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Index
Uniquely an in-house & pioneering manufacturer of Christmas crackers Grow our house brands Tom Smith™, Giftmaker ®, Copywrite, Kids Create™ & BLOK Collection™ Stationery Flexible ‘bespoke’ approach & ‘can-do’ attitude
What We Do 01 Design Group Plc 02 Product Brands 03 Design Studios 04 Products - Celebrations Wrap & Accessories 06 Gift Bags 08 Not For Sale Consumables 09 Paper Twist Handle Bags 10 Polaris Plastics 11 Cards 12 Crackers 14 Partyware 16 Products - Stationery & Creative Play Stationery 18 Creative Play 20 Licensed Products 22 Products - Gifting Frames, Calendars, Albums & Diaries 24 Composite Gifting 26 Santa Shop & Decorations 28 Manufacturing 30 Operations 32 Design Group China 34 Design Group Asia 35 Environment 36 Customers 37
Focused & flexible trading model in both branded & own label products Low cost manufacturing & sourcing Compliant with demanding standards of the world’s leading retailers / distributors Global product categories - supported by award winning service Fully integrated supply chain in the UK & Far East Europe’s largest designer & producer of wrapping paper Long term customer relationships Supply to all channels across greetings, stationery & gifting categories Strong licensed portfolio featuring both the hottest & most enduring properties Specialised creative studios designing innovative & trend-led products Dedicated commercial team specialising in understanding the consumers’ needs Expert leaders in market & category knowledge
What We Do
What We Do
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Design Group UK is part of Design Group Plc
Design Group UK Product Brands
Design Group Plc are proud to serve the best retailers around the globe with a complete end-to-end service from design to distribution.
Our brands are built on the wealth of design knowledge & experience from our commercial & creative teams, covering a variety of contemporary & traditional trends & designs that will appeal to a wide range of consumer tastes across all of our categories.
We transform paper & a whole lot more into products that help celebrate life’s special occasions.
Last year we sold:
Over
70 MILLION gift bags
Nearly
Our brands are exported worldwide
40 MILLION
from the UK to Europe, USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia & the Far East.
colouring & writing
Tom Smith™ is the premium house
instruments
brand of Design Group UK & holds
Almost
1 BILLION
the Royal Warrant for the supply of Christmas crackers & wrapping paper to
metres of gift wrap
Almost
1 BILLION
100 MILLION
the Royal Household.
greetings cards
stickers
www.thedesigngroup.com
Product Brands
IG Design Group PLC
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Design Studios
Design Studios
Our Design Studios Our 3 studios are creative hubs of trend, product & retail knowledge reflected in the diverse design capability of the team of 75. In house expertise in working with surface patterns, illustrations, packaging design, photography, 3D visualisation & trend research Dedicated design teams focused on market & product channels with a breadth of commercial & creative expertise
Newport Pagnell Wales
Stapleford
Design & innovation plays an integral part within our business model & strategy We take pride in creating & presenting effective product & packaging that consumers want Intranet design sharing system across the group’s global studios - an asset exceeding over 300,000 designs Annual collaboration with local school of art & design to ensure we support local talent Combined experience & graduate origination to ensure designs are both innovative & bespoke Capability to apply & translate trends into bespoke creative direction for customers In house manufacturing relationships & knowledge ensures designs are engineered to the best possible quality, in line with customer expectations In house sampling teams create mock-ups of all designs using factory sourced components to best reflect manufacture during customer selections Visually impactful showrooms showcasing all product categories alongside trend presentations
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Wrap & Accessories
Wrap & Accessories
Gift Wrap Leading UK gift wrap in-house manufacturer Dedicated commercial & product team specialising in driving innovation to the market Bespoke, licensed & in-house branded product solutions offered Royal Warrant held for Tom Smith™ branded roll wrap, supplied to the royal household Product development & innovation using special inks & UV finishes Water based inks & FSC certified paper Special finishes in-register cold foil, holographic & UV 2 sided printing creating reversible wrap products Substrate diversity - paper, metallised & laminated Multipack & composite pack capabilities
420 MILLION METRES MANUFACTURED ANNUALLY IN THE UK
