 stores) Jo Georgiou, owner of The Ark, Stoke Newington Sara Gibson, lead buying manager cards and giftwrap of Tesco Stores (2,500+ stores) Sarah Green, director of High Tide, Southwold and Wave, Bungay Nigel Hamilton-Evans, partner of the Well Good Card Shop at Boroughbridge Post Office Emma Hawkins, buyer of Fortnum & Mason (four stores)

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Sarah Lishman, buyer of Barkers, Northallerton (two stores) Steph Lloyd, retail buyer for Utility, three stores in Liverpool, one in Manchester Sally Matson, owner of Red Card, Petworth Sarah Moughtin, assistant buyer of stationery and partyware for John Lewis, (53 stores) Kate Neligan, group buyer for Morley Stores, (eight stores) Amanda Oscroft, co-owner of Love It, Stamford and Bury St Edmunds Will Oscroft, co-owner of Love It, Stamford and Bury St Edmunds Emma Paisey, owner of Daisy Park, South Molton Louise Parker, buyer of Daniel of Windsor Andrea Pinder, owner and sales director of Unit 7 Cards and Gifts, Manchester and Presentation Cards and Gifts, Barrowford Gina Pittendriegh, owner of Radstudio, Saltaire Zoe Proctor, senior card buyer for Card Factory (900+ stores) Claire Quinn, buyer of cards, wrap and calendars for Waterstones (284 stores) Tim Reynolds, retail manager of Medici Gallery, Kensington Paul Roberts, co-owner of Mooch, Olney, Towcester and two stores in Northampton Rachel Roberts, co-owner of Mooch, Olney, Towcester and two stores in Northampton Jo Sorrell, proprietor of Cardies, Stevenage Emma Tanner, buyer of cards & wrap for Sainsbury’s (1,400+ stores) Paul Taylor, chief executive of Cardzone (125+ stores) Fiona Trees, owner of Memorable Moments, Ripon Hazel Walker, senior buyer for Waterstones (284+ stores) Andrew Webb, buyer of Scribbler, (36 stores) Nigel Williamson, partner of House of Cards, Home Counties (six shops) Ruth Young, buyer for Clintons (345 stores)

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The Henries 2019 Judging Process

The preparation

Below: Utility’s Steph Lloyd considering the mounted entries.

The Henries are free of charge to enter meaning it is open to all.

Over 14,000 greeting cards, sheets of giftwrap and giftbags were submitted from some 200 different UK publishers for The Henries.

All entries are treated equally, whether they are sent in by a multinational company, a new start-up one-man band publisher and everything in between Each entry is logged onto the computer and assigned a number.

One card design from each entry is retained for archive purposes while the other cards in each submission are mounted onto their own large display board. A label is affixed to the top of each board that prominently features a distinct entry number as well as the RRP(s) of the mounted cards.

To overcome any preconceived ideas judges might have had of publishers, the brand and company name of each submission for the product entries are concealed.

In the case of The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer or Artist category those entering were invited to submit their own readymounted boards if they wished.

For the Henry Cole Classic award, publishers were asked for some substantiating text, which demonstrates how and why the range has stood the test of time.

Which ranges were eligible to enter?

Entering The Henries 2019 was open to all UK publishers, as well as UK-based distributors of card publishers from overseas.

Publishers were invited to enter ranges that had been launched since August 1 2018 or new designs that had been added to ongoing ranges. The Henry Cole Classic award is slightly different in that this is for ranges that have stood the test of time and therefore the onus is on the heritage and evolution of the brand rather than just the new designs in the range.

Publishers could enter as many categories as they wished, with as many entries in each category as they wanted.

Above: This year’s Henries saw a record number of entries being submitted – and they had their own guard dog!

The judging process The judging for all the product categories, as well as Most Promising Young Designer or Artist, took place on a single day, in offices, theatre rehearsal rooms as well as The Depot Bar, all of which are adjacent to PG’s London offices.

Above: David Bowie The criteria for judging were: was a popular choice l Quality of Design for The Henries’ judges. l Quality of print, production and manufacture l Appropriateness for the market sector at which it is aimed l Value for money All entries were put on display category by category. The judges considered all entries in each category, individually selecting the five entries they deemed to be the best in each category. Judging forms were completed by writing the corresponding entry numbers, in order of merit, in the relevant boxes on the form. Points were then awarded accordingly by the adjudication team; five points being assigned to the entries each judge felt was the best in the category down to one point for the fifth choice. The points from all the judges’ forms were then correlated to arrive at the winner and five other finalists.

In celebration of 2019 being the centenary of the UK Greeting Card Association (GCA), The Henries 2019 will take on a ‘Hundred Years of Greeting Cards’ theme. The winners will all be revealed at The Henries awards, an evening event taking place on Thursday October 3 at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London.

Top left: Two Nigels. House of Cards’ Nigel Williamson (left) with Nigel Hamilton–Evans.

Top right: The Ark’s Jo Georgiou.

Above left: The Henries Judging was a great opportunity for Fenwick’s Abigail Ball (left) to catch up with her former colleague Emma Hawkins (now of Fortnum & Mason).

Right: Sarah Green.

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Henries’ Judges’ Views

Wonderful Histories Tying in with this being the GCA’s centenary, the theme of The Henries 2019 event is ‘100 Years of Greeting Cards’. PG set down a series of historical challenges to this year’s Henries judges, including asking them to pick two famous people of the last century they would like to walk into their shop, as well as their pick of the significant happenings in the greeting card industry’s past and what will help to safeguard its future.

Right: The greeting card industry ‘history book’ is still being ‘written’ as new ranges continue to be celebrated in The Henries.

Sara Gibson, buying manager of cards and giftwrap at Tesco: Choice customers: “Coco Chanel, a true legend who illustrated what women could achieve during the era, and Quentin Tarantino as I love his films’ humour and think he would challenge my thinking.”

Historical happening: “Sustainability and environmental concerns and how this will impact design, value for money and finishes, as well as how we will combat differentiation in a very competitive market.”

Future proofing: “Inclusivity and diversity are really important for the evolution of our category. We live in a diverse society and we need to ensure we keep up with relevant captions as well as offering cards for all ethnicities and gender diversities.”

Above: Tesco’s Sara Gibson (right) with Card Factory’s Zoe Procter.

Hazel Walker, senior buyer of Waterstones: Choice customers: “Frida Kahlo as she was so inspirational, and Anthony Bourdain because of our shared love for food and travel.”

Future proofing: “Further eco-friendly innovations, both on the cards and finishes, as well as packaging etc.”

Below: Paperchase’s Hazel Walker (left) and Claire Quinn.

Emma Tanner, buyer of Sainsbury’s: Historical happening and future proofing: “The entire industry working hard on reducing all plastics and making cards as eco-friendly as possible is protecting the present and safeguarding the future.”

Above: It was Emma Tanner of Sainsbury’s first Henries judging experience.

Kate Neligan, group buyer of Morley Stores: Choice customers: “David Bowie as he was born in Brixton, near one of our stores.”

Historical happening: “Digital printing that has enabled smaller publishers to grow.”

Right: Morley’s Kate Neligan making her judging decisions.

Tim Reynolds, retail manager of Medici Gallery, South Kensington: Choice customers: “Dame Margot Fonteyn for her poise and elegance (and she could use our counter to stretch her legs!) and HRH The Prince of Wales. I would ask him to help stop TFL’s proposed demolition of our building!”

Historical happening: “The relaxing of Sunday trading laws.”

Future proofing: “Less plastic to be used in the packaging of individual cards and the units they come in.”

Above: Medici’s Tim Reynolds.

Above right: Dame Margot Fonteyn.

Sally Matson, owner of Red Card, Petworth: Choice customers: “Barack and Michelle Obama - because they send cards and write letters and I think they might think my shop was pretty cool!”

Historical happening: “Cellowrapping cards!

When I was growing up my parents owned a very

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Henries’ Judges’ Views

large newsagency with a whole aisle of cards, none of them cellowrapped. Now, after great cost to the planet, the wheel is coming full circle.”

Future proofing: “Hmm, cheaper postage for cards and for plastic packaging on deliveries to be banned.”

Below: The ever-smiling Sally Matson of Red Card.

Anne Barber, owner of In Heaven at Home, Market Harborough: Choice customers: “The Queen - I wonder what sort of card she would choose - floral or cheeky? My other choice would be Gok Wan. Last time he came in he loved the shop and I’d like to show him how it has evolved.”

Historical happening: “Nothing beats choosing a special card, handwriting a message, addressing the envelope, adding a stamp and popping it in the post box for the lovely recipient to receive - online cards will never replace that.”

Future proofing: “Special low-cost stamps for cards to be available to purchase at all times of the year and especially at Christmas.”

Above: In Heaven at Home’s Anne Barber.

Sarah Bertram, assistant merchandiser of Scribbler:

Michelle Ellingham, owner/partner of Box of Delights, Flitwick: Choice customers: “My first would be David Bowie, a true British and world icon who influenced modern music, fashion and trends.

My second would be Princess Diana as she changed the perception of the Royal family and instilled more passion and caring in our society.”

Historical happening: “We opened in 1990 just as Forever Friends from Andrew Brownsword exploded in popularity as a card brand, so it would be how its captured the hearts of the nation through cards.”

Future proofing: “To encourage more people, especially ‘the younger social media generation’, to send Christmas cards without the excuses of not seeing it as cool. It’s such an important thing and a traditional part of our ‘heritage’ and it needs to continue in the 100th year of the GCA.” Below: Box of Delights’ Michelle Ellingham (left) with GCA’s Amanda Fergusson.

Choice customers: “Princess Margaret because she loved a laugh and it would be great to have Royal approval, and Iris Apfel because she’s amazing!”

Historical happening: “Social media has made it easier to send a greeting without sending a physical card.

The jury’s out as to whether it’s a big negative impact or not!”

Future proofing: “Continued innovation is the key.”

Below: Scribbler’s Sarah Bertram.

Right: The charismatic Iris Apfel.

Steph Lloyd, retail buyer of Utility, three shops in Liverpool and one in Manchester:

Right: Utility’s Steph Lloyd and Set Design’s Stuart Delahoy.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Choice customers: “Charlie Chaplin, so he can repeat his monologue to me in person, and Louis Theroux as he would have so many amazing stories.”

Historical happening: “The reductions in the use of glitter and plastic.”

Future proofing: “Continuation of the reduction of plastic waste and awareness of eco issues.”

Above: Paperchase’s Megan Douglas.

Choice customers: “Vivian Westwood, an innovative British designer who has been unafraid to push boundaries, and RuPaul, a pop culture legend with huge influence on current trends in greetings and gifts.”

Future proofing: “More representation of a true cross section of society and its minorities in occasions designs.”

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Megan Douglas, assistant buyer of Paperchase:

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Henries’ Judges’ Views

Radstudio’s Gina Pittendreigh, owner Below: Gina Pittendreigh. of Radstudio, Saltaire:

Choice customers: “David Hockney as he has had such a strong influence on Saltaire (where the shop is based).”

Historical happening: “The recession - the market for quick buys/cheap declined and saw a rise of a generation who want quality over quantity. The reduction in money in the pocket means a good card means more and a text or Facebook message isn’t enough.”

Future proofing: “As part of the independent community, further growth in support for little businesses and artists has started with things such as Just A Card and myshoplife, but this needs to be further encouraged.”

Georgina Black, owner of Pretty Shiny Shop, Stroud Green: Historical happening: “Cards being sold in grocers. It is tough to compete as an independent.”

Future proofing: “Novel ideas. Eg cards that are already stamped’ and ready to be mailed which would make it that much easier for a spontaneous spend and send.”

Sarah Barrington, md of Blue Dog Trading, Clare: Choice customers: “Barbara Hepworth - I love her work and she was famously a bit tetchy but I’m sure she was a great character.

I would also like to have The Queen as a customer as she has to be the most iconic person of our generation!”

Historical happening: “Digital printing which has enabled small designers and illustrators to produce cards economically in small runs saving the market from being dominated by the big companies.”

Future proofing: “A solution to waste that suits both card publishers and retailers. Not sure how practical naked cards are going to prove.”

Above: Blue Dog Trading’s Sarah Barrington (left) with Barkers’ Sarah Lishman.

Andrea Pinder, buyer/owner of Unit 7, Manchester and Presentation, Barrowford: Choice customers: “Charlie Chaplin for his silent humour and belief that nothing is permanent in this world, not even troubles. Closer to today it would be Whitney Houston for bringing us the ‘I want to dance with somebody’ song, which always makes me feel so happy.”

