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NEWS Gold Crown glister
TOP STORY
Changes At Paper Rose Alison Butterworth and John Lowey appointed joint mds Paper Rose has made some structural changes to its senior management team as part of future proofing the business. Drawing on the strengths from within the Paper Design group (of which Paper Rose is a part, along with Simon Elvin, Nigel Quiney, Polytint and Glick), Alison Butterworth, managing director of Nigel Quiney Publications, has broadened her remit to also become joint managing director of Paper Rose, responsible for the product and sales aspects. John Lowey, who is also finance director of Nigel Quiney and Glick is now also joint managing director of Paper Rose and will head up operations, finance and systems. Sadly, Nigel Willcock, the long-time sales and marketing director of Paper Rose, who has been with the company for 15 years, has been made redundant. Commenting, Ian Jackson, ceo of the Paper Design group (following an MBO in January of this year), said: “I know that Simon Elvin would want to join me in thanking Nigel for all that he has done over the past 15 years to help develop the Paper Rose business. It is very sad that the changes in our industry have necessitated this restructuring. Everyone at Paper Rose wishes him well for the future”. John Broad, who has been heading up Nigel Quiney’s independent sales team (as
well as covering the South East territory himself for the publisher) for some time has extended his role to head up the Paper Rose independent sales force which comprises five reps and seven agents. “We have absolutely no plans to amalgamate the Nigel Quiney and Paper Rose sales teams,” assures Alison Butterworth. “However, with Nigel Quiney and Paper Rose having such complementary product portfolios it makes sense for both teams to work together with customers who are looking to install a stock control system, an area that has grown considerably for us at Nigel Quiney,” she adds. Jenny Weare, national accounts manager of Nigel Quiney Publications, is now also to represent Paper Rose at national account level. Stuart McKay, who has been chairman of Paper Rose for several years, relinquished this position at the end of March to revert to his original role for the group as a non-executive director to work on strategy and group synergies. Becky Dobson, managing director of Glick, the group’s giftwrappings company, now reports directly to Ian Jackson. Prior to this Becky reported to Alison Butterworth. Top: Alison Butterworth is now joint md of Paper Rose as well as md of Nigel Quiney. Above: Nigel Willcock, who was with Paper Rose for 15 years, was made redundant last month.
GCA Brings Sunshine To ToYW In addition to providing guidance to its members about what help and advice is out there during this period of virtual lockdown, the Greeting Card Association (GCA) has been doing its utmost to promote greeting card sending to the general public through leveraging its contacts in the media and other groups. “While accepting that safeguarding the health of our nation has to remain a top priority, it has also become increasingly clear that our mental well-being as well as physical health is important during these challenging times - and sending cards can really help in making people feel connected and cared for,” says GCA ceo, Amanda Fergusson. As part of this, joyful new livery has been created by Paper Salad, which gives a fresh new look to Thinking of You Week (ToYW). It includes the GCA’s tagline ‘#Send a card, deliver a smile’. While the actual week does not fall until 21-27 September, a version of the new ToYW branding is also available, without the date on, so that it can be adapted for use from now onwards. In a case of perfect timing, the branding includes a rainbow element, which has been adopted as the symbol of hope to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. Work is also underway on developing a consumer-facing landing page on the website for Thinking of You Week. Left: Paper Salad’s creative duo, Karen Wilson and Claire Williams designed the livery for the GCA ToYW event this year.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
“The plan for 2019 was to stabilise the Gold Crown programme, 2020 is a year of measured growth, and we have got off to a great start,” stated Graeme Francis, Gold Crown business manager. A new Hallmark Gold Crown store in Maghull, Merseyside, makes it a ‘hat trick’ for owners Penny and Simon Bailey, while Bob and Jill McGhee, owners of Hallmark Newark have just benefitted from a £13,000 free refit, as a result of winning the Big Prize Draw at last autumn’s Gold Crown conference. “We are absolutely delighted with the refit,” commented Bob, adding that, pre Covid-19, it has also resulted in an uplift in sales. Being a post office the shop is continuing to trade. Below: Bob and Jill McGhee in their recently refurbished Hallmark Newark store.
UK publishers up for a Louie UK publishers Paper Salad, Dandelion Stationery, Ohh Deer, Rosanna Rossi, Roger la Borde, Little Posy Print, Santoro and Think of Me Designs have all reached the finals of The Louies, the US greeting card awards, run by the American Greeting Card Association. Different from its UK counterpart The Henries, The Louies celebrate individual card designs rather than ranges. Instead of being announced at Noted (a trade show that was due to take place in May in San Francisco, but has been cancelled due to Covid-19) the winners will be announced online. Below: Rosanna Rossi has been shortlisted in the general birthday category.