September
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Progressive Greetings : Second Nature : size A4 : September 2015 issue
E : hello@secondnature.co.uk T : +44(0)1983 209 590 19/08/2015 09:23
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Leader
On The Cards ‘The cobbler’s children have no shoes’ is one of those phrases that you can’t remember when you first heard it, but its general meaning (I think!) is that being in a trade doesn’t necessarily mean that you make the most of what’s under your nose. The reason I mention this is that, without wishing to preach, with Thinking of You Week coming up (September 21-27), it would be great if everyone in the card trade embraced the initiative, and sent an extra card a day for that week. I am loving how retailers and companies, of all shapes and sizes, are getting involved this year - from Tesco fanfaring the event in an advert in its instore magazine to Really Good/Soul giving away units of specially created cards to everyone who places an order on its stand at Autumn Fair.
Above: Cardboard Heart is a new BBC Radio 4 sitcom set in a greeting card company, that was written by Richard Marsh (right). Among those in the audience for the live recording were (left-right) David Hicks (Really Good), Sharon Little (GCA), Miles Robinson (House of Cards), Andy Finch (Cremated Egg) and PG’s Jakki Brown. (See pages 78-79). Left: (left-right) Sophie Greenwood (soon to leave Funky Pigeon to join M&S as card buyer), PG’s Jakki Brown and Gabrielle Peters (Tesco) at the Henries judging. (See pages 22-27). Below: Scribbler’s co-owners John and Jennie Procter told PG’s Jakki Brown all about their chain being the equivalent to a ‘badly behaved younger brother to Paperchase.’ (See pages 84-85).
Taking ‘Thinking of You’ to the next level, are Mick and Sue Plant, a couple whose relationship over the last 38 years is chronicled in the words they have written to each other in the very same Christmas cards that they have sent to each other each year over the last four decades. (See News). Certainly this industry is doing itself proud with plenty of thought going into the creation of the new designs that are coming on stream – though this plethora was cause for a great deal of head scratching by the 40 card retailers who made up this year’s Henries judging panel as they each put themselves through their mental paces to decide which entries should make it through to the finals. The glorious results are now unveiled for all to see (pages 29-69). As you check them out, have a think as to which seven people you are going to send your Thinking of You Week cards to. Believe me, you’ll be glad you did. If you are also a cobbler, go and buy your kids some shoes for goodness sake!
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Contents
What’s Inside
Within This Issue: THE HENRIES AWARDS 2015 FINALISTS
81
27
82-83 29-69
7-17
The Henries Awards Finalists 2015
News 18-19 Over The Counter
Collaborative Thinking
Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, discusses the positives of working together.
20-21 Cardsharp
Reporting The Facts?
Cardsharp muses over topical events happening in the industry.
22-23 The Henries Judging Process
The Big Crescendo
The background behind this year’s Henries awards judging.
24-27 Viewpoints
All That Jazz
This year’s Henries judging panel share their thoughts on personal and the greeting card industry’s ‘high kicks’.
81 Publisher Face To Face
The Spice Girls
Find out who made it into The Henries finals this year.
Cinnamon Aitch celebrates its 20th anniversary.
70-71
82-83
Jeremy’s Journal
Trend Focus
Blue Eyed-Sun’s Jeremy Corner gets his ‘teeth’ into a Saga Summit in New Orleans.
Why dinosaurs are currently roar-some on greeting cards.
Sharpening The Saw
Doyouthinkhesawus?
84-85
72-77
Retailer Face To Face
Innovations
A showcase of some new greeting card product at Autumn Fair and Top Drawer.
78-79 Behind The Scenes
Greeting Card Airs And Graces
PG visits the recording of Radio 4’s new greeting card sitcom Richard Marsh: Cardboard Heart.
Procters And Gamble
John and Jennie Procter, owners of card multiple Scribbler, ‘illustrate’ how the retailer is evolving.
87-89
Art Source 90-91
What’s Hot? 92-93
80
Lynn’s Lines
Debbie Wigglesworth’s Paper Journeys
In The Club
Debbie shares her latest paper art discoveries.
94-106
A World United
Classified
Progressive Greetings is a monthly business magazine. SUBSCRIPTIONS: UK subscription: One year £50 Two year £85 Three year £110 Overseas subscription: One year £75 Jakki Brown
Warren Lomax
Gale Astley
jw@max-publishing.co.uk
warren@max-publishing.co.uk
galea@max-publishing.co.uk
Editor
Advertisement Director
Deputy Editor
SUBSCRIPTIONS ENQUIRES: maxsubscriptions@marketingreinforcements.co.uk Tel: 020 8943 9541
PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Sharon Little 020 7619 0396 Email: gca@max-publishing.co.uk www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk Use your smartphone app to scan the QR code to visit our website.
Copyright© 2015. 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.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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life is so much better when you're laughing...
Life is Sweet greeting cards designed by icon order online: www.icon-art.com telephone: 01242 679800 / email: info@icon-art.com
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NEWS 20:20 Vision
TOP STORY
The Best In The West The Henries 2015 Finalists Are Announced “There are three crucial elements that ensure The Henries awards are true accolades – the quality of the entries, a panel of esteemed judges and a judging process with integrity,” commented PG’s editor Jakki Brown as she welcomed the 40 top greeting card buyers who judged The Henries 2015 a few weeks ago. A strong judging panel, comprising greeting card buyers from leading retailers including Paperchase, Clintons, John Lewis, Tesco, WHSmith, National Trust, Asda, Waterstones, Longacres Garden Centre, Funky Pigeon, M&P Cards, House of Cards, Foyles, and a host of indies, carefully considered the 14,000+ different greeting cards and giftwrappings that were entered into The Henries 2015, to arrive at this year’s finalists (featured pages 29-69). The line-up of finalists encapsulate the multi-faceted shape of the industry featuring the largest publishers down to brand new start ups. Ling Design, recently acquired by Swan Mill, has reached the finals in two product award categories as well as in the Best Service to the Independent Retailer award. In addition, two of its historic brands, Talking Pictures and Rainbow Cards have reached the final of the Henry Cole Classic award, and sister giftwrap company Penny Kennedy has reached the final in the Best Giftwrappings Collection category.
Below: The majority of The Henries judges celebrating after their collective task is over.
Other publishers who reached multiple nominations this year include The Art File, Belly Button Designs, Paper Salad, Pigment, UK Greetings and Woodmansterne Publications. The winner of the most Henries awards across the years, Five Dollar Shake, are in the mix again with two nominations. Of this year’s finalists, three publishers were winners in the inaugural Henries awards in 1996 - Paper Rose, Simon Elvin and Ling Design - demonstrating remarkable staying power in such a fashion-led industry. The winners of The Henries will be announced on October 8 at a lavish 1920s themed event (in homage to the 20th anniversary of the awards) at the Lancaster London Hotel. For tickets contact Clare Davies of Createvents on clare@createvents.co.uk or 01183 340085.
The Henries will be going back to the Roaring '20s in glorious fashion with its ticket design for its 20th anniversary awards. The main part of the official ticket was designed by Sarah Tanser and Kamila Gawlowska of Paper Rose, as a result of an in-house competition involving the publisher’s design team. All the amazing submissions were presented to the PG team with the winning combination selection. Sarah and Kamila confirms that the design concept came out of their love for The Great Gatsby, especially the patterns, fashion, décor and, of course, the cocktails of that era. "I knew this design challenge was for me," Sarah told PG. "I came up with the idea by creating a new opening mechanism based on the intricate iron gates of that era, but all the time keeping in mind the importance of the fact that it is The Henries’ 20th year. I selected fonts based on the era, and through using a beautiful sculptured gold foil on a black background with intricate patterns I captured the essence of the 1920s.” These sparkling tickets are being produced by The Sherwood Group with the stunning board donated by GF Smith. Above: The fabulous Henries Awards ticket design which takes its inspiration from the Great Gatsby era. Below: The Paper Rose design team who worked on The Henries ticket 2015 brief. (Left to right): Sarah Tanser, Joanne Norris, Kate Vines, Kamila Gawlowska and Jennifer Potter.
Right: Chris Bryant, co-owner of Expressions in Swindon.
Seeing The Funny Side When a Mini crashed into the side of their newly refurbished gift shop last month, Chris and Tracy Bryant, owners of Expressions in Swindon, decided to do some positive thinking. Instead of wallowing in the negatives, which include thousands of £s worth of damage, the resilient husband and wife team rolled up their sleeves and set about getting the shop fit to welcome customers again. Just a week after the accident took place, Chris and Tracy managed to re-open, relying on a sense of humour to see them through. Using social media, the couple invited Facebook users to send in quips, which were then posted in the shop window. Among them were ‘drive thru closed to a Mini crisis’ and ‘it was on the cards’, with the couple revealing that they were swamped with posts! Chris and Tracy confirm that naturally, there's still a long way to go before the shop is back to normal.
Back To The Future
Left: House of Cards’ 25th anniversary poster and gift voucher.
House of Cards, the Home Counties specialist card retail group, generally prides itself on being up to date – and is certainly not into offering discounted products. But there are exceptions! As part of the company's 25th anniversary celebrations, the retailer has collaborated with card publisher Nigel Quiney to offer a very special range of Pizazz greeting cards for 75p the 1990 price! And proceeds from the sale of the cards are being donated to charity Child Autism UK. Involving all seven House of Cards shops, the promotion launched on August 3, and will be ongoing until August 29. As an extra anniversary 'gift' and a 'thank you' to customers, special Pizazz cards contain a £5 gift voucher which can be spent at any of the House of Cards shops. "We sold nearly 2500 cards in the first 10 days," confirmed House of Cards co-founder Miles Robinson, "so we’re expecting to sell over 5,000!"
Moonpig.com Deal On The Brink As PG went to press (on August 19), Moonpig, as part of Photobox Group, was thought to be close to being sold to a major private equity firm, for between £350-£450 million. Photobox, which bought Moonpig three years ago for £120 million, is understood to be feeding back to potential bidders, with the likelihood of an announcement in the next few days as to which company has been successful. Names in the running include American company Bain Capital, which counts former US presidential candidate Mitt Romney as one of its founders.
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NEWS TOP STORY
Media Meddling Daily Mail Slams Birthday Card Sending Using a typically sensationalist headline, the Daily Mail recently ran a hugely negative article slamming the sending of birthday cards. Under the headline 'Texting And Facebook Spell The End For Birthday Cards', the news story, written by media and technology editor Katherine Rushton, claimed to draw on facts and figures from Ofcom, which suggested that fewer people are sending/posting greeting cards. Despite Katherine's gloomy interpretation however, the Ofcom report was actually positive, stating that some 38% of people prefer to post cards to send greetings, compared to 7% who use email. Plus, greeting cards, invitations and postcards were the types of mail most commonly sent. More than half (56%) of all adults had sent these in the past month, a trend that was particularly in the older age groups, with almost seven in 10 (68%) of those aged 55+ having used the post for this purpose in the past month.
Below: The article that appeared in a recent edition of the Daily Mail. Middle: A Letterpress card from Archivist. Below left: One of the diagrams from the Ofcom report that the Daily Mail article chose to ignore.
Additionally, over half of adults said that they considered themselves reliant on cards and letters as a way of communicating. Picking up on less positive statistics however, the Daily Mail claimed that only one in five Brits aged 16 to 24 believe in posting a birthday card to someone. However, better news is that those who are over 55 are among the most enthusiastic card senders, with figures rising from 66% to 68%, with some 57% of those over 65 years being the most prolific. The Greeting Card Association's ceo Sharon Little was quick to pour cold water on the article. “With the card industry worth £1.6bn and Brits buying more cards per person than any other nation, 32 each on average, we're still a nation of card lovers," she told the newspaper. "The card industry is a hugely successful home grown industry employing directly and indirectly around 100,000 people artists, writers, publishers, printers, paper and board suppliers, envelope suppliers and retailers." (See Cardsharp pages 20-21).
Cards Aplenty For 'Happy Birthday William' Initiative Will The Card House and Balloon Room in Makerfield help to break a Guinness World Record and make a sick little boy very happy? The shop certainly hopes so, as it recently supported Heart North West Radio in a true heartfelt appeal to make one little boy with terminal cancer’s wish come true. When Richard Aylett, co-owner of The Card House and Balloon Room heard the radio appeal about five year-old William Magee’s wish to receive as many birthday cards as he could for his 6th birthday he jumped at the chance to get involved: "When I heard Heart Radio put out the appeal to card shops to be 'collection stations' for William’s cards, we just had to get involved. We decided we would give free cards to anybody that wanted to send him a card. All they had to do was to call into the shop to collect one, write in it and we would deliver them." Above: William Magee Richard appeared on the radio station pledging his support, which was heard received an extra 300 by Pigment sales rep Andrea Caspar, who then told the publisher’s sales director birthday cards thanks to The Card House and Steve Baker, who immediately donated 200 cards for Richard to use in the quest. Balloon Room in The Card House and Balloon Room also took the opportunity of a recent Makerfield, helped by the Minions event it ran to get everyone present to write a card for William, and then donation of 200 cards filled a huge box with over 300 cards which the shop personally delivered to William from Pigment. on Wednesday August 19, his 6th birthday, along with a selection of Minions balloons. Commenting on the involvement from Pigment, Richard added: “It's a breath of fresh air to work in an industry that has great social awareness and is always willing to help the less fortunate."
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Big Names Stack Up For GCA AGM A stellar line-up of diverse and inspirational speakers will be addressing GCA members at the association's AGM. The event takes place at Altitude 360 on the 30th floor of Millbank Tower in central London, by the River Thames, on Wednesday September 30. Keynote speakers include Dominique Schurman, ceo of Clintons, Above: Assembly coHannah Dale, director of founder Sanderson Wrendale Designs, as well as Jones, who is to speak at this year’s GCA Sanderson Jones, the founder of Sunday Assembly, AGM, seen here with co-founder Pippa a worldwide movement for Evans. There are now positive change. 68 Sunday Assemblies round the world. Sunday Assembly is now a worldwide movement, a secular congregation that celebrates life, community and positive change and aims to help everyone live life as fully as possible. The AGM’s morning session will be followed by lunch, then, for the first time, the opportunity to take part in various mini sessions with industry experts during the afternoon.
(www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk)
Nothing Despicable About This Fun Day Event Despicable Me fans were out in force when the Minions visited The Card House and Balloon Room in Makerfield. Over 200 children came along to have their picture taken with their favourite Minions, as well as Rapunzel and Elsa. "We try to run a free event like this two or three times a year," confirmed Cath Hutchison, co owner of the shop. "We find it raises community spirit and also helps to keep customers shopping local." Minions licensee Icon Live, donated 200 Minions wristbands as giveaways at the event. “We ran out in two hours, as the children really liked them, so we then gave out Minions bubbles and other Minions stock."We genuinely believe in making the high street a fun place for the next generation and for generations beyond that. Days like these are very hard to do but we get an enormous amount of pleasure from them and seeing all these children become one with the community they live in,” added Cath. Below: Having fun at the Minions Day at The Card House and Balloon Room in Makerfield.
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NEWS TOP STORY
Sophie Spreads Her Wings Funky Pigeon, Paper & Script And WHSmith Travel Up Their Game Marks & Spencer looks set to beef up its greeting card offer in its 3000+ stores having recruited experienced card buyer Sophie Greenwood to its team. Sophie leaves the WHSmith group (where, for the last 18 months she has been senior buyer of cards for Funky Pigeon, Paper & Script and WHSmith Travel) to take up her new post which, in addition to being responsible for the card buying, also has gifts, stationery and Christmas decorations in her remit. “It is a very exciting challenge, but I am also pleased to be leaving Funky Pigeon, Paper & Script and WHSmith Travel in good hands. I am delighted by the progress we have made in the last 18 months, thanks to the support of our supplying publishers,” Sophie told PG. Sophie withheld the news of her departure until the end of a recent Supplier Strategy Day she fronted, at which plans for the three retail brands for which she has been responsible were unveiled. Among the highlights shared included plans to open a flagship Paper & Script store in Birmingham’s Bullring Shopping Centre, which will be the third standalone store under this upmarket brand.
Above: Sophie Greenwood at the recent Henries Judging Day with Mark Janson-Smith of Postmark.
In addition, the look and feel of Paper & Script is to be introduced into WHSmith Travel’s prestigious Victoria Station store. A new product assortment is to be introduced in Funky Pigeon, with an additional two new branches opening in the coming months. Plans are now underway to bolster the greeting card offer in WHSmith Travel stores, with the larger stores welcoming a version of the Funky Pigeon mix, while the smaller stores will include a spinner of specially created own brand designs. UK Greetings is to continue as the category manager, brokering in many smaller publishers’ designs to all three brands of stores.
Looking The Killer Queen It will be hard to miss Vicki Prior, founder of Clear Creations Cards, on the publisher’s stand at Top Drawer next month (stand P47) - as she will be dressed as Freddie Mercury! Vicki, a passionate Freddie Mercury fan, will be donating 5% of the company's takings on the Sunday of the show (September 13) to the Mercury Phoenix Trust, which raises awareness for HIV. The Freddie For A Day initiative takes place each year around the late Freddie Mercury's birthday in September. "I was nine years-old when I saw Queen in their live performance at the 1985 Live Aid set and thought they were the most incredible thing I'd ever seen, especially Freddie Mercury, and nothing has changed since!" enthuses Vicki. Visit: www.mercuryphoenixtrust.com/ Left: Clear Creation's Vicki Prior will be dressing up as Freddie Mercury at Top Drawer in September.
That Autumnal Feeling Over 85 greeting card publishers will be exhibiting at Autumn Fair next month (6-9 September), to include some from overseas, with product sectors spanning cards, stationery, giftwrap, craft items and related giftware. New companies to the sector this year include Paper Salad, DM Collection and Balmoral Cards. Also among the exhibitors will be Grass Roots International, which is celebrating 20 years with a significant new launch. Once again, the Cardgains Village will be showcasing a wide spectrum of companies to include Ling Design/Talking Pictures, Is It Art?, The Great British Card Company, Cherry Orchard, UK Greetings, Mint Publishing and Carte Blanche Group. Gift & Craft and Fashion Jewellery & Accessories, will be sharing Hall 4 with Greetings. Also attracting visitors to the hall will be the Fashion Accessories catwalk. In addition, Retail Shop, a growth area at Autumn Fair, will be offering insights into multi-channel development as well as in-store solutions, while the WGSN Trends Theatre will be highlighting four key trends - Artisan, Elemental, Remaster and Offbeat. Visit: www.autumnfair.com
David Greaves Amicably Leaves Cardzone David Greaves (right), the former co-owner of Emotional Rescue, who joined Cardzone as managing director at the start of this year, has very amicably now left the business. When he joined, Paul Taylor, owner of the retail chain, said that David had come on board as the plan was to more than double the size of the business in a relatively short time. Commenting on David’s recent departure, Paul Taylor explained: “Part of the reason that David joined was to pursue some acquisitive opportunities. These have not come to fruition, but David and I may well join forces again as and when opportunities arise.”
Velvet Olive Celebrates 10th Anniversary Velvet Olive will be celebrating its 10th anniversary at Top Drawer. A decade ago, greeting card publisher Velvet Olive was just starting out as a handmade card company, producing lavishly constructed designs, very different from its sharply inventive, beautifully printed cards of today. Kathryn Fletcher, its founder, explains how the early days were peppered with small successes, but as she says, “mostly the error part of trial and error!” And over the last 10 years Velvet Olive has grown and evolved. “I’ve constantly re-invested and looked at my business, like building foundations or planting a garden. It’s been amazing to watch it those ‘seeds’ grow but just like a garden there is always a job to do!” Looking to the future, the publisher is massively improving its infrastructure, moving its warehousing to LB Warehousing after sales rocketed in the last two years, its moved to a new spacious creative office space and is venturing into the licensing realm. (See Velvet Olive on stand P39 at Top Drawer). Above: Velvet Olive’s Kathryn Fletcher and son Dino. Below: Some of Velvet Olive's popular designs.
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NEWS TOP STORY
Thinking Of You Week Greeting Card Trade Really Gets Onboard The swell of enthusiasm is growing by the day for this year's Thinking of You Week initiative, which aims to encourage the public to send an extra card a day for the week September 21-27. A whole host of publishers, retailers, suppliers and the media are all getting behind this year’s September's event, which has been instigated by the GCA. Really Good/Soul is giving away a unit of two specially created Thinking of You greeting cards to every retailer placing an order at Autumn Fair (and afterwards until stocks last). Rachel Bright has designed a special Bright Side card for Really Good, while the company’s new in-house designer, Lollie Dunbar, has designed one for Soul UK. Both cards, which have been printed by Windles will feature a Thinking of You Week sticker on the front of the cards. Lisa Marcuccio, sales manager at Really Good/Soul, commented: "It is a great way of supporting the event. Customers can pass the cards onto their staff/customers, or use themselves to send out cards to their friends and loved ones." On the retail front, Norwich department store Jarrolds is putting considerable creative might behind Thinking of You Week. It is adopting an Alice in Wonderland theme and has an area planned in the card department, which will have a table laid out for tea, with all the table settings featuring Alice. It is planning two giant cut-outs of Alice and the Mad Hatter, as well as a rose arch,
Below: Jarrolds' Emma Guy will be helping to fanfare Thinking of You Week at the store during September.