Historical happening: “How receiving a card has rightfully come to be seen as such a special and memorable thing over the last century.”

Future proofing: “We need to be able to keep the cost of sending a card being seen as ‘reasonable’ and also to do more to encourage the next generation to send more cards and handwritten letters rather than rely on texts or emails.”

Paul Taylor, md of Cardzone:

Above: Cardzone’s Paul Taylor with Andrea Pinder.

Choice customers: “Winston Churchill.”

Historical happening: “The improvement of greeting card designs has seen them become incredible value.”

Future proofing: “To create new mini seasons, but also to somehow standardise the number of envelope sizes to make it easier for consumers and retailers.”

Jerry Brown, co-owner of co-owner of First Class Greetings, Hadleigh: Choice customers: “Brian Clough, always good for a controversial quote, as well as Sir Jackie Stewart. A lovely man and a wonderful ambassador for motor sport, dementia awareness and charities.”

Historical happening: “Movement towards and implementation of FSC.” Future proofing: “Reducing environmental impact.”

Sarah Moughtin, assistant buyer of John Lewis & Partners:

Debbie Brown, coowner of First Class Greetings, Hadleigh: Choice customers: “Coco Chanel. She was the first lady of iconic style and iconic quotes, and Mary Portas as I would love to pick her brains.”

Above: First Class Greetings’ Debbie and Jerry Brown.

Choice customers: “Bowie for the glamour and showmanship and Sir David Attenborough as he is just so great.”

Historical happening: “Reducing plastic/glitter - going naked!”

Future proofing: “Ways to reinvent and reimagine the magic of giving a card without losing the sentiment.”

Left: John Lewis & Partners’ Sarah Moughtin considering which entries to vote for.

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist Award Open to: All card designers under 35 on August 1 2018.

Vici-Jane Blenkharn, founder of Artcadia: “During my teens I volunteered at a local Victorian town’s print shop, where I learnt the art of typesetting, gaining invaluable experience in letterpress printing on various presses. I later trained on the job as a graphic designer, all the while collecting antique printing presses. I founded Artcadia in 2009, where I merged my two skills in design and print to create bespoke letterpress event stationery, and in 2018 I designed a range of greeting cards and stationery for retail. Currently, Artcadia’s cards are now stocked in over 70 retailers worldwide.”

Mike Davis, founder of Some Ink Nice: “Hello, my name’s Mike. This is me [arrow pointing to photo of me grinning like a simpleton]. I’m an artist, colourist and publisher of greeting cards going under the banner Some Ink Nice (at PG Live, this involved standing under an actual Some Ink Nice banner (which was a co-incidence, BTW)). I began publishing this year, handdrawing animal designs with bold, graphic-inspired inks. The goal is to create cards that people actually want to keep, because I know from experience that cards tucked away can help rekindle old friendships, years later - and that seems the best use of artwork I can think of.”

Amy Eastland, senior designer for Woodmansterne and The Proper Mail Company: “10 years designing greeting cards have flown by, I guess time really does fly when you’re having fun! I feel very fortunate to call my ‘work’ my passion and I have been lucky enough to do so working at some of the UK’s most innovative and market leading publishers. I still get beams of pride when I see my cards on shelves, and if my hands are covered in paint and my desk strewn with pencil shavings then you will always find me with a smile on my face, busily bringing colour into my life through my designs.”

CATEGORY SPONSOR

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Vici Blenkharn, founder of Artcadia l Mike Davis, founder of Some Ink Nice l Amy Eastland, senior designer of The Proper Mail Company/Woodmansterne l Niccy Iseman, founder of Type and Story l Laura Harvey, founder of Paper Plane l Louise Mulgrew, founder of Louise Mulgrew Designs

Niccy Iseman, founder of Type and Story: “Type and Story is a design-led brand which is kind, conscious and creative. My aim is to create purposeful paper goods for people with stories to tell. I launched in June 2017 while on my maternity leave as a creative outlet from my new identity as a mother. My ambition is to grow distribution of Type and Story to make it an international paper goods brand that is synonymous with beautiful and well considered design, reflective of today’s mood and in a visual language that speaks to consumers who appreciate products with soul, story and meaning.”

Laura Harvey, founder of Paper Plane: “Since founding Paper Plane in 2014, I have helped grow the business from a part-time project run from home to a limited company employing both me and my partner Jack, with stockists including Oliver Bonas and Urban Outfitters. My 12 years as a magazine designer have helped give me an eclectic and versatile style, as shown in the many varied card and gift ranges I have designed for Paper Plane. My designs are inspired by real relationships and observations of the world, pastel colour palettes, ontrend themes, botanical prints and my love of houseplants.”

Louise Mulgrew, founder of Louise Mulgrew Designs: “Louise Mulgrew Designs is fastapproaching its fourth birthday! I create whimsical, illustrated greeting cards and prints featuring lots of fluffy and feathery friends and the odd rainbow or three. Inspired by animals, nature and travel, I hope to create cards that capture special relationships and make people smile. We export our cards around the world and have grown our customer base in the UK. Most excitingly, since partnering with Eden Reforestation Projects the sales of LMD cards have contributed to the planting of more than 50,000 trees in developing countries.”

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Children’s Range

Open to: All children’s greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Cherry on Top from Rachel Ellen Designs l Hopscotch from Paperlink l Jamboree from Paper Salad l Juvenile Brights from UK Greetings l Number Ones No1-9 from Hello Geronimo l Savannah Parade from Sirocco Design

l Cherry on Top l Hopscotch

l Jamboree

l Juvenile Brights CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Number Ones No1-9

l Savannah Parade PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Christmas Counter Range

Open to: All Christmas counter greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Christmas Gin & Frolics from Rosie Made A Thing l The Crystal Forest from Five Dollar Shake l Elle Christmas from Belly Button Designs l Festive Floribunda from Dandelion Stationery l Pinata from Redback Cards l SnowFall from Paper Salad

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Christmas Box Or Pack

Open to: Any Christmas box or pack that has been launched since August 2018.

This award could be for a specific item rather than for a range.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Luxury Christmas Box from The Art File l Oxfam Christmas Boxed 2019 from UK Greetings l Premium Christmas Box from Noel Tatt l Snow Angels Luxury Christmas Boxes from Wrendale Designs l Twelve Days of Christmas from Woodmansterne Publications l Winter Garden from Roger la Borde

l Luxury Christmas Box l Premium Christmas Box l Oxfam Christmas Boxed 2019

l Snow Angels Luxury Christmas Boxes

l Twelve Days of Christmas l Winter Garden

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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There are also 6 new Christmas cards, 2 Christmas notecard packs and 2 new calendars for 2020.

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Traditional Words & Sentiments Range

Open to: All traditional words and sentiments greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l And Relax from Hallmark l Follow Your Dreams from Hallmark l Hazy Days from Paper Rose l Love and Laughter from Paperlink l Month You Were Born from IC&G l Signature from Jonny Javelin

l And Relax

l Follow Your Dreams

l Hazy Days

l Love and Laughter CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Month You Were Born

l Signature PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Shortlisted for

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Contemporary Words & Sentiments Range

Open to: All contemporary words and sentiments greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Cherished from Lagom Design l Cloud Nine from Redback Cards l Quotish from Brainbox Candy l Small Card Collection from Old English Company l Terrific Humans by Veronica Dearly from Cath Tate Cards l Words of Wisdom from Dandelion Stationery

l Cherished l Cloud Nine

l Quotish

l Small Card Collection CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Terrific Humans by Veronica Dearly

l Words of Wisdom PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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01924 950500 The perfect solution for all of your Greeting Card Software requirements Enquiry Hotline

CARD manager

Ready-made WEBSHOP

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using iPhone, iPad, Tablet, etc. incl. Consignment and Van Sales Email us at enquiries@exponential.co.uk or visit our website at www.card-manager.com

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Contemporary Trend Range

Open to: All contemporary greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Artisan from Paper Rose l Jamboree from Paper Salad l Letterpress Collection from Artcadia l Mirror Mirror from Hotchpotch l Shine from Redback Cards l You Earned It from Ohh Deer

l Artisan

l Jamboree

l Letterpress Collection

l Mirror Mirror CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Shine

l You Earned It PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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NEW COLD FOIL GUIDE 300 swatches. New techniques, new colours, new effects.

K A R D K L A S P PAC K I N G TM

Keep your card and envelope secure together using this plastic-free solution

Being first is clever, being second is easy - Windles Group prides itself on leading the way, whether that be the latest environmental initiatives, new product development or unique print finishes. For a copy of the new 301 - 600 Cold Foil Colour Guide or a sample of our plastic-free packaging solution; Kard Klasp, please get in touch hello@windles.co.uk // windlesgroup.co.uk TM

The Kard-Klasp name, Kard-Klasp logo and product shape are Trademarks of the Windles Group 2019 Š

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Handmade Or Hand-Finished Range

Open to: All handmade or hand-finished greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Coralie from Avocado Designs l Jewellery Cards from Crumble & Core l Message in a Bottle Pop-Up Collection from Alljoy Design l Modern Missy from Tache l Pencil Shavings Cards from Ruth Jackson l Piccolo from Rachel Ellen Designs

l Coralie l Message in a Bottle Pop-Up Collection l Jewellery Cards

l Modern Missy CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Pencil Shavings Cards

l Piccolo

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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wavelength A NEW RANGE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC CARDS DESIGNED BY

www.icon-art.com

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Photographic Range

Open to: All photographic greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Animalyser from Really Good l Comedy Wildlife from UK Greetings l Pebbles Series 1 from Pebbles on the Beach of Life l Pixel from Paperlink l Travelogue from The Art Group l Wavelength from Icon

l Animalyser l Comedy Wildlife

l Pebbles Series 1

l Pixel

CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Travelogue

l Wavelength

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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LET’S MAKE THE UK’S BIRTHDAYS GREAT AGAIN!

LET’S MAKE THE UK’S BIRTHDAYS GREAT AGAIN!

SOUND GREETING CARDS WITH ATTITUDE

SOUND GREETING CARDS WITH ATTITUDE

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Humour Range

Open to: All humour greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l A Bit More Mungo and Shoddy from Tillovision l Cloud Nine from Redback Cards l Gin & Frolics from Rosie Made A Thing l Jeffrey & Janice from Bold and Bright l Life of Max from Ling Design l Twin Pines from Ohh Deer

l A Bit More Mungo and Shoddy l Cloud Nine

l Gin & Frolics

l Jeffrey & Janice CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Life of Max

l Twin Pines

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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S t y l i s e d , H a n d L e tt e r i n g for all occasions.

T R A D E £ 1 . 0 4 R R P. £ 2 . 5 0

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Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available

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050_PG_September 2019.indd 50

T 01206 396209 E sales@badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Art Range

Open to: All art greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Capri from Meraki l David Shrigley from Brainbox Candy l Landmarks from I Drew This l Maya Stepien from Lagom Design l Scissors Paper Tree from Roger la Borde l Wild Cards from Penguin Ink

l Capri

l David Shrigley

l Landmarks

l Maya Stepien CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Scissors Paper Tree

l Wild Cards PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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published by

THE BEST OF

PRE-SCHOOL LICENSED PRODUCTS !

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sales@danilo.com 01992 702900 www.danilo.com Independent retailers contact: Words & Wishes on 01942 233 201 61039_PG_PreSchool-Ad_A4.indd 1 052_PG_September 2019.indd 52

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Best Licensed Range

Open to: All greeting card ranges involving a licensing agreement that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Baby Shark from Danilo l Disney Faces from UK Greetings l The Happy News from Pigment l Haynes from Emotional Rescue l Quentin Blake Classic from Woodmansterne Publications l Stormtrooper Originals from Rocket68

l Baby Shark l Disney Faces

l Haynes CATEGORY SPONSOR

l The Happy News

l Quentin Blake Classic l Stormtrooper Originals

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

55

We’re thrilled to have been nominated for a Henries Award for Best Gift Wrap collection with our best selling Paper Salad range!

You can now order online. Go to trade.glick.co.uk to register.

01274 655980 sales@glick.co.uk www.glick.co.uk Unit 1 Allenby House, European Ind. Park, Knowles Lane, Bradford BD4 9AB

Glick PG Ad_Sept 2019.indd 1 054_PG_September 2019.indd 54

@glickgiftwrap

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Giftwrapping Range

Open to: All giftwrapping collections that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018. Entries could either be a range of giftwrap sheets or a collection of wrappings (eg co-ordinating wrap, bags, boxes, ribbons etc).