Accessories Accessories ranges to complete the gift packaging solution. Wide variety of substrates & finishes Metallic & holographic curling ribbon & cops Shredded foil & tissue papers for filling gift bags & lining gift hampers Combination packs to be used across every day & Christmas A wide selection of tissues, boxes, tins & tags
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Gift Bags
Consumables
Exclusively for premium High Street brands Automated & handmade bag capacity at our Design Group Huizhou, China Innovative new product development across finishes & attachments Bespoke design Preferred supply chain partner
Gift Bags Automated & handmade bag capacity at Design Group Huizhou, China Innovative new product development across finishes & adornments Bespoke - licensed & in-house Tom Smith™ & Giftmaker Ž brands Specified & constructed to a strong weight tolerance whilst remaining cost effective Turnkey range - coordinated category solutions (with wrap & tags)
www.thedesigngroup.com
Not for Resale
Not For Sale
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Polaris Plastics
Paper Twist Handle
Polaris Plastics Specialist in refuse sacks, bags & bin liners Leading supplier of film products to the janitorial, catering & retail markets Maintained stock holding in warehouse Domestic supply with an average three day delivery across the UK & Northern Ireland Retail Collateral [Not For Resale] Bags to the food services channel
Paper Twist Handle Bags New for 2017 - Design Group UK in-house manufactured bags Retail Collateral - ‘Not for re-sale’ consumer bags Gift bags allowing co-ordinated designs with gift wrap Printed in-house on high speed presses & converted on NEW bag making machine Finishes can be applied in house including holographic, UV & cold foil
www.polarisplastics.co.uk
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Established UK Christmas & every day card publisher
Cards
Cards
Cards Bespoke counter card solutions for UK leading high street retailers Highly versatile ranges covering every angle of the market across all traditions, captions & trends In depth market & trend research collated & shared to inform our customers In house manufacture of single greeting cards at Design Group Huizhou, China UK & European partners also utilised for flexibility & speed to market on single greeting cards Market leading expertise in finishes & substrates Intricate handmade cards developed & supplied to many retailers & for our own premium Tom Smith™ brand Supply across both domestic & FOB orders Strategic in-store merchandising to partner customers Dedicated single card commercial team providing category management solutions with direct to store delivery & in-store merchandising
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Leading global in-house cracker manufacturer Bespoke design & product innovation Premium own-brand Tom Smith™ range from entry level to high-end deluxe designs all with a Royal Warrant Supply for both domestic & FOB orders Tailoring designs & formats to suit the current market All year round offering, across Easter, Halloween, Party & Christmas crackers Innovative substrate & finish capabilities Extensive offering of coordinated cracker gifts & cracker adornments Licensed crackers - game crackers & hot licenses The Tom Smith™ Royal Warrant permits exclusive design & supply to the Royal OVER
70 MILLION CRACKERS
Household for Her Majesty the Queen’s Christmas crackers
MADE ANNUALLY
TomSmithCrackers tomsmith1847 tomsmith1847 tomsmith1847 www.tomsmith-crackers.com
Crackers
Crackers
Crackers
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Our partyware ranges & party favours are all designed in house by our talented studio designers, covering a range of trends & genres to suit all party occasions.
Our comprehensive partyware range includes designs Pirates, Princess, Super heroes & Woodland themes, with product offers in: Tableware: plates, cups, napkins & table covers Party favours: party bags to fill with pencils, erasers, bubbles, balloons & bracelet sets Party invites & thank you cards in each of our ranges
Our adult partyware designs are spots & cherry blossom. Products include: Tableware: plates, cups, napkins, banners, table scatters, straws, cupcake cases, sweet cone bags, ice cream tubs & cake boxes Decorations: lantern balls, hanging fans, puff balls
www.thedesigngroup.com
Partyware
Partyware
Partyware
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PENS & PENCILS MADE ANNUALLY
Stationer y Stationery
Stationery
40 MILLION
350+ Stationery SKUs offered.
Core Stationery Range A comprehensive & highly commercial offering of stationery products, featuring all popular formats & categories for home, school & office.
Fashion Range Our constantly refreshed & on-trend stationery collections include coordinated designs & innovative finishes.
BLOK Collection ™ A vibrant collection of bold, solid colours including novelty pens & accessories as well as ‘soft to touch’ materials.
Rascals & Novelty Collection A fun set of colourful & character products for the young at heart.