Badgers And Bats
Left: A Bear Hugs card from Abacus. Below: A special Soul card that is being given away to those who order at Autumn Fair.
and will be offering a 'Buy 3 Cards and Get 1 Free' promotion for the whole of the Thinking of You Week." Elucidating, Suzie Abel, card buyer for the store, said: "On the first Saturday, our 'greeting cards queen', Emma Guy, will be in full Alice costume handing out jam tarts and encouraging everyone to buy lots of cards!" The GCA's associate member printers have printed the flyer and poster, which the GCA's warehousing associates, LB Warehousing and 2WL, will be sending out in August and September to publishers and retailers respectively to help build awareness and have the tools to get involved in the initiative. In addition, Royal Mail has confirmed that there will be a stamp cancellation mark during the Thinking of You Week event.
Crowning Glory Hallmark has got behind Thinking of You Week, instigating a special promotion for its Gold Crown retailers to offer to their customers, whereby if they buy six cards they get the seventh one free. It has created special PoS for retailers to use. Left and right: To support Thinking of You Week, Hallmark Gold Crown shops are inviting people to send seven cards across seven days to seven people, with the seventh card free.
Re-locating a badger sett and re-housing nearby bats have been par for the course for leading greeting card printer Windles in its quest to build its state of the art premises, with high environmental credentials. Completion on Windles’ new factory in Thame is expected to be November 27 with work currently ahead of schedule. "We have come a long way, following several years of hard work planning, to be awarded official planning permission with a 'very good' BREAMM rating, which is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings," explains marketing manager Michelle Mills. Michelle says that the official move is planned to take place predominantly over the Christmas shutdown to minimise disruption to the company's production schedule. "We are lucky to have more than one machine for everything we do and we are only moving just over a mile away so it’s all in our control," adds Michelle."The move is something we need to do to increase efficiency in order to be competitive and technically leading in the marketplace." Above: Bruce Podmore, md for Windles, in the new factory.
A Run For Their Money Northern agent Robin Hill is well-known for ‘going the extra mile’ for his customers and principles, but even he has outdone himself with a 50 mile run for charity! Robin recently competed in the Montane Lakeland Ultra Above: Runners Robin Hill (left) Tour of the Lake District with his brother-in-law Sean Read and friend Peta Rowand, race, completing the who all took part in the 50 mile whole 50 mile run in an Montane Lakeland Ultra Tour of incredible 12 hours and the Lake District. 12 minutes. The inspiration for this test of endurance was Robin's brother-in-law's 50th birthday, which prompted the two men to put their trainers on and raise money for Air Ambulance who survive on donations. "I would like to thank everyone who donated their support, encouragement and cash which was far beyond what we could have hoped for," said a jubilant Robin. "We raised £2,400 for the North Air Ambulance which was fantastic. A big thank you to everyone!" Robin was delighted to find out that “quite a few of my friends and customers had stayed up following the run on Twitter and Facebook which I was very impressed with.” Visit: https://www.justgiving.com/Robin-Hill6/
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NEWS PEOPLE
TOP STORY
Card Factory Growth Value Retailer Opens Its 800th Store Continuing a wave of positive financial news from Card Factory, its recently announced trading statement showed that sales for the six months to the end of July 31, 2015, increased by 8%, driven by a combination of like-for-like sales growth, new stores being rolled out and further growth in its complementary online activities. Like-for-like store sales growth in the first half were up by 2.7%, with 36 new stores opening during the period, bringing the total to 800 stores as of July 31. Card Factory says it remains on track to open approximately 50 new stores in the current financial year. “It is pleasing to report that the Group traded well in the first half of the current financial year with good growth continuing from the existing store estate and new store roll out programme, as well as our developing online proposition," stated Richard Hayes, Card Factory’s chief executive officer. "We were delighted to open our 800th Card Factory store in Reading, and to relaunch an enhanced transactional Card Factory website. We remain confident of our ability to continue to increase market share while delivering on all four pillars of our growth strategy.”
Below: Card Factory recently opened its 800th shop, in Reading.
● Pioneer Europe has appointed two new sales consultants. Alan Macpherson (right) will handle Qualatex sales in Scotland and Ireland, while Charles Dyson (below) will look after the North East territories. Their roles will include developing new business, supporting existing customers, and meeting training needs.
A Visionary Retires
The Group has continued to trade in line with the Board's expectations. Online business Getting Personal continued to perform well, building on its strong performance in the last two financial years, although it is anticipated that it will face more challenging comparative figures in the second half of the year. The company's transactional website was also relaunched during this period and expects to develop several options to grow the channel's revenues over the medium term from its current small base. The Group remains highly cash generative, driven by its strong operating margins, limited working capital absorption and the relatively low capital expenditure requirements of its expansion programme. The Board expects to announce a return of surplus capital at the time of the interim results.
Celebrating Superheroes And Princesses It was certainly party time at independent retailer Hallmark Celebrate in Chigwell recently, when the shop, a Retas 2015 finalist in the Newcomer South category, held a superheroes and princesses day at its store, sponsored by Ty Toys and Greenboard games. Some 25 children came along, dressed up in their favourite dress-up outfits, getting involved in a Beanie Boo competition that ran alongside the event. The store also showcased some of the new children's products it now stocks, including the new Inside Out Dolls, Minions, Disney's Frozen and its extensive party and children's balloon range. "This is the first time that Hallmark Celebrate has hosted an event such as this," explained owner and manager Naomi Green. "It was such a great sight to see all the children proudly marching up the road in their outfits and getting into the spirit of the day, and its such a pleasure to have so many come and enjoy themselves with us. We're all about the local community at Hallmark Celebrate, so it was great for us to be able to host this event and welcome many new faces.” Celebrate showcased its affiliates programme at the event, and is now hoping to work with local schools and community groups.
Following 25 years at the helm of Image Source/Art Licensing (which supplies countless card publishers with images), John Williams (right) will be retiring to diversify his interests. He leaves the business in the capable hands of Susannah Williams and the team. He will be retiring at the end of September, but, with 'greetings in his blood', future ventures are likely to remain connected to the industry, although he confirms that he also plans to spend more time with his family and friends and to do some travelling. “I will miss working with my colleagues at Image Source, but I know they are equally as dedicated to my initial vision of what I wanted Image Source to be," comments John. "I feel very privileged to have worked with such talented artists. They are the backbone of any licensing company and I feel very happy that it is ‘business as usual’ for our staff and artists alike.” Commenting Emma Gray, the company’s sales and creative manager, said: "John can only be described as an industry stalwart. His vision was for Image Source to always be much more than an image bank and that has remained at the very heart of the business."
CBG's One Stop Shop In a move that is intended to make things a lot easier for independents, as of September 1, all Carte Blanche Group products will be fulfilled from one location. Customers placing orders for plush, gifts and greeting cards from across the company's portfolio of brands - to include Me to You, Hotchpotch and Wishing Well Studios - will receive one consignment and one invoice. The company has also invested in new fulfilment partners, DPD and Interlink Express, to significantly improve service to independent retailers. The company says it is actively responding to the feedback it receives from its customers. Below: CBG's chairman and founder, Stephen Haines (left) with Simeon Furniss of the fulfilment centre team, officially cut the ribbon and welcomed the team to tours of the new operation.
Left: Hallmark Celebrate’s Princess Tiana, Pat Green, community and customer experience manager, left, with some of the superheroes and princesses.
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shiny new finishes caroline gardner publishing limited 20 elysium gate 126 new kings road london sw6 4lz t 020 8288 9696 e katie@carolinegardner.c om www.caroli negardner.com 016_PG_September 2015.indd 16
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TOP STORY
Relationship Clinchers Never Ending Christmas Cards When Hallmark discovered from employee Andrea Taylor that her in-laws, Mick and Sue Plant, had been exchanging the same Hallmark Christmas cards between the two of them for the past 36 years, the company unravelled an enduring love story - and the written sentiments that chronicle it. The couple, who exchanged their first Christmas cards in 1978, held onto these two cards, and wrote new messages in them every year expressing their love and messages about their life together. “Working for Hallmark I’ve heard some beautiful stories where a card has made a difference but this was a really beautiful story that was very close to home," explains Andrea. "I mentioned it to my colleagues and the story began to spread and colleagues began to talk about ways we could commemorate Mick and Sue’s tradition.” Last month the couple were invited to visit Hallmark's head office, where they were presented with precise replicas of their cards, including all the messages they’d exchanged over the years. As the original cards are showing signs of wear and tear, with space for new messages running out, Hallmark also presented the couple with a blank replica
● I Love Nice Cards recently 'popped up' at a pop up event at The Grand Union, Kennington. Visitors included friends, family and customers. "Sunny skies and a warm summer afternoon provided the perfect setting for the event which proved a fun packed day with all our favourite wares on offer," commented the I Love Nice Cards Team. ● lovemonday, that makes essential tools for people who are passionate about what they are doing, has launched a first notebook for present and future entrepreneurs. The concept is to encourage and motivate people to think on paper, and to write down their business ideas and plans.
of their cards to enable them to continue to write new messages. “It was an incredibly thoughtful gesture that we weren’t expecting at all," said Mick. "Sue and I have loved thinking of new messages for each other every year and it’s great that we have a unique keepsake to ensure that our children and grandchildren can continue to read our messages to each other for years to come.” The story was also written down, framed and placed in the Hallmark offices as an example of how meaningful a greeting card can become. “This is a truly touching story of what effect a card can have on a loved one," commented Alison Kildunne, head of brand and marketing for Hallmark. "We loved hearing how Mick and Sue had made their cards a part of their traditions and we wanted to help preserve that tradition for their family for years to come." Above: Lovebirds Mick and Sue Plant with their replacement cards that were presented to them by Steve Wright (left), ceo of Hallmark, and industry stalwart Keith Chapman (whose company Herbert Walker printed the cards, and was previously the founder of major card company Fine Art Developments that Hallmark acquired in 1998 after it had become Creative Publishing). Left: Sue and Mick are delighted to see their special messages to each other safeguarded.
Delving Into Top Drawer Among the greeting card publishers exhibiting at Top Drawer, which takes place from September 13-15 at London's Olympia, will be Roisin Cafferty (stand Q47), who decided to exhibit as part of the celebrations to mark her company's fifth anniversary. Says Roisin: "2016 will be a big year for the business with a refresh of roisincafferty.com and many new ranges in the pipeline, but at the moment I'm very excited to be marking this anniversary with a Top Drawer stand full of new designs next month.” Other greeting card publishers at the show include Ohh Deer (stand R11), which will be showcasing a first range featuring Gemma Correll, Clear Creations, Bluebell 33, Caroline Gardner, 1973 and Dean Morris Cards. The show will be bringing together the latest trends spanning five main product sectors: Stationery & Greetings, Gift, Fashion Accessories, Children’s and Wellbeing. Elsewhere, The Academy, a new seminar programme at the show, has been specifically designed with the retailer in mind, featuring short seminars and presentations from some of the biggest experts in the retail industry across all three days of the show. ● After the success of last year’s inaugural autumn edition, Home will be returning alongside Top Drawer, showcasing modern, classic and vintage homewares, featuring many international exhibitors that have never exhibited at the show before. Left: One of the new Roisin Cafferty designs at Top Drawer.
● ByPost is sending the world's first postcard from Space. A video recently went live on Kickstarter, with the goal being to send the very first postcard from space. "The plan is to charge £1 to anyone that wants to receive the card - which will be uploaded from 20 miles above the earth's surface - the curvature of the earth," says Luke Heron, ceo of bypost.com ● Paperchase continues its international expansion by opening two concessions in Canada. The retailer has opened two concessions in the Canadian department store Hudson Bay and says its aims to expand to up to six by the end of the year. Kevin Heath, Paperchase’s finance director, has said the Canadian expansion was part of the retailer’s “route back into the North American market” where it was previously very strong prior to the demise of Borders, where it operated concessions. At one time there were 330 Paperchase concessions in Borders’ North American stores, which generated £31.9 million of revenue a year.
Gemma Correll's New Home At Ohh Deer Ohh Deer is the new home of Gemma Correll greeting cards, with an exclusive deal allowing humorous illustrator Gemma and Ohh Deer to develop the brand together. Contracts with other companies will soon be coming to an end, making Ohh Deer the only company from which to order Gemma's work. A new Ohh Deer Gemma Correll range will officially launch at Top Drawer, which takes place at London's Olympia from September 13-15, with old favourites and brand new designs across different products, including over 50 greeting cards. (The range will be going on sale exclusively to Ohh Deer customers before its general release at the show). In addition, Ohh Deer will also be launching its own brand new designs at Top Drawer, within the company's normal collection. Above: A humorous design from Gemma Correll which has linked up with Ohh Deer in an exclusive deal.
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Over The Counter
Collaborative Thinking Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, discusses the positives of collaboration. Noel Gallagher (previously in the band Oasis) is a guy I love to listen to. He always has an opinion and his observations are often very cutting and indeed humorous. In a recent interview he told a story of watching people as they happily pay £3 for a coffee and leave half of it, yet wouldn’t pay £10 for a record that could influence their life, capture their feelings, create emotions, hint to the past or link to the future or create memories. It is a great point, yet thankfully, we still pay happily for a greeting card because they can do all of those things and more.
Cards are as integral a part of my day-today life as music is, and I can’t imagine not having either of them. I am by nature a very social person. I like to speak and meet new people all the time. Looking at what makes people tick and figuring them out is something I really enjoy and is also crucial to the success of my business. Cards tell a huge amount about the person and it has been long debated about whether you buy a card because you think the person receiving it will like it or because it is an extension of your own personality. Cards, like music, are a great way to communicate. They can be read on many levels, 18
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: Perhaps nowhere is it more important than to collaborate than when part of the Red Arrows. Below left: Ex Oasis guitarist, Noel Gallagher. Below right: A design inspired by Lucy Loveheart's love of British high streets.
from the simple design and the message, to the way they are even written or delivered. Cards on the whole are also a collaborative process. It takes many people to create a finished card, although there are still those artisans who create it all from scratch (but even they invariably have to buy the paper!). Collaboration is something that is currently central in my mind. At present I am trying to organise funding for a project, employing a chef, updating my brand for the relaunch of a business, selecting new flooring, designing toilets for one building and dropping certain retail lines to enhance our beauty offering. On top of this I have just finished my staff pension scheme and I am now working my way through new contracts for all my staff. Never mind the day-to-day running of the shops. All this takes collaboration with other people. I am lucky that I still have my parents involved in my business and our partnership is still very strong. I am also lucky to have excellent staff that have all proven their worth. As Noel Gallaghar pointed out, bands don’t sell 18 million records anymore. They are lucky to sell one, so they have to find and work on other ways to
generate income from their core fans. As retailers, we too face similar issues. The backdrop of figures showing a continual drop in high street footfall worries us all. These findings have prompted the British Retail Consortium to conclude that the reinvention of our high street as a multi-use destination is far from complete. BRC’s director general Helen Dickinson called for a redoubling of the energy and effort to turn our high street into a breathing, beating heartbeat of an area with people and families living there. The aim is for a cafe and nighttime culture and an eclectic mix of shops with a service offer that is beyond simple retail. The encouragement to all is to share best practice so the towns and cities that have seen improvements can help others. In other words, we as retailers need to see how best to tempt the customer in and make sure that they stay there and feel valued. In other words, as shops, we have to reinvent ourselves. I have written before of my involvement in a Business Improvement District (BID) and these have had varied success all over the country. In truth a BID, or any stand-alone business, is heavily dependent on more than one person or group. In fact, businesses of all sizes are without doubt a collaborative
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Over The Counter
experience. Now ‘Collaborative Working’ may sound like a fancy term, but in truth it is something that we have all done for many, many years. It is just that it is now more important than ever. In that interview, Noel Gallagher also said something that struck a chord with me. He spoke about working with a band and how the culmination of great songs could be a process that takes minutes, hours or years. It can involve one person or quite a number, and in so many ways that is like a business. Collaborative working is designed at its best to be more efficient for businesses by saving costs through minimising the duplication of resources. It should also give businesses a strong united voice. It can offer new and improved ways of sharing knowledge and skills, plus it can provide reassurance when times are tough. Collaborative working can be a short interaction between two companies on a specific task. It can be when a larger business guides a newer one, it can mean two companies sharing one task to cut cost down, or in extreme cases it could be that two organisations become one. Again, like so
we buy products from various publishers and suppliers and enter into a collaboration where we are going to sell their cards or gifts and try and foster a long-term relationship. We interact with reps and agents, building trust and hope that over the years we are the ones who are offered the best of the new product. In our industry, Cardgains is a great example of businesses of all sizes coming together to use their collective might to get a better deal. Harrogate Home & Gift too highlighted a number of companies sharing stands and cross-promoting their products with those of other companies to be able to be seen by us the buyers at an affordable cost. Think of this in the same way as an established band taking an up and coming band on tour with them. The rub from the established act is invaluable. In addition to this, we work with our staff identifying who wants to do more and where their particular interests lie. They can no longer simply stand behind a counter and price a few cards. They might want to work on your social media. They may have a particular interest in doing your returns. Whatever it is it will be important as the tasks mount up. Your collaborations with outside agencies such as banks, accountants and the likes will also be crucial, as it is Above: A collaborative band from the sixties and seventies. Left: South Street the Wedding Street, supported by Elgin BID. Below: A BID invite to the public to visit South Street in Elgin for all their prenuptial needs.
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many of the great songs, it can be two or three heads coming together to really create something magical. Recently in our town centre, BID brought together nearly 20 businesses who all operated on the one street. This was christened ‘Wedding Street’ as there was everything from cake-makers, florists, kilt hire, travel agents, photographers and of course, a bridal shop. The BID, as the catalyst, held a meeting where all the businesses shared ideas in an open forum. Promotions, specific advertising materials and events are all examples of what can happen when people work together, and this benefits the whole town, not just that street. Our industry too is littered with examples of collaborative working. Every day
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through them that key information will be gleaned and you will avoid the mounting pitfalls that government, health and safety and the like are throwing your way. Organisations such as Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, The Federation of Small Business and many more allow businesses of all sizes to interact and gain knowledge. They also offer services that you need to take advantage of. At the moment I am using the Chamber’s employment advisor to tailor a contract suitable for my staff. This makes things a lot
easier and once it is done I can give it to them for their solicitor to check it over to make sure it is correct. This takes a bit of time but ultimately covers you and ensures you have in place what you need at minimal cost. Meetings with these different organisations can make you look at your business or problems in very different ways. It challenges you and opens your mind to possibilities. Yesterday I met with a graphic
designer and filmmaker who said I love your shop signs, but you don’t have a brand or logo that works and is instantly recognisable. It was like someone switched a light on and suddenly I have renewed focus on this part of my business. Again, like listening to music and hearing that instantly recognisable hook, suddenly things take on an entirely different meaning. So we are working hard on creating a stamp that will work across all our social media packages and in store. I know that I immerse myself in it way too much to be healthy, but really to make a true success of things it has to consume you to a point. Interacting with people on all different levels and for various lengths of time is great for the soul and also great for you to get to know who you really are as well as your business. Being one man or woman in isolation will make it very difficult, but by helping, sharing and working with one another I think that we can breathe life back into the high street. By opening our ears and our minds and listening, to not only our favourites ‘tunes’, but to a diversity of those ‘tunes’, we will realise how great things can still be. As with all great songs and musicians I hope that my business will be as relevant in the future as when it started. The style and influence maybe the same but you hope and work towards making your business as relevant for the time as possible. To do that, you need other ‘band’ members. After all, where would Noel Gallagher be without The Beatles’ songs? To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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CARDSHARP
Reporting
The Facts? ‘Texting and Facebook spell the end of Birthday cards’. This was one the headlines that greeted Cardsharp as he was doing his usual daily perusal of the national press. This particular story appeared in a copy of that esteemed journalistic publication, the Daily Mail, the very newspaper that supported the pro-Hitler Oswald Mosley and his black-shirted fascists in the 1930s. But surely standards of journalistic integrity at the Mail have risen since then? mused Cardsharp. It would appear though that little has changed, Cardsharp discovered on further investigation. As a columnist himself, Cardsharp is always rather troubled by constant criticism of journalism. Journalists probably compete with bankers and estate agents for the unwanted accolade of being the most hated of professional groups. And some of this criticism is certainly justified. The long running Leveson enquiry of 2011 and 2012 revealed widespread abuses and illegal practices by newspaper journalists. Activities, which included wide-spread phone tapping and bribery of police officers. But although these practices are indefensible, conversely journalists historically have done much to uncover establishment wrong doings and corruption in high places. After all, it was two young American journalists, Bernstein and Woodward, who exposed the illegal
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activities of President Nixon and his cronies that led to the Watergate scandal. In the UK in more recent years, it was the newspapers that exposed the MPs’ expenses scandal. And only a couple of weeks ago, it was the national press that exposed the airport retailers’ VAT boarding pass scam, where major multiples like Boots and WHSmith have been pocketing the 20% VAT saving from purchases on non-EU flights to improve their margin. However, the recent greeting card slamming story in the Daily Mail and in its online version puzzled Cardsharp straight away. All the data compiled by the Greeting Card Association in the last couple of years have appeared to show greeting card
Left: The satirical puppet show, Spitting Image, featured pig characters that represented the British tabloids.
sales in the UK holding up pretty well. A slight decrease in volume in cards sold, but an increase in unit price seems to be the general picture to be gleamed from the last few years’ figures. And anecdotal evidence from the big publishing players confirm that these figures and the trend are broadly correct. Even more puzzling was this story was published just a couple of days after Card Factory had just reported a record financial performance with like-for-like sales up 2.5% and overall sales up 8.5%, and when Scribbler, at the other end of the price spectrum, was also quoting decent like-for-like increases on the card front. Whatever view you take on Card Factory and/or Scribbler, these figures hardly suggest ‘The end of Birthday card sending’? So Cardsharp (and indeed the GCA) decided to look further into the apparent contradictions in this story and he is certainly very grateful to the boffins at UK Greetings who have managed to
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CARDSHARP
“One of the first things that renders the Mail’s ‘Doomsday’ assumptions from the report flawed straight away is that Ofcom commissioned the research from internet users. So straight away it isn’t representative of the overall population of the UK.”
expose this Daily Mail story for the nonsense that it is! The source of this story is the weighty ‘Communications Market Report’, which has been put out by Ofcom, the communications regulator for TV, advertising, telecoms and postal services. Its recent vast tome, if you have got a spare seven hours to read through it, is available online and covers all forms of media communication, from online activity to TV habits to postal sending. The Daily Mail journalist in question who wrote this story, supposedly using the Ofcom report as a basis, was Katherine Rushton, Technology and Media editor of the paper, and whose very title perhaps suggests she has little affinity with a concept as analogue as greeting cards! And if by reading it you hope to get a real insight into the current state of the greeting card industry, Cardsharp would suggest you don’t bother. In fact there is very little in the report about card sending. And the assumptions the Daily Mail reporter comes up with from the sections that do mention greeting cards are so totally flawed it caused Cardsharp to question whether the Mail’s story comes from the Ofcom report at all! One of the first things that renders the Mail’s ‘Doomsday’ assumptions from the report flawed straight away is that Ofcom commissioned the research from internet users. So straight away it isn’t representative of the overall population of the UK. But, noted Cardsharp, even on this skewed sample, the actual report shows that nearly 40% of these ‘online adults’
prefer to use the post for sending birthday or congratulations greeting cards, with only 15% of these techno-users using social media as their preferred medium. So, in fact, rather than indicating that the trends spell the end of birthday cards, or all non-Christmas greeting cards for that matter, the findings from the Ofcom survey demonstrate quite the opposite and are much more fairly interpreted to show that greeting card usage is in fact holding up well. The report (unsurprisingly) shows that people increasingly use social media to communicate, but the Mail reporter draws the conclusion, from this, that ipso–facto people send less greeting cards. This is just nonsense. Those in the greeting card industry know that by helping people to keep in touch with their friends and families, social media has done little to damage greeting card giving. And ‘giving’ is very much the key word. Ofcom’s report refers to the sending of greeting cards through the post, ignoring the fact that at least 50% of all greeting cards are handed over in person. It also points to the fact that 90% of the population have purchased at least one individual greeting card in the last year – the same figure that appeared in the previous year’s report. Again, hardly substantiating the Daily Mail’s claim that this is ‘the end of card sending’. Cardsharp was also interested to read in the report that a fifth of all adults questioned agreed that they spent too much time online. It also mentioned that in terms of acknowledging an occasion, slight falls were seen in the last year in the incidence of phone calls, emails and e-cards.