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l The Art File Wrapping Collection from The Art File l Brush and Moon from Soul l Giftwraps from Lorna Syson l Kelly Hyatt Collection from Lagom Design l Paper Salad from Glick l Wrapped Up from Sally Scaffardi Design

l The Art File Wrapping Collection

l Brush and Moon l Giftwraps

l Kelly Hyatt Collection

l Paper Salad

l Wrapped Up CATEGORY SPONSOR

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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best humour range best christmas counter range best male range best relations &/or occasions range best spring seasons range

yay!

Rosie Made

A Thing

www.rosiemadeathing.co.uk 01164062000 | office@rosiemadeathing.co.uk

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Male Range

Open to: All greeting card ranges aimed at men (non-humour) that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Country Gent by Definition from Toasted Crumpet l Gin & Frolics from Rosie Made A Thing l It Rocks from Molly Mae l Only Bloking from Sally Scaffardi Design l Pitch Black from Louise Tiler Designs l Scribble from Stop the Clock Design l Zephyr from Think of Me Designs

l Country Gent

by Definition l Gin & Frolics

l It Rocks

l Only Bloking l Scribble

l Zephyr

CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Pitch Black

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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For Kids

For Him

For Her

For Luxur y Giftwr ap and Bags at affordable pr ices.

For copies of our 2019 brochure containing our complete product r anges C ALL US ON: 0 1 6 2 8

000_PG_September 2019.indd 1

5 2 6 7 1 1 EMAIL US AT: s a l e s w w w. s i m on e l v i n . c om

@

simonelvin.com

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Wholesale Range

Open to: All greeting card ranges (of any design type) that are distributed via wholesale distributors or cash & carries that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l All That Shines from Simon Elvin l Endless Love from Sensations l Everyday and Relations from Out of the Blue Studios l Isabel’s Garden from Simon Elvin l Male Everyday from BGC Studios l Panache from Regal Publishing

l Endless Love

l All That Shines

l Everyday and Relations l Panache

l Isabel’s Garden CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Male Everyday PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Relations Or Occasions Range

Open to: All relations or occasions greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Furry Friends from Louise Mulgrew Designs l Gin & Frolics from Rosie Made A Thing l Jumbo Jamboree from Paper Salad l Lemonade from Hotchpotch l Never Stop Chasing Rainbows from Five Dollar Shake l Words of Wisdom from Dandelion Stationery

l Furry Friends

l Gin & Frolics

l Jumbo Jamboree

l Lemonade CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Never Stop Chasing Rainbows

l Words of Wisdom PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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A4 Prog Greetings

Love Letters Henries 12.08.19.pdf

1

13/08/2019

10:12

‘Love Lette s’

Henries finalist in Best spring Seasons range.

by

G R E E TI NGS CAR DS AND CAND LE S

EMAIL: enquiries@janiewilson.co.uk I www.janiewilson.co.uk I TEL:0113 256 6331

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Spring Seasons Range

Open to: Greeting card ranges for the Spring Seasons occasions that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Father’s Day Collection from Ohh Deer l Gin & Frolics Mother’s Day from Rosie Made A Thing l Hey Fresco Mother’s Day from Wendy Jones-Blackett l Jamboree Easter from Paper Salad l Kindred Valentine’s Day Collection from UK Greetings l Love Letters from Janie Wilson

l Hey Fresco Mother’s Day

l Father’s Day Collection l Gin & Frolics Mother’s Day

l Jamboree Easter CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Kindred Valentine’s Day Collection

l Love Letters

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Designed & Crafted in the UK

NEW range launching at Autumn Fair 01-04 Sept Stand 6B35

www.sabivo.co.uk info@sabivo.co.uk +44 (1858) 433 716

complimentary delivery on all show orders

sabivodesign

t: 0116 230 4197 f : 01536 401 031

i: @mint_publishing w: mint-publishing.co.uk

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Cute Range

Open to: All cute greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2018.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Bow Tie from Apple and Clover l Hopscotch from Paperlink l Mixed Cute from Hole in My Pocket l Tickertape Parade from Stop the Clock Design l Tiny Sparkles from Louise Tiler Designs l The Wildlife from Ling Design

l Bow Tie

l Hopscotch

l Mixed Cute

l Tickertape Parade CATEGORY SPONSOR

l Tiny Sparkles

l The Wildlife PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

The Henry Cole Classic Award

This award is for ranges that have stood the test of time.

All winners of this award enter The Henry Cole Hall of Fame. The 2019 winner will join previous winners, which are Bestie from Paperlink, Eric the Penguin from GBCC, Forever Friends from Hallmark, Giggles from UKG, Me to You from CBG, Medici Cards Blue Label from GBCC, On the Ceiling from Emotional Rescue, Pizazz from Nigel Quiney, Pop-Ups from Second Nature, Quentin Blake from Woodmansterne, Rainbow from Ling Design and The Bright Side from Really Good.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Bottom Line from Paperlink l Fleet Street from Pigment l Ink Press from The Art File l Photocaptions from Cath Tate Cards l Quicksilver from Wendy Jones-Blackett l Swing Cards from Santoro

Bottom Line from Paperlink

Photocaptions from Cath Tate Cards

The greeting card equivalent of the saucy postcard and more! Paperlink, one of the market leaders of humorous cards, launched its Bottom Line range over 25 years ago and it continues to go from strength to strength. One of the first offbeat cartoon ranges to market – a constant addition of new designs ensures it continues to stay fresh and current.

Cath Tate Cards’ Photocaptions range has been supplying people across the UK and around the world with a dose of Cath Tate’s witty and wise sense of humour for nearly 20 years. Now with over 500 designs in the range, Cath Tate first came up the idea of marrying an old Edwardian photograph with a modern humorous caption in the late 1990’s and the Photocaptions range was born in 2002.

Today Photocaptions is still a bestselling range and ranks in the top selling humour cards for many shops. Seven collections from the range have been published as popular books.

Fleet Street from Pigment Fleet Street in its current form began in 2011.

Right from the beginning the range fitted perfectly into the Pigment branded folio, with classic imagery and razor-sharp wit. The infamous ‘Man’s cock wins first prize’ card was said by many to be ‘too rude for the UK market’, but years of great sales proved that we’re not as prudish as some may think.

Now part of the Pigment humour classics folio, Fleet Street still sits in independent and national accounts across the globe, and proves to be a wonderful slice of traditional British humour.

Ink Press from The Art File Ink Press first launched in 2008 and soon became an iconic collection. Designer Robert Reader took influence from midcentury graphic design, print and cartoons, often seen in advertising of the 50s and 60s. Using textured board and embossed lines, the look and feel of the collection paid tribute to the letterpress style. The mix of designs appeal to both male and female audiences and for many years the collection has offered a unique and impactful display for retailers. This timeless collection also exports well, and has strong representation in over 30 territories across the globe.

CATEGORY SPONSOR

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Quicksilver from Wendy Jones-Blackett Launched in 2006, the Quicksilver range was one of the first to take an old printing technique and give it a contemporary design overhaul. Hot foiled on an antique Heidelberg press, the range has had new designs added year after year, racking up over 1,500 original designs. The textured board has remained the same since day one, manufactured at Croppers’ paper mill in the Lake District and supplied by GF Smith, with envelopes made from the same source to create a perfect colour match. These hand-illustrated cards continue to be one of the strongest selling ranges in the Wendy JonesBlackett portfolio.

Swing Cards from Santoro Santoro celebrates 25 years of Swing Cards this year. This range has demonstrated ground-breaking innovation and originality for a quarter of a century. To celebrate this milestone, Santoro has released a dazzling, limited-edition Happy Birthday Swing Card.

The range is also seeing its first ever Christmas editions. Since 1994, Swing Cards have led the way for 3D greeting cards worldwide with relentless creativity and imagination.

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Best Service To The Independent Retailer

The finalists in this category were arrived at as a result of an exhaustive poll involving over 1,500 independent card retailers. The retailers were invited to nominate which companies they considered to be their top three card suppliers on the service front over the last year. The response was amazing - service being a key issue to retailers.

The responses were then correlated, awarding three points to all first choices, two points to those mentioned as second choices and one point to all third choices. These points were then totalled up to arrive at the 10 finalists.

There are three trophies in this category, the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards which will be presented to the top three scoring suppliers in the retail poll.

2019 Finalists (in alphabetical order) l Cherry Orchard Publishing l International Cards and Gifts l Nigel Quiney Publications l Noel Tatt l Pigment Publications l Second Nature l UK Greetings l Wendy Jones-Blackett l Woodmansterne Publications l Words ‘n’ Wishes

Other serious contenders: Other publishers who were ranked highly on the service front by retailers, but just missed out on making it into the finals. Shown in order of the votes.

11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th

Jonny Javelin Paperlink Redback Cards Dandelion Stationery Hallmark The Art File Abacus Ling Design Carte Blanche Greetings Paper Salad

CATEGORY SPONSOR

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The Henries 2019 Finalists

Honorary Achievement Award

This prestigious award is presented to an individual who has contributed greatly to the UK greeting card industry. The winner can come from the retailing, publishing, wholesaling or the supply side of the trade.

Nominations are sought from the entire industry for this special award.

Who will this year’s winner be?

The previous winners of this award are: 2018 - Ged Mace (managing director of The Art File) 2017 - Rod Schragger and Trevor Schragger (co-owners of Second Nature) 2016 - Gary Rowley (former ceo of UK Greetings) 2015 - John and Jennie Procter (founders and co directors of Scribbler) 2014 - Louise Tighe (founder of Paperlink) 2013 - Beth Genower and Matt Genower (founders of Five Dollar Shake) 2012 - Lynn Tait (former owner of The Lynn Tait Gallery and founder of The Ladder Club sadly now deceased) 2011 - Giles Andreae (creator of Purple Ronnie, Edward Monkton and co-creator of Happy Jackson) 2010 - Timothy Melgund (deputy chairman of Paperchase) 2009 - Keith Auty (former marketing director of UK Greetings) 2008 - Mike Bugler (former managing director of Clinton Cards) - Dennis Podmore (chairman of Windles sadly now deceased) 2007 - Clinton Lewin (former group managing director of Clinton Cards) - Debbie Lewin (former product development director of Clinton Cards) CATEGORY SPONSOR

2006 - Chris Dyson (joint managing director of Cardgains buying group) 2005 - Duncan Spence (business angel with an investment in Carte Blanche Greetings and Moonpig) - Stephen Haines (founder of Carte Blanche Greetings) 2004 - Peter Reichwald (founder of The Great British Card Company) 2003 - John Charlton (former chief executive of UKG and senior vice president of American Greetings) - Stuart Mackay (former managing director of UKG and former managing director of Birthdays, but currently chairman of Paper Rose and director of Simon Elvin) 2002 - William McCracken (former GCA special advisor, former managing director of Ling Design and founder of one of the four first specialist card chains) - Paul Woodmansterne (managing director of Woodmansterne Publications) 2001 - Simon Elvin (founder of Simon Elvin, and owner of Nigel Quiney, Glick Designs and Paper Rose) 2000 - Andrew Brownsword (founder of Andrew Brownsword Collection and former owner of Gordon Fraser) 1999 - John Condon (former director of Clinton Cards) - George Pomphrett (former director of Clinton Cards) 1998 - Don Lewin OBE (founder and former chairman of Clinton Cards)

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A selection of lovely new launches awaits at Autumn Fair, which takes place at Birmingham NEC

Getting In Line Sabivo Design’s brand new Clusters range spans over 60 designs covering many captions, including milestone ages and family relations. The designs are hand-drawn and hand-lettered by founder Sabina, then hand-finished with mini flower jewels and handglittered with gold glitter. Made in the UK, the 145mm square cards are printed on FSC-certified board and come with gold envelopes in recyclable cello bags.

Sabivo Design www.sabivo.co.uk Autumn Fair Hall 6 Stand B35

A FAB Idea

Foiled Again

Representing Earlybird’s largest ever card release is FAB. The new eyecatching range comprises 32 neon kids’ designs, spanning from age 1 to 80.

Printed on FSC board, the cards come with a recycled envelope, wrapped in compostable cello. Go see them at Autumn Fair!

Earlybird Designs 01227765372 www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk Autumn Fair Hall 6 Stand A26

Megan Claire has been as busy as ever.

Exhibiting at Autumn Fair for the first time, the publisher will be showcasing new collections spanning everyday, relations, Christmas and Spring Seasons. From metallic gold typography with beautifully patterned envelope liners to on-trend bright neon hand-lettering, Megan Claire continues to inspire with its new collections of simple yet contemporary designs.

