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This Month Unfortunately, there’s no sugar coating the realities at the moment. On top of already soaring food and fuel costs, household energy bills will be tripling for many households this October, with interest rates surging to 1.75%. Nevertheless, at PG&H’s annual retailer round table, held at Harrogate’s Home & Gift in July, gift retailers were cautiously optimistic about Q4. Overall, ‘round tablers’ felt that while people would still be treating family and friends this Christmas, the spend would inevitably be lower. Find out what else a cross-section of gift indies had to say by turning to pages 19-23. Staying with Christmas gifting, products in the £10-£20 price bracket seem to be the order of the day, with suppliers revealing their Christmas crackers across jewellery, fashion accessories, games and more. Turn to pages 25-31 to see what will be hitting the shelves in the next few weeks. For personalised giftware supplier Personalised Memento Company, (PMC), at peak, some 20,000 personalised items a day are typically sent out in the run up to Christmas, confirmed PMC’s marketing director Keren Dicken. So what’s ringing up sales and what’s taking the company onwards and upwards this year? Turn to pages 52-53. Of course, nothing evokes the festive season like fragrance, with home fragrancing suppliers unveiling not only their Christmas themed ranges, but much more besides. We reveal the latest launches on pages 55-59, and hear from Jules Vahrman, founder and managing director of Wild Things, about the company’s dazzling new ranges. Turn to pages 40-41. Plus, Greg Rose and John Dale, co-owners of independent East Sussex gift multiple Maybugs, tells PG&H why being successful is all about location, location, location - turn to pages 37-39 - and to pages 7-15 for all the latest, most up-to-the-minute industry news. And finally, with last minute Christmas buying in mind, the focus is now very much on Autumn Fair, with the PG&H team heading to the NEC on September 4. We look forward to seeing you all at the show, as well as at Top Drawer, which takes place at London’s Olympia from September 11–13. Turn to pages 9 and 11 respectively. There’s no denying that for all businesses, there are significant challenges ahead, but the gift industry, while not recession proof, is fortunately better placed than many industries to weather the coming months. If there’s one certainty we can all hold onto, it’s that Christmas always happens.
@Prog_Gifts
Inside 7-15
News
19-23 Feedback: Retailer Round Table 25-31 Spotlight On... Christmas Gifts 37-39 Retailer Face To Face: Maybugs 40-41 In Profile: Wild Things 45-47 Spotlight On... Licensed Giftware 52-53 In Profile: Personalised Memento Company 55-59 Spotlight On... Home Fragrancing 79-81 Best Sellers
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Above: Sue met up with Greg Rose (centre) and John Dale, co-owners of Maybugs, at the newly opened Bexhill-On-Sea store. Turn to pages 37-39.
Sue Marks, Editor
The UK gift and home industry is dynamic, innovative and vibrant and The Greats Awards reflect all of this and much more. Be a part of it! Visit www.thegreatsawards.co.uk
Sue Marks Editor
Ali Farrell Advertisement Manager
Ian Hyder Publishing Director
suem@max-publishing.co.uk
alisonf@max-publishing.co.uk
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www.max-publishing.co.uk The home of market leading trade magazines Publishers: Jacqueline Brown, Warren Lomax, Ian Hyder and Rob Willis Max Publishing Ltd, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP. Tel: 020 7700 6740 Fax: 020 7607 6411 www.progressivegifts.co.uk Copyright 2021. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of going to press, 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 Gifts & Home Worldwide
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