Ofcom’s findings show that 16-24 year-olds have a high preference for text messaging to sending a greeting. But this demographic has never been big card senders anyway, yet, while still having a multitude of communications options, they are still buying cards in conjunction with other methods, as Scribbler’s and Paperchase’s increased sales testify. More encouragingly, the report’s findings go so far as to state categorically that greeting card sending is actually increasing in the 55-65 year-old demographic - something conveniently ignored by Katherine Rushton in her article. All in all, the Daily Mail’s piece, in Cardsharp’s opinion, is a worthless hatchet job with no substance. It has totally misinterpreted the contents of the Ofcom report in order to come up with an attention grabbing, but erroneous headline. The fact that it came out in August, at the height of the so called ‘Silly Season’ for the nationals, when because of the holidays the newspapers struggle for content, is no excuse. However, reflected Cardsharp, unfortunately some damage is done by the negative and misleading headline. Already lazy websites are reprinting the Daily Mail’s story virtually verbatim. Whatever happened to journalists checking their sources? And again, unfortunately, concluded Cardsharp, very few readers are still around to realise that in the 1930s the same newspaper who ran this greeting card industry bashing article ran a front page story in the 1930s entitled ‘Hurrah for the Black Shirts!’
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The Henries Judging Process
The Big Crescendo “This year The Henries celebrates its 20th anniversary. These awards have grown in stature over the last two decades due to three key elements – the quality of the entries, the integrity of the judging process and the collective expertise of the judging panel,” said PG’s Jakki Brown in her welcome speech to the impressive gathering of retailers who made up the judging panel for The Henries 2015. PG nipped ‘behind the scenes’ of The Henries 2015 judging process to find out how the finalists are arrived at. Who Judged The Henries? The responsibility of judging the product entries to this year’s Henries awards lay in the collective hands of the judging panel, made up entirely of retailers. The judging panel was comprised of almost 40 leading greeting card retail buyers, from right across the retail spectrum. The panel included buyers from large specialist chains, medium-sized groups, independent card shops, supermarkets, department stores, garden centres, bookshops, varietal stores and online operators. In aggregate, this year’s panel is responsible for buying cards for well over 6,000+ shops!
● Eliot James, buyer of Scribbler (33 stores) ● Ros Jones, owner/director of The Celtic Card & Gift Co, Powys ● Mark Janson-Smith, Postmark in Balham, Dulwich and
Turnham Green
The Henries 2015 Judging Panel
● Lauren Keen, manager of Sentiments in Burnham-on-Sea
(In alphabetical order by surname)
● Michelle Klein, buyer of Waitrose (320+ stores)
● Suzie Abel, senior buyer of Jarrolds, Norwich
● Kim Lewis, card buyer of Longacres Garden Centre in Bagshot
● Allison Allum, owner/director of Something Special in
● Jessie Matthews, buyer of cards for Paperchase (150+ stores)
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
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Above: The Henries 2015 judging in action! Right: John Lewis Partnership’s Lynda Rowe (right) and Amie Scull judged The Henries for the first time this year.
Prestatyn and Mold Neil Allum, owner/director of Something Special in Prestatyn and Mold John Barratt, director of The Card Centre in Felixstowe Kate Briggs, buying manager of Asda (400+ stores) Michelle Burgess, buyer of National Trust (200+ stores) Claire Castle, buyer of WHSmith (600 stores) Jane Chandler, stores director of M&P Cards (14 stores in the Home Counties and South West) David Colman, director/owner of The Only Place For Pictures in Islington and Palmers Green Stuart Delahoy, owner and buyer, Set Design in Leicester Aimi Devine, owner of The Card Gallery in Ackworth Abel Dos Santos, stationery and gifts buyer of Foyles (five stores) Claire Fitzgerald, assistant buyer of Waterstones (280 stores) Sophie Greenwood, senior buyer of Funky Pigeon/Paper & Script and WH Smith Travel (700+ stores) Sarah Henderson, co-owner of 3 Wishes (4 stores in Hampshire/Dorset) Paul Henderson, co-owner of 3 Wishes (4 stores in Hampshire/Dorset)
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
● Giles Meehan, senior buyer of The Card Centre in Felixstowe ● Brent Milburn, director of Rhymes with Orange and New Frames
in Soho and Marylebone ● Nigel Morris, co-owner of The Card Emporium, Rhubarb and
The Post Office in Malvern ● Sara Morris, co-owner of The Card Emporium, Rhubarb and
The Post Office in Malvern ● Gabrielle Peters, buying manager of Tesco (3,000+ stores) ● Andrea Pinder, owner/sales director of Unit 7 Cards and Gifts
(four stores in Manchester, Birmingham and Barrowfield) ● Sarah-Jane Porter, head of licensing for Moonpig.com
and Photobox.com ● Heidi Richardson, partner/co-owner of Little Paperie in Ashbourne ● Tim Reynolds, retail manager of Medici Gallery, Kensington ● Lynda Rowe, assistant buyer of John Lewis Partnership (44 stores) ● Amie Scull, buying assistant of John Lewis Partnership (44 stores) ● Lucy Sticka, partner/co-owner of Little Paperie in Ashbourne ● Anne Tasker, buyer of Sentiments in Burnham-on-Sea ● Nigel Williamson, partner in House of Cards (7 stores in
the Home Counties) ● Ruth Young, buyer of Clintons (410 stores)
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The Judging Process
Above: Clipboard in hand, Aimi Devine (of The Card Gallery, Ackworth) gives the entries some careful consideration. Right: National Trust’s Michelle Burgess was delighted to be part of The Henries judging panel this year.
The Preparation Throughout June and July, PG’s offices are deluged with boxes, Jiffy bags and envelopes, boldly marked ‘Henries Entries’. Together they created a mountain of packages containing over 14,000 greeting cards, sheets of giftwrap and giftbags, submitted from some 200 different UK publishers. All greeting cards submitted for The Henries 2015 are treated equally, whether they are sent in by a multi-national company, a new start-up one-man band publisher and everything in between. The Henries are free of charge to enter meaning it is open to all. 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 Most Promising Young Designer or Artist category those entering were invited to submit their own ready-mounted boards if they wished.
The judging for all the product categories, as well as Most Promising Young Designer or Artist took place on a single day, spanning offices as well as the Shillibeer’s Bar & Grill, adjacent to PG’s London offices. The criteria for judging were: ● Quality of Design ● Quality of print, production and manufacture ● Appropriateness for the market sector at which it is aimed ● 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. The winners will only be revealed at The Henries Ball on Thursday October 8 at the Lancaster Hotel in London. Left: Clintons’ Ruth Young considering some of the entries. Through concealing the publisher’s name, each entry is judged on its own merit rather than preconceived ideas. Below: 3 Wishes’ Paul Henderson hands his voting form to adjudicators, Createvents’ Clare Davies (left) and PG’s Emma Cain. All votes are allocated points to arrive at the winner and finalists in each category. Bottom left: The Christmas Box or Pack category could be for one specific item rather than a range.
Which Ranges Were Eligible To Enter? Entering The Henries 2015 was open to all UK publishers, as well as UKbased distributors of card publishers from overseas. Publishers were invited to enter ranges that had been launched since August 1 2014 or new designs that had been added to on-going 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 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.
The Finalists The following pages reveal the finalists in each of the product categories as well as the Most Promising Young Designer or Artist contenders, Best Service To The Independent Retailer (the latter being decided as a result of 1,750 independent card retailers voting for suppliers). PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Judges’ Viewpoints
All That Jazz
The 1920s (the theme of this year’s Henries awards) were known as the ‘Golden Age’ of social, artistic and cultural dynamism - and the entries, judges and the judging day itself lived up to all of these three elements. PG put some members of this year’s Henries Judging Panel on the spot by asking them two themed questions: ● Charleston High Kicks - What is it about your job/our industry that makes you want
to dance the Charleston gleefully? ● Prohibition Sacrifices - Given that the 1920s were also known as The Prohibition Era,
what is it in your life (personal or business) that you would hate to give up?
Kim Lewis, card buyer of Longacres Garden Centre, Bagshot:
Stuart Delahoy, owner/ buyer of Set, Leicester: Charleston High Kicks: “The people, customers, supplies and staff, it’s a very sociable world to live in.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Driving, I just couldn’t live without my car. Sorry!”
Charleston High Kicks: “I love the happiness that buying cards for our garden centre gives to so many people each and every day.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “I really would hate to give up being card buyer as it’s a great job, with great people to meet and great new and exciting products to buy.”
Lauren Keen, manager of Sentiments, Burnham on Sea:
Above: Kim Lewis (left) had fun catching up with fellow retailers Lauren Keen (even being on maternity leave couldn’t keep her away!) and Anne Tasker.
Charleston High Kicks: “Innovative design! I love it when our reps arrive and bring new designs. It’s always a visual feast that’s unique to our industry. Being nominated for a Retas award, even though I didn’t win, was a Charleston moment.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “My family is a given, but work wise it would be the buying. I love seeing all the new designs and the satisfaction of buying something that the customers love.”
Jessie Mathews, card buyer of Paperchase: Charleston High Kicks: “What gives me that Charleston feeling? It has to be working with a fantastically broad spectrum of designs. Some card designs can compel you to buy the card regardless of a need or occasion, simply because you need the design in your life.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Grumpy looking pugs and of course Paperchase.”
Gabrielle Peters, buying manager of Tesco: Charleston High Kicks: “I enjoy the constant change of products, seeing how each designer/supplier interprets trends and the challenge of making all things accessible to the whole market.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “My family and friends.” Right: Jessie Matthews (right) and Gabrielle Peters enjoying some of the al fresco judging. Images courtesy of Noel Tatt / Esprit Illustrations by Claire Coxon / Image Source
24
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Mark Janson-Smith, director of Postmark, Balham, Dulwich and Turnham Green: Charleston High Kicks: “The people in our industry. I can’t imagine for example, being a milk buyer and having to squeeze the diary farmers for margin. No, I will stick to cards for my Charleston inspiration! I also love the chance to sit with competitors and peers at The Henries judging.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Five years ago it would have been Sambucca that I would hate to give up, but now I am parent with two small children life would be impossible without Red Bull.” Above: Mark Janson-Smith was impressed by the quality of the entries in the Most Promising Young Designer category.
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Claire Fitzgerald, assistant buyer of Waterstones:
Lucy Sanders and Heidi Richardson, co-owners/directors at Little Paperie, Ashbourne:
Charleston High Kicks: “The greeting card industry in general gives me that Charleston feeling. It is such a fun, innovative and creative business to be a part of. There is always something new and exciting to see, and buying cards is an absolute joy as you are essentially looking for a product that will either put a smile on someone’s face or let them know you are there for them when they need a pick me up.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “I would hate to give up listening to music as that’s my perfect way to unwind. And of course, chocolate!” Right: Claire Fitzgerald about to put pen to paper on her judging form.
Charleston High Kicks: “There doesn’t have to be a reason - we do it round the shop to Lionel Ritchie’s All Night Long anyway!” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Posh stationery, Diet Coke and prosecco.” Above: Lucy Sanders (left) and Heidi Richardson (centre) consider some of the entries with Claire Fitzgerald (right).
Right: Experienced Henries judge Claire Castle takes it all in her stride.
Claire Castle, buyer of WHSmith: Charleston High Kicks: “It’s a fun, hard working industry, that every now and then makes you want to dance.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Horse riding and the countryside.”
Below: Kate Briggs gives some serious consideration to her choices.
Sophie Greenwood, senior buyer at WHSmith Travel and Funny Pigeon/Paper & Script: Charleston High Kicks: “Sales! Going into the stores and seeing the results. Knowing you can work very closely with the publishers and your team. There’s nothing better than seeing great results. It makes me want to do a little dance.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Bungle, my dog! And of course my friends and family - they keep me going.”
Eliot James, buyer of Scribbler: Kate Briggs, buying manager of Asda: Charleston High Kicks: “Everything” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Fizz.”
Charleston High Kicks: “Great new design just keeps me going - we need bigger shops!” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Work’s pub quiz night. Personal: nothing fit to print!” Below: Sophie Greenwood is not keen to disclose her voting decisions to Eliot James.
David Colman, director/ owner of The Only Place For Pictures, Islington and Palmers Green: Charleston High Kicks: “Our lovely customers of course!” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Chilling at the end of a good day.” Right: David Colman takes a breather between categories.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Judges’ Viewpoints
Ros Jones, owner/director of The Celtic Card & Gift Co, Powys:
John Barratt, director and Giles Meehan, senior buyer director of The Card Centre, Felixstowe:
Charleston High Kicks: “Customers that love cards as much as we do, finding something new that hits the spot, receiving good feedback and profit - the perfect combo.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Personal: Chocolate, of course, my comfy bed and pillows, family Sunday dinner. Business: Internet connection, doing the VAT (not!) and getting together with peers, like today.”
Charleston High Kicks: John - “Wonderful customers, wonderful staff, the continuing flow of wonderful designs.” Giles - “Our wonderful Suffolk customers and the delightful, creative card designers we are lucky enough to meet make me want to put my tap shoes on!” Prohibition Sacrifices: John - “Tea and singing.” Giles - “I’d hate to give up Facebook, but it would probably do me good.”
Right: Ros Jones boxing clever at the judging! Below: Nigel Williamson and Suzie Abel smile for the camera.
Right: John Barrett (left) and Giles Meehan have no trouble finding entries to vote for.
Nigel Williamson, partner in House of Cards (seven stores in the Home Counties): Charleston High Kicks: “Being able to celebrate the fact that people still want to send cards.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Beer and golf.”
Michelle Klein, buyer of greeting cards, writing stationery and giftwrap for Waitrose: Charleston High Kicks: “The lovely publishers’ product.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Personal: Iggy Pop on Radio 6, yoga, a park run, cooking/baking. Work: Product development, suppliers/publishers and my team.” Below: Michelle Klein takes some snaps on her phone to remind her of entries she really liked.
Suzie Abel, senior buyer of Jarrolds, Norwich: Charleston High Kicks: “When I see our customers approach the counter with five or six cards in hand and I think, ‘hooray I got something right’. I also love it when I’ve bought a card range that’s a bit left field and the team looks at me sideways, but then it really works. PG Live this year was really fab and left me on a high.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “I couldn’t give up the ‘work hard play hard’ ethos I have at Jarrolds. It would be different to achieve that in many other jobs. I’d hate to lose my stationery buyer role, I just love my greeting cards especially.”
Paul Henderson, co-owner of 3 Wishes (4 stores in Hampshire/Dorset): Charleston High Kicks: “Winning awards twice at The Retas.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Working face to face with the public. Oh go on then, working with my wife Sarah as well!” Left: Paul Henderson goes in for a closer look.
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Jane Chandler, stores director of M&P Cards (14 stores in the Home Counties and South West): Charleston High Kicks: “I simply love what I do. Every day brings new challenges. The industry is dynamic and constantly changing. It’s a pleasure to be part of!” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Terry Harvey. White wine.” Left: Jane Chandler just loved being a Henries judge.
Andrea Pinder, owner/sales director of Unit 7 Cards and Gifts, Manchester, Birmingham and Barrowfield: Charleston High Kicks: ‘Satisfying all your customers’ needs and being recognised for it.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Family and friends -they are my life.”
Amie Scull, buying assistant of John Lewis Partnership:
Right: Andrea Pinder was in her element at the judging day. Below right: Sara Morris (right) discusses a point with husband Nigel and Sarah-Jane Porter.
Sara Morris, co-owner of The Card Emporium, Rhubarb and The Post Office, Malvern:
Charleston High Kicks: “The humour card category - spontaneous laughing makes my day.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Days in your life when you are just silly for the hell of it.” Above: Amie Scull surrounded by some of the many entries to The Henries.
Charleston High Kicks: “All the fun I have with fab suppliers and customers.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Work and champagne… not necessarily in that order!”
Nigel Morris, co-owner of The Card Emporium, Rhubarb and The Post Office, Malvern:
Sarah-Jane Porter, head of licensing for Moonpig.com and Photobox.com: Charleston High Kicks: “Working within a fantastic industry with amazing colleagues and as well with the most talented designers, publishers and licensors in the business. It sounds sickening, but it’s true.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “I couldn’t have life without friends, family and sparkling water.”
Abel Dos Santos, gifts and stationery buyer of Foyles: Charleston High Kicks: “The products that resonate with me and which I love. Humour is the thing that gets me, and in our industry we have it in spades.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Coffee without it we are all damned. Twitter - how else will I know what’s going on in the world. Ale - all is lost without it.” Left: Abel Dos Santos enjoyed his first experience as a Henries judge.
Charleston High Kicks: “A vast variety of interesting people.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “FIZZ!”
Brent Milburn, director of Rhymes with Orange and New Frames, Soho and Marylebone: Charleston High Kicks: “I love every day. A great reward is to see lovely designed cards... and the customers’ response of laughter!” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Customers and staff!”
Above: Brent Milburn gets in sync with the papier mache dog that Rose Hill submitted as part of her Most Promising Young Designer entry.
Neil and Allison Allum, owners/directors of Something Special, Prestatyn and Mold: Charleston High Kicks: “When a customer compliments our shop and says what great cards we have. When they say they have looked everywhere and found just the right one in our shop, then you feel justified in your buying skills and could do the Charleston down the card rack aisles.” Prohibition Sacrifices: “Gin and tonic, sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll (from a sixties child!)” Right: Neil and Allison Alum said the long drive from Wales was more than worth it to be at the judging. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist F INALISTS Open to: This award was open to all greeting card designers and artists (employed or freelance) under the age of 35 on August 1 2014.
● ● ● ● ● ●
Rebecca Crouch, creative director and founder of Raspberry Blossom Emma Grant, designer for Woodmansterne Cathryn Jones, designer for Hotchpotch Publishing Libby McMullin, creative director and founder of Libby McMullin Tamsin Rennie, founder and director of Studio Seed Clair Rossiter, freelance illustrator
Rebecca Crouch, creative director and founder of Raspberry Blossom:
“Raspberry Blossom is a contemporary and luxurious British greeting card and stationery company I founded in 2014. I’m a lifelong paper, pattern and print enthusiast, with a decade of design experience working in London’s advertising industry. Together, these elements combined, I produce greeting cards that contain a creative blend of innocence, quirkiness and fun, using a blend of typography, whimsical rhyme, hand painting and illustrated characters. Now stocked in major retailers including Paperchase, Oliver Bonas, Waterstones and Harrods, Raspberry Blossom products aim to bring a smile to the faces of those who buy and receive them.”
