Progressive Greetings June 2023

ON THE CARDS

I can’t believe that it’s 15 years since the first PG Live opened its doors, and it seems like yesterday! Being 15 is an important age, as it is when you flourish, find your path, pick your hobbies and ultimately set the course of who you are going to be.

PG Live is no exception to this. It’s a show focused on the true passion of our industry, full of the colour, inventiveness and vibrancy needed to tick that flourishing box.

Like publishers and retailers, we have always been keen to evolve the show and christening the Springboard Intro area at this year’s show (June 6-7 at London’s Business Design Centre) that we developed in conjunction with The Imaging Centre, will shine the spotlight on a new clutch of publishers looking to make their mark in the industry.

The bar is high of course. This year at PG Live we probably have our strongest line up of exhibitors - some incredible 200 great companies, all launching exciting new designs. (See pages 61-81). There will also be a strong international flavour to the show this year, not just the overseas distributors and retailers who attend, but exhibitors from Australia, Italy, Germany, USA, Holland, Poland and even Lithuania so we are all set for it being a great greeting card global gathering. (See pages 99-101).

Among the celebrations at the show will be Paper Salad, marking their18th birthday (see pages 40-41) and The Imaging Centre marking its 25th anniversary. (See pages 83-85).

Despite all the uncertainties over Royal Mail (with the GCA keeping the pressure on) and the cost-of-living crisis forcing people to reassess how they will be spending their money, the greeting card industry is showing true resilience. Ceri Stirland, UKG’s new ceo highlights how consumer participation with greeting cards is at its highest level ever, with 94% of UK adults having bought at least one card in the last year (see pages 37-39) and Card Factory, announcing a sparkling set of financial results also revealed that card buying and sending among 18-24 year olds is on a steep increase. (See pages 55-57).

These youngsters will help ensure that the strong bloodline of greeting card sending will continue…alongside us oldies!

I so look forward to seeing everyone at PG Live…do come along to our stand and say hello.

Left: Paper Salad’s co-founders Karen Wilson (right) and Claire Williams with PG’s Jakki Brown. Below: All the best people will be at PG Live, including Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen who is launching a range with GBCC.

Below left: At The Greats/Gift of the Year awards event in May. (second and third right) Lark’s Dominic and Priya Aurora-Crowe with Max Publishing’s (right-left) Alison Farrell, Tracey Bearton and Jakki Brown. The Retas is the next big awards event!

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CONTENTS

9-25 News

All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.

26-27 Over The Counter

Legacies, Leave Behinds and Tigers

David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi ponders on both.

28-29 Cardsharp

Talkin’ About My Generation

Cardsharp is happy about Millennials trends.

31-35 Viewpoints

The Art of Reta-iling Retailers delight in reaching The Retas 2023 finals.

37-39 Face to Face

Big Shoes

Ceri Stirland, the new ceo of UKG reveals what it feels like to be wearing size 3 ‘big shoes’!

40-41 In Conversation With…Paper Salad

A Colourful Coming of Age Paper Salad kicks off its 18th birthday celebrations.

43 Personal Reflections

15 Years of PG Live

45-47 PG Live Nuts and Bolts

Five Good Reasons

49-53 PG Live Launches

Sneak Peeks

A handful of leading brands share their PG Live launches.

55-57 Deep Dive

The X Factor(y)

PG was all ears at Card Factory’s Capital Markets Day.

58-59 Up Front and Personal Maximalism Personified PG meets Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.

61-81 Innovations

Publishers’ new ranges and designs.

83-85 Focus on…The Imaging Centre

Waste Not…

How The Imaging Centre is marking its 25th anniversary.

87-89 In Conversation With…Carte Blanche Greetings

Healthy Loving

Carte Blanche Greetings shares its research findings.

91-97 Focus on…Cute Cards

The Bear Necessities

It’s a cute fest!

99-101 International Flavours

Global Glamour

PG Live overseas exhibitors share their vibes.

103 Art Source From Doctor to Drawing

Emma Lawrence’s transition from psychologist to illustrator.

105-107 What’s Hot?

A quad of retailers reveal their best-selling ranges.

108-119 Sources of Supply

Tracey Bearton Features Editor traceyb@max-publishing.co.uk

Jakki Brown Editor/Joint Owner jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk

Warren Lomax Joint Owner warren@max-publishing.co.uk

Ian Hyder Joint Owner ianh@max-publishing.co.uk

Tracey Arnaud Sales Manager traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

TOP STORY

PG Live Final Countdown

The global greeting card gathering beckons

As PG went to press, the preparations for Progressive Greetings Live 2023opening its doors on Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June, at London’s Business Design Centre - were building to an exciting crescendo. Over 200 exhibitors, from all the well-loved greeting card brands through to brand new start-ups, were putting the final touches to the thousands of new designs and enticing offers that will debut at the show, while retailers and overseas distributors confirmed their travel plans in readiness of being part of the great greeting card global gathering.