Megan Claire 01536 560345 www.meganclaire.co.uk Autumn Fair Hall 6 Stand C11

A Cut(e) Above Bella + Max is a new super cute birthday range from Paper Salad.

Debuting at Autumn Fair, the initial collection comprises nine designs, that claim to feature everyone’s most favourite cats and dogs – and they’re all in the party spirit! The new cute designs, 155mm x 120mm in size, are full of bright neon colours, luxury foil and deep embossing.

Paper Salad 0161 427 0001 www.papersalad.co.uk Autumn Fair Hall 6 D40

Shiny Bright Fancy A Tipple?

Cheeky Chops Cards has come up with an innovative card and gift combo with its brand new Card and Wine Label Collection. Providing a perfect cheeky card and gift, each of the cards comes with a matching wine label. All that is left to do is just add wine!

Cheeky Chops Cards/Wanky Candles (part of Special Days Designs) 01480 412956 www.cheekychopstrade.co.uk Autumn Fair Hall 6 Stand 33

Having been away from the limelight for a little while, Sarah Kelleher is back! The talented designer will be showcasing her brand new Fabulous Foils range. The 30+ brightly coloured floral designs, covering many occasions, are enhanced by gold foiled lettering to create a sumptuous luxury look. All C6 in size, the greeting cards are printed onto FSC card and come with a brown ribbed envelope.

Sarah Kelleher 07768 123957 www.sarahkelleher.co.uk Autumn Fair Hall 6 Stand B31 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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A selection of gorgeous products being launched at Top Drawer AW19, Olympia London, from 8-10 September 2019.

Marvellous Menagerie Sweet Design has welcomed some new creatures into its Endangered Savannah Collection including giraffes and a hippo. All of the cards are 15cm square and come with a kraft envelope. Retailers have the choice of having the cards wrapped or unwrapped with a sticker clasp. The designs are also being rolled out onto placemats and coasters.

Sweet Design 01934 751386 www.sweetdesign.co.uk Top Drawer Stand R16

Double Trees Knight And Day Stormy Knight has collaborated with talented illustrator Daria Solak to create a distinctive new cute collection.

The new range comprises nine A6 designs that are finished with rose gold foil. Each card is paired with a GF Smith Callisto pearl envelope.

Stormy Knight 0117 9098684 www.stormyknight.co.uk Top Drawer Stand U20

Among the many marvelous new things from Ohh Deer is the news that the publisher has extended its Twin Pines collection into relations and milestone ages designs. Cat Ings, the designer behind The Henries-nominated humorous range, has maintained its minimalist look, but has elevated the Twin Pines typographical look with a hot foil finish.

Ohh Deer 01509 812075 www.ohhdeer.com Top Drawer Stand I29

Festive Adornments Following on from the popularity of the everyday range, Crumble & Core has launched a Christmas Jewellery Card Collection. There are 10 watercolour designs

by Jilly Mercer that are hand-finished inhouse and available with a pair of sterling silver star earrings or star necklace, presented in a white gift box.

Crumble & Core 01825 841412 www.crumbleandcore.com Top Drawer Stand T18

Feline Purrfect Hot on the paws of the Designed by Dog range, Paper Plane has turned its attentions to the feline market with its latest collection, Love From The Cat x.

The cheeky messages are aimed at owners of cats with attitude. Also new is a birthday age selection (ages 16 to 100) to the publisher’s mixed messages range, additional designs to the Grid range and 100% natural (and vegan) soaps and solid shampoo bars.

Paper Plane 01780 460636 www.paperplanedesigns.co.uk Top Drawer Stand U16

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Sporting Chance Worry Less Design has expanded its portfolio of greeting cards and gifts for sports enthusiasts, such as new additions to its Definitions and Repeat ranges, including dedicated collections for rugby, rowing, football, cricket and many more. The cards have been re-designed with textured card and an embossed frame creating a more luxurious look. Also launching is a range of Christmas Cards.

Worry Less Design 01256 381521 www.worrylessdesign.co.uk Top Drawer Stand M24

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A selection of gorgeous products being launched at Top Drawer AW19, Olympia London, from 8-10 September 2019.

Artistic Impressions The East End Prints’ 89 new colourful designs, includes some from Pulp Brother, an artist never seen on cards before in the UK. All of the cards are 12cm x 16.5cm and come with a colour co-ordinated envelope. The publisher donates a percentage of its profits to Cool Earth, which works with Amazonian communities to combat deforestation.

East End Prints 0207 241 1118 www.eastendprints.co.uk Top Drawer Stand R28

Fanning The Flame Real Growth Made by Shannon will be showing a new range of plantable greeting cards as well as a collection of designs that have been hand-stitched in the publisher’s Yorkshire studio. These environmentally-friendly A6 cards are impregnated with seeds that can be planted after the recipient has finished admiring the card, resulting in wild flowers growing!

Made by Shannon 07833447003 www.madebyshannon.co.uk Top Drawer Stand U28

Taking Flame Tree Publishing’s range of art cards to 92 designs (and growing), it has expanded to include reproductions of John Tenniel’s Alice and the Cheshire Cat, Aimee Stewart’s Treasure Hunt Bookshelves and the beautiful art of Vittorio Zecchin. The cards (170mm x 125mm in size) are now printed on FSC board and are wrapped in biodegradable cello bags.

Flame Tree Publishing 0845 402 0422 www.flametreepublishing.com Top Drawer Stand O30

Friendship Circles Well-known for its greeting card designs that reflect the relationships we really have, the Emily McDowell & Friends collection (distributed by Abrams and Chronicle) has been augmented with 16 new designs by renowned artist and illustrator Lisa Congdon.

All the cards, 10.7cm x 13.9cm in size, are blank inside and come with environmentallyfriendly ink and brown kraft envelopes.

Abrams and Chronicle Books 020 7713 2060 www.abramsandchronicle.co.uk Top Drawer Stand L31

Summer Spice

A Purple Patch

Bursting in with a summertime tropical vibe is a new raft of designs that join Olive & Belle’s popular Peppercorn Press range.

The quirky illustrations feature summer blooms, palms, flamboyant flamingos and cheeky cockatoos in a zesty colour palette that pops. Covering everyday and occasions, the cards are 170mm x 120mm in size and come with a recycled kraft envelope.

Olive & Belle 07836 247811 www.oliveandbelle.co.uk Top Drawer Stand T28

From Me 2 U has two new fabulous creations from Jaab Cards by Judith Ong. The Scarlet Collection is a fun and elegant collection of 10 (15cm x 15cm), cards which are handcrafted with handapplied glitter, rhinestones, sequins, red bows and dimensional paint. The Purple Collection is a playful, artistic and sentimental collection of eight designs.

From Me 2 U 07921 460286 www.fromme2u.co.uk Top Drawer Stand S13 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The Artof

Fine Gifts

FLAME TREE Notebooks Social Stationery Greeting Cards Calendars & Diaries Jigsaw Puzzles Come and visit our Stand O30 at TOP DRAWER

Greetings Today advert 135mm x 190mm.indd 1

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A selection of great new launches from publishers of all shapes and sizes.

Tweet Tweet Bird Garden is Barley Bay’s latest range. The striking vibrantly coloured designs are the work of two designers with complementary styles who have collaborated to create an on-trend artisan style print along with textile art florals. The first release is a range of six popular birds, including a puffin, owl and kingfisher. The 150mm square cards are printed on a thick, lightly textured board with a high quality matt finish, and come with a white envelope.

Barley Bay 01098583316 / 07722136495 www.barleybay.co.uk

Spring Has Sprung

Rabbiting On

Wholesale card publisher, Out of the Blue Studios is well geared up for spring next year. Its Spring 2020 collection not only covers designs for all four Spring Seasons, but also designs for Prom, St Patrick’s Day, Back to School, Confirmation and Communion. Out of the Blue’s cards are available from all good wholesalers and cash & carries.

Out of the Blue Studios 07795 957995 www.outofthebluestudios.co.uk

Following a great reception to the initial launch of IC&G’s Hun Bun collection, a further 13 beautifully finished designs have just been released. All featuring the loveable, huggable bunny, the new designs are all finished with striking foils and lots of lovely glitter detailing, plus they include an insert and are accompanied by a bespoke envelope.

International Cards & Gifts 01202 897494 www.icgcards.com

Group Behaviour The new Razzle Dazzle Multi-Signature range from Cherry Orchard spans 18 dazzling designs to cover good luck, new baby, leaving and other occasions.

The code 90 cards feature foil finishes and bright contemporary geometric designs.

Cherry Orchard Publishing 01684 295500 www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk

Embrace The Years While the beauty industry tells women they should 'fight ageing', Out of the Box Cards’ new Older and Bolder cards are all about celebrating the benefits of being alive for longer. We're bolder, wiser and stronger and we care so much less about what other people think what's not to love? Designed by talented illustrator Daisy Mojave Holland, the cards (15cm x 15cm or 10cm x 15cm in size) champion caring less about what other people think.

Out of the Box Cards 07887506498 www.outofthebox.cards

Love Actually No need to wait for Valentine’s Day to stock cards that send a loving message. The new Love Hearts range from 2Fs Design offers 24 endearing ways to tell that ‘special someone’ how you feel, any day of the year.

Warm, sometimes cheeky, and sprinkled with puns, with pastel colours and charming cartoon-style illustrations to soften the hardest of hearts, all the designs are 150mm x 105mm. The cards are supplied with a lime, pink or violet envelope, depending on the individual design.

2Fs Design 07770 918582 www.2fsdesign.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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In Conversation With... Simon Elvin

Ignoring Advice “Back in the 1970s, someone who’s opinion I respected said to me: “Get out of the card trade now. This industry is going nowhere”. I am glad that I ignored his advice,” said Simon Elvin, who has whizzed past his half century of working in the card trade and has no intention of slowing down.

While Simon’s gaze is instinctively focused on the future, with plans underway for the GCA’s 100th anniversary celebrations this year, he was persuaded to share his views of how the trade has evolved over the 50+ years in which he has been working within, and as a member of the trade association.

It is hard not to be totally in awe of Simon Elvin. First there are his achievements including building a formidable group of greeting card and giftwrap businesses that span the market, in Paper Rose, Nigel Quiney, Glick, Polytint and of course the wholesale publishing heart of Simon Elvin.

Then there is his unfailing passion for product and attention to detail. He still passes every single design published under the Simon Elvin brand, something that, even by his conservative

estimates, amounts to over 25,000 card designs. Then, there is his calm, strategic thinking, the latter recently demonstrated in the savvy acquisition of the Grassroots/Write from the Heart brands. Added to this is a wry sense of humour as well as a strong sense of justice. When put altogether, he is someone you would want to be when you ‘grow up’.

The fact that Simon is now 78 years old and still comes to work every day, and works when he gets there, means he is far from being merely a figurehead.

Much to the frustration of his wife Janet, co-founder of the company (and invariably at her desk in the Wooburn Green HQ too), Simon refuses to even take more than a week’s holiday at a time.

“Though when we do go away, I do completely switch off from work,” says Simon in earshot of his wife, as though feeling a need to defend himself.

When it is tentatively suggested to him that he must be one of the oldest people working in the UK greeting card industry, his reaction is ambivalent. This is no ‘badge of honour’, more a case of doing what he loves best. He has oft brushed off any suggestion of retirement, saying that he had no intention of taking up golf and would just get bored and want to start a card business, so what’s the point as he already has one. In fact, he has several, but leaves the day-to-day running of the Simon Elvin group’s ‘sibling’ businesses to their respective management

Above: Three greeting card ‘muskateers’. (Left-right) Simon Elvin (founder of Simon Elvin), Jeff Bottomley (founder of Kingsley Cards) and Andrew Brownsword (founder of Andrew Brownsword Collection) at a GCCA event many moons ago.

Far left: Then and now: A Simon Elvin anniversary card from 25 years ago and its cleaner looking current counterpart.

Inset: Simon Elvin has already scored his half century working in the card trade.

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In Conversation With... Simon Elvin

teams, aware that while some learnings can be shared, more can be achieved if you allow companies to have their own identities, but work together as a group when beneficial.

Simon took a similar approach to the Greeting Card Association, which he joined back in 1968 when he started card publishing company Image Arts, and he has been a member ever since.

“It is good to hear that there are plans to celebrate the GCA’s 100th anniversary, I can’t quite believe that I have been a member for over 50 years!” says Simon. “Back when I started Image Arts greeting cards were not as omnipresent as they are now. It was a much smaller industry, with far fewer publishers and retailers stocking them,” explains Simon.