Emma Grant, designer for Woodmansterne:
“My journey into the wonderful world of greeting cards began five years ago and I am now happily doodling away as an in-house designer at Woodmansterne. I like to design cards that are playful, lively and have oodles of personality. My love of animals is often evident in my work. I enjoy experimenting with different finishes to complement my illustrations, whether it be by use of intricate foiling, blingy flitter or zingy, neon ink! I feel very fortunate to be living the quote ‘Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life’.”
Cathryn Jones, designer for Hotchpotch Publishing:
(in alphabetical order)
“I began my card career six years ago at International Greetings before leaving to set up my own freelance business and become a founding member of Morgan Arcade Studios in Cardiff, a creative co-working hub. Despite loving being independent, London beckoned along with an amazing opportunity at Paperchase. Two years on and I found myself working in the wonderful Hotchpotch Studio! Life here is full of inspiration and creative freedom and I love putting my own stamp on the Hotchpotch brand. I thrive on learning different styles and techniques and feel so lucky to have a job I love getting up for every morning!”
Libby McMullin, creative director and founder of Libby McMullin:
"I believe greeting cards to be one of the most sincere forms of communication and my passion for gorgeous quality paper products has inspired me to publish my new and unique illustrations. Through my work I hope to bring a little bit of magic to the world. Each design has been lovingly created by me and is truly meant as a keepsake. I'm so excited to be recognised as a ‘Most Promising Designer’ for the second time, it motives me and inspires me to keep following my dream."
Tamsin Rennie, founder and director of Studio Seed:
“I began my greetings career at Tigerprint where I worked as a senior designer for five years before taking the leap into running my own stationery business. Alongside running my own successful brand, I have also had stationery designs published by Next, Hallmark UK and Target Australia. For me, there is something a tiny bit magical about receiving a beautiful, handwritten notecard, and this together with my obsession with all things stationery, my design experience and big ambitions prompted the birth of Studio Seed - a boutique stationery and design studio specialising in beautifully charming stationery and design-led greeting cards.”
Clair Rossiter, freelance illustrator:
I am a 23 year-old freelance illustrator who graduated from Falmouth University in July 2014. As part of my freelance work I have created two card ranges with The Art Group over the past year, which have been inspired by travel and the charm of city life. I always seek to create a sense of vibrancy and humour in my work; whether this is through wonky lines, expressive limbs or happy imperfections. Ultimately I love to create images that will make people smile and perhaps see the world in a more playful and childlike way.”
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 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 2014.
● Animal Transport
● Dungarees
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Animal Transport from The Square Card Company Dungarees from Paper Salad Happy Jackson from Pigment John Bond from Ohh Deer Marine World from Stripey Cats Cards Zoo Buddies from Rocket 68
● Happy Jackson
● Marine World ● John Bond
● Zoo Buddies
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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PG_Half_page_October.pdf
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Christmas Counter Range
● Christmas Landscapes
● Happy Jackson
● Gold
Open to: All Christmas counter greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Christmas Landscapes from Bug Art Gold from Woodmansterne Happy Jackson from Pigment Ombre Christmas from Five Dollar Shake Snowflakes & Sparkle from Think Of Me Xmas Doodles from Rosie Made A Thing ● Xmas Doodles
● Ombre Christmas ● Snowflakes & Sparkle
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Christmas Box Or Pack ● Form Christmas Box Open to: Any Christmas box or pack that has been launched since August 2014. This award could be for a specific item rather than for a range.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Form Christmas Box from The Art File Luxury Box from Ling Design Mistletoe Magic from Paper Salad Ombre Christmas Box from Five Dollar Shake Paloma from Belly Button Designs Pom Tiddley Pom Pom Pack from Saffron Cards ● Luxury Box
● Ombre Christmas Box
● Mistletoe Magic
● Paloma ● Pom Tiddley Pom Pom Pack CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 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 2014.
● Memories
● Everlasting
● Mad Dots Wedding
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Quotelets
(in alphabetical order)
Everlasting from The Handcrafted Card Co Mad Dots Wedding from Hearts Designs Memories from Words ‘n’ Wishes Quotelets from Clavis & Claustra Sentiments from Wishing Well Studios Sweet Pea from Bonnie Blackbird ● Sentiments
● Sweet Pea
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Contemporary Words & Sentiments Range
● Life Is Sweet
● Alice Scott ● Little Voice
Open to: All contemporary words and sentiments greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Alice Scott from Pigment Little Voice from UK Greetings Life Is Sweet from Icon Paul Gaudhi from Ohh Deer Pink & Ink from Stop The Clock Design Words Of Wisdom from Dandelion Stationery ● Pink & Ink
● Paul Gaudhi
● Words Of Wisdom
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 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 2014.
F INALISTS l l l l l l
(in alphabetical order)
Colour Me Happy from Stephanie Dyment Copper from Stormy Knight Darling Denim from Belly Button Designs Henna from Noel Tatt On The Shelf from The Typecast Gallery Wildstyle from Brainbox Candy
l Darling Denim
l Copper l Colour Me Happy
l Henna
l On The Shelf
l Wildstyle
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Handmade Or Hand-Finished Range ● Form
Open to: All handmade or hand-finished greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
● Little Bigs
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
● Krafty Captions (in alphabetical order)
Form from The Art File Krafty Captions from Tache Crafts Little Bigs from Cockadoodle Design Neon Jewels from Janie Wilson Scrabbley Neons from Bexy Boo Spring Collection from Apple Tree Gifts
● Scrabbley Neons
● Neon Jewels ● Spring Collection
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Ling Design September '15 Advert.qxp 14/08/2015 11:07 Page 1
LING DESIGN and
are delighted to have received Henries 2015 nominations for:
Best Giftwrapping Collection Alice Scott from Penny Kennedy
The Henry Cole Classic Award More than Words
The Henry Cole Classic Award Rainbow
Best Photographic Range Beautiful
Best Christmas Box
Best service to the Independent Retailer
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Photographic Range
● Beautiful
● Exposure Colour ● Funny Animals Open to: All photographic greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Beautiful from Ling Design Exposure Colour from Icon Funny Animals from Ezen Designs Love Unlimited from Pigment Shawn St Peter from The Great British Card Company Zoo Portraits from Lagom Design
● Shawn St Peter
● Love Unlimited
● Zoo Portraits
CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Humorous Range Open to: All humour greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
● Naked People
● Honesty ● #firstworldproblems
● Toy Stories
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
#firstworldproblems from Mr Greetings Honesty from Buddy Fernandez Naked People from Tracks Publishing Toy Stories from Noi Publishing Truth Facts from Woodmansterne Wulffmorgenthaler from Redback Cards
● Truth Facts
● Wulffmorgenthaler CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Our Spring Seasons 2016 brochure is now available. www.theartfile.com
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T 0115 8507490 F 0115 9413411 E sales@theartfile.com
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Art Range ● Cats & Dogs
● Charcoals by Bex Williams
● The Country Set Open to: All art greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
● Critters
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Cats & Dogs from Rose Hill Designs Charcoals by Bex Williams from Wraptious The Country Set from Wrendale Designs Critters from Bug Art E lly Jane from Clear Creations Fab Funky from Victoria Armstrong Collection
● Elly Jane
● Fab Funky
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Licensed Range Open to: All licensed greeting card ranges involving a licensing agreement that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
● Despicable Me
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
● Disney Frozen
(in alphabetical order)
Despicable Me from Danilo Disney Frozen from UKG Harold’s Planet from Clare Maddicott Laura Meare from Hallmark MODA from The Great British Card Company Quentin Blake from Woodmansterne
● Harold’s Planet
● MODA
● Laura Meare ● Quentin Blake
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The Henries 2015 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 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Keepsake Treasures from Xpress Yourself Isabel’s Garden from Simon Elvin Favourites from Gemma Male Everyday from BGC Studios Savio Code 90 Squares from BGC Studios Sweet Petite from Hallmark
● Keepsake Treasures
● Favourites
● Isabel’s Garden
● Sweet Petite
● Savio Code 90 Squares ● Male Everyday
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Giftwrappings Collection ● Alice Scott
● Finest Christmas
Open to: All giftwrapping collections that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014. Entries could either be a range of giftwrap sheets or a collection of wrappings (eg coordinating wrap, bags, boxes, ribbons etc).
F INALISTS ● Jessica Hogarth
● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Alice Scott from Penny Kennedy Finest Christmas from Artebene Jessica Hogarth from Deva Designs Paper Salad from Glick Perfect Day from UK Greetings Toasted from Urban Graphic
● Toasted
● Perfect Day ● Paper Salad
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Male Range ● Favourite Things
● Best Foot Forward ● The Gentleman’s 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 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Best Foot Forward from Studio Seed Favourite Things from Laura Sherratt Designs The Gentleman’s Range from The Typecast Gallery Philip Pittam Design from NWH Greetings Platinum from Belly Button Designs So Macho from Hotchpotch Publishing
● Platinum
● So Macho ● Philip Pittam Design
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Relations and/or occasions range ● Belle Fleur
Open to: All relations or occasions greeting card ranges that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
● Dixie
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Belle Fleur from Saffron Cards Dixie from Think Of Me Du Jour from Noel Tatt Paloma from Belly Button Designs Postco from Lagom Design Wooden Wishes from Bexy Boo ● Du Jour
● Paloma ● Wooden Wishes
● Postco CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Spring Seasons Range
● Alice Scott Mother’s Day
● Love Letters Valentine’s Day
● Platinum Father’s Day Open to: Greeting card ranges for the Spring Seasons occasions that have been launched or updated (with a minimum of eight designs) since August 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
● Quicksilver Mother’s Day (in alphabetical order)
Alice Scott Mother’s Day from Pigment Love Letters Valentine’s Day from Hotchpotch Platinum Father’s Day from Belly Button Designs Quicksilver Mother’s Day from Wendy Jones-Blackett Springtime Easter from Cinnamon Aitch With Love from Janie Wilson
● Springtime Easter
● With Love CATEGORY SPONSOR PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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The Henries 2015 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 2014.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Big Bear Hugs from Abacus Cards Cats In Hats from Jo Clark Design Little Creatures from Pippi & Me Mischief from I Drew This Stripey Dogs from Stripey Cats Cards Tiddly Pom Pom from Paper Rose
● Cats In Hats
● Little Creatures
● Big Bear Hugs ● Tiddly Pom Pom
● Stripey Dogs
● Mischief
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
The Henry Cole Classic Award Open to: This award is for ranges that have stood the test of time. The winner will join The Henry Cole Classic Hall of Fame with the previous winners which are Bestie from Paperlink, Eric the Penguin from GBCC, Forever Friends from Hallmark, On The Ceiling from Emotional Rescue, Me to You from CBG, Medici Cards Blue Label from GBCC, Second Nature’s Pop-Ups and Quentin Blake from Woodmansterne.
Giggles from Hanson White (UKG)
The madness and mirth of Giggles has been tickling British ribs for generations! With winning gags and a myriad of bold art styles, Giggles packs real punchline power. Since its inception in 1987, Giggles has gone from strength to strength and is now a £multi-million earner for Hanson White. It has vast distribution and is a favourite across all types of accounts. Giggles had an incredibly sound format from the start, and though design styles and jokes have moved with the times, the success of the range can be attributed to the brand’s determination to stay true to the winning formula. Constant refreshment is a huge factor in the continued success of Giggles, and evolution is what makes it such a massive success story. By keeping the brand up-to-date it continues to earn its place as the mainstay of the humour genre.
Marzipan from Paper Rose
Marzipan has continued to be one of Paper Rose’s bestselling ranges since its launch in November 2004. It has definitely stood the test of time, evolving through several formats, including mega cards, pop-ups and googly eyes and it is also licensed onto several other products. Each model is lovingly crafted using intricate patterns in polymer clay with bright colours and detailed embossing. Marzipan Toybox was introduced in August 2009. The characters ooze personality and are cheeky, charming and just so cute. Winning The Henries awards three times over the years, Marzipan has proven widespread appeal and is loved by kids and adults alike.
More Than Words from Talking Pictures The simplest concepts are very often the best, and this couldn’t be more true of the More than Words range from Talking Pictures – it does exactly what it says on the tin! Perfect for any sending situation and always looking fresh, the constantly evolving colour palette and font selection is cleverly put together by the Talking Pictures design team. Unbelievably, this range has been in publication for over 20 years.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Giggles from UK Greetings Marzipan from Paper Rose More Than Words from Talking Pictures Photocaptions from Cath Tate Cards Pizazz from Nigel Quiney Rainbow Cards from Ling Design
Photocaptions from Cath Tate Cards
Cath Tate Cards Photocaptions range has been supplying people across the UK (and a few other places on the planet!) a dose of Cath Tate’s witty, wicked and wise sense of humour for over 15 years. Now with over 300 designs in the range Cath Tate first came up the idea of marrying an old Edwardian photograph with a modern humorous caption in 2000. In 2015 the Photocaptions range is still a strong bestselling range, and ranks in the top selling humour cards for many chains and independent shops alike. Over the years the Photocaptions cards have been many times imitated but never surpassed in their unique style and sense of humour.
Pizazz from Nigel Quiney
Pizazz is an award-winning brand which has been very successful in the fashionable, fast moving world of greeting cards. The range has a beautiful loose watercolour illustrative style, which reflects a contemporary lifestyle, image and surroundings. Stark white backgrounds and glitzy flitter help to define the look and boost design impact. Pizazz was launched in August 2006, and has quickly given NQ a record-breaking turnover; it is still growing in strength, and will reach its 10 year milestone in 2016. On going development and the introduction of new images keep the range relevant and up to date.
Rainbow Cards from Ling Design
The long-established and well-loved cartoon based humour designs that make up the Rainbow portfolio have been a firm favourite for over 30 years, making them a true classic. The Ling Design team acquired the brand in 2010, and while they have introduced new designs that perfectly reflect current social and family situations, some of the original designs are over 15 years old and are still going strong!
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The Henries 2015 Finalists
Best Service To The Independent Retailer The finalists in this category were arrived at as a result of an exhaustive poll involving 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 12 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.
F INALISTS ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
(in alphabetical order)
Hallmark Cards International Cards and Gifts (IC&G) Jonny Javelin Ling Design Nigel Quiney Publications Noel Tatt Paperlink Pigment Second Nature UK Greetings Woodmansterne Words ‘n’ Wishes
Other serious contenders:
The following publishers polled well but not quite well enough to make it into the finals. 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th 21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th 29th 30th
Cherry Orchard Publishing Grass Roots International Abacus Cards Five Dollar Shake Wendy Jones-Blackett The Great British Card Company Paper Rose Belly Button Designs Blue Eyed Sun Carte Blanche Group K2 Greetings Mint Publishing BGC Studios Tracks Publishing Peartree Heybridge CardMix Cardigan Cards Country Cards
Images courtesy of Noel Tatt / Esprit Illustrations by Claire Coxon / Image Source
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6-9 SEPTEMBER 2015
Hall 5, Stand C10/D11
Elly Elephant Baby
Gold & Silver Rose Owls
Leonardo Glass Glamour
Equilibrium Silver Sentiment
Dark Moonlight
Old Sewing Machine
Morrocco Gold Tealights
Over 2000 brand new gifts 7500+ lines to choose from Only £100 minimum order FREE Next Day Delivery ‘Little & Often’ Ordering System Award Winning Customer Service Progressive Gifts Greats Awards 2015
13 times winners Harmony Light-up Plaques
Equilibrium Scarf Holders
Best Service to the Independent Retailer
Joe Davies Limited 149 Broadstone Rd, Reddish, Stockport SK5 7GA Tel: 0161 975 6300 Fax: 0161 975 6301 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk www.joedavies.co.uk 068_PG_September 1 FULL PAGE.indd 1 2015 07 Autumn Fair 2015.indd Prog Greetings
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The Henries 2015 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 yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winner be? The previous winners of this award are: 2014 - Louise Tighe (founder of Paperlink) 2013 - Beth Genower and Matt Genower (founders of Five Dollar Shake) 2012 - Lynn Tait (owner of The Lynn Tait Gallery and founder of The Ladder Club) 2011 - Giles Andreae (creator of Purple Ronnie and Edward Monkton) 2010 - Timothy Melgund (chief executive 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) 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) 1997 - David Hicks (founder of Really Good and Soul) 1996 - Stewart Stott (former managing director of Nigel Quiney - sadly now deceased)
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Business blogging by publisher Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun.
Sharpening
The Saw
Jeremy Corner, owner of greeting card publisher Blue Eyed Sun, renews his energy and passion for business.
As a Sage Business Expert I was recently invited by Sage to attend the Sage Summit in New Orleans. This annual event is a brilliant opportunity to learn, network and connect. Not only does it focus on growing one’s business, for me, it was the perfect getaway to ‘sharpen my saw’ and renew myself for the next phase of our company’s development. The event consisted of a series of keynotes, seminars and booths that offered a range of experiences throughout the show, which looked unlike any trade show I have ever visited before. The scale and scope of it was epic. The central hall layout had a huge circle in the middle laid with plush thick carpet, from which radiated several buzzing seminar theatres, called things like Profit, Grow, Lead, Differentiate, Customer etc. The design of the space meant that it buzzed with excitement as one wandered from session to session. It really was inspiring. I thought I’d share some of my highlights from my week there with you:
Above: Jeremy sharpened his 'business saw' at the Sage Summit in New Orleans. Left: Sage's Lead theatre's seminars were well attended. Below: Sage is an annual event to share advice on growing and developing your business.
When You Taste Success, Spit It Out On the first morning I ran into business and social media expert, Thomas Power. In the first of several interesting discussions with Thomas at the conference, he mentioned that if you ever taste success, you should spit it out. In other words, don’t spend too long revelling in the taste of it. While it’s important to celebrate success, it’s even more important to keep moving and not to sit on one’s laurels. It’s this kind of complacency that leads to executives patting each other on the back as they inadvertently walk off a cliff.
Zero Moment Of Truth Marketers have been using a three step mental model of marketing for a long time. 1) Stimulus - producing an advert. 2) Shelf - stores focusing on point of sale; historically known as ‘the first moment of truth’. 3) The Experience - of the product 70
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
at home. Consumers have a good experience or bad one and they share it. This is also known as ‘the second moment of truth’. Google investigated where influence now takes place as shoppers move from undecided to decided. The average shopper in 2011 used 10.4 sources of information, up from 5.3 in 2010. What surfaced was a fourth step called ‘the zero moment of truth’. This is where shoppers do research, read reviews, price compare and talk with friends to inform their decision making before going to the shelf. Marketers who can keep on top of all four steps have an advantage in the marketplace.
Websites Are Essential When I asked a panel of marketing experts how independent retailers could compete with the online world their answers were a stark reminder that the world is changing and those not changing with it will be left behind. “Any retailer without a website is dead in the water,” was one candid response. The good news is those retailers that have unique identifiers and do it well will stand out from the crowd and survive. Their general consensus also was that blogs drive traffic like nothing else. So if you don’t have a good blog, perhaps it’s time to start thinking about one.
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JEREMY ’S JOURNA L improved packaging. They also agreed that retailers need websites, and when set up there should be sufficient marketing resource allocated to the website to make sure that it is found.
Talk Differently
Personal Stories Rule Millennials are often tasked with sourcing suppliers and they use social media tools to influence their decisions. The stories and social media posts that get the most ‘likes’ are the personal ones. People want to see that brands are human. Include pictures of staff birthdays on your company profiles. Even though your customers might not all be on social media, you can bet that their kids are. If you build authentic connections with them, they will send their parents to your business.
Creating A Club In discussing changes in retail one evening, vp of marketing at Sage, Sophie Leguillette, told me the story of when she once noticed retail store Anthropologie offering a 20% off voucher to anyone joining its Anthro Loyalty Program instore. She asked the staff if there was any incentive for selling the membership, to which “no” was the reply. Instead, the assistant raved about useful benefits, like how the program kept records of your receipts for you so you didn’t have to keep hold of them in case of returning items. There were also special offers, advance notice of promotions, etc. Well-trained staff offering a club to which loyal customers can belong is a great incentive for encouraging repeat business.
Competing With Amazon At a session on e-commerce I asked the retail experts at the Sage Summit how independent retailers could compete with the online commerce giants like Amazon. The reply was to focus on value added premium options like engraving, customisation and
If you look at your five main competitors you will often find that the language they use is often very similar to each other and to your own. If you want to stand out from the crowd and win business, then the way you talk about your business and how you engage with customers must be different. Take a look at how you communicate and explore new creative ideas for changing how you behave.
Nobody Likes To Be Sold Everybody likes to buy and yet nobody likes to be sold. These days there is a huge amount of competition for attention in the marketplace, both online and offline. Shoppers now find things at the time and place of their choosing. Some 68% of the buying decision is now made before purchasing. If you want to be the place consumers choose to purchase these things then you need to spend time building yourself as the expert in such products. Rather than selling the products, sell your story and message. Make sure it’s written down and you have a strategy for how to do this so that your whole team is on-board.
