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Top Drawer Returns To Olympia Trends Lead The Way Top Drawer will be bringing together a curated edit of top brands and new names across the design and lifestyle spectrum from September 12-14 at London’s Olympia. Nine sectors feature Gift ((contemporary brands); Home (interiors, accessories, kitchen and dining, furniture, lighting and outdoor living); Fashion (accessories and jewellery from established brands and rising stars); Wellbeing (home fragrancing and beauty products); Craft (designer-makers); Greetings & Stationery; Play (gifts, toys, fashion and home accessories for
Industry
NEWS
Celebrating The Big 4-O children) and Food Emporium (giftable food and drink from artistans). The line-up of brands includes: 1973, Aery, Also Home, Beyond Living, Caroline Gardner, CHALK, Clockwork Soldier, CRWST, Designed in Colour, Forma House, House of Disaster, Hyggen Agency, Kikkerland, Lisa Angel, Lorna Syson, Mother, My Doris, Ohh Deer, Plantophile, PR Home, Roka London, S-C Brands, SEVIN London, Spice Kitchen, Swole Panda, T2, Teddo Play,The Candle Brand, The Creative Ox and The Workbench. Over 1500 brands will be showcased. Returning to the show will be expert speakers at both RetailFest and Design Talk. Left: Top Drawer will bring together design-led gifts and homewares.
Thumbs Up For Home & Gift Home & Gift, exhibitors reported an excellent show in July, with retailers there to place orders. “It was brilliant to be back,” enthused Steve Davies, managing director of Joe Davies. “Within five minutes of the doors opening we knew that we had made the right decision. It felt like we turned the corner, and over the next four days we saw a huge number of customers.” Neil Gaukwin, general manager of House of Disaster, concurred. “We were very, very busy. From the moment the doors opened at 9am on Sunday morning we had people on the stand and we were taking orders.” On the Best Kept Secrets stand, managing director Vanessa Curry commented: “It was a great show, and so good to be back.” Gallery Direct also reported an excellent show. “We had non-stop customers on the stand who were serious buyers and were here to place orders,” confirmed the company’s PR and marketing manager Judith Bell. Ceramics designer and renowned potter Keith Brymer-Jones, a judge on BBC 2’s The Great Pottery Throw Down, was a familiar face, chatting to visitors on the Forma House stand, and displaying his expert skills at the potter’s wheel. Above: Visitors to Home & Gift are shown relaxing at the Gin on the Lawn event.
25th Anniversary Celebrations Despite Covid-19 restrictions, Best Kept Secrets managed to celebrate the company’s 25th anniversary during the summer with the afternoon off, a glass or two of bubbly and lots of birthday cake. “We laid on some fantastic food too, and thankfully the day was glorious so we were able to enjoy the sunshine,” recalled managing director Vanessa Curry. Vanessa took over the helm from her father Alan Edwards and his wife Denise in 2018, who started the company in 1996. Together with her husband Paul, they have rebranded the business, introduced new products and steered the company through the pandemic. “Reaching 25 years in business is a real achievement, especially after the past year. I’m so proud to be running this company,” stated Vanessa.
This month (August) sees Rex London celebrating 40 years. The company started with a market stall on the Portobello Road in 1981 and has gone on to become a very successful online retailer and wholesaler of ‘gifts of random kindness’, winning a Queen’s Award for Enterprise along the way for outstanding continuing growth in overseas sales. “We are now completely customer-focused in what we buy, with everything conceived, designed and sourced from our London HQ,” confirmed ceo Nigel Biggs. If he could bring back any product from the archives, Nigel says it would have to be inflatables. “We originally sold them in the 1980s and they were such a fabulous, fun product,” he recalls. “Bananas at football grounds became a massive thing and were all supplied by us.” As for challenges along the way, Nigel says Brexit and Covid are two of the toughest. “Fortunately, we are starting to come through to the other side, so there’s light at the end of the (Channel) tunnel!” Above: Rex London’s ceo Nigel Biggs.
Record Year For Potters Crouch With sales of home fragrancing products soaring during the pandemic, David Brown, director of Potters Crouch, confirmed that the company has had a record year, seeing growth of around 30%, with the company looking to a further 30% growth in the coming 2021/2022 year. “Our growth has also seen us need to strengthen our management team and streamline our processes, with Matt Elvidge joining us as chief operating office in a new role to drive things forward in the office which is a new development for the company.” (See People on page 13). All Potters Crouch candles are handmade in the UK using natural ingredients. Below: New from Potters Crouch: gift bags and gift cards.
Left: Best Kept Secrets recently celebrated 25 years.
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