As a far-sighted ‘newbie’, Simon realised, “if we, as card publishers, collectively took steps to grow a healthy industry then all of those within it would have a better chance of prospering, so I quickly joined what was then known as the GCCA [Greeting Card and Calendar Association],” said Simon.

Recalling the structure of the card market back then, Simon said: “The big names were Valentine’s of Dundee, WN Sharpe, Rustcraft, Kaye Gibson and Hallmark, with Gordon Fraser and Royle seen as ‘the specialists’. A far cry to the multitude of publishing names today,” sums up Simon.

That said, there was money to be made, big money in some cases. “WN Sharpe, which operated both DTR and wholesale, was held up as one of the most profitable companies in the whole of the UK business world at that time. No wonder, when you think it only launched one main range a year and flatly refused to change the designs in the stock controls they planned! Increased competition challenged this however,” said Simon with a wry smile, knowing that Image Arts was one of the ‘disrupters’ well before the term became common parlance.

The growing prominence of Image Arts did not go un-noticed by wholesale card company Wilson Brothers who, having been

Above: Simon Elvin taking over as president of the GCCA in 1983 from Terry Anderson, owner of Coronet.

Left: Then and now: Just look how milestone designs have moved on in the last 25 years.

Below right: Then and now: The subject matter is the same, but the modern day Christmas cute (right) is far brighter than that of its counterpart 25 years ago.

Bottom: Then and now: Today’s treatment of a female design (right) and one from 25 years ago.

approached by Woolworths to supply the then important multiple with cards, made the approach to acquire the upstart card company Image Arts and retain its founder, at least for a while until Simon’s entrepreneurial twitches could not be ignored and he left to set up Simon Elvin in 1978.

“The late 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s were very exciting times in the card trade,” says Simon.

“Yes there were challenges, there always will be, but the market was growing significantly year on year as publishers produced different types of cards, from cutes to ‘continental style’, and more retailers recognised the profits to be made in stocking cards.”

The 60s-90s saw more specialist card retailers opening their doors; newsagents were doing a roaring trade as were post offices and market stalls. Supermarkets did not really feature on the card map until much later.

It was a greeting card wholesaler bonanza too, “at their height we had 400 card wholesalers as customers, now there are under 100 still trading,” says Simon sadly.

Production techniques were also evolving further fuelling the public’s appetite for cards.

“Printing on acetate in the 70s was really big as it enabled incredible definition and shine in the days before UV varnish. Bronzing was

another treatment that came to prominence as it offered a more subtle alternative to foiling,” explains Simon, then recalling how the move to digital has made things so much easier and speeded up production immeasurably. Back in the day when every design had to be turned into ‘colour separations’ to be printed, Simon explains how to achieve the best results he sent every design to Spain to be repro-ed - they were considered the masters of the job. “This meant adding two-three weeks in to the process, but it was worth it”, says Simon, something that is now done at the touch of a keypad.

Amplifying the progress that was being made by card publishers and retailers was a whole programme of activities by the Greeting Card Association.

“We spent a lot of money on PR around the main card sending occasions. We had a consumer PR agency who used to organise very expensive events. I remember one at Claridges to promote Mother’s Day to which mothers of celebrities were invited as well as the consumer press. Another one was a photo call with Ken Dodd to promote Christmas card sending. This of course was long before social media and newspapers and magazines were keen to find things to fill their pages,” said Simon sagely.

Having been a member of the GCA for 50 years, Simon believes he has got his money’s worth. “The essence of the association today is the same as it was 50 years ago and probably 50 years before that.

It is all about us as businesses putting our competitive nature to one side and thinking of the greater good of the industry.”

And having rejected the advice that was given to him half a century ago to get out of the trade, as it is ‘going nowhere’, what pearls of wisdom would he offer up to any new publishing start-ups entering the trade?

“It is all about putting the right design with the right words and making sure it is superbly produced. The problem is that what is ‘right’ keeps evolving and that’s what keeps me interested,” says the 78 year old upstart.

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Retailer Face To Face

Onto A Winner The term ‘mooch’ conjures up the idea of a slow, relaxed, goal-less loiter. However, there has been nothing slow about the strategic expansion and impressive achievements of Northamptonshire-based gift and card retail mini group of the same name.

Fresh from winning a Retas’ award (only a few weeks after having been feted with a trophy at The Greats gift retailer awards too), PG rushed to catch up with Rachel and Paul Roberts, Mooch’s co-owners, to find out more about life in the fast lane.

It was a fruitless search for a gift for a friend that was to be the catalyst for husband and wife duo Rachel and Paul Roberts to set up an online shop three years ago that led swiftly onto the opening of their four gift and card shops, Mooch in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire in quick succession over the last couple of years.

While relatively new to the card and gift sector, Rachel and Paul not only have bags of retail experience between them, but are also used to working together, having met (18 years ago) when they were both employed by the Dixons retail group.

And certainly their rapid expansion and establishment of their own flavour of gift and card retailing has earned them the respect of the trade and delight from their customers, as reflected in Mooch winning The Retas’ Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards South award for its greeting card approach as well as Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - Best Newcomer Midlands, North and Scotland in The Greats gift retailer awards (sister awards to The Retas).

Sharing some of the background, Paul explained that it was during a six month sabbatical from their busy consulting jobs that they took the plunge to set up the 78

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online gift shop and then made the move into bricks and mortar.

“Rachel had ‘the itch’ for a while, and so we did some local gift fairs and markets to test the water.” The learnings from these, as well as from their online gift store, gave them more than ample encouragement to look for retail premises.

“Having spent the previous 15 years as colleagues and store managers for Dixons, and before that working in retail as Top: Rachel and Paul Roberts (centre) were delight to win a Retas award in July. The trophy was presented by Steve Baker, sales and marketing director of Pigment, sponsor of the category, with host Pippa Evans happy to join in the celebrations.

Above left: Mooch on St Giles Street was the first shop Rachel and Paul Roberts opened.

Above: While all four Mooch shops look slightly different, they all have a similar feel of friendliness and offering a sense of discovery for shoppers.

Left: The interiors of the Mooch shops encourage shoppers to browse.

teenagers, we had been through every facet of retail, so felt we knew the ropes,” added Paul.

However, finding premises was challenging. “Despite having retail in our blood, managing agents dismissed us because we had no history to fall back on,” Rachel explains. “The shop we eventually ended up with on St Giles Street was our third choice, but it couldn’t have worked out better as there is lots more space on the first

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Retailer Face To Face

and second floor, which allowed us to expand six months after we opened, literally doubling our retail space overnight.”

Mooch on St Giles Street in Northampton opened in May 2017, with a concession in nearby Bell’s lifestyle shop following in 2018.

And then this summer has seen stores three and four open within weeks of each other in Towcester and, nudging out of Northamptonshire and into Bucks, in Olney.

From the off, the concept of Mooch has been to enable customers to find gifts that are not available anywhere else. Currently, the products range from decorative accessories, home fragrancing, jewellery, fashion accessories and clothing (ponchos) to children’s products, furniture gift books and greeting cards.

While gifts have always been the anchor for the stores, greeting cards have enjoyed something of a meteoric rise in the Mooch portfolio.

“Greeting cards have taken over our lives and we love them,” exclaims Rachel.

“Since we opened two years ago we have expanded our card selection two or three times, and have found that the more expensive quality cards, such as Five Dollar Shake, are our best sellers,” she adds.

Other publishers up for praise from Rachel and Paul include Dandelion Stationery, both for its humorous designs as well as its designs that deal with more delicate situations, such as sympathy and empathy. “The publisher somehow manages a balance between humour and real life, with its editorial being some of the best I’ve ever seen, such talking about ‘the road ahead’ for people with serious illnesses,” says Rachel.

Above: Wendy Jones-Blackett’s ranges have been embraced by Mooch as this Facebook post shows!

“We also adore Susan O’Hanlon, love Redback for its humorous cards, as well as Coulson Macleod - a publisher that’s based in Northamptonshire - as its cards feature lots of clever captions. Wendy Jones-Blackett is relatively new for us but is quickly becoming another favourite,” adds Rachel.

Mooch also stocks cards from local artists who Paul and Rachel commission to create bespoke designs. “People love these cards so much that they frame them,” adds Paul.

With a quest “to be different” with its greeting card offer, just as PG Live brought some riches - “we were delighted to discover Grumble & Co at the show” – so the Roberts’ ‘wishlist’ of card suppliers swelled again recently following the couple’s experience as judges for The Henries, spotting several ranges they would be interested in introducing.

While having the right product mix and attractive retail environment are critical for

Judging the situation

As a member of The Henries Judging Panel, Rachel was put on the spot, not just as to which cards she thought were the best, but for some personal comments on celebrities, history and the future.

Which two celebrities would you most want as customers?: “Maya Angelou, what an inspirational woman, and David Bowie.”

What do you feel have been the most historical happening in greeting card history?: “It’s happening right now - the plastic and sustainable challenge.”

How do you feel we can future proof the UK card industry?: “The charity element that is widespread in Christmas could be extended more to everyday and other occasions. I would also like to see more cards that include keepsakes/trinkets.”

Above left: Rachel Roberts considering one of the Christmas boxes at The Henries’ Judging Day recently.

Above right: The author and civil rights campaigner, Maya Angelou, is someone Rachel Roberts would have loved to have had as a customer.

Left: David Bowie is another Rachel hero!

Mooch, offering a customer service to match is also paramount, with Rachel and Paul selecting their team very carefully. There are currently 17 staff on the Mooch payroll, which includes five students. “The people we take on are warm and friendly. No-one does any ‘selling’ as such, but we do lots of storytelling, with our team going through a big process of learning how to giftwrap too.

One of our early recruits worked for The White Company and so knew a lot about professional giftwrapping so ours is simple but beautiful.”

Rachel says that what she loves most about working at Mooch are the conversations with customers. “We make sure that every customer gets a warm and friendly ‘hello’ and a fond farewell, and we have built up good relationships with the people who come in,” she explains. “Even early on, people were describing themselves as “regulars”, and we have always made a point of showing an interest in their lives. We also challenge ourselves to have something new and fresh in store so that our offer is always evolving.”

So what’s it like working with your partner? “From our Dixons’ days we knew that we worked well together, although admittedly there can sometimes be a healthy tension,” smiles Rachel. “I’m a bit maverick and I trust my gut instinct for a lot of things, while Paul is more measured. He has a healthy respect for risk and deals more in facts and figures. He makes me work things through in detail, and I often find myself pitching ideas to him. If we were both the same it wouldn’t work,” believes Rachel.

Paul adds that at least they both knew what they were entering into when they set up Mooch. “Retail is hard work, but we aren’t afraid to get stuck in, and we can dictate the pace. The only pressure we have is the pressure we put on ourselves and we are lucky to have each other as support.”

Looking ahead to 2020, on the product front the couple predict an even bigger focus on sustainability, which will have a knock-on effect onto gifts and cards. “It is being driven by customer demand. The upcoming generation, Generation Alpha, is more responsible, continually teaching their parents,” observes Rachel. “Currently we’re on a quest to find a bar of shampoo!”

So, will there be more shops to add to the portfolio? “Probably not in the next six to 12 months,” says Rachel. “Our aim will be to consolidate what we have and to make our shops the most brilliant places to shop in!”

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Licensing Lookout

Two Way

Traffic Walt Disney was at it for years, Beatrix Potter wasted no time in getting in on the act, and today’s greeting card publishers are going at it hammer and tong in both directions.

Yes, the interest in licensing characters, brands and artwork onto greeting cards, and likewise the activity of card publishers licensing their artwork for use by other companies, is growing like topsy.

With the Brand Licensing Europe trade exhibition fast looming (October 1-3, taking place at London’s ExCel for the first time), PG considers the proliferation of licensing in the greeting card arena.

It was a shock when the news broke at the start of June that Gemma International was to cease trading after 34 years. However the demise of the licensed card and partyware business is rather at odds with how the shape of licensing, both within the greeting card sector and way beyond its parameters, has changed beyond all recognition.

Gemma International can and should be held up as a

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trailblazer. The founders’ toy retail roots led to them spotting an opportunity to translate characters that had proved popular on toys onto greeting cards, but since those early days, when My Little Pony first trotted onto the card racks, licensing has galloped ahead at some pace and in all manner of directions.

The UK is right up near the top when it comes to the purchasing of licensed merchandise, second place only to the US,

Above: Hallmark first licensed Disney for cards back in the 1930s!