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Creative Play A strong range of over 150 core products, including activity, colouring, paints, dough, craft, bricks, stickers, & paper products. Colouring books including novelty & jumbo styles Educational product range including popular wipe clean products to practise spelling, writing, maths & times tables Memory learning games, reward charts & ‘My first puzzles’ Pre-school & early school years Stickers covering all styles, 3D, scented, glow in the dark, felt & many more Create & build offers multicoloured brick building fun for all year round activity New Air Dry Clay products are a fun way to make & keep your favourite characters
www.thedesigngroup.com
Creative Play
Creative Play
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License
License
Licensed Stationery & Creative Play Working closely with many of the world’s leading licensors, our highly experienced team create exciting, innovative designs enjoyed by children & adults of all ages. We target each range specific to our customers’ needs across a broad portfolio of products including gift packaging, creative play, stickers, stationery & gifting. This capability offers a unique & unrivalled position within the market place enabling us to provide a single supply cross-category solution.
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Frames, Albums, Diaries & Calendars
Frames, Calendars, Albums & Diaries
Frames, Calendars, Albums & Diaries
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Calendars Our calendar range includes a selection of designs & sizes to suit all. We also offer a comprehensive range of commercial calendars, suitable for business & office needs. Our square calendar range includes a collection of designs offered with a free coordinating diary.
Frames & Albums We provide a comprehensive range of on-trend albums & frames ideally suited to meet the needs of our broad customer base. We ensure a high level of stock availability &
Diaries
merchandising solutions whilst continuing to offer great product quality, diversity & value.
Our diary range is available in the most popular sizes & formats, including in both classical & fashion led finishes. We also feature a range of beautifully designed & very popular children’s ‘Secret Diaries’
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Gifting
Gifting
Gifting Specialists in researching, designing, sourcing, packing & delivering both licensed & bespoke composite gifts for the major high street & online retailer Partnerships with premium food brands & licenses In depth trend & research carried out thoroughly with global food & design trends Exclusive bespoke product to retailers in the UK, Canada & Australia All factories are fully audited & accredited In-house design studio dedicated to creating beautiful market leading gifting collections Offering a 360 degree design & production programme on both a domestic & FOB basis
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Santa Shop & Decorations
Santa Shop & Decorations
Santa Shop Frosty Paws is our seasonal pet collection comprising of new innovative dress up & accessories for both cats & dogs. Creating the magic of Christmas with our brand, Home Collection. We offer a wide selection of both novelty dress up & plush home decorations in the form of Christmas hats, stocking & Santa sacks.
Decorations Our range offers a wide selection of decorations for both the home & Christmas trees. We include classical, seasonal, contemporary & festive wood design trends. We also include hanging solutions for attaching your decorations in the required location.
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing Our quest to achieve world class manufacturing standards is driven by our in-house Lean production system
Metallisation
Conversion
In-house metallised paper production
17 conversion machines
Embossing & lamination capabilities
3 automated packing lines
Environmentally friendly, energy
Automatic BOW & COP machines
efficient process
Approx. 65 million retail rolls annually
Innovative water-based process
New bag making machine -
Brand new high speed transfer
greetings & retail collateral
metalliser for 2017
Print Special Finishes x2 high speed (10 colour) In-register premium finishes
double-width printing presses
High speed foiling
1-Pass double sided 5 on 5
UV holographic casting
reverse print capability
UV high gloss
425 million metres produced annually 35% of total production exported globally
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Operations
Operations
Operations Newport Pagnell Operate from a 250,000 sq ft Distribution Centre Ideally located, less than 5 minutes from J14 of the M1 - perfectly situated to receive & dispatch goods 24/7 The Distribution Centre is fully racked to accommodate 27,000 pallets In excess of 50,000 pallets dispatched per annum Extensive rework abilities including in-house printing press, enabling us to facilitate bespoke projects to meet the varying needs of specific customers. Effective stock control, complimented with a strong, experienced sales order management & customer care teams, enable us to provide a first class service to our customer base
Wales The business handles in excess of 6,000 trailers in & out of our facilities in Wales including over 25,000 tonnes of paper & packaging. Our finished goods operate out of 2 main warehouses, currently with capacity of over 550,000 sq ft handling & distributing in excess of 132,000 pallets to customers in the UK & overseas. We have years of experience handling a variety of product through the warehouses & we have recently adapted our facilities in order to pick, pack & distribute in excess of 24 million cards on a ‘direct to store’ basis.
www.thedesigngroup.com
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Design Group China
Design Group Asia
Our factory in China is 100% company owned & comprehensively audited providing a fully compliant & integrated supply chain to our customer base.