Small Is The New Big Keynote speaker Chad Hurley, co-founder of YouTube, wisely pointed out that great businesses start from improving one small thing. For Chad it was making it easy for him and his friends to post videos online. Many people look at YouTube, which he sold for $1.6 billion (and which now is estimated to be worth over $40 billion), and think it’s all about the big idea. It’s from the little solutions that successful businesses and products emerge.
Create Great Content If you are going to market your business online you must focus on great content and stop focusing on selling. Nobody wants to be sold to. It’s all about placing the products you are offering in a context that is relevant and meaningful to your followers. Be supportive of your tribe. Be a giver not a taker. Be helpful and create the type of content that people want to share because it has value in their world.
Feedback Loops One of my favourite keynote quotes from the whole week was from American designer and thought leader, William A. McDonough, who observed during one keynote session that a system without a feedback loop is, by definition, stupid.
Top: Retailer Anthropologie sends a birthday card to all its customers on its database. Above: Jeremy (left) with Stephen Kelly the new CEO of Sage (centre) and business executive, Will Bruce. Below: John Lewis' last Christmas advert told a story, enticing customer to come to its stores.
So, if you are making or selling anything, you need to design in feedback from your customers. You’ll also need feedback loops within your business so that your team don’t keep making the same mistakes. It’s worth having feedback loops with your suppliers too, so that the supply chain runs smoothly. Note to self: design more feedback loops into our business. The week at Sage Summit was an incredible experience and I loved every minute of it. Thomas Power even coached me through a personal development exercise called ‘the core process’, which was the final sharpening of my saw before I left New Orleans and headed home. I met new friends, learned new things and returned to the UK feeling refreshed and renewed for our business. If you get the chance to go on seminars like this, jump at them. It’s a great way to spend time working on your business rather than in it. I’m also looking forward to sharing some video retail insights I gained from of the experts I met on my blog soon at: www.blueeyedsun.co.uk/blueeyedsun PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Innovations
Autumn Fair
A Selection of products on show at Autumn Fair, 6 - 9 September 2015, at the NEC Birmingham.
Pets Win Prizes UK Greeting is launching new products into its Studio Pets by Myrna licenced range. There are new gift wraps, bags and a new card range on offer featuring the adorable baby animals photographed in super cute settings, with stylish props and stunning and fashionable graphics. There’s also a new downloadable app to view videos staring the lovable pets! UK Greetings 01924 465200 Cardgains Village Hall 4 Stand E20-F21
Get Knitted Flitter Fantasy The new Ooh La La card collection from Cherry Orchard is a gorgeous new relations and occasions range of 28 designs. Using delicate pastel palettes and retro images, such as ornate vintage birdcages and bicycles, the range is embellished with delicate floral displays and a flitter finish in a contemporary square format with inserts and coloured envelopes. Cherry Orchard Publishing 01684 295500 www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk Cardgains Village Hall 4 Stand E20-F21
Say It With Beer Lesser & Pavey brings something different to the male gift market in the form of beer themed gifts, including Happy Birthday Beer Mugs for milestone birthdays and other fun captions including ‘Ice Cold Beer’, ‘Beer O’Clock’, and ‘Free Beer Tomorrow’. There are also bottle openers in large and small versions and a beer tankard to match. Lesser & Pavey 01322 279225 www.leonardo.co.uk Hall 5 Stand E02-F03 72
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Finishes Line
Blue Eyed Sun is releasing Knit Wit at Autumn Fair, a new range based on original hand-knitted artworks by textile artist, Jo Corner. This colourful eye-catching range includes eight Valentine’s designs, sized 130mm x 179mm, all sold wrapped with a red envelope. Blue Eyed Sun 01273 823003 www.blueeyedsun.co.uk Hall 4 Stand D03
Launching at Autumn Fair with everyday, relations and occasions designs will be Portfolio’s brand new range - T’too by Ashcroft Designs. Based on the decorative designs of actual tattoos, this range offers specialist finishes, including embossing, and is set to make an indelible impression! Everyday and occasions titles are sized 165mm square, relations cards are sized 165mm x 195mm and all are sold wrapped with a silver envelopes. Portfolio 020 8960 3051 sales@portfoliocards.com Hall 4 Stand E02
Birds Of A Feather Chloe Gardner has released new cards into her very cute Penguins range, gorgeous designs taken from Chloe’s original artwork made out of Guinea fowl feathers and inspired by the penguins in Edinburgh Zoo. There are now 15 cards in the range, covering everyday and Christmas, with two types of Christmas packs, one in a mini square format and three in a 7” x 5” format, all with six cards of one design. Chloe Gardner 0131 3315004 www.chloegardner.com Hall 3 Stand DL12
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Innovations
Autumn Fair
A Selection of products on show at Autumn Fair, 6 - 9 September 2015, at the NEC Birmingham.
All Things Bright Six new additions to Really Good’s the Bright Side range are being launched at Autumn Fair bringing this ever-popular block printed quirky greetings range to 115 designs. There are five relations cards and one birthday all sized 145mm x 174mm, blank inside and supplied wrapped with white envelopes. Really Good 01235 537888 Hall 4 Stand A01
Totter Ye Not Heart Beat Tomcat Cards has added another new artist to its talented stable, with its Rhythm of Life range from Rhonda Davies. These bright and colourful cards come in two sizes, 24 in 6" square and 12 in a 7" x 5" format. Ranging from the slightly whimsical to the uplifting, all the designs are beautifully printed with lots of bold colours. Tomcat Cards 01243 837300 www.tomcatcards.co.uk Hall 4 Stand D21
All Together Now
Every week for over 21 years, Annie Tempest’s Tottering-By-Gently cartoon strip has appeared in Country Life magazine. The Tottering characters are endearingly absent-minded and tipsy, surrounded by Labradors, horses, guns, Agas and endless bottles. Some of her most iconic images are now available as cards from Peartree Heybridge, initially comprising 38 open and 12 occasions cards sold wrapped and with burgundy envelopes. Peartree Heybridge 01423 876311 www.peartreeheybridge.co.uk Cardgains Village Hall 4 Stand E20-F21
Berni Parker is adding new designs into her Loving Life Together range with lots of couples in the humorous and loving everyday situations that all couples experience. The range now has 21 designs covering everyday, occasions and anniversaries. These art cards are sized 150mm square and sold wrapped with antique silk envelopes. Berni Parker Designs 01299 406098 www.berniparkerdesigns.com Hall 4 Stand E19
Duck’s Ditty
Moomin Fun In The Sun
All About The Bird is a fun range of cards from Claire Louise, featuring her very popular duck character all dressed up to the nines for different occasions. There are 12 designs in this range, all blank inside, sized 155mm square and supplied cellowrapped with brown fleck envelopes. Claire Louise 07715 373344 www.clairelouise.eu Hall 4 Stand F30
Following the film Moomins on the Riviera launched in June of this year, Hype has released 10 new Moomin cards using images from the film. There are now 42 designs in the range and new Moomin giftwrap, as well as new additions to its existing ranges. Visit and see what's new! Hype Associates 0151 702 7788 www.hypa.com Hall 4 Stand F12 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Innovations
Top Drawer
A selection of cards on display at Top Drawer, 13-15 September 2015, at Kensington Olympia, London.
Bright As A Button
Heart Of A Lion
New to Pearl and Black’s offering is Waterloo House, an artisan publisher producing handmade ceramic and porcelain button cards. The buttons are hand-tied onto each card and can be detached as a keepsake or even sewn onto a garment afterwards! There are Everyday, Christmas, Valentine’s and Mother’s Day cards on offer, all sized 155mm square and sold wrapped with high quality envelopes. Distributed by Pearl and Black 020 74353352 www.pearlandblack.com Stand N22
Proud To Present
Wraptious is extending its best-selling range by Paul Robbins. A Welsh illustrator, Paul works in traditional media such as pens and watercolours to produce striking and unique animal imagery, guaranteed to stand out! All the cards are sized 120mm x 170mm and supplied with recycled kraft envelopes. Wraptious 0161 738 1440 Stand P35
Foody Feast Stormy Knight has added a host of cheery new designs to its punfilled Super Food range, bringing this to 16 designs. All the cards are sized A6, printed onto 100% recycled board and sold with recycled envelopes. Stormy Knight 07875027551 www.stormyknight.co.uk Stand N14
Hot Stuff There’s loads of stuff to have a good old laugh at on the new look Dean Morris Cards stand of pure pleasure at Top Drawer. There’s over 30 new everyday cards and gifts ranging from mild to wild, and plenty more seasonal, including new Christmas, Valentine's, Mother's and Father’s Day. Dean will also be launching lots of new coasters and six cheeky new mugs to place on those coasters. Time for that brew! Dean Morris Cards 01902 560247 Stand P25
Shapely Lady
Proud Couture’s best selling Ink Lady range is being expanded at Top Drawer, with more cards being added into its summer and winter collections. Wintery ladies are in festive reds, blacks and golds and summery ladies have added watercolour in light pinks and blues to give the girls a flowing, floaty and spring-like look. Most of the cards have added glitter or a touch of diamante, all are sized A6 and sold with plain white envelopes. Proud Couture 07967 590771 www.proudcouture.com Stand Q37
Rose Hill is launching a whole new look with her new range Geo Patterns. Lots of geometric shapes and patterns in new colour palettes will be on offer in this 12 card A6 sized range. All the cards are sold wrapped with complementing coloured envelopes. Rose Hill Designs 07742 347603 www.rosehilldesigns.co.uk Stand P13
Magnificent Obsession Slightly obsessed with animals, especially dogs, and inspired by her creative companion Rocky the Frenchie, Lola of Lola Design has set about creating her signature look - beautiful sketched dog breeds with floral accents. There are 12 designs in the Floral Dogs range, all sized 150mm square and supplied wrapped with a crisp white envelope. Lola Design 07796 692559 www.loladesignltd.com Stand Q39 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Innovations
Top Drawer
A selection of cards on display at Top Drawer, 13-15 September 2015, at Kensington Olympia, London.
A Bird In The Hand
Flight Of Fancy Alison Finch of OriginaliArt is launching her Bird Collage Collection at Top Drawer. Colourful birds feature in this collection of 12 cards created from a mix of photography, painting and torn paper, collaged to create contemporary country and urban scenes. All the cards are sized 120mm square and sold wrapped with white envelopes. OriginaliArt 07973158123 www.originaliart.com Stand R39
Made With Love Evermade has worked with a host of illustrators and designers to produce its exciting and varied Collection of A6 cards. Featuring a range of styles from photorealistic to hand-drawn to foiled detail, there is a unique card for every occasion. Evermade 07988 733085 www.evermade.com Stand M37
The Birds in Hats collection is a quirky, beautifully illustrated card range designed by Alice Tams, featuring a different bird in different hats for birthdays, anniversaries and 'just becauses'. The cards are printed in the UK and come wrapped with quality coloured envelopes. Birds in Hats 07731 462130 www.birdsinhats.com Stand R19
Reining In The Deer Social enterprise ARTHOUSE Meath is launching new additions to its highly original Christmas card range. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Blitzen showcase images by Phillippa Whatmore and are hand silk screen printed onto a series of cards in warm metallic colours. All ARTHOUSE Meath artists live with severe epilepsy, learning and physical difficulties and 100% of its sales revenue goes towards sustaining the project, helping it grow and evolve. ARTHOUSE Meath 01483 425273 www.arthousemeath.com Stand Q38
On The Up Re-wrapped is launching lots of exciting new wrap designs at Top Drawer. One new range from debut designer Louise Thomas is a fabulous children’s wrap collection of three designs featuring gorgeous animals and vibrant hot air balloons which are printed onto 100% recycled paper and are sold in 50cm x 70cm sheets. Re-wrapped 07561 103848 www.re-wrapped.co.uk Stand N33
Artist’s Impression HartDeco is extending its Art Cards range with eight new ink and watercolour nature or botanical images depicting the colours and moods of the four seasons. All are sized 150mm square, and sold wrapped with recycled kraft envelopes. HartDeco 07894 354320 www.hartdeco.co.uk Stand P15
Fun With Puns #trending is a new range of 17 designs from Nocturnal Paper – adding a personal touch to communication by creating hand illustrated punning cards. Inspiration comes from life, food, people, chart topping songs and the hashtags that go viral. All the cards are sold wrapped with a brown kraft envelope. Nocturnal Paper 07555 352 159 www.nocturnalpaper.com Stand Q41 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Behind The Scenes
Greeting Card Airs And Graces
The Paddington movie boosted London tourism, Billy Elliot was a fillip for male ballet and Brassed Off rekindled passions for colliery brass bands. Now the greeting card industry has its chance. The BBC is to air the first series of Richard Marsh: Cardboard Heart, a sitcom based in a greeting card company, on Radio 4 next month. PG joined some other cardies at the recording and met with Richard Marsh, the writer and protagonist behind the card trade’s first radio blockbuster. The rumblings started percolating through the trade earlier this year; someone was looking to write a humorous sitcom based in a greeting card company and was keen to research the ‘warts and all’ machinations of the industry. Though intriguing, those who received an email or telephone message from a writer/poet/actor called Richard Marsh in his quest to ‘learn more about the card trade’ felt a shared sense of responsibility not to expose anything that could be misconstrued as a weakness or make mention of a trade idiosyncrasy that would in some way demean the greeting card industry. Likened to the reactions towards members of your own family, you feel perfectly entitled to moan about their shortcomings, but if an ‘outsider’ takes a pop, you jump to their defence. However, thankfully Richard Marsh is as immediately likeable as he is tenacious, as Right: Richard Marsh as Will, the lead character in the series. Inset: Recording with a live audience. (Left-right) Beast (Russell Tovey), Rog (Phil Daniels), Colin (Sam Troughton) and Will (Richard Marsh).
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respectful as he is naturally witty, meaning that any qualms cardies had that he did speak to soon dissolved, and so his research got underway. And the fruits of his industry delving, combined with his quirky writing style, will soon be aired for the whole world to hear - when the first four 30 minute episodes of the pilot sitcom, Richard Marsh: Cardboard Heart, are aired on BBC Radio 4 weekly from September 10 (at 11pm) and also available on iPlayer. It’s an impressive cast - including Phil Daniels (whose claims to fame
include appearing in Quadrophenia, Eastenders and Chicken Run), as well as Russell Tovey (of Him and Her, Being Human, The Job Lot), Sam Troughton (of Robin Hood), Rebecca Scroggs (best known for her role in Eastenders) and Jemima Rooper (who appeared in Blandings) with Richard playing the central character and narrator. The first four episodes set the scene of life in a fictitious card company and introduce the characters, centering around Will, who spends his days writing heartfelt verses for greeting cards yet fails to communicate effectively when his own romantic opportunities arise. The tightly written dialogue, interspersed with poetic narrative from Richard spoken directly to the audience, is peppered with humour as well as some choice greeting card references - even Above: The four episodes which make up the pilot series of Richard Marsh: Cardboard Heart, were recorded for BBC Radio 4 at the RADA Studios, which is located just behind Paperchase’s flagship store in London’s Tottenham Court Road.
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Behind The Scenes
managing to weave in a mention of The Henries awards! Explaining where the idea for Cardboard Heart originated, Richard said: “Ben [Worsfield], the producer, and I had worked together on a radio show called Love & Sweets (an adaptation of my play Skittles), which ended up winning the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Comedy last year. We wanted to work together again, so I was looking out for a poetry comedy idea. I wanted my character to be a working poet, but not one who writes poetry books for a living someone who used rhyme more practically. One day it hit me - greeting cards.” It was in many ways an obvious choice of setting for Richard. “All my life, I’ve written my own cards for friends and family - very quick, comic rhymes. I’ve always loved doing that. I also think we Brits are sometimes a little reluctant to express our feelings, and cards allow us to do that. Particularly humorous cards - they allow us to pretend we’re joking while actually showing our feelings.” Having hit on the framework, Richard wanted to ensure that the plotline and dialogue would have credibility, albeit with some ‘poetic licence’ in the name of comedy.
The Cast Notes
“I went online and discovered Progressive Greetings and the GCA. From the GCA website I looked at the companies which welcomed open submissions for artists and verse writers, because that was the easiest way to get hold of contact details.” Richard says he felt very lucky that the first person he spoke to with industry connections was Giles Andreae, creator of Purple Ronnie, Edward Monkton and cocreator of Happy Jackson. “I Googled him and found that he shares my writing agency due to his books. They forwarded on a request to meet him and he very kindly talked to me.” Richard then also talked to PG’s Jakki Brown, the GCA’s Sharon Little, as well as those from card publishers Cardoo, Cremated Egg and Paperlink. “I learnt a lot from everyone... the yearly schedule, industry jargon, the top third of the card rule... loads of stuff.” It was then a case of Richard weaving some of the information into the likely scenarios within the script, including “talking about The Henries, about coming up with new Above left: The distinctive voice of Phil Daniels adds to the gravitas of the production. Above right: Lucky Giant producer Ben Worsfield and director Pia Furtado (in the background) applaud the cast after the recording comes to a close. Below: What is more important on a card, the design or the editorial? This is a source of banter between art director Goadsby (played by Rebecca Scroggs) and Richard Marsh’s character Will. Bottom left: Russell Tovey put in a powerful performance as Beast, the renegade salesman in the series.
Cardboard Heart was written and created by Richard Marsh and produced by Lucky Giant (NBCUniversal International Studios company) for BBC Radio 4. Richard Marsh - plays the central character and narrator, Will, an aspiring writer whose 9-to-5 job is to create the card verses and captions for an unnamed greeting card company. Phil Daniels - has the role of the company's roguishly charming owner, Rog. Russell Tovey - plays Beast, the card company's "renegade salesman". Rebecca Scroggs - plays Goadsby, the woman who shares an office with Will and is responsible for the card artwork. She is Will's nemesis. Sam Troughton - is the publisher’s safety and survival-obsessed accountant Colin. Olivia Poulet - plays a vet for whom Will has romantic affections. Jemima Rooper - plays Louise, Rog’s daughter. Pia Furtado is the director and Ben Worsfield is the producer of the series. The first episode (30 mins) will air on Radio 4 on Thursday 10 Sep 2015 at 11pm.
cards and what makes them successful or not, and how Will, the writer (my character) and Goadsby, the designer, often disagree about the best way forward. Also we touch on how there are cost implications to certain designs, and arguments over what designs will sell well.” Having secured a commission from the BBC, the first four episodes were recorded at the RADA Studios in central London, back in April, with a live audience - including several from the greeting card industry who had been involved in the research. Richard was delighted that the performances went down so well, especially with the cardie critics!
“I was so pleased that the cardies who came to the recording felt the company in Cardboard Heart seemed realistic. I’ve really enjoyed talking to the greeting card industry people I’ve met so far, and I hope to talk to many more. Since the first series was recorded, I’ve met a lot more great card people, including during my visit to PG Live. These included the founders of Inspired Goodbyes, who convinced me to go to the National Funeral Show the week after the show. You people are very persuasive!” said Richard. Richard is doubtful whether Will (his alter ego in the series) could make it as a real life greeting card publisher. “I definitely know a lot more about cards than when I started, but I think real cardies would question Will’s talents - as he comes up with a lot of cards which are hopefully funny, but unlikely to sell very well.” Card publishers need not fear the competition as Richard is pretty busy, currently writing a TV series based on his last play, Wingman, as well as writing the book and co-writing the lyrics for a musical, but, if Cardboard Heart is well-received on radio, who knows, it could be the next Eastenders! PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Debbie Wigglesworth’s Paper Journeys
This month has seen my Paper Journey take an interesting route – from Hull to Milan, Tokyo to Denver, Berlin to Wisconsin. It has been largely a ‘paper trail’ for me, but all of these happenings reinforce that the big world of paper keeps on turning, inspiring and adding to the legacy. Ray Of Sunshine Ray Earle, a very dear friend of mine (and friend to many in our industry) retires from GFSmith’s board of directors next month, on his 70th birthday, having served an incredible 53 years with the company. Ray joined the Hull-based GFSmith at the age of 16. I loved hearing how his mum advised her wide-eyed young son that “whatever you do in life Ray, do it with all your heart. If you want to be a road sweeper, then go Above: A young dedicated out and be the best road sweeper in Hull.” Luckily for Ray Earle - always smiling! all of us Ray chose to join GFSmith, and boy has he done his work with all his heart, and soul! There are many companies within our greetings industry that have benefitted and owe much of their early success to the diligence, creative vision and generosity of Ray Earle (and GFSmith), offering his time in guiding publishers who have looked to offer differentiation within their portfolio. Always so giving of his time, wise advice and kindness - many who have gone on to have companies with £multi-milllion turnovers, such as Belly Button Designs, Blue Eyed Sun and Five Dollar Shake, who now lead our industry in design-led businesses. I feel personally blessed to have had the privilege of working closely with Ray for many years and those of us whose lives he has touched (of which there are literally thousands) all share a passion for paper more deeply because of Ray. During the last few years during his executive directorship role, Ray undertook the writing of the company’s archives which involved a massive amount of research which has great historic value. In doing this, Ray has ensured that the company for which he has dedicated his entire working life to has a detailed and incredible story for future generations to enjoy and learn from forever.
Turning Japanese If you're looking for inspiration why not consider a visit to Japan's 12-storey stationery store! Following a five year refurbishment, Ito-Ya celebrated its grand opening with mile long queues along Ginza, Tokyo's grand boulevard. Everything that is beautiful and all things stationery, from Washi paper to Origami supplies, adorn each floor of this retail ‘paper paradise’ set in the country renown for its love of paper and stationery. Now that’s what I call a stationery store! Right: Mile long queues of people waiting for the re-opening of Ito-Ya, a 12 story stationery store in Tokyo.