Left: A new Peppa design from Danilo.

Below left: One of the designs in Ling’s new Prue range, that features a recipe for beetroot and aubergine risotto on the rear of the card by the culinary maestro, Prue Leith.

Below right: EastWest’s licensing agreement with Tache covers its Krafty (pictured), Lashes and London ranges.Bottom left: Museums & Galleries’ signing with fashion icon Dame Zandra Rhodes was launched by the ‘Punk Princess’ herself at PG Live.

according to the findings of the 2019 Annual Global Licensing Industry Survey released recently

by Licensing International, the licensing industry’s trade association. That said, although $146 billion is a lot of money to spend on products that bear the nation’s fave characters, art, sports, celebrity and branded IP, us Brits still have some way to go to come anywhere close to the $1,543 billion appetite of the American consumers.

Certainly, prominent character/ entertainment brands remain an attractive prize for licensees (worth over $9.5 billion at retail in the UK), hence the recent jubilation of Danilo, IG Design Group and Amscan being able to reveal they had sealed the deal for eOne’s Peppa and PJ Masks programmes for cards, wrap and partyware respectively (as the rights for the brands reverted as soon as Gemma ceased trading). However, interestingly, according to the recent market report, the UK consumer spends more on products based on licensed collaborations with fashion names ($12 billion), sports marques (approaching $13 billion) and FMCG/corporate brands ($14 billion), but it is just that many of these tieups are less visible, such is the tightness of the fit between the two parties. Ted Baker’s

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Licensing Lookout

shoes for example are in fact produced under licence, but you would never know.

The beauty of licensing is that it forms links between parties. When it really works it delights the consumer (often enabling them to extend their pledge of allegiance) as well as bringing financial benefits and profile to the brand owners and the licensees alike that would otherwise not be open to them.

PG Live was a hotbed of licensing at work in so many permutations.

Adding abundant colour and flavour to the show were the guest appearances of fashion icon Dame Zandra Rhodes, there to launch the range of cards and stationery bearing her

signings for Redback’s Cloud Nine range and Rosie Made A Thing’s Gin & Frolics brand.

Extending its licensing collaboration with Wot a Mug from greeting cards, Cherry Orchard fanfared a mug collection.

The exhibition was also the launchpad of Cath Tate Cards’ Modern Icons card range, a collaboration with Geordie card and gift company Wot Ma Like, while there were plenty of nods of approval to the collaboration between Wendy Jones-Blackett and Soul, with the latter unveiling a stationery collection based on designs from the Leeds-based card publisher’s popular Hey Fresco range.

The UK greeting card industry’s creative pre-eminence has certainly not gone unnoticed by the major players in other fields.

Having kicked-off with a small collection of mugs under its Royal Worcester brand, the Portmeirion Group has gone on to reap global riches from Wrendale Designs’ zoologically correct, yet cute, animal depictions that hailed from its Country Set card range, as evidenced by the major tableware collection that is now available the world over.

Licensing agreements with greeting card brands were very much in evidence at giftware giant Widdop & Co’s Summer Show held at its Oldham HQ, which saw giftware collaborations with Hotchpotch (based on its Swan Lake and Hello Neon brands), Pigment

Above: The rise of publishing brands for licensing includes Woodmansterne publishing cards that tie-in with the hugely popular Oi books.

Right: Widdop and Co has licensed Hotchpotch’s Swan Lake card brand for candles and gifts.

Far right: Royal Worcester’s Wrendale Designs’ tableware is now on sale all over the world.

distinctive design styles, while culinary guru, Prue Leith, was a popular ‘spectacle’ on the Ling Design stand where the Prue cards made their debut. Meanwhile, having made a name for himself as a street artist, Angry Dan went ‘legit’ with Cardmix, appearing at the show to bring to life his colourful mural limericks that adorned the publisher’s ‘wall’ on a new range of cards.

And then there was the inter-sector activity, which saw publishers licensing out their designs to those within the sphere.

Glick Designs, now a dab-hand at this licensing malarkey, was fanfaring the latest giftwrappings ranges from the likes of Paper Salad, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Think of Me and Stephanie Dyment, as well as the latest

(under its By Appointment and Neon Pop looks) and a mug collection, based on Wendy Jones-Blackett’s Quicksilver range.

Another company who is keen to capitalise on the creative riches that hail from the greeting card arena is EastWest. Having fast-tracked a deal with Tache, having made their acquaintance at PG Live, EastWest direcfor Terry Taylor confirmed it has just signed with White Cotton Cards and has another three collaborations with greeting card companies in gestation.

Peter Rabbit and Mickey Mouse may have started it, but cardies are most definitely adding to the licensing action these days, and long may it continue.

Countdown to BLE

This October’s Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) exhibition is a special one, as the show celebrates its milestone 21st year, being held at ExCeL in London’s Docklands for the first time ever (October 1-3).

Binging together more than 7,800 licensing professionals to do business with 260+ brand owners from right across the licensing spectrum, the show will also feature presentations, demonstrations and panel discussions on the world of licensing. Last year, its online Matchmaking Service facilitated more than over 2,800 meetings pre-arranged between licensors and licensees.

"The greeting card sector is really interesting when it comes to licensing due partly to their relative ease of production and therefore agility to bring popular IP to market,” says Anna Knight, event director of BLE knowingly. “As greeting cards reflect society’s tastes, across all demographics, every brand at BLE has the potential to be translated onto greeting cards, be it from the character & entertainment world or hailing from sports, celebrity, heritage, publishing, gaming, brands or art & design sectors,” Anna adds.

Taking up position alongside the hundreds of exhibitors looking to secure licensing collaborations are Carte Blanche, Santoro, Sarah Boddy (who is collaborating with Peartree Heybridge), Sarah Lovell Art, Claire Louise and Sarah Burman Design. The latter, a newbie card publisher, receives her stand as a prize, having won the License This! competition for the licensing potential of its Animals concept which beat fellow greeting cardies, Doll Truths and Pabuku to become the winner. www.brandlicensing.eu Top: Anna Knight (front left) looks set to be joined by a cavalcade of characters at this year’s BLE.

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ask about our ‘Mr Abbot’ sample pack

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Art Source PG helps to paint a pretty picture of freelance artists, designers, verse writers and photographers’ worlds in order to promote their talents to publishers and, conversely, make it easier for publishers seeking artists.

ARTIST IN FOCUS

Claire Louise Hill I am an artist and fashion textiles designer from Durham in the North East. As a child I was immersed in arts and crafts and so began my creative journey. My creativity led me to take a degree in fashion textiles and I graduated in 2007 with 1st Class honours.

In the same year I was short-listed for the SDC (Society of Dyers and Colourists) Textile & Colour Award at Graduate Fashion Week and my hand-painted silk scarves were shortlisted for London Fashion Week.

My influences of life, music and the natural world come through in my designs. I love bringing different mediums together and creating unique designs from inspirations I see in day-to-day life. My pleasure comes from a creative process: Taking a memory or something I’ve seen and putting it down on paper.

Working with mixed mediums of watercolours, pastels, fabrics and machine embroidery, my designs have merged with the world of greeting cards, homeware and personal beauty care.

With stockists such as John Lewis, Fenwick, Hoopers, and large independent retailer’s such as Blackwells, Kew Gardens, Garden Centres, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and Chester Zoo, my work quickly became popular in the industry.

I have been fortunate to work with different creative industries. A range of exclusive hairbrushes are sold in prestigious Ozzie Rizzo Salons in London and my artwork has been featured in TV shows.

My artwork is now available for licensing and is already seen on a range of ceramics, candles, fashion apparel, giftware, homewares and wall art. I have also been working with an agent in the US and we are already started to build our brand overseas. l www.claire-louise.co.uk l Contact: info@claire-louise.co.uk l Tel: 07715 373344

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Emma Cain on emmac@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge.

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PG asked a selection of card retailers for their ‘hot’ card sellers.

Cathy Frost, owner of Loveone, Ipswich, Suffolk A small contemporary shop in a historic market town with a locals and destination shoppers customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

Brie Harrison

General

Art

Printer Johnson

Tropics Collection

Contemporary

Wrap Magazine

Traditional

Art Angels

Alexandria Coe for Wrap Angie Lewin – Printmakers

Children’s

Hype Associates

Elmer

Giftwrap

Nineteen Seventy Three Ark Colour Design

Silk Collection

Beautiful floral images perfect for all occasions and seasons. Postcards are also available and very popular.

A vibrant range of cards that captures the summer vibe. Perfect for all occasions or just to collect and display as mini pieces of art.

Stunning letterpress nudes in soft muted colours. New in store and very popular.

Beautiful natural scenes and botanical images. One of our most popular ranges, and we look forward to the new designs every season.

Loveone is currently playing host to a small Elmer figure as part of Ipswich’s Summer Art Trail, so Elmer is proving very popular with all ages, not just kids.

Beautifully textured papers in modern designs and colours; a joy to wrap with.

A quirky range of colourful leather keyrings for under £20. The perfect present for any natural history fan.

Right: A beautiful design from Brie Harrison.

Ancillary

Insect leather keyrings

Samantha Gibbs, owner of Nest, Leicester Three medium stores in a city with a locals and tourists customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Paper Salad

Jamboree

Humour

Rosie Made A Thing

Across The Board

Art

The Hidden Pearl

General

Contemporary

Megan Claire

Neo and Pandora

Handmade/ Hand-Finished

Handmade And Hooked

General

Children’s

Think of Me

Kiddiwinks

Giftwrap

Heather Alstead

General

We love the colour on all of the publisher’s ranges but Jamboree is a particular favourite at Nest. So vibrant and on-trend.

Without a doubt our customers’ favourite cards when they want a giggle. Rosie is local to us and so we champion her ranges in all three of our outlets and online. She has a gift of noticing our nuances in life and demonstrates them with kindness in her fab illustrations.

Charlie is a new artist to us and a real rising star. She has captured the thoughtful art card beautifully - a growing section of the market.

This is a publisher we have admired for some time and so spent one of our three vouchers at PG Live with them. We went for these ranges for a spike of neon colour and the simplicity of gold on white.

We have just taken on this lovely new range, which are handmade locally (and found on Etsy). They’re beautifully hand-painted cards designed with specific occasions in mind.

We have been buying Think of Me cards for years now, they’re one of our true staples. Its Kiddiwinks range is full of sophisticated colour and so gives more than a pastel or bright range to the racks.

Anything with her Brown Bears on! Beautiful illustrations on a lovely quality paper, with matching cards available too, which we love!

Right: Heart-felt words from The Hidden Pearl.

Below right: Customers are ‘pawing’ for Heather Alstead’s Brown Bear wrap and cards at Nest’s stores.

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Kaye Thurgood, owner of Sincerely Yours, Shenfield, Essex A medium shop in a busy high street with a loyal locals customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Nigel Quiney

Pizazz

Cute

IC&G

Hun Bun

Humour

Hammond Gower

Fancy Pants

Right: A design from the Paintbox range from Katie Phythian.

Below right: IC&G’s Hun Bun offers up a big bouquet for Mother’s Day.

Rosie Made A Thing

Across The Board

Art

Museums & Galleries

Classic

Woodmansterne

Across The Board

Photographic

Abacus

Countryfile

Contemporary

Katie Phythian

Paintbox

Hammond Gower

Piano Mini Cards

UK Greetings

Across The Board

IC&G Paper Salad Five Dollar Shake

Boxed Cards Zoo Lane Across The Board

Talking Pictures (Ling)

Across The Board

Second Nature Belly Button

Champagne Bubble

These make great general birthday cards, customers go straight to them.

A very well received new addition to the cute spectrum, selling strongly across all captions.

Really good fun designs; it’s great to offer a handmade humour card for a change.

Something for everyone, the range is particularly strong in open cards for both female and male.

Beautiful art cards with some recognisable paintings.

A real favourite with our customers, they can be used for any occasion.

A great selection of country photos, and blank inside so very versatile.

One of my personal favourites, these are so different to anything else we stock, and customers love them.

These are a fantastic pick-up on a spinner by the till, customers will buy five or six at once.

The high price codes are very popular in relations and occasions designs. They are cards with a good perceived value as they are large cards, and there’s a great range of designs.

What a winner! The range has gone from strength to strength.

These are doing very well in children’s ages as they’re a little bit different.

Always in demand across all captions. The collections are very strong this year, we’ve never sold so many!!

New designs frequently released. The collection sells well in relations, ages, anniversary, wedding and general birthday titles - a reliable seller all year.

