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Face To Face
Big Shoes “I expect you feel the two Ds,” was how colleague Claire Hammond greeted Ceri when it was announced officially that she was to replace James Conn at the top of UKG. “Delighted and daunted,” clarified Claire to which Ceri smiled in agreement. Having worked very closely with James on UKG’s senior management team for many years as well as heading up sales, marketing and product teams in the company since she first joined the business, back in 2008, Ceri was widely accepted as being the right person for the job, ensuring business continuity in what is the UK industry’s largest greeting card publisher that has been on something of a winning roll, notably being appointed as Tesco’s category partner for greeting cards at the start of last year. “I received some brilliant advice from James, who told me not to think about the size of the job as that could be overwhelming, but just to come to work and do the job,” Ceri revealed. The “job” in question is that Ceri now steers UKG, a £100million+ market leading business, employing some 3,500 people spread across four sites, supplying over 10,000 retail rooftops with 20,000 of its own Top: Ceri Stirland is the first female to be ceo of UKG. Above right: It is not just Ceri that is having a big year, UKG’s Boofle is celebrating his 15th anniversary. Middle: UKG has shown itself to be the master of differentiation at retail, enabling it to supply major multiples, as evidenced by this Sainsbury’s brokered display as well as a whole host of indies. Right: Some UKG gift packaging, which includes handles made from woven paper to improve its environmental credentials.
When James Conn announced his decision to retire as ceo of UK Greetings from March 1 few were surprised that Ceri Stirland was pronounced as his successor, having both the experience and strength of character to head up this greeting card giant. Three months into the role, PG checked in with the first ever female to head up the company, who in her unflappable style, is “just cracking on.” skus (plus those of the 70 publishers it brokers into major retailers) as well as managing the sales of its products everywhere else in the world outside of North America. In addition to the UK Greetings greeting card and gift
packaging business, the group also includes Card Connection, a franchisebased business that operates out of Farnham in Surrey which also comes under Ceri’s remit. “My role as ceo of UKG international is to lead the team, set the direction, deliver for our customers, understand our consumer and ultimately ensure we are profitable for our owners. Thankfully I am not doing this on my own as we have so many talented people working at UKG!” summed up Ceri. Her mantra for the business now is the same as it has always been: “Stay really close to your customers and know and understand the consumer, so that the products you produce will be what they want to buy.” Having spent a 10-year stint as a buyer for Asda before returning to UKG 15 years ago, as well as latterly spending five years as customer and channel director, Ceri knows both sides of the counter. It is not just the products themselves that have to be right, but how they are produced. When president of the GCA in PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 37