Our Hong Kong sourcing office ensures the best products at the most competitive prices from reliable, compliant & trusted suppliers.
Manufactures: crackers, single cards, bags, tags & colouring books
The dedicated, experienced team includes merchandising, QC, shipping & accounts to manage the complete process from design to delivery.
Innovative automation enhancing efficiency, capacity & product quality Legal, financial, ethical & environmental integrity
The team use the Design Group intranet system to link
The Design Group Asia team also take care of all 3rd
Experienced manufacturing & technical best-in-class practices
between businesses within the Group & have
party product quality inspections to ensure your
full VC facilities to maintain constant communication.
product is dispatched in perfect condition.
Speciality Finishes | Die Cutting | Assembling | Printing | CTP Plate Making
70 MILLION CRACKERS
30 MILLION BAGS 30 MILLION SINGLE CARDS 40 MILLION TAGS
www.thedesigngroup.com
Design Group Asia
Design Group China
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Our Environmental & Corporate Responsibility
Our Customers Include Customers
Environmental
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UK & Europe
Design Group UK is a leading designer, innovator & manufacturer of gift packing & greetings, social expression giftware, stationery & creative play products. Across all our territories, we comply with the highest standards on the market to ensure we can prove our commitment to looking after our customers, our staff & our planet.
Our Customers
Our Staff
Our QC & QA teams across the world ensure that our
We work to provide & maintain a safe working
products are suitably tested & adhere to recognised
environment for all of our employees. We ask that
standards & directives.
they act honestly & with integrity in safeguarding the
Global Expor t
Company’s resources for which they are responsible. Through regular audits - ethical, quality & technical -
We encourage & support all employees to raise any
we work to ensure the factories, with which we produce
concerns they may have about the conduct of others
goods, meet relevant requirements, which comply with
throughout the Company or regarding the way in which
standards set by BSCI, ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative),
the business, itself, is run.
WCA (Workplace Conditions Assessment), & CTPAT (Consumer-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism)
Our Planet
Customer Promise • We have 100% company owned factories in the UK & China assuring compliant, quality products, on time in full • We will offer a balance of UK & off-shore, in-house & 3rd party manufacturing both FOB & domestic supply to suit all requirements & lead times
We are SEDEX members & we work with ‘Stronger
We use, where possible, suppliers who are committed
• We guarantee Environmental, Ethical & Legal Integrity for all supply chain operations giving you peace of mind
Together’ in our commitment to respecting human rights
to being environmentally friendly & to reducing waste,
• We will offer a One Stop Shop bespoke design, manufacturing, sourcing & delivery solution providing turnkey supply
throughout our supply base.
to ISO & EUTR standards.
chain risk management = peace of mind • We will provide Innovative Exciting Designs & consumer relevant product
www.thedesigngroup.com
WALES
NEWPORT PAGNELL
Gift Packaging & Greetings
Stationer y, Creative Play, Frames, Albums & Licensed
IG Design Group UK Ltd
IG Design Group UK Ltd
2 - 8 North Road,
Howard House, Howard Way,
Penallta Industrial Estate,
Interchange Park,
Ystrad Mynach, Hengoed,
Newport Pagnell
Wales, UK
Bucks, UK
CF82 7SS
MK16 9PX
01443 863 520
01908 618811
www.thedesigngroup.com
www.thedesigngroup.com
STAPLEFORD
NEWPORT PAGNELL
Gifting
Janitorial, Catering, Food Ser vices
IG Design Group UK Ltd
IG Design Group UK Ltd
Scoop Designs
Polaris Plastics
Patchendon Farm,
Howard House, Howard Way
High Road, Stapleford,
Interchange Park
Hertfordshire, UK
Newport Pagnell, Bucks
SG14 3NN
MK16 9PX
01992 870 420
01908 618811
www.thedesigngroup.com
www.polarisplastics.co.uk