These sell all day long in all occasions, but are particularly strong in ages.

Top quality product, amazing designs. The gift bags are very strong sellers.

Traditional

Children’s Handmade/ Hand-Finished

Giftwrap

Caroline Boot, owner of The Mole Hole, Fleetwood, Lancashire A card and gift shop with a loyal locals customer base and a destination shop for Charlie Bears.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Words ‘n’ Wishes

Aloha and Pinata

Cherry Orchard

Across The Board

IC&G

Barley Bear

UKG

Boofle

Jonny Javelin Words ‘n’ Wishes

Velvet and Signature Handcrafted With Love

Great, slightly contemporary, open ranges, for both male and female sends, with short sentiments.

Sell well across all the titles, with good price points and quality finishes.

A very cute felted bear that has broad appeal. The cards also have a lovely finish with lots of foiling.

A lovely cute puppy character on an embossed and flittered card range covering all titles; there’s something for everyone.

Very popular traditional ranges with broad appeal and good price points.

A lovely colourful range with lots of foil finishes and good sentiments.

IC&G Best Kept Secrets

Magical Wonders Scented candles

Joe Davies Bambino

Equilibrium jewellery Baby gifts

Cute

Right: With lovely titles for everyone, the Boofle range from UKG.

Traditional Handmade/ Hand-Finished Children’s Ancillary

A very clean and bright range with topical characters for ages 1 to 8.

A lovely range of fragranced candle tins at a sensitive price point for the perfect add on sale.

A very popular gift range of jewellery for that last minute present.

Great selection of modern baby gift items - lovely for Christenings.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

85

Prohibition Era Style Gin Bloom Glasses • 2 X GENERIC TITLES • AGES 18 - 70

PACKAGING FINISHED WITH ATTRACTIVE GOLD FOIL DETAIL

Come over to our gin joint at the Autumn Fair,

Hall 7 E60

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JEREMY’S JOURNAL Business blogging by publisher Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun.

Rising Retail Jeremy Corner, owner of greeting card publisher Blue Eyed Sun and distributor of BambooCup, on a new possibility for independent retailers.

Above: The Rising Retail networking event is open for card and gift retailers.

Below: The high street continues to struggle.

Bottom: Online sales are evolving.

There’s no predicting exactly what will happen in the future. The reality of the high street appears to be a constant onslaught of one thing after another. While there are lots of great examples of retailers who are bucking the trend (this year’s Retas winners for starters) and continuing to thrive, many more have sold, shut up shop or are wondering what to do next.

Moreover, the real worry is that the physical landscape of our high streets will morph into homogeneity with more towns losing their uniqueness. Some retailers will also tragically miss out on opportunities that are presenting themselves through the internet, social media, conscious consumerism and early signs of a return to localism.

We are all guilty of sticking with what we know, even when it is no longer working in the same way. Trying new things can feel daunting, especially when we don’t really know what we are doing. The answers aren’t always easy to find online and consultancy can cost money that some simply don’t have.

How it is

Another possibility

Right now the uneven playing field of business rates for bricks and mortar stores versus online marketplaces like Amazon, the lack of parking in some towns, lower footfalls, changing consumer habits, staffing issues and financial challenges are a constant challenge for most independent retailers.

Many of us are ill-prepared for a looming Hard Brexit and have no idea of how it will affect our businesses. Meanwhile, online sales growth and social media platforms continue to evolve. Many retailers have been left behind with these new technologies. They often don’t understand them, are inadequately prepared and unsure of what they are doing and the effect it is really having on their sales.

Imagine the possibility of a vibrant gathering that translates into real footfall and sales for retailers, both in store and online, in the UK. Picture more high streets coming alive again and transforming into vibrant communities.

Envisage happy business owners, motivated staff, engaged customers and inspiring mindsets. Seem like a far fetched fantasy that is unachievable? I believe that there may be a way.

The predictable future Without some action being taken, all the aforementioned point towards more independents quitting or being forced to close in the coming years. The upshot of this is struggle, pain and hardship.

Decreased motivation and energy follows, and there’s an inevitable negative series of knock-on effects on the lives of friends, family and loved ones.

How? I spend a lot of time talking to retailers. I’m obsessed with learning about what challenges they face and what challenges they’ve overcome in their businesses. I love the conversations we have because I learn so much about both my customers and my own business at the same time.

Even after having run Blue Eyed Sun for so long, there are still business basics that I sometimes miss or forget. There are also new things to learn all the time about technology, the market and our shifting patterns of behaviour.

For me there’s no better way to learn than from people who are on the ground, constantly working with tools and techniques that improve aspects of their PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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JEREMY’S JOURNAL lives and businesses; figuring out what works and what doesn’t.

Together, our shared knowledge is more powerful than anything we can achieve for ourselves. This has led me to seeing this new possibility, a way of taking action in the face of the issues at hand, a way of growing our businesses in any climate. It came from thinking about how we can improve our businesses in achievable, actionable increments: A variety of things one can do to create a series of 5% improvements that have a compounding overall effect.

retailers that I love so dearly and have been such an important part of my own good fortune. I love bringing people together and I love learning. I am lucky enough to have known many fantastic talented retailers who have inspired me over the years, and I want to bring them all together to create something really special and valuable for those that attend.

So, I am creating an event in October called Rising Retail that will inspire and nurture the creativity of retailers to take their businesses to new levels and reignite the imaginations of the communities that shop with them - An event full of golden nuggets to share.

Above: The Rising Retail event will bring retailers together.

Left: The best way to learn is from people who already have learnt and are using that knowledge.

Below left: A single golden nugget of information can transform your business - A card from Wendy JonesBlackett.

as a group than as individuals, and these parts of the day will, no doubt, turn out to be just as invaluable as the main talks.

The format

Golden nuggets I spend a proportion of my time every year sharpening my saw. It’s no good hacking away at your goal with a blunt instrument.

You have to work on yourself and on your business if you are to grow. We are creatures of habit and a growth mindset has to become habitual for us if we are to move beyond our current business reality.

To do this I read books, listen to podcasts, engage on social media, speak with others and attend events. I find events to be most powerful because they create clusters of interactive conversations around a subject area. They prompt discussion and allow for questions and answers that are not the same in any of the other formats.

When you go to events you often come away with a single golden nugget that transforms your life or your business. A new insight. A new way of seeing. Some small thing that makes it completely worthwhile attending and has huge leverage for you going forward.

Rising retail After almost 20 years in this industry I want to give back to the independent 88

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

The idea is to have 10 speakers over the course of a single day, each speaking for around 15 minutes with time for questions and networking. Each talk will have up to 10 golden nuggets that have contributed to the measurable success the speakers have had in specific areas that other retailers find challenging. They will share actions that the attending retailers can take to achieve similar results.

Actionable outcomes are really important so that it isn’t just another event that one attends, takes notes at, feels good about and then does nothing with. I want this event to have a profound impact on the business owners that attend it and the communities that they return to afterwards.

If an event is usually worth it for attendees when they unearth one golden nugget, then having up to 100 key learnings will be a treasure trove for retailers who join in.

Even more valuable will be the conversation that occurs between retailers on the day.

The networking sections between talks and at lunch will be an opportunity for inspirational stories to be shared and new ideas to be developed. My dream is that we create new ways of tackling some of the seemingly insurmountable challenges. We all have something to learn from each other, we can do more together

The outcome Rising Retail will be an event that will ignite a retailer’s lost spark. It will excite and energise. It will create new possibilities for all of these who attend.

This project will only be as strong as the retail community members that rise to the challenge and share with one another what works and doesn’t work, what we see as achievable and how to go out and get it.

So, what about you?

Your vision What do you see as possible for your retail business, your team, your customers and your community? Does any of this resonate with you? Would you like to join me? I’d love to hear your stories and your answers to these questions: 1. What are the top three challenges you face in your retail business right now?

2. What challenges you’ve overcome so far that others could learn from?

3. Who inspires you in retail?

4. What retail opportunities or trends excite you for the future?

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If it has at all connected with you then please contact me and share your answers to the questions above and your interest in attending or sharing at this event. Email me now at jeremy@blueeyedsun.co.uk Jeremy is curating the eco-trail at Top Drawer and speaking at Autumn Fair about the challenges of Going Plastic Free on the Inspiring Retail stage at 13:30 on Sunday 1 September at Birmingham’s NEC. Read more on Jeremy’s blog at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk/blog

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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020 7700 6740 or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

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020 7700 6740 Abacus Cards Limited t: 01638 569050 e: info@abacuscards.co.uk w: www.abacuscards.co.uk

or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud

07957 212 062 or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

01565 830 546 | bexyboo.co.uk @BexyBooLtd

BexyBooLtd

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Warren Lomax warren@max-publishing.co.uk or

Tracey Arnaud Witty, gritty, switched on humour.

Cards and gifts with a real difference.

tarnaud@btinternet.com made with great imagination

@thecuriousinksmith

01892 838 574

sales@thecuriousinksmith.co.uk

Unit 1, 45 Morrish Road London SW2 4EE Tel: 0208 671 2166 Fax: 0208 678 1119 info@cathtatecards.com

Caspari Ltd Linden House, John Dane Player Court

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Products: Everyday cards - birthday, blank & occasions, charity Christmas cards, gifftt wrap, bags, tissue, ribbon, hankies, napkins, paper plate, candles, placemats, crackers,invitations, placecards, notecards,diaries, address books, journals, advent calendars and bridge gifftts.

Method of Sale: Direct to Retail

Publishers of quality blank greeting cards Tel: 0115 929 4776 enquiries@bugart.co.uk Order Online

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Brands Include: Down Memory Lane, W Wo ot A Mug and T Tw wist & Shout Methods of Sale: Direct to retail Desiggners welcome contact beverley@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk

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www.progressivegreetingslive.com

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THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

TM

GRASS ROOTS

INTERNATIONAL

G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL www.progressivegreetingslive.com

A U.K owned Greeting Cards Publisher.

Our everyday ranges for all occasions and relations include traditional, contemporary, cute, humour and photographic designs. We also have a full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons.

All products are designed and printed in the U.K on the finest quality board.

Innovative high quality gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper and accesssories galore for all seasons and occasions.

BRANDS â&#x20AC;&#x153;Write from the Heartâ&#x20AC;? brand includes; Corsage, Sentiments, Champagne, Celebrations and Jelly Beans.

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M ETHOD OF SALE Direct to Retail

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G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL S end i n g

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YO Y OU OU

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from the @glickgiftwrap

Ch C hin nese ese HE IS

THE

WAY

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â&#x20AC;˘ UK Market leaders with humour, art, photographic, contemporary and traditional occasions & relations cards, plus seasonal.

LIFE

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Polissh Po h

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Te T el: 0161 16 64 41 06 0655 Email: m sales@da sales@d avora.co.uk av 135 Hea 13 135 eaton Moorr Rd | Stockp ock kpo port ort SK4 4H 4 4HY HY High Quality Greeting Cards, Gift Bags, Gift Wrap & Ta Tags for every occasion.

*GCF 1HĆ&#x201A;EG +353 (0)404 20528 Email info@garlanna.com www.garlanna.com

Welsh and English cards

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Find The Great British Card Company on:

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www.draenog.com

07815 153 582

agents wanted

07957 212 062 or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

SUPPLIER

www.greatbritishcards.co.uk Waterwells Drive, Gloucester GL2 2PH Tel: 01452 888970

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60 years

CHARITY GREETING CARDS

Your Number One Supplier of Numerals, Name, Relation & Age Labels for Greetings Cards.

One of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;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.

Huge selection with immediate deliveryy.. Buy direct or from your wholesalerr..

Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX1 5JN

Impress Publishing Appledown House Barton Business Park New Dover Road Canterbury, Kent CT1 3TE Tel: 01227 811 611 Fax: 01227 811 618 email: info@impresspublishing.co.uk

Te T el 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 www.listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk

New Cardiff designs at

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WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS

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Marina B Designs from me to you with love

UK

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Art that tells a storyâ&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;?

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AG E N T S WA N T E D :

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THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

An exciting and innovative range of quality Birthday, Relations, Special Occasions, Handmade, Art and Humorous greeting cards. Full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons merchandise.

Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons cards, gift wrap and bags, charity cards, social stationery.

Bespoke service for charities and other fundraisers.

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Design-led Stationery, Gifts, Calendars, Diaries and Cards

originalposter.com

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Exquisite Design, Beautiful Cardss Key brands include Marzipan, Portobello, Mosaic, Daisy Patch, Aquarupella and Designers Guild, plus many more.