A Colourful Launch Milan, Hamburg, Cologne and Berlin have all been graced with the launch of Gmund Colors, an inspirational colour collection of papers. And, as I write this, Gmund Colors is heading onto Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. German-based Gmund is certainly one of my very favourite paper mills. It has always been a complete Above: Pen-loops with a Gmund pencil, the stylish new addition honour and completely inspirational to visit to Gmund’s stationery collection Gmund and meet up with Florian Kohlor (who is sold in Ito-Ya, Tokyo. the mill’s fourth generation paper-maker) and his dedicated team. I have been lucky enough to visit on several occasions over the past 25 years and witness at first-hand Gmund's style and attention to detail, which is second to none.
Luke And Learn Famed for its exquisite papers for high-end corporate stationery and artist papers, US paper mill Strathmore Papers this month took to the streets in Appleton, Wisconsin to give away ‘lucky bags’ containing free artist’s pads and materials to unsuspecting and delighted passers by - in what the company described as 'our random act of artistic kindness'. The aim of this was to bring more art into the community and inspire more people to get their creative juices flowing. Meanwhile, in a more structured setting, yet equally as thrilling, Strathmore teamed up with ‘Master Penman’ Luke Weildmann at the 2015 Art Materials World Show that was held in Denver USA. One of just 11 Master Penman practising worldwide, Luke has dedicated his life so far to perfecting his craft. He passionately believes in the importance of honing and preserving our writing skills thereby continuing the heritage. Strathmore Paper company has played an enormous role in the early years of GFSmith, going back to the 1800's when a successful relationship was forged between the owners of the two companies. Above left: Luke Weildmann's intricate pen and ink drawing intended to stir on the new generation of master creators and crafts. Preserve the past, forge the future. Above middle: The Strathmore ‘lucky bag’ giveaway.
To contact Debbie email deborahwigglesworth@gmail.com and twitter is @paperpassionist 80
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Publisher Face To Face
The Spice Girls “My how time flies… when you’re having fun!”, exclaims Sara Burford and Sarah Danby, founders and designers for card publisher Cinnamon Aitch, who are celebrating 20 amazing years in business this September. With thoughts of cinnamon and celebratory cake, PG asks the pair to reminisce over the sweet and successful years of the company.
S
arah Danby and Sara Burford both met at Nottingham Trent University studying textile design. They weren’t really friends at this point. It wasn’t until after they’d graduated and went on a trip to Paris to Premier Vision, a large international trade fair, that they became firm friends and have remained so ever since. “We found this trade show really corporate and uninspiring so we knocked on doors of the Parisian couture houses over there in the hope of finding some inspiration. I had a shoebox of my fabric designs in my backpack and Sarah had a selection of her work in tow too”, says Sara, adding, “We got into the studio of Christian Lacroix and the designers there were so enthusiastic and excited with our work - they claimed they had never seen anything like it!” Both Sara and Sarah seemed to be on the same page; both targeting the same markets and their textile styles sat happily together. Sarah reveals, “We were then spurred on to see if there was a market for an embroidery service for fashion designers in Paris and London, embellishing designer’s couture and ready to wear garments. We found that there was and so Cinnamon Aitch was born.”
Above: Sarah Danby (left) and Sara Burford 20 years ago when Cinnamon Aitch was first formed. Right: A hooray for a Henries award! Cinnamon Aitch won Best Relations And/Or Occasions Range category with its gorgeous Buttercups & Clover range in 2012. Below left: Birthday celebrations on a Cinnamon Aitch Thimble card. Sarah and Sara would like to say "a big thank you" to their team, agents, suppliers and of course their customers "who still believe in what we do."
That was way back in 1995, and Sarah and Sara had no idea that they would be working in the greeting card industry, let alone still be in business 20 years down the line. But by the year 2000 the pair had decided to make the move into greeting cards and apply their design skills and innovative, beautiful stitching to cards. September Top Drawer 2000 was Cinnamon Aitch’s first greeting card trade fair, which saw the new publisher exhibit alongside fellow designers under a Prince’s Trust umbrella. “The show was phenomenal. Our offering was eclectic and experimental to say the least,” says Sara. The duo spent the duration of the show sidestepping buyers to allow them into their 2m x 2m stand as they frantically scribbled Above right: Sara and Sarah's textile background can be seen within all their card designs. Left: Cinnamon Aitch's Hello Sunshine notebooks can be seen at this month's Top Drawer Autumn.
Left: An early Cinnamon Aitch design from its Disco range. Right: A cute bird from one of the publisher's Gypsy designs. Inset: The background imagery is part of a recent CH Cornflower design.
orders down. Spurred on by their success they then went on to refine and evolve the ranges and build on those relationships made, many who still remain customers today. “Over the years there have been many gorgeous card ranges designed from our sunny Birmingham studio. Some hum-dingers in there too! Styles have changed, trends have come and gone and changes in production have been embraced,” explains Sarah. But the changes haven’t always been whole-heartedly embraced… “dragging us into the 21st Century to update our website was a daunting task but eased somewhat by the fab IT folk at hand. And transferring our production over to our finishing company was another scary moment but a move we have never regretted, enabling us to grow and grow,” Sara confesses. And then the Cinnamon Aitch kids came along and juggling a company and children is always a challenge. “Sometimes there is not enough headspace and
something gives… usually our sanity! But we are lucky that we can be relatively flexible with our hours so that we can spend important time with the children.” So still going strong and still working together Cinnamon Aitch goes from strength to strength, and to celebrate its 20th year PG has been told there will be a ‘do’, and of course there will be cake, possibly cinnamon cake! ● If you’d like to congratulate Cinnamon Aitch, it will be at Top Drawer Autumn, Stand N46. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Trend Focus
Doyouthinkhesawus? Who said that dinosaurs are extinct? This summer they’ve been seen roaming the high streets in the form of fashion prints, jewellery and on greeting cards and wrap. It’s a trend that has been riding off the scaly back of the recent blockbuster movie Jurassic World and a plethora of summer attractions to meet and greet dinosaurs. Mankind’s fascination with these huge lumbering creatures that wandered the earth around 225 million years ago for 180 million years has never waned. But ferocious or placid, herbivorous or carnivorous, with so many species there’s a wealth of dinosaur inspiration for card designers to choose from. Publishers reveal why The Age of the Reptile is stomping onto cards. Left: A Jurassic World design from Gemma.
Tracy Francis, partner of Noi Publishing: Walking With Dinosaurs: “When it comes to kids’ card designs you can't go wrong with dinosaurs! They are great to use when creating characters because you can make them fierce or friendly both with equal measures of success.” Jurassic Enthrallment: “I also think that the kids that watched the original Jurassic Park movies years ago are all grown up now and creating products and setting trends. I know I was the one begging the family to come see the new Jurassic World movie with me!” Favourite Dinosaur: “My kid's favourite dinosaur is the Triceratops because he is a herbivore and scary at the same time. And The Doctor rode one!” Left: Plastic figurines tell a tale on Noi Publishing’s Toy Stories Christmas range.
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Nik Brittain-Long, senior creative for The Great British Card Company: Walking With Dinosaurs: “I don't think dinosaurs have ever really gone out of fashion. They've gripped the imagination of children for well over 150 years, and that fascination stays with most of us as adults. They also make terrific toys. There are dozens of different types to collect, in all shapes and sizes, and they each come with a long and complicated name for your little sister to get wrong.” Jurassic Enthrallment: “We've been fascinated by monsters since our ancestors returned from the hunt with tales of giant cave-bears and sabre-tooth tigers. The reassuring thing about dinosaurs, the biggest and fiercest of monsters, is that you can be reasonably certain that you're not going to get eaten by one today.” Favourite Dinosaur: “I've always had a soft spot for the poor old Brontosaurus. Not only is it extinct, but paleontologists have now decided that it never actually existed in the first place. Talk about kicking you when you're down…” Dinosaur Tales: “I met Bruce Forsyth once. Does that count?” Above: Dinosaurs in the modern world – a Shaun St. Peter design from The Almanac Gallery (GBCC).
Kate Guest, creative director for KATE GUEST: Walking With Dinosaurs: “The dinosaur trend seems to be having a revival over all design sectors, not just greeting cards. Obviously the Jurassic Park films over the past 20+ years have helped placed them in popular culture, and the first children that watched those early films are now those people who are designing. Whether they loved the films and the dinosaurs or not, dinosaurs have been part of our environment for the last couple of decades and are part of our consciousness. Our inspiration for our dinosaur design came from my five Above: Kate Guest’s ferocious silhouette dinosaur design is also her company branding. year-old niece who absolutely loves dinosaurs! She said something like 'you old dinosaur' and so it became our birthday design! Simple as that!” Jurassic Enthrallment: “I think the fascination with dinosaurs is because they are something ‘other’. We don’t fully understand them and they still seem totally foreign to anything we experience today. The wonder probably starts with most of us as children, but carries on as adults - especially when you can visit places like The Natural History Museum and see huge fossils, for free!” Favourite Dinosaur: “For us, it’s the T-Rex. The imagery is really strong, and increasingly that's what drives our designs, and is part of our brand, so it was an obvious design route for us to go down. Who knows, maybe we'll expand into a full dinosaur range!”
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Trend Focus
Sara Hall, operations director for Lonetree: Walking With Dinosaurs: “It is a trend that has been growing over the last couple of years, and while the new Jurassic World movie will certainly help, we think it has a lot to do with the variety of shapes, colour and character that comes from dinosaurs: they are a very versatile group indeed! Personally, our dinosaur card designs have been inspired by our own small children, who have reminded us how incredible the Above: Lonetree’s new ‘Stanley’ range was very concept of dinosaurs is - and I think inspired by a little lead man that was because they are extinct it makes it easy to found in a dusty old box of 1920 toys. humanise them into the good, the bad, the slow, the kind etc, a quality that works well when you are working in design!” Jurassic Enthrallment: “Dinosaurs are like stars - we know that they were real, but they are beyond our everyday understanding! How could there have been an animal on earth as big as Titanosaur, 130ft long and 77 tonnes! It is the untouchable quality that we are inspired by and the fact that they preceded us in such a successful manner, only to end so abruptly!” Favourite Dinosaur: “It has to be Ankylosaurus. A large gentle vegetarian with a distinctive beak and full-body armour including a round ‘canon ball’ at the end of it's tail incase anyone tried a nibble!”
Anna Price, senior designer for Hotchpotch: Walking With Dinosaurs: “Dinosaurs are great generic characters, for both young and old. For kids, they are good as a change from the over-used pirate and knight characters. Their recognisable shapes stand out to children, but also work well in repeat for wallpaper/giftwrap or kidswear. For adults they work commercially too, as they can relate to Above: The T-Rex is a Hotchpotch favourite, as some fun age-puns, for example: You old seen on its Party Animals dinosaur design. dinosaur; Have a roarrr-some birthday; Gigantosaurus birthday wishes; You’re so old you’re extinct!; Have a grrrrreat birthday. Hotchpotch’s Party Animals range was designed to be a generic character range to incorporate puns into the wording - so using a dinosaur for one of the characters was an obvious choice.” Favourite Dinosaur: “Our favourites are T-Rex, because they have ‘hands’ so you can animate the character easily, and Brontosaurus, because they are the cute, friendly and veggie!” Far left: A dinosaur that comes to life! A design from The Pop Out Card Company. Left: To a mighty Dad, on a Molly Mae design.
Janna Cossettini, director for Deckled Edge Design: Walking With Dinosaurs: “My inspiration is purely and simply the love I know my kids have for these fierce creatures. When I grew up, my dinosaurs were plastic figurines coloured grey, green, brown, faithful recreations of the real thing. Years later, we know they were much more colourful, more fascinating, more diverse, and more ferocious than ever before. And kids’ dinosaur merchandise now include dinosaur cartoons, robots, pyjamas, it’s endless. Those pesky dinos are also all scattered about the house at the moment. So it’s no surprise then that for today’s ‘bigger kids’ it is fashion, jewellery and greeting cards that are ‘roaring’ favourites. For them, dinosaurs are on the television, at the theatre, on the big screen, at our favourite museums and even fun parks now. The market place has already discovered the strength of the ‘Dino-dollar’ so to speak.” Jurassic Enthrallment: “My daughter says the answer to why we are fascinated by dinosaurs is “because they are extinct and we cannot see them anymore.” Equally there is something in the variety of skin Above: Deckled Edge Design’s Dinky Dino range consists of 22 designs textures and size variations which fascinate, and giftwrap, with some new not to mention they can EAT YOU!” designs stomping the racks soon. Favourite Dinosaur: “It has to be the T-Rex”, says my daughter, as “no-one bosses them around or can eat them.” Personally I prefer the bright scaly orange, red, and blue ones. There HAS to be one or two out there!”
Ilona Drew, designer and director for I Drew This: Below: ‘Dinoboy’ from I Drew This. Walking With Dinosaurs: “We have all grown-up learning about these amazing creatures, everyone remembers the first time they visiting The Natural History Museum and saw the Diplodocus skeleton for the first time, the very size of it is totally overwhelming and it really existed. The shapes and sizes of each type of dinosaur are all so different that they will always be great inspiration for creatives, and also it is easy to build character into dinosaurs - into friendly vegetable eating dinosaurs or scary mean meat eaters! My Mischief card design was inspired by the simple fact that little boys and girls (my daughter in particular!) love to have fun pretending to be scary dinosaurs!” Jurassic Enthrallment: “Everyone is fascinated with dinosaurs, the fact that they roamed the lands and their bones have been found but we will never actually see one makes them a mystery which is exciting to both adults and kids. What I find most intriguing is that we have no idea what colours there were. Whilst I am guessing they would be quite earthy in colouring I do love the idea of them all patterned and funky!” Favourite Dinosaur: “I am going to go with my daughter’s current favourite, a Triceratops because of its frilly head!” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Retailer Face To Face
Procters And Gamble When asked to describe their retail business, the response is mischievously quick:“We’re like Paperchase’s badly behaved younger brother!” states John Procter, who together with his wife Jennie own and run the 33-store Scribbler chain. Having just won The Retas award for Best Specialist Multiple Card Retailer 2015, impressively grown the business by 17% in the last year and with plans for more stores, revamps and developments online and in own brand, being ‘badly behaved’ seems to be serving the UK’s humorous card specialist rather well. If you believe everything you read in the Daily Mail, then the damning article that was supposedly based on findings from a recent Ofcom report, which claimed that greeting card sales among the youth were on a death-defying slide, should have the Scribbler owners quaking in their boots. Yet this retailing haven for humorous cards, especially those that veer towards the edgier side, has had another damn good year. “We have just had our year end and our like-for-like sales are up 7%, for the seventh year running, while our overall growth is up 17%”, reveals John Procter, co-owner of Scribbler. “Our online sales are up 60% yearon-year. I can’t help thinking that we must be playing a part in encouraging the younger generation to buy cards,” he adds. Indeed, that encouragement went a bit too far at the start of the year and crashed
Left: Scribbler’s online sales are now equivalent to its second biggest store. Below: One of the Scribbler own brand designs.
the Scribbler website, when one of its own brand Valentine’s Day designs - that depicted an illustration of Kanye West looking in the mirror under the caption ‘I love you more than Kanye loves Kanye’ - went ‘viral’, resulting in millions of hits! “We print to order
Left: Scribbler’s store in Glasgow’s Sauciehall Street which fanfares a new cleaner look for the store. This look has already been replicated in the refurbishment of the Canary Wharf store with the Wardour St and Kings Road branches next on the list for a revamp.
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Above: Jubilation at the recent Retas awards at which Scribbler won the Best Specialist Multiple award. (Leftright: co-owner Jennie Procter, buyer Eliot James, PA Gemma Rochester and co-owner John Procter.
and it took us four days solid just to print the orders for that one design,” admits Jennie. “It shows though that the younger generation will definitely still buy cards if they see what they want.” This is not the first time of course that Scribbler has been at odds with the Daily Mail, as Jennie almost fondly remembers the pasting the chain took in the newspaper a year or so ago over the ‘rude cards’ it stocks. “Our sales went through the roof when the article was published,” says Jennie. “It was a massive bit of unexpected advertising for us!” A pleasant surprise of a different nature came last month at The Retas when Scribbler was pronounced Best Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards 2015. The award comes at the end of a rather significant year for Scribbler, which has seen it swell its store roster by another five stores (including a prestigiously sited one in London’s Regent Street), embark on a new look refurbishment programme, beef up its own brand offer on cards and stationery, move the remainder of its warehousing to a central distribution centre and progress its online activities. “Yes, we were all really delighted and excited to receive our Retas award. It is
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Retailer Face To Face
Left: As the Queen is the landlord in the Regent Street store, the ruder cards have to be displayed towards the back of the store! Below: One of the contemporary designs that reflect current pop culture, the demand for which went ballistic after news it went viral on social media networks.
extremely gratifying to be judged thus by our peers,” says Jennie. While Scribbler has its definite niche (some 50% of its greeting card and gift portfolio centre around humour of some kind or other), it is an enclave that has proven to be somewhat larger and better suited to travel from its London homeland than might have been envisaged in its formative years in the 80s and 90s. However, while its stores now pepper many major conurbations and stations in the UK, as well as selected suburbs, Scribbler punches way above its weight. With 33 branches, it doesn’t by any means cover the whole of the UK, yet the high level of consumer awareness and trade kudos of being stocked by the chain, belies the number of stores. This awareness is undoubtedly amplified by its presence in top travel spots (it now has stores in London’s Liverpool Street, Victoria, Waterloo and Leeds stations and another due to open in Glasgow Central station before Christmas), with travellers attracted to the distinctive store layout and potent product mix.
And though late in joining the online revolution, it has made much more of its web presence over the last four years, offering personalised humorous designs that are not available anywhere else. “Our website business has soared by 60% in the last 12 months alone, compared to the previous year. It is now effectively our second largest ‘store’,” reveals John. “I can see a day in the not too distant future when the website will account for 20% of our sales. And, up until now we have only offered cards, but we are now planning to extend this into gifts in time for Christmas this year.” Own brand products has been a notable area of growth for Scribbler, but the team are mindful of the branded card publishing talents that add the pep to the retailer’s mix. “We have always done own brand gift packaging as it makes sense. Some 30% of our Father’s Day cards were own brand to offer the range for our customers and Christmas will be 20%-30% own brand. However on everyday, as there is such a fantastic selection from publishers, only
Take Note The one product area which has gone down a storm for the retailer on the own brand front is stationery, notably journals and notebooks emblazoned with humorous messages. “The reason we have produced them is because we couldn’t find anything available like them in the market,” says John. In fact there are musings that it might even consider wholesaling some of its own brand stationery to other retailers. “I know that they would sell, and we do not want to have shops everywhere,” adds John. Above: Among the own brand notebooks that sell so well for Scribbler.
