42-43.qxp_Grid 03/07/2023 16:23 Page 2
In conversation with...Alison Butterworth
It’s in the Equipping sales reps with a trio of large sample bags is a great way to show off a publisher’s greeting card designs, and that’s just what Alison Butterworth and John Lowey have done with their three brands. The move came at the June sales meeting launching Spring Seasons 2024 for Nigel Quiney Publications, Paper Rose, and Grass Roots, the three publishers now owned by the pair since completing a management buyout in April. Alison explained: “We do now have a more streamlined sales team and it was a big launch because they all needed full sample sets for all of our brands so customers will be able to handle the samples or order directly from the iPad.” She confirmed the trio of publishing brands will remain separate, with their own logos and product portfolio, although Grass Roots is moving from the Paper Rose base in Nottingham to be nurtured by NQP’s design studio at Saffron Walden. “I do think they complement each other,” Alison added, “it’s a strong, broad array to choose from and having a selection of product styles will be important over the next few months, because it’s really tough out there for retailers.
42 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Left: Nigel Quiney’s Pizazz range continues to evolve. Below left: Paper Rose’s design studio is to remain in its Nottingham premises while Grass Roots will be in with NQP in Saffron Walden. Below right: Alison Butterworth on the Nigel Quiney stand at the recent PG Live.
“A lot of customers found Christmas difficult, but Spring Seasons 2023 has sold through well. Obviously, we’re hoping for a good Christmas ‘23 and Spring ‘24 as we had low returns for spring ’23, so we’ve got a good basis to sell in the new range.” Despite the separate identities and locations, John admitted they will be continuing to work on economies of scale with what could be considered the back-office features such as IT, cost overheads on items like packaging, and storage. The real strengths of the companies are the separate design studios, with Sarah Tanser-Frain, Alana Rourke and Jazmin Carter leading the Nottingham team, while Carl Pledger remains in charge of the in-house artists in Saffron Walden and coordinating the freelancers for the pure design side which gives NQP a real breadth of artistic skills, able to cover everything from cute
There’s a brand-new bag of tricks at the Nigel Quiney, Paper Rose, and Grass Roots group of companies as new owners Alison Butterworth and John Lowey begin putting their stamp on the business they took over in a management buy-out just three months ago. Here PG delves into their story and the future plans. through traditional to contemporary, with each an expert in their style. Alison explained: “Brand identity for each publisher is key, and we’re also excited about new and novel product ideas, what else we might be able to offer our customers. “Product is my first love, so we're excited about what we can do at Paper Rose, making sure we are maintaining those hero ranges, which is really important. Artisan is still a great selling brand for Paper Rose, for example. Strategy wise, there's quite a lot of work going on to see where we take Paper Rose next. “For Nigel Quiney there’s obviously Pizzaz. It's 16 years old now and the sales are unbelievable. It’s a phenomenon. We