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or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

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ICONIC LICENCED BRANDS

01892 838 574 www.pennykennedy.co.uk

07957 212 062 or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

purpletreedesigns.co.uk info@purpletreedesigns.co.uk

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Uk publisher of Greetings Cards with an extensive range of quality Birthday, Relations, Occasions and Seasonal product... available from

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

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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.

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or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

hello@raspberryblossom.com 020 3723 5405

Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Mugs and Glasses, Partyware

Brands: Card Essentials Designer Collection Greetings Impressions Inspirations In Touch ,VDEHO·V *DUGHQ Planet Happy With You In Mind

AGENTS WANTED

PG LIVE STAND 146

Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors

Simon Elvin Limited greeting cards & contempoRary gifts www.redbackcards.com e: info@redbackcards.com t: 01752 830482

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

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

7RPFDW &DUGV To appear in the Product Directories contact

Warren Lomax 020 7700 6740 or email

warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud 07957 212 062 or email

traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

The UK’s leading publisher of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards.

www.tomcat.cards info@tomcat.cards

Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available.

Talking Pictures Cards Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE

DIRECT TO RETAIL & EXPORT

Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk www.talking-pictures.co.uk

2@= 29KL= M<K Just food and their friends....

view by rufus designed in thames ditton

how’s your weekend bean?

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

TEL: 01480 435562 FAX: 01480 450599

5= N= ?GF= ?J==F All greeting cards printed with vegetable inks on recycled boards/envelopes, including biodegradable packaging...

www.tracksltd.com

topdog@view by rufus.com 020 8972 9706

UNIT 2, 12 BLACKSTONE RD,

viewbyrufus.com

STUKELEY MEADOWS IND EST, HUNTINGDON, CAMBS, PE29 6EF

www.the-taste-buds.co.uk info@the-taste-buds.co.uk 07906 367 663

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

excellent thanks basil

www.progressivegreetingslive.com

register fo for a trade account: www w..viewbyrufus i b f .com/b2b /b2b

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

EUROPEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S LEADING GREETINGS CARDS, PARTY PRODUCTS, GIFTS, CANDLES, TOYS, STATIONERY AND FLORIST SUNDRIES DISTRIBUTION CENTRE 75000 SQ FT

& entimen

an extensive range of superior quality,

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

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

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

Art Cards eA Botanical Fine

Market Leaders in

Verse

DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

Vibrant and nd elegant gree greeting cards A freshly fr modern perspective on nature

BESCOT CRESCENT, WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS. WS1 4NG 01922-646666 www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm

Call Now 075 7700 1145 www.zaquarella.co.uk info@ zaquarella.com

+44(0)1243 792600

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

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

Tracey Arnaud: 07957 212 062 tarnaud@btinternet.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists

GREETING CARD

Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available

T 01206 396209 E sales@badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk

GIVE E YOUR

BAGS

Manuffacturers of high quality fllexible packaging 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE - QUA UALITTY Y SERVICE EXTENSIVE STOCK RANGE - QUICK DE ELIVERY ASSURED

- HEADER BAGS - WA WALLET BAGS - ZIPPER BAGS - FLEXOGRAPHIC, HOTFOIL & THEERMAL PRINTING www.transrappackagin ng.co.uk sales@transrap.co o.uk

V VIP

CALL US TODA AY

TREA AT A TMENT

01773 5378 810

HIGH CLARITY L TY Y BA AGS FOR R GREETING G ET T NG CARD DS, CALEND EN N ARS ARS AND AND D ARTW TWORK WORK

ENVELOPES

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FOIL L BL B OCKING NG G EXTE XTENSIVE NSIV VE RA V R RANG ANGE OF S ST TOCK SIZES SIZ ZES AND BES AND BES E PO OKE KE MANUF KE MANU UF FACTU TUR TURE T U E AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA

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

CALL CA CAL C LL US ST TO ODAY OD

0122 1228 228 2 28 8 56 5605 60 052 26 6 www.fful ulcrumfilms. ulcrrum mfillm ms s co.uk uk

8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED

100% Recycled Paper Av Available Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes p Bespoke Service on Request

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

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

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

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FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS

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

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

PRINTERS

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SPECIALISTS IN SHORT RUN MULTI IMAGE PRINT s Foiling Services without the need for dies s Wiro bound notebooks, no minimum quantity s In House Fulfilmment Services

T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk www.hellocards.co.uk

AND NOW FO OR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT... .

Our innovative greeting gs card finishes include: Thermography Foil Intense Glitter Snowraise Liquid q M Metal Blended Glitter Embossing Textured Foil Laser Cutting

The simplest way to order your greetings cards

Powered by

ask about our ‘Mrr Abbot’ sample pack

To discuss your nextt greetings card range call us on 01797 223355 www.abbotprint.co.uk bb i k sales@abbotprint.co.uk l bb i k 99

Unit 8, Archers Park, Branbridges Road, East Peckham, Kent TN12 5HP www.theimagingcentre.co.uk Email: info@theimagingcentre.co.uk Tel: 01622 871449

we print

we finish

we pack

we deliver

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Your saf ep ai

cturing ufa an m

ds for Far E as han f t ro

Outstanding, cost effective and efficient production of Greeting cards, Packaging and Social stationery, ideal for intricate and hand finished products.

• Over 15 years experience providing high-quality printed products direct from the Far East • Trusted and financially stable, UK owned by The Sherwood Group • Socially responsible manufacturing: SMETA, ISO9001, ISO14001, FSC certification • Full product prototyping in the UK for competitive speed to market requirements

To find out how we can benefit your business, contact Derek Lam +00 (852) 3527 3471 / derek@sherwood-press.com or The Sherwood Group Head Office Hong Kong Office: 13/F, Kam Chung Commercial Building, 19-21 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

www w..sherwoodgroupuk.com

000510

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

Social Sta tationerry Printer of the Year

Award winning U UK & Global specialist manufacturer ffor the greeting card industry fo or over 40 years The Print Works Colville Road, Acton, London, W3 8BL E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk Tel: 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk 100

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

To discuss how we can worrk together, contact Richard Bacon: Tel 0115 928 7766 Email ric chard.bacon@sherwoodgroupuk.com

www.sherwoodgroupuk.com Hadden Court, Glaisdale e Parkway, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottin ngham NG8 4GP

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YOUR MANUFACTURING PARTNER FOR VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS English speaking production team, prices quoted in sterling... and only 3 days delivery to THE UK...

Really... and there s no VAT to pay or customs procedures either...that's a great deal!

• Hand made and hand finished greeting cards • Boxed sets and acetate packs of cards / envelopes • Giftwrap and tag packs • Individually open and closed wrapped cards • 'Pop up' and cardboard engineered products • Notelets and social stationery • Specialised printing on plastics & lenticular

THE SPECIALIST GREE ETINGS CARD PRINTE ER Litho Print

Die-cutting

Digital Print

Flittering

Foiling

Packing

Embossing

Distribution

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

www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk

For production enquiries, estimates etc., please contact our UK Agent:

Rob Pearson 07710 132 232 rob@solutions-polska.com FSC accredited (BV-COC-002485). Audited member of SMETA. Printing to ISO12674-2 standard.

THE RIGH HT PARTNER

FOR ALL YOUR MANUFACTURING REQUIREMENTS

Glitt i Glittering

** ** ** **

Offset ff t PPrinting i ti

Sh Show Room R

Facto ory Outlook

Established in 1997, headquarters in Hong Kong 600,000 Sq.fftt of modern production facility ouse production Ensure complete co ontrol from start to finish with our full in-ho ng in people, equipment, technology and the Continually investin t planet

TERRY JOHNSO ON PO Box 1600 Hemel Hempstead, HP1 9SR Mobile: 07773 389784 Email: terryjohnson@ve eb.com.hk Website: www.veb.com m.hk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Same day order turna around Accurate fulfilment Value added only as you sell the product Exclusively Greeting Cards Dedicated Account Managers With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of yourr team bringing QYGL QSVI XLER JYPǻPQIRX 4YV GSWXMRK WXVYGXYVI MW WMQTPI ERH XVERWTEVIRX ;I ; I GEVV] SYX EPP EWTIGXW SJ LERH ǻRMWLMRK ERH EWWIQFP] ERH TVSZMHI [LEXIZIV EHHMXMSREP WIVZMGIW ]SY RIIH 4YV WIPIGX XIEQ SJ SYX[SVOIVW GEVIJYPP] LERH [VET ER] WM^I SV JSVQEX SJ GEVHW YVKIRXP] 4ZIVRMKLX ;I GEVI EFSYX ]SYV TVSHYGX EW QYGL EW ]SY HS &XXIRXMSR XS HIXEMP 6( .WWYIW ;I T JSV EPP WXSGO QSZIQIRXW EVI SYV ERH .8 WYTTSVXIH F] E GSQTVILIRWMZI TETIV XVEMP JS LEPPQEVOW 4YV GER HS ETTVSEGL QIERWW [I EVI LETT] XS WSPZI ]SYV TVSFPIQW 4YXWSYVGMRK ]SYV [EVILSYWMRK STIVEXMSR VIPIEWIW ]SYV XMQI XS CREA AT TE/MARKET/SELL/ MANAGE/ /GROW THE BUSINESS =SYV FYWMRIWW MW SYV FYWMRIWW T =S TPIEWI ZMWMX Z SYV [IF WMXI ERH WII [LEX SYV GYWXSQIVW WE] XLIR XS ǻRH SYX S QSVI GEPP Ly Lynda Raymond ERH TIVLETW [I GER EVVERKI XS QIIX ERH HMWGYWW ]SYV RIIHW . EQ WYVI XLEX [I GER G LIPT

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CLEARANCE SPECIALISTS

APPOINTMENTS

l

APPOINTMENTS

CONVERT Y EXCESS ST OUR OCKS TO CASH TODA Y!

Card works

EXCESS GREETING CARD STOCKS? WE OFFER A PROFESSIONAL CLEARANCE SERVICE FOR EXCESS & REDUNDANT STOCKS OF GREETING CARDS, WRAPPING PAPER, GIFTS & ALLIED PRODUCTS O GUARANTEED OFFER WITHIN 24 HOURS

D I G I TA L C R E AT I V E DESIGNER/ARTWORKER For one of the UK’s leading and fastest growing card companies based in Wigan Lancashire.

The successful applicant must possess the following:

•Recognised knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite especially Photoshop, Illustrator & Indesign

O WE COLLECT O PROMPT PAYMENT

•Excellent illustration skills & a passion for design •Responsiblity for developing concepts and artwork

O UNFINISHED PRODUCTION CONSIDERED

•Experience in creating marketing material to

O MOST TRANSACTIONS COMPLETED WITHIN 7 DAYS

SEND SAM PLES AND STOC K QUANTITIE S TODAY!

O FULLY CONFIDENTIAL O 40 YEARS EXPERIENCE

and creating finished print ready files promote product, brochures, advertisements and POS •Must be able to meet deadlines and multitask

•Friendly workplace •Competitive salary

CARDWORKS CLEARANCE SERVICES

Email: tony@words-n-wishes.co.uk Web: www.words-n-wishes.co.uk

92 Station Road, Willingham, Cambridge CB24 5HG

Tel: 01942 233201

Email: cardworkstrading@btconnect.com Tel: 01954 260728 DISPLAY AND SPINNERS Units A & B High h Road, Deadmans Cross, Haynes, Shefford, Beds SG G17 5QQ T: 01234 381214 E: info@pineapplep park.co.uk www.pineapplepa ark.co.uk

Greeting Cards Displa ay y Solutions

Happy Birthd ay to you...

࠮ FSDU U ࠮ CDU ࠮ POS

Happy Birthd ay to youu...

We also d do: ࠮ Cartons s ࠮ Boxes ࠮ Diecuts s

DISTRIBUTORS IS I U O S WANTE WAN ED Distributors wanted for vacant areas within the UK and overseas.

We do not charge a franchise fee, we would rather r you invest in your own business or develop your existing business b further.

1 1 1 1 1

Call: 0121 557 7 1891 email: sales@nsmithb box.co.uk

web. www.nsmithbo ox.co.uk

Fast & efficient despatch of orders Over 300 designs to choose from Gift Wrap Major seasons catered for New designs available every 6-8 weeks

EST 1993

For details please contact Sally or D Deb on 01234 381214 or email info@pineappllepark.co.uk

n.smith, Haing ge Road, Tividale, Oldbury, West Midlands s B69 2NZ OVER 115 YEARS OF MANUF FA ACT TURING IN THE UK

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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