Designs Of The Times In addition to his role as in-house designer for Scribbler, Dan Scheers is also the person tasked to curate the submissions from artists, designers and illustrators looking to have their work published by Scribbler. “I love the fact that Scribbler fosters new talent,” says John. “As without encouraging this new blood into the industry we have less hope of greeting cards being out there that appeal to the younger generation especially.” Dan sees the healthy number as well as the quality of these submissions as a real thumbs up, not only for British talent, but also that they recognise that greeting cards are a credible carrier for their artwork. Submissions vary from “someone with a unique image that they feel could work on a card to an up and coming designer who is just starting out. While not all submissions are quite right for us, it’s great to see so many talented young designers and illustrators looking to get into the greeting card market,” says Dan. Relaying how a random email can bear fruit for young designers as well as for Scribbler, Dan recalls receiving a submission from an illustrator called Jolly Awesome. “We loved his designs and type of humour they depicted and felt it was a perfect fit for the Scribbler brand. After initially launching a co-branded range in Scribbler stores and online, Jolly Awesome has now gone on to grow its ranges and is stocked in a number of retailers across the country. It is great to have been a part in this success story.”
around 5%-6% are own brand as there is no need to develop any more,” says John. Another aspect which is still on the wishlist is to explore the possibility of taking the Scribbler brand abroad, if not through standalone stores, then through ‘pop-up units’. “We love the idea of having Scribbler pop-up ‘shops’ in Australia and are planning to go there to investigate the opportunities later this year – with some time off when we are there too!” reveals Jennie, touching on the urge to travel. “We love Scribbler and feel very proud of what we have achieved, and there are still lots of opportunities, but that ruddy clock is ticking for John and I and we want to travel more. It would be fantastic if we could find a likeminded person to buy into the business which would continue our legacy, but it would have to be the right fit. I can’t see a grey suited ceo working well in Scribbler!” Any badly behaved boys or girls out there up for a challenge?! PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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ARTSOURCE
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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 Coxon Ever since I learnt to hold a pencil I have had a love of drawing and painting. That early passion led all my relatives to buy me art related gifts for birthdays and Christmas for many years as a child - which was very much appreciated! This interest grew throughout my school and university years, so developing and directing these skills into an ‘actual’ career was my only option to satisfy the creative in me. I am thrilled to have my latest ‘Deco’ designs featured in The Henries Awards 2015 styling and it’s brilliant receiving such great accreditation. I began developing my current Art Deco range with influences from The Great Gatsby film back in 2013. To date, my ‘Deco’ journey has reached just over 100
designs and I don’t think I will ever tire of the beautiful patterns and exquisite clothing of that decadent era. I always try to create elegant and sophisticated formats with body poses that feel real and anatomically accurate - with a little pinch of artistic license at times. I have created many designs using a combination of traditional drawing skills and digital formatting, which allows me the flexibility to experiment with techniques and layering. I love working with colour and fine detailing and I hope all my designs tell a story of who I am as an artist! Being a freelance artist ticks many boxes for me, as I can chose what I want to create next for my portfolio. My work is constantly evolving and offering up new challenges, and that makes it all the more satisfying. I’m lucky to have a really great agent, as they manage my portfolio and take care of all the day-today enquiries on my behalf, which works perfectly. It allows me the flexibility to develop new ranges and styles at my own pace and to focus on what I love to do best – create beautiful art! ● Email: anne@image-source.co.uk ● Web: www.image-source.co.uk
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. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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ART SOURCE Sarah Gillard
‘’My world is about colour, my joy and inspiration that has me leaping out of bed in the morning to paint a cobalt sea or field of poppies.’’ It’s no surprise I opted to do my BA Hons in woven textiles, which led to a commission by the Conran shop. A few years later I was fortunate enough to work as a colourist for the Liberty Design Studio where I was first introduced to gouache, a superb medium for colour mixing. It was during this time I began a series of flower paintings which led to a feature in Country Living Magazine and my paintings to be exhibited by the RWA and the Bath Society of Artists. Since then, I lived in the Netherlands and returned to the UK in 2006. My work has been shown at the Thelma Hulbert Gallery as part of the Evolver Prize 2011 exhibition. I would describe my style as bold, graphic and contemporary with an emphasis on colour. My work has been published into greeting cards for the last 20 years, which led to prints being sold by a number of companies including All Posters. A collection of my work is currently represented by Bridgeman Art Library and has been published into prints, greeting cards and book covers (Competition Law & Economic Regulation Making and Managing Markets). More recently, my work was published into greeting cards by Camden Graphics and Museums & Galleries. Travel has been a major source of inspiration with regards to igniting new ideas and subject matter. I was delighted to be appointed by Authentic Adventures (Spring 2015) as one of their tutors for painting holidays and look forward to experiencing and sharing my passion with others. ● Email: sarahrgillard@btinternet.com ● Web: www.sarahgillard.com
Aleksandra Plucinska My name is Aleksandra Plucinska and I graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland. I create in oil, soft pastel and stained glass. For me the most important element in painting is the colours and their variety. Symbols and abstract shapes in my pictures represent strong human emotions such as love, passion, anger and loneliness. I also like to paint portraits, as the human face is full of different expressions, its own mystery and beauty. Sometimes I like to paint a still life or a landscape to show the magnificence of nature. My new project is called Drawing Zone - they are different themes for children and are ideal designs for greeting cards, which can also be framed as nice sweet pictures. The animal topics are divided to three groups: Farm, Forest, and Wild, which I’ve just completed. I draw each design and then tweak it on my computer. Recently, I’ve been drawing the Girls & Boys in the Seasons collection. Through my pictures I want to show people a different world and stimulate their imagination. I also hope to open their eyes to the beauty of colours and variety of subjects an artist can find fascinating. All my artwork can be seen on my blog: www.myartimpression.blogspot.co.uk. ● Email: aleksandraplucinska@yahoo.com ● Tel: 07553957889 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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PG asked a selection of card retailers for their ‘hot’ card sellers. Stephen James, owner of Indigo Stripes, Bookham, Surrey A medium stylish village gift & home accessories shop with a very loyal local customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Red Berry Hill
Metro
Lizzie Chancellor
General
Cute
BexyBoo
Scrabbley Scribbles
Humour
Quotable
Across The Board
Art
Ruth Jackson
Pencil Shavings Cards
Handmade
Pocket Typewriter
Tag Card
Ancillary
Bespoke Verse
General
Eye-catching designs with man appeal – bikes, yachts, gardening, football, cricket – and other themes too. A great range of cards with ‘a bit different’ designs. Stand out designs with a wooden ‘Scrabble’ like tile and some with glitter and sparkly bits - great fun! Our bestselling range - we have a complete spinner of funny and thoughtful quotes. People love to read them. Fabulous cards with simple designs created and enhanced with coloured pencil shavings - all ages love them. Minimalist cards with a stylish printed tag and brown string applied. Beautifully written poetry prints for all occasions that can be framed. They have brought tears to customers’ eyes.
Top: Cocktail time on a card from Lizzie Chancellor. Right: Wrapped up in brown string, a beautiful Pocket Typewriter Tag design.
Mike Beeston, owner of Ringwood Celebrations, Ringwood, Hampshire A small shop in a historic market town with a strong base of loyal customers. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Nigel Quiney
Pizzaz
Cute
Carlton (UKG)
Furry Tales
Humour
Hanson White (UKG)
Giggles
Photographic
HB Distribution
New Forest Cards
Contemporary Traditional
Carte Blanche IC&G
UP Close - 3D Cards Age Relations Cards
Ancillary
Qualatex
Balloons
These pretty, sparkly cards have done so well we've given them a dedicated unit. Adorable baby animals in black and white photographs, what more could you want? We love listening to our customers chuckle over the Giggles range - it’s very popular. We live in the gateway to the New Forest and we promote that with these beautiful, atmospheric cards - rightly one of our best sellers. A strong selling range; bright vibrant cards at a sensible price. We listened to our customers who asked for traditional age relations cards - now we double pocket and they fly out the shop! We are expanding to offer event displays and Above: A 3D adorable pug image on a Carte Blanche Close Up card. these balloons are the best on the market.
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Andrew Georgiou, owner of Treehouse, Crouch End, London A small shop in a city suburb with a loyal local customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Cute
1973
Humour
Hunky Dory Designs
Belle & Boo and Mabel Lucie Attwell General
Art
Madame Treacle
General
Contemporary
Schnucki Images
Lenticular Cards
Handmade
2 To Tango
Animal Pop-Ups
Whimsical and sweet with a nostalgic element to the designs. The designs are consistently good sellers and the publisher is a nice company to work with. Fairly new to us, but have gone down quite well. The designs have the essence of nostalgia but are cleverly fused with contemporary colours. To move the image you flick the card to and fro, and kids and adults love them alike. Lenticular images were around in the 70s, so these cards also have retro appeal. Pop-up cards of animals that are very skillfully constructed with paper engineering. Classy, sophisticated good quality wrap with beautiful patterns.
Top: Madame Treacle's designs capture a nostalgic essence. Right: A swooping success are 2 To Tango's Animal Pop-Ups.
Ancillary
Warner Textiles
Across The Board
Natalie Perry, owner of Thoughtful Wishes, Cardiff A small shop in a city suburb with a loyal locals customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Cute
BGC Studios
General
Humour
Paper House (GBCC)
Eric The Penguin
Paper House (GBCC)
Young At Heart
Art Contemporary
Jonny Javelin Sensations/ Xpress Yourself
Velvet Wallet Cards
Traditional
K2 Greetings
Wishing Tree
Children’s
Cherry Orchard
Popsicle
Ancillary
Quinnell Candles
Glass Candles
The price is very good, but also the publisher tends to design a lot of adorable bear characters, which are always popular. Eric’s draw is that he appeals to both men and women, and the designs are not only funny but also often topical. Cheeky humour for the over 50s you can get away with sending these playfully teasing cards to close family and friends. We just can’t keep these on the shelf! The designs are very elegant. Credit card size plastic cards with lovely sentiments set on a large C75 code greeting card. There are many relations and friendship titles. The beauty of the designs is that they can appeal to older teenagers, but can also be suitable for 40+ year-olds of both genders. Not only are there Grandson captions in the range, but Great Grandson titles too - ages 1-3. In pastel colours and foiled, the designs catch the eye. A company set up by an ex Welsh rugby player and his wife who make beautifully scented candles in glass containers with lovely wording on them for different occasions such as an anniversary, birthday, Easter, Mother’s Day, thank you etc.
Top: (Inside card): 'I thought you were driving'. A Young At Heart design from Paper House (GBCC). Right: K2 Greetings' Wishing Tree designs appeal to a wide age group.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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LYNN’S LINES
L
L
On the ball comments by retailer and publisher Lynn Tait of The Lynn Tait Gallery.
In The Club So everyone has been on the edge of their seats waiting to hear the nominations for the auspicious Henries awards which were announced a couple of days before I settled down to write this article. To say there has been a buzz of excitement on The Ladder Club Facebook page would be an understatement. I am not sure how many, but I would imagine about 80% of The Ladder Club Facebook group had submitted their designs into The Henries awards and many had presented boards for the Most Promising Young Designer Or Artist category. Year on year we have had some strong representation from The Ladder Club in The Henries finals and this year was no exception. In the 2015 finalists line-up there are a total of 12 different companies who at some point over the years have attended The Ladder Club’s seminars; it’s an incredible achievement. This is a reflection of the way new card publishers, some being Henries finalists in their very first year of business, are leading the industry in design and innovation. Some who have only been trading for a very short while are really making an impact on the market. Others - such as Paper Salad, who has just celebrated its tenth anniversary and just gets better and better in every way - are now major card companies, expanding year-on-year. Wrendale Designs, another Ladder Club ‘graduate’ must be the fastest growing card publisher in the country, now with an operation in America, large warehousing facilities, team of committed agents and a major licensing deal with Royal Worcester. The company, owned by the delightful Hannah and Jack Dale, produces all of its own stationery and tins to the highest of standards. Hannah and Jack make a formidable team. Now, just in the third year of trading and they have won a Henries award every year since they started the business. It’s 92
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
an incredibly inspirational company, headed by the very modest and delightful husband and wife duo. This is all a far cry from five years ago when sadly the greeting card industry was losing fresh talent, as new publishers just could not sustain their companies to keep going. Now, we have a strong bunch of new Ladder Club card publishers who are a force to be reckoned with, many of them forging names for themselves, going from strength to strength, and are hotly sought after by independent and multiple retailers as well as licensing companies. So what can we put this incredible turn of events down to? It is of course down to several things. One of the important pieces of the jigsaw is Progressive Greetings Live, the launchpad for newbies and also where those who grow meet multiple retailers and export customers. While most other trade fairs are now at last listening to the needs of new publishers, appreciating that they have special requests (ie one metre depth stands that are cost effective and placed in good locations in the halls), no one understands the needs of the new publisher more than the organisers of PG Live. This year there were 46 Ladder Club card companies exhibiting at the fair in the Springboard section. It’s an area of the show
Above: The Ladder Club Facebook page has recently been excited about The Henries awards finalists. Below: Wrendale Designs produces a whole array of lovely gift items featuring its Country Set images.
where visiting card retailers first stop before visiting the more established larger companies. New companies exhibiting at the fair, and who have attended at least one Ladder Club seminar, know each other both through the event as well as via the dedicated Facebook group. This means they don't feel isolated when they exhibit at PG Live for the first time, which was the case before the show came into being. All exhibitors at PG Live are given a half day advice session at its venue, the Business Design Centre, before the show, and for the first 12 weeks of the year I do a series of prompts to remind the Ladder Clubbies of what they need to be doing in preparation in the three months running up to the fair. There is a lot of hand-holding on the days building up to the fair and there is a massive amount of camaraderie in the Springboard areas, where the air of anticipation is evident. PG Live’s organisers are passionate about cards. They know about them and are totally supportive of new publishers, seeing them as the lifeblood of the industry and should be encouraged and respected. We have seen an incredible change in how greeting card newcomers’ trade stands
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LYNN’S LINES Left: Ian Bradley, agent for the Midlands, was a speaker at last year's Ladder Club. Below: A card from Perkins & Morley, past attendees of the Ladder Club. Below right: Trudi Marsh (fourth from the left), Lynn's right-hand woman, with her colleagues at her leaving party.
look - they are now very professional with the publishers putting their own stamp on their stands. At PG Live there was not one weak trade stand, they were all very different and reflected the innovative and original ranges that are out there now carving a place in this competitive but wonderfully friendly industry. Moving on to another reason that newbie Ladder Clubbies have done so well is how they have embraced the opportunities that digital printing affords to start up companies. The big advantage now to when The Ladder Calub was starting out 13 years ago is that publishers no longer have to commit to large print runs. This advancement has allowed companies to try out original designs without having to risk a lot of money. Consequently, all this new greeting card talent has been allowed to flourish by printing to order and not running into cashflow problems at the start. So what part has The Ladder Club played in all this and what are the plans for this year? Six years ago, we realised that new card companies that and had been in business for two or three years and were growing found themselves facing a different set of problems eg cashflow, exporting, warehousing/storage, dealing with retail multiples, large orders. So we decided to add a ‘day two seminar’ to The Ladder Club for those who need advice on subjects such as the aforementioned to enable their business to grow. Our aim is to change the topics each year on the second day seminar and to respond to topics that are relevant at that time. Last year, brokerage came through strongly as a hot topic and so we covered this during The Ladder Club seminar last autumn (and have it on the agenda for this year too). This year copying and licensing are among the new topics that we have been asked to include on the agenda. We also have many people who have asked for a ‘day three’ seminar, but through
having a changing programme to the ‘day two’ we can go someway to encourage card publishers to attend the second day again. Social media has also appeared on The Ladder Club agenda in recent years, and as it gets more sophisticated with Instagram etc, I am sure we will upgrade how we cover this at the seminar. We also have Ladder Club members contributing much more, by sharing their experiences in writing, which we are then able to give out to new card companies attending The Ladder Club. Kate Stenner, owner of Sun Pennies is the latest Ladder Clubbie to contribute in this way and is penning an article about her experiences of exhibiting at her first trade fair. However, without a shadow of doubt, what has been the major influence in more and more new publishers being successful is The Ladder Club Facebook group. This is a closed group, but anyone who has attended (or booked to attend) a The Ladder Club seminar is eligible to join. Here, members post their questions and anyone who has expertise on the subject contribute. It is a very active group where Ladder Clubbies share good practice, show their cards, air their worries, cite the names of suppliers they recommend and generally give support to each other. Every conceivable subject has been raised, and 95% of the time the subjects are commented on and solved - from trade fair queries to agents, delivery companies, terms and conditions, website advice, copying, carriage paid orders, preparation for trade fairs and which fairs to attend… it just rolls on and on daily. Best of all, it is a caring, mutual support group where members make life-long friends and encourage each other. This week with the announcements of The Henries finalists, although I know a lot of members were disappointed not to have featured on the sacred list, they were first in the queue to congratulate their fellow Ladder Club colleagues who were so thrilled to be going to the ball!
It is so wonderful to watch how these ‘newbies’ are moving up the ladder of our industry at a time when some respected publishers who I remember as the ‘new generation’ - such as Janie Wilson, White Cotton Cards, Rachel Ellen, Wendy JonesBlackett, Cinnamon Aitch and Belly Button Designs - are moving onto the next stage of their development and success, leaving room for the ‘next generation’. We (PG’s Jakki Brown and I) are still putting the finishing touches to the plans and agenda of this year’s Ladder Club seminars (November 17 and 18 at Westcliff on Sea), trying to keep some of the favourites in the ‘dolly mix’, while also introducing new elements to make sure it will tick the boxes for Clubbies new and old! One change which has a special place in my heart is that Trudi (Marsh), who has been my right-hand super woman for the last nine years, and has been incredibly supportive on the admin side of The Ladder Club, retired at the end of last month as she has a ‘new job’, to to look after her grandson. I am so grateful to Trudi for everything she has done for me and The Ladder Club and I will miss her a lot. Thankfully, as admin is not my strong point, the lovely Clare Davies (who looks after
all of the ticketing for The Retas, The Henries and also the database for PG Live) has agreed to continue Trudi’s sterling work on the bookings front. If you have expressed interest in one or both of The Ladder Club seminar days please forward your details to Clare Davies at clare@createvents.co.uk and your place will be reserved and you will hear from Clare shortly after. I am so looking forward to this year’s Ladder Club seminars – and to welcoming new talent into this very special industry. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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PRODUCT DIRECTORY
PO BO BOX OX 2161 Boulevard The Boule vard Watford W atford WD18 1BJ TTel: el: 01923 200633 FFax: ax: 01923 200636 info@cardmix.co.uk inf o@cardmix.co.uk www.cardmix.co.uk www.cardmix.co.uk CARDMIX - a cocktail cocktail of fun, CARDMIX fashionable and humorous humorous fashionable cards, covering Everyday, car ds,, co vering Ev eryday, Spring ing Occasions,, Relations,, Spr Seasons and Christmas. Christmas.
DADDY Method of Sale: Direct to Retail Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd ® Tel: +44(0)1243 792600
www.cathtatecards.com
cbg.co.uk
@CarteBlancheGrp
Prizes for Best Window Display! Go to
www.gca.cards
Witty, gritty, switched on humour. Cards and gifts with a real difference. 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
East Street, Saffron Walden Essex, CB10 1LR Tel: 01799 513010 Fax: 01799 513101 Email: info@caspari.co.uk www.CaspariOnline.com
Colneis Marketing York House, 2-4 York Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 7QQ T: 01394 271668 F: 01394 275114 E: colneiscards@btconnect.com
Products: Everyday cards - birthday, blank & occasions, charity Christmas cards, gift wrap, bags, tissue, ribbon, hankies, napkins, paper plate, candles, placemats, melamine trays, crackers, invitations, placecards, notecards,diaries, calendars, address books, journals, advent calendars, bridge gifts and jigsaws. Licenses: Annie Tempest - Tottering by Gently, Kym Bowles - Lollysticks, RHS, Matthew Rice, National Gallery, Alzheimer's Society, Barnardo's, Macmillan Cancer Support. Method of Sale: Direct to Retail
One of the UK’ UK’ss leading suppliers of Gr Greeting eeting Car Cards ds sinc since e 199 1995 5
Online Shop www.colneisgreetingcards.com
Products: Products: High quality greeting greeting cards cards with superb finishes. All major and minor titles, covering covering traditional traditional to to the latest latest in innovative innovative design, both Everyday Everyday and Seasonal. Brands: Petals, Brands: Always Always & Forever, Forever, P etals, Lazy Days, Days, Letters Letters from from the Heart, Precious Thoughts, Precious Times, Times, Street Street Kidz, T houghts, ‘Have ‘Have a Larff’ Larff ’ and Not So Innocent! Innocent! Direct to to retail. retail. Method of Sale: Direct Designers welcome, welcome, c contact ontact beverley@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk beverley@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk
Cherry Orchard Orchard Publishing LLP Unit 10 Duddage Business Business Park Park Br Brockeridge ockeridge Rd Rd T Twyning wyning Tewkesbury Tewkesbury GL20 6BY 6BY t0 01684 1684 29 295500 5500 e info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk www. www. cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk
Supplier
Sendingg Smiles across the h miles il
Colour House Graphics
York House, 2-4 York Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk IP11 7QQ T: 01394 271668 F: 01394 275114 E: colourhousegraphics@hotmail.com Online Shop www.colourhousegraphics.co.uk
To get involved this September go to
www.gca.cards www.gca.cards
Get involved!
www.gca.cards PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Market leaders in Humour, Art, Photographic, Occasions and Relations cards offering a full planning service with merchandising and retail development opportunities.
From the Flicker Wing Fairy and Flicker Wing Angel range.
Glick, Unit 1 Allenby House, European Industrial Park, Knowles Lane, Bradford BD4 9AB Tel: 01274 655980 email: sales@glick.co.uk www.glick.co.uk
Offering a wide variety of lovingly hand finished greetings cards each with their own additional flick out wings, unique to this range.
Contact Sue Coleman on
(01226) 728616 www.flickerwings.com Email: flickerwings@mail.com
DIPINGO DESIGN Prizes for Best Window Display! Go to
www.gca.cards
www.greatbritishcards.co.uk WATERWELLS DRIVE, GLOUCESTER GL2 2PH UK TEL: 01452 888999
Bespoke design service for retail products
The T he UK No. No. 1 in Licensed Lic ensed Greetings Greetings etings Ov err 30 lic enses nses including: including Over licenses Disney, D Disne y, Peppa Peppa Pig Pig, He Kitt Hello Kitty y, Mr Me n Kitty, Men Birds and A and Angry Bir dss t: +44 + (0)1264 388400 e: enquiries@gemma-international.co.uk co.uk enquiries@gemma-interna national. ti w: gemma-int gemma-international.co.uk ernational. ona co.uk
CARDS CARDS • WRAP • PARTY PARTY • GIFTS GIFTS
www.dipingodesign.co.uk
TM
GRASS ROOTS
INTERNATIONAL
G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL 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.
BRANDS “Write from the Heart” brand includes; Corsage, Sentiments, Champagne, Celebrations and Jelly Beans.
