News

New face at Enesco

Joanna Castle has joined the Enesco UK sales team as Area Sales Manager, a role that will involve the management of trade accounts in Southwest England and South Wales. Joanna’s most recent sales role was as Area Sales Account Manager for a well-known jewellery and ladies accessories brand.

Rex London turns 40

August 2021 sees Rex London celebrate its 40th anniversary. With humble beginnings on a market stall in Portobello Road in 1981, the giftware company has since gone on to become a hugely successful, international online retailer and wholesaler, creating Gifts of Random Kindness at affordable prices.

They began with items that they had simply stumbled upon on their travels around the world. Before long they were on the shelves of high street institutions like Habitat and The Body Shop.

For the next two decades, they continued to discover and deliver these Gifts of Random Kindness, until they decided it was time not only to choose products they liked but also to design them. From floral patterns to adorable animals, they have loved creating colourful and playful prints that stand out and bring joy. rexlondon.com

BRC warns of high street labour shortages

The British Retail Consortium warned of high street labour shortages as 20 per cent of shop workers across the UK in the retail and hospitality sectors entered isolation due to Covid19 in July.

Both sectors said one in five workers had been called to isolate, exacerbating the issue of labour shortages due to Brexit and other factors.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson told MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee: ‘We are seeing some vacancy rates of around 20 per cent, and only some of that is directly people with Covid – a lot is the indirect consequence of having to isolate, irrespective of tests or whether one has had two vaccines.’

Figures show that the number of contact alerts issued by the government’s Test and Trace app rose dramatically since hospitality and leisure businesses began the process of reopening in April, with over 200,000 alerts sent during a single week in June.

Sustainability award for Vent

Vent for Change, the sustainable stationery company that protects the planet and supports children's education, has been awarded Best Sustainable Stationery Company 2021 in The Business Elite Awards 2021. The award recognises those enterprises that consistently provide the best services and products for their clients, allowing them to stand out within their field. Rewarding those companies that are succeeding in their endeavours, innovating, growing and improving.

‘We are delighted to be recognised for the hard work the team have put in over the last 12 months, to be singled out for what we stand for behind the scenes is truly wonderful,’ says Vent founder Evan Lewis.

Vent combine beautiful design with impeccable ecocredentials as well as supporting children's education projects with every item sold.

New CEO for Ryman

The heritage stationery and office supplies brand has announced Peter Birks as its new CEO. Peter has held leadership roles in retailers Office Depot, Staples and recently as CEO for Tuffnells.

Peter joins Ryman to further grow the brand in key markets and channels, deliver industry leading customer service levels, create a compelling place to work for colleagues and use technology to drive the business further.

Theo Paphitis, Chairman and owner of Ryman, says: ‘Peter brings a huge amount of energy, leadership skills and industry intel to Ryman and has a proven track record and digital focus. We are excited to welcome him on board and know he’ll make a big difference in further growing the brand and inspiring the team, from day one.’

A Gift From The Gods opens pop-up

Lifestyle and fashion accessories company, A Gift From The Gods, returns to bricks and mortar retail with a unit in The Broadway Shopping Centre, Bexleyheath, South East London.

The brand has opened a 12-month pop-up, taking advantage of the discounted business rates. Founder Jane Reucroft comments: ‘The landlord and shopping centre management team went the extra mile to get us in and up and running’. Opened with a soft launch on 1 July, the addition of a café area in August will saw the implementation of a full marketing campaign.

BHETA success on plastic tax

Following the British Home Enhancement Trade Association’s approach to Government outlining its objections to the draft Plastic Packaging tax legislation, HMRC has made a U-turn on the latest draft secondary legislation. HMRC’s original position was to extend the legislation’s scope to include multi-use consumer goods such as home and garden storage boxes and packed lunch boxes as well as packaging. This will not now be the case.

HMRC’s project leader, Mark Palmer has messaged BHETA thanking it for its input and clarifying the following: ‘HMRC has now published draft secondary legislation clarifying the scope of the tax. Storage boxes for home use and reusable food and drinks containers do not need to be included in these regulations.

‘The draft legislation clarifies that a further number of products are outside of the scope, and examples of these include items sold for long term storage of goods throughout their lifetime, such as toolboxes, items where the packaging is integral to the use of the goods, such as water filter cartridges, and items for reuse in the presentation of goods, such as shop fittings.’

Prior to BHETA’s intervention, the previous draft of the legislation could have precipitated costs of an additional £10million per year in tax across the supplier base.

The Insights Family moves to new office

The market intelligence company has moved to kids, parents, and family market intelligence, has moved to larger offices on King Street in Manchester city centre and opens a satellite office in Mayfair, London. The company also welcomes three new starters to the business and announces the launch of Kids Insights and Parents Insights in Poland.

The company is rapidly expanding following a number of exciting client wins, including media giant HBO Max, iconic retailer HMV, and leading media agency GroupM.

Jennifer Knott joins the company as Senior Research Manager after six years working for Manchester City Football Club in a variety of research and digital media analyst roles. The team also welcomes Tushar Palawat and Emer Sheffield to the rapidly expanding development and data science team as a Junior Data Scientist and as a UI/ UX Designer, respectively.

Squire’s Garden Centres turn 85

Squire’s Garden Centres are celebrating their 85th Anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, their garden centres across Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire and Middlesex each designed an eye-catching display to celebrate this special anniversary.

Chairman Sarah Squire judged all the displays, then selected a winner and two runners up. The overall winner was Squire’s in Crawley, and the runners up were Squire’s in Badshot Lea and Chertsey.

Sarah Squire said: ‘I would like to congratulate all our centres for their very creative and inspiring plant displays to celebrate our 85th Anniversary. I loved the thought and teamwork that had gone into creating each display, and I hope that our customers will enjoy seeing the anniversary gardens at their local Squire’s.’

Industry speaker lineup at SFFF show

Key food and drink buyers from businesses including Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Macknade, Harrods and more are set to take to the stage at the Speciality & Fine Food Fair 2021 covering topics including conscious consumerism, effective marketing, and deep dives into trends such as plant-based foods and sustainable business practices.

This year’s event, which takes place at Olympia London on 6-7 September 2021, is the first major post-lockdown trade event for the fine food and drink sector, and will be showcasing over 350 exciting producers.