M ETHOD OF SALE Direct to Retail
G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL
Beautiful greeting cards from contemporary British artwork
Units 4 - 4A Valentines Buildin g Ra cec our se Bus in ess Par k Aintr ee, Liver poo l, L9 5 AL Tel: 0151 52 3 9600 Fax : 015 1 523 494 9 e-m ail: s ales@ writefr om th ehear t.co.uk
from the
www.dryredpress.com
96
T +44 (0) 1273 241210
Prizes for Best Window Display! Go to
E info@dryredpress.com
www.gca.cards
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Eye catching, luxurious Gift Wraps, Gift Tags, Gift Bags, Roll Wrap, Tissue Papers & Ribbons for all occasions
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CHARITY GREETING CARDS One of the UK’s leading publishers of Charity Greeting Cards. Impress offers a wide collection of images, including fine art, graphic, photographic and cute. We also offer a bespoke design service for bulk orders and/or mail order fulfilment. Impress Publishing Appledown House Barton Business Park New Dover Road Canterbury, Kent CT1 3TE Tel: 01227 811 611 Fax: 01227 811 618 email: info@impresspublishing.co.uk
LING DESIGN The UK’s leading privately owned publisher of Greetings Cards and Stationery. ...The home for and
Get Ready! Download free POS at
www.gca.cards
...and the UK home for
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. Ling Design Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 Fax: 01892 838676 Email: enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk Website: www.lingdesign.co.uk
Greetings cards designed to make people smile. We have a card for every occasion plus a few extra ones we made up. Contact: Sarah Britton on 07833 089 098 or email info@lovefromlemonade.co.uk
Greetings cards designed to make people smile. We have a card for every occasion plus a few extra ones we made up. Contact: Sarah Britton on 07833 089 098 or email info@lovefromlemonade.co.uk
150mm x 150mm and packed in 6s
Made in the UK
www.lovefromlemonade.co.uk
150mm x 150mm and packed in 6s
Made in the UK
www.lovefromlemonade.co.uk
environmentally friendly contemporary & vibrant paper products. greeting cards, notebooks paper pens, boxed notes
..Gorgeous, fun & cheeky Greeting Cards, Keyrings, Mirrors, Chocolates, Tattoos, Badges, Mugs, Mints, Luxury Soap & Smashing Stationery!
0844 586 7477 sales@juicylucydesigns.com
60 years
Yo our N Number b O One S Supplier li off Numerals, Name, Relation & Age Labels for Greetings Cards. Huge selection with immediate deliveryy. Buy direct or from your wholesalerr.
t. 01243 780501 e. info@jonesy.ca
jonesy.ca agents wanted
Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon Business Park, Oxfordshire Abingdon, Oxfor dshire OX1 5JN T el e 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 Tel www.listanpublications.co.uk www .listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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originalposter.com
All our cards are supplied on consignment, so you only pay for what you sell. We also supply card fixtures and spinners free-on-loan. We replace slow sellers and damaged stock free of charge. We merchandise regularly, so you don’t have to. THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!
01932 267 300
Cards made with love...
Three great publishers, all under one roof, contemporary, graphic, humour, cute and photographic ranges with a fantastic range of occasions and relations cards. Key brands: V&A, Portobello, Spirit, Daisy Patch, Sugar Pips, Marzipan Toybox, Born to Stitch, Idols, Life, Sweet Tooth, Brights. Method of sale: Direct to retail, Export and Licensing. Riverside House, Centurion Way, Riverside Business Park, Nottingham NG2 1RW Tel: 0115 986 0115 Fax: 0115 986 0116 Email: sales@paperrose.co.uk Web: www.paperrose.co.uk www.artgroupcards.co.uk
Products An exciting and innovative range of quality Birthday, relations, special occasions, art and humorous greeting cards. Full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons merchandise. Comprehensive collection of handmade cards. Pizazz gifts.
Brand Names Pizazz, Pizazz Gallery, Say the Word, Carousel, Meadow Sweet, R&R for Men, What a Picture!
To appear in the
Cloudesley House • Shire Hill Saffron Walden • CB11 3FB T: 01799 520200 F: 01799 520100 www.nigelquiney.com
Product Directory please contact Warren Lomax on 020 7700 6740 98
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Get involved!
www.gca.cards
paperlink... pap erlink... the home of fabulous fabulous cards!
356 56 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD T 020 7582 8244 info@paperlink.co.uk @paperlink.co.uk www.paperlink.co.uk
Suppliers of humorous & contemporary Birthday, Christmas, Spring Seasons, Occasions & Relations cards Brands include: Bottomline, Bestie, Wrinklies, Hat Trick, Route 69, Bangers & Flash, Humdingers, Lacie, Sassy, Stay Wonky, Patisserie, Tinklers, Made With Love, and many many more! Method of Sale: Direct Paperlinkcards Paperlinkcards @paperlinkcards @ paperlinkcards
Sendingg Smiles across the h miles il To get involved this September go to
www.gca.cards www.gca.cards
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TM
The Playful Indian cards are a unique fusion of the east and west. Simple and quirky, they have made many people smile...so what are you waiting forr, put a smile on someone’s face today!
holy y cow! it s it’s your birthd hda ay y
Greeting Cards that are unique & special with creative wit. Looking for top-notch agents to join our expanding team.
rosierobins.com 01992 536461
Uk publisher of Greetings Cards with an extensive range of quality Birthday, Relations, Occasions and Seasonal product... available from
LING DESIGN
Mr Figgis, when we say parents invited, we usually mean to sit and watch!
Our Brands: The Crazy Side of Life, Laughter with Animals, Sporting Fun The Funny Side of Life, Twiddly Winks.
Dad - I thought you said I could be the, one to tell him you re out
RICHARD SELLMER VERLAG Freepost RRZH-KLSL-HYBY Richard Sellmer Verlag KG Stourbridge Tel/Fax: 01384877755 Email: uksales@sellmer-verlag.de Products: Richard Sellmer Verlag is producing Advent Calendars for more than 60 years.
Sensations International Ltd Unit 6, Quad Road,East Lane Business Park,East lane, Wembley,MIDDLESEX HA9 7NE Tel. 0208 3854470 Fax: 0208 385 4471 Email: sales@sensationsinternational.com PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons. BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics. METHOD OF SALE: Direct to retail.
Me th od of sa le : Direct to Retail 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 Fax: 01892 838676 Email: enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk Website: www.lingdesign.co.uk
Design-led Stationery, Gifts, Calendars, Diaries and Cards Brands Laura Ashley, Roald Dahl, Lily & Val, Vintage Ladybird, Caroline Gardner, Monsoon, Born to Shop, Flash Gordon, Boofle and many more. Our In-house design studio and established supply chain enables us to offer bespoke services. tel: +44 (0) 1225 329494 email: sales@porticodesigns.com website: www.porticodesigns.com
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Sendingg Smiles across the h miles il To get involved this September go to
www.gca.cards www.gca.cards
www.tomcatcards.co.uk w: www.tomcatcards.co.uk e: tomcat@tomcatcards.co.uk t: 01243 837300
The UK’s leading publishers of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards. Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available. Talking Pictures Cards 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE
Tel: 0845 450 1815 Fax: 0845 450 1816 Email: enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk Website: www.talking-pictures.co.uk
Products:
Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Social Stationery, Gift Bags, Keepsakes, Partyware.
DIRECT TO RETAIL & EXPORT
Method of sale:
Wholesale Distributors
Simon Elvin Limited Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com
To appear in the Product Directories
Sendingg Smiles across the h miles il
TEL: 01480 435562 FAX: 01480 450599
To get involved this September go to
www.tracksltd.com
www.gca.cards www.gca.cards
UNIT 2, 12 BLACKSTONE RD, STUKELEY MEADOWS IND EST, HUNTINGDON, CAMBS, PE29 6EF
100
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
simply contact Warren Lomax on: 020 7700 6740 or email on warren@maxpublishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud on: 07957 212 062 or email on tarnaud@btinternet.com
01923 200600 | www.woodmansterne.co.uk
Designer Collection, Feelings, Impressions, Inspirations, In Touch, Isabel’s Garden, Paper Wishes, Planet Happy.
Top-notch British Greeting Cards for Thoughts that Count
Brands:
101_Directory of Wholesalers_v8_whole sale dirSeptember 2004 17/08/2015 12:35 Page 101
Directory of wholesalers Directory of wholesalers DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALERS ●
LONDON & THE SOUTH
MERSEYSIDE
WALES
Merseyside Greeting Cards Ltd
Merseyside’s Largest Greeting Card Distributor Due to our massive buyer power, we are able to offer you the best prices and also take a pride in our friendly service.
SCOTLAND
DORSET
Clapperton Agencies 30 McDonald Place Edinburgh EH7 4NH Tel: 01315 579009
Sunrise Business Park Higher Shaftsbury Road Blandford, Dorset DT11 8ST Tel: 01258 452125 Fax: 01258 486109
Greeting cards * Gift ranges * Pocket money toys * Balloons * Badges * Banners * Soft toys * Stationery * Collectables , including dolls * Photo frames Always something different Check us out now!!! Mon-Fri 9.30 to 5.30 Sunday 10 to 1 Late night Thursday till 8pm Freephone 0800 0279072770 Fax: 0151 207 1564
NATIONWIDE
Unit 7 & 8 Devon Street, Liverpool, L3 8HA
R J’s Greeting Cards Ltd
HERTS & LONDON
Greeting Cards from 5p Contact R J Walkden on 0753- 9679-700
SUMAN BROS
Stationery and greeting card wholesaler
Crown House Otterspool Way Watford WD25 8HL
magnus RUPERT
T: 01923 200 900 F: 01923 200 909 Great deals Great location Plentiful parking Just off the M1 Junction 5
WEST MIDLANDS
TRADING
LONDON’S NO 1 GREETING CARDS STATIONERY PARTY AND BALLOON CASH & CARRY
Trading Hours Our Opening Hours are: MON, TUES,WED & FRI 9.00 - 5.30pm THURSDAY 9.00 - 8.30pm SAT CLOSED SUN 10.00 - 4.00pm UNIT 4, THE ARGENT CENTRE, SILVERDALE ROAD, HAYES, MIDDLESEX, UB3 3BS TEL: 020 8573 2975 / 1768 FAX: 020 8561 2349 Email: info@abbeycards.com
As of Monday 27th July our new address will be: Crown House Otterspool Way Watford WD25 8HL
www.rupertmagnus.co.uk
NORTH WEST
C A P S Card & Party Store Ltd
Mon/Wed/Fri: 8.00 - 5.00 Tues/Thurs: 8.00 - 8.30 Sat: 8.00 - 12.00 Sun: 8.00 - 2.00
The North West s Largest Supplier to the Independent Specialist Card & Gift Shop
Massive range of Cards, Partyware, Gifts, Gift Bags, Gift Boxes & Gift Dressings
574 Manchester Road, Bury, BL9 9SW
0161 796 7353
Order online at www.card-party.co.uk
To appear in the Wholesale Directory simply call WarrenLomax on 020 77006740 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 Y YOUR OUR
ENVELOPES
FOR FOR ALL A LL Y YOUR OU R E ENVELOPE N V ELOPE N NEEDS! EEDS! Largest L argest rrange ange of iin-stock n- stock ccolours olours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED
100% Recycled Paper A vailable v Available
PAPER
Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags
VIP
TREATMENT TREA ATMENT T
Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request
ORDER ON LINE AT: AT: www.regentenvelopes.com www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com sales@regentenvelopes.com
HIGH CLARITY BAGS FOR GREETING CARDS, CALENDARS AND ARTWORK ŏ ŏđŏ ŏ ŏ ŏ ŏ ŏ FOIL BLOCKING EXTENSIVE RANGE OF STOCK SIZES AND BESPOKE MANUFACTURE WRAPPING SERVICE AUTOMA ATED T WRA PPING SER VICE NEW AUTOMATED
CALL US TODAY
01228 560526 www.fulcrumfilms.co.uk
Quality Bespoke Envelopes! From 5,000 quantity to many millions we can produce excellent quality envelopes for you. Plain, printed, coloured & textured finish. 100% recycled & FSC available.
We’ve We’ve been producing bags of high clarity and high quality for over 30 years. 01274 220 220 www w.wrapid.co.uk www.wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Please call us on 0843 5066684 with your enquiry or visit our website
www.ukenvelopecentre.co.uk We will be delighted to help!
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FLITTERING
DISPLAY
FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS
UNIVERSAL
ABL Foil Ltd
SHOP EQUIPMENT GREETING CARD DISPLAYS
â&#x20AC;˘ Manufacturers of
Unit 1, Industrial Estate East Hanningfield Chelmsford Essex, CM3 8AB
quality Display Units for over 25 years
â&#x20AC;˘ PVC Interlocking Tiers â&#x20AC;˘ High Impact 2mm
Contact DAVID JIGGINS Tel: 01245 400104 Email: david@abl-ltd.co.uk
Edging
â&#x20AC;˘ Vast range of colours
PRINTERS
available
â&#x20AC;˘ From one unit through to full shop reďŹ ts
INNOVATIVE DISPLAYS TO MEET YOUR NEEDS www.universalshopequipment.co.uk Tel: 0151 546 4525 (Showroom) EXPORT
specialist greeting card printer We print using the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst Carbon Neutral Heidelberg press and offer a wide range of specialist ďŹ nishes all in-house, including: Flittering, Flittering, Foiling, Foiling, UV Varnishing, Varnishing, Embos Embossing, sing, Debos Debossing, sing, Die cutting, T Tippin ippin Inserting, A Automated utomated individual c cello ello bagging, A Automated utomated labelling and wr wrapping apping in units. Full packing and distribution services.
Waterwells Drive Waterwells Business Park Quedgeley Gloucester GL2 2AA T 01452 887000 E sales@alphacolour.com W alphacolour r.c . om By buying prroduc o ts with the FSC label you o arre supporting the grro owth of re esponsible forest management worldwide.
Pro roduct ct pririnte ted on a Carbon Neutra ral Press www.heidelberg rg.co com/CO2 . 210504
TT T--C COC-002429
BMT-PEFC-0401
License No.155071
Š 1996 FSC A.C.
print green with us
O F F S E T PRODUCTIONS
Op
Printing Greeting Cards for over 30 years EXCESS STOCK
â&#x20AC;˘ Litho printing â&#x20AC;˘ Digital printing â&#x20AC;˘ Embossing â&#x20AC;˘ Die-cutting â&#x20AC;˘ Flittering â&#x20AC;˘ Foiling
We specialise in purchasing excess inventory in GREETING CARDS, GIFT-WRAP and allied products. Small or large quantities considered.
â&#x20AC;˘ Folding â&#x20AC;˘ Packing â&#x20AC;˘ ISO 9001 & 14001
All restrictions honoured. For an immediate and confidential response please send samples and information to:
N.E WHOLESALE 92 Station Road, Willingham, Cambridge, CB24 5HG T: 01954 260728 E: cardworkstrading@btconnect.com
PRODUCTIONS
t 01622 710 759
www.offsetproductions.co.uk
188 Forstal Road, Aylesford, Kent ME20 7DB
!"
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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(London) The Capitals only Greetings card printer
at PJ Print we pride ourselves on great customer care,
Specialist UK and Global manufacturer for the greeting card industry
and the greeting cards we make
To discuss how we could work with you contact Simon King
are pretty smart too. For Award winning Print look no further than
PJ - PRINT
Tel: 0115 928 7766 Email: sales@sherwoodgroupuk.com
www.sherwoodgroupuk.com
E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk The Print Works Colville Road, Acton London W3 8BL tel 020 8993 5160 fax 020 8992 8421 www.pj-print.co.uk
Hadden Court, Glaisdale Parkway, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottingham, NG8 4GP
The home of greeting cards t ependen ding ind a le r ’s e r K u The U n ufa c t card ma greeting Y j_ed
Do you find you need to quickly top up your popular stock lines, or would like to trial a few designs before committing to longer runs? Then the Windles Group FlexiSheet is perfect for you. With a turnaround time of just 5 days and 1,000 cards at litho rates, the Windles Group once again delivers useful solutions to you. In order to support our other production methods, we are also now offering the FlexiSheet with our integrated ColdFoil, allowing you to develop a highly creative range of greetings cards.
hZ fheZk [j_d] YW ki ed ]h[ Y \e b _W Y [i If[ i[ i[hl_Y \ _d#^ek e [ ] d W h <kbb [Z ]kWhWdj[ GkWb_jo [i Y h_ f j_j_l[ 9ecf[ h[b_WXb[ Z d W _edWb Fhe\[ii Wbb [h jee ic Y j_ed$ De ehZ ij fheZk h W Z < ;W d W A K 8ej^ services, ur unique 1150 ation on o rm 14 fo in 01 250 For more s team on le sa e th ntact please co eys.co.uk sales@loxl or email:
PEFC / 16-33-794
Benb[oi" A_bd Ijh[[j" I^[\Å[bZ I. &OI
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The Specialist Greetings Card Printer
Digital Di it l P Print i tS Specialist i li t for the greeting card industry
Litho Print
What we offer:
Digital Print Foiling
• Greeting cards • Artworking and design • Short-run print
Embossing
• Pick, pack and distribution
Die-cutting Flittering Packing Distribution
• Promotional items • Bespoke gifts • Marketing literature
Tel: 01274 531828 Email: chriss@herbertwalkers.co.uk
• Exhibition graphics • Stationery • Brochures • and more...
www.herbertwalkers.co.uk
TM
Packaging
BRC
07974 133735 paul.watson@sherwoodgroupuk.com
Certificated
HW
Herbert Walkers Ltd The one stop shop for publishers large and small
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
WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION
The Professional and Caring Approach..
... to 3rd Party Warehouse, Distribution and Hand Finishing needs. With over 25 years experience in the Greeting Card and Gift Industry, we specialise in providing a very fast yet efficient and friendly service to all of our customers. Our close links to the port of Felixstowe allowing excellent access for both UK and overseas business.
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.
We would be happy to talk to you and provide further information please contact either: James Smithies on 01449 778360 e: james@setinhand.com Tracy Davies on 01449 778363 e: tracy@setinhand.com Please visit our website at www.setinhand.com for further information.
Your Success Is Our Success PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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APPOINTMENTS
LB Warehousing (Women in Transport & Logistics Finalist)
S AME DAY order turnaround A CCURATE fulfilment and same day turn round V ALUE ADDED only as you sell the product E XCLUSIVELY Greeting Cards D EDICATED Account Managers With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of your TEAM bringing much more than fulfilment. Our costing structure is SIMPLE and TRANSPARENT. We carry out ALL aspects of hand finishing and assembly and provide whatever ADDITIONAL services YOU need Our select team of outworkers carefully hand wrap any size or format of cards urgently, OVERNIGHT! We CARE about your product as much as you do. Attention to detail, QC Issues and IT supported by a comprehensive paper trail for all stock movements are our hallmarks. Our CAN DO approach means that WE solve your problems. Outsourcing your warehousing operation releases your time to CREATE/MARKET/SELL/ MANAGE/GROW THE BUSINESS YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS, please visit our web site and see what OUR customers say, then to find out more call Lynda Raymond and perhaps we can arrange to meet and discuss your needs I am sure that we can help. LB Warehousing, Units 1, 2 &3 Wayside Warehouses, Toseland, Near St. Neots, Cambridgeshire. PE19 6RX Tel 01480 880800 Fax 01480880900 Mobile 07889 399341 lynda@lb-warehousing.co.uk
WIRE SPINNERS Tel: 01929 550085 Email: sales@westminsterwire.com Web: www.westminsterwire.com
Home of the Wire Spinner Stand
The Wire Spinner is proven to be the most cost effective method to display and enhance products. We also offer sheet metal, wood, acrylic and cardboard solutions or a combination of materials. To appear in Progressive Greetings simply call Warren Lomax on: 0207 700 6740 or alternatively email him on warren@max-publishing.co.uk 106
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
PRODUCT MANAGER As one of the foremost specialist card publishers in the UK, we are known for our breadth of product styles and ongoing innovation in new design. $V SDUW RI D SODQQHG SURJUDPPH IRU ERWK JURZLQJ DQG UHĹľQLQJ RXU product portfolio, we are seeking a Product Manager to work with our Commercial, Sales and Creative teams, advising on new product development within existing brands. This will be based on sales analysis, retailer interaction, market trends and plan requirements. Candidates should have a minimum of three years experience in a retailing or publishing environment and be able to demonstrate a SURYHQ DELOLW\ WR HQHUJLVH DQG LQĹśXHQFH D SURGXFW RIIHU ZKLFK GHOLYHUV top line sales growth on a consistent basis. They will be an excellent communicator, well organised, and have a sharp appreciation of the importance of deadlines, plus be able to prove an impressive level of use in standard PC applications including Word and Excel. This is a new role and represents a fantastic career opportunity for an individual who is determined to make a difference. As a key manager within The Great British Card Company, this position FRPHV ZLWK DQ H[FHOOHQW VDODU\ DQG EHQHĹľWV SDFNDJH DQG ZLOO EH EDVHG DW RXU +HDG 2IĹľFH RQ WKH RXWVNLUWV RI *ORXFHVWHU Please apply with fully detail CV, including current salary to: Jan Tredgett (ref PM), The Great British Card Company, Waterwells Drive, Gloucester GL2 2PH or e-mail jan.tredgett@greatbritishcards.co.uk
Autumn/Winter
Olympia London 13–15 September 2015
THE UK’S LEADING DESIGN-LED GIFT & FASHION ACCESSORIES EVENT
1973 Ltd / Bluebell 33 Ltd / Coles Pen Company / Dean Morris Cards / Nancy & Betty Studio / Noi Publishing / Ohh Deer / POLITE COMPANY / Publishers Group UK / Sloane Stationery / Stone Marketing Limited / YCUK / Phaidon /
GIFT / FASHION / CHILDREN’S / STATIONERY & GREETINGS / WELLBEING
FOLLOW US @topdrawerlondon Register for your complimentary ticket
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