The show will see Paper Salad mark its 18th birthday (see pages 87 and 89), UKG celebrate Boofle’s 15th birthday (see page 51), GBCC launch its inaugural Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen collection (see pages 58-59), Hallmark relaunch Forever Friends (see page 53), and Carte Blanche share its latest research findings (see pages 87 and 89), amongst so much more.

Springing forward

PG Live is always a great place for celebrations and this year is no exception with The Imaging Centre marking 10 years of sponsoring Springboard as well as the print specialist’s own 25th birthday.

And the double anniversary has seen The Imaging Centre expand its help to new publishers wanting to get into the greetings industry with the launch of the new entry point Springboard Intro area.

As Adam Short, md of The Imaging Centre explained: “We always wanted to be involved in the Springboard area, because that's where the majority of our customers are, certainly to start with. And the aim for us really is to get them to go from Springboard into the other areas as our job is to grow them into bigger publishers.”

This year all publishers in the Springboard area, who use The Imaging Centre’s IC Simplicity service will receive a bonus of £100 credit on the platform.

(see pages 83 and 85)

Above: Springboard Intro has created a whole new entry point option at the show.

“I can’t quite believe that this year will be 15th PG Live, and having been privy to sneak peeks from many exhibitors of their planned launches and stand promotions, it looks set to be a stonking show,” commented Warren Lomax, coshow director. “The registrations from visitors read like a who’s who of greeting card retailing, from the largest multiples through to trailblazing indies and lots of PG Live overseas fans are heading to London too.”

In the bag

The year’s PG Live limited edition tote bag that all visitors to PG Live will receive features two amazing images, one from Clare Maddicott featuring stunning artwork by artist by Chris Chun, while gracing the other side is a charming photograph by Simon Roy which features in Abacus’ BBC Springwatch collection.

As well as the treats on the stands, PG Live as ever will ensure visitors and exhibitors are properly looked after, with free refreshments throughout the show (thanks to Windles’ sponsored tea trollies), a complimentary lunch (with Hallmark sponsoring the Gallery Hall) and an opening night party.

To get a taster of just some of the ranges that will be at PG Live see pages 61-79, launches from some of the major exhibitors are detailed on pages 49-53 and a handful of the international exhibitors feature on pages 99 and 101.

To register, retailers should head to www.progressivegreetingslive.com

Cath Tate licences Deadpan Cards

Cath Tate Cards has forged a licensing deal with Deadpan Cards and will be including the inaugural range on its stand at PG Live.

Explaining the attraction of the new set up with Cath Tate Cards, Nick Padmore, coowner of Deadpan Cards said: “We've always thought of Cath Tate as one of our card buddies and, since they not only make hilarious cards but also take the whole running-a-business part seriously, we can't think of a better match. It's not on brand for us to be excited about things but, hey, we'll make an exception just this once.”

Explaining more about Chris Chun’s work, the publisher’s studio manager Liz Ellis said: “Chris creates originals and limited-edition prints that are snapped up by collectors who have coined his style Chunoiserie and affectionately refer to themselves as Chunistas,”

Bringing the Abacus side of the bag into focus is Wetherby-based award-winning wildlife photographer Simon, who specialises in garden wildlife and the relationship between people and nature.

He explained: “My aim is to make original, inspiring, and thought-provoking images that raise awareness of the creatures we live beside.”

Commenting on how it all came about Rosie Tate, director of Cath Tate Cards relayed how the publisher is “always on the lookout for new designers and artists to collaborate with, who share our sense of humour. We’ve been aware of Deadpan since spotting them at a trade show back in 2018. The dry humour, cynicism and general lack of enthusiasm in the cards really stood out to us as something original and different.”

The Deadpan range being showcased on Cath Tate’s stand at PG Live will comprise 25 designs covering birthday bestsellers, ages 18-80, and popular occasions.

Above: All visitors can bag a limited edition tote at PG Live, sponsored by Abacus Cards and Clare Maddicott.

Above: PG Live 2023 is on the horizon. Below: There’s still time to receive your PG Live Show Preview.

Above: A Deadpan card and a faint smile keeps Nick Padmore on brand with Rosie Tate.

Forever Friends Relaunch

Hallmark’s cute brand revamp includes AR

Hallmark is preparing for a massive relaunch of Forever Friends, bringing the classic cute brand right up to date, though retaining the charm of one of the industry’s longest standing brands.

Being unveiled for the first time at Progressive Greetings Live - June 6 and June 7 at London’s Business Design Centre - Hallmark will be launching two Forever Friends greeting card collections, one incorporating the latest augmented reality (AR) technology which will bring the iconic bear to life in front of you, just by scanning a QR code on the greeting card with a smartphone.

As well as being showcased on its main stand at the show, the Forever Friends revamp will feature prominently in the PG Live Gallery Hall, where lunch and the opening night party will take place, which this year is being sponsored by Hallmark.

back in 1987, and immediately developed into a must have range by greeting card guru Andrew Brownsword. Andrew sold the business to Hallmark in 1994 and the Forever Friends brand has continued as part of Hallmark ever since.

“The brand-new ranges celebrate all that we’ve loved and still love about Forever Friends over its 36 years. The new designs are big on nostalgia and brimming with feeling, all remaining true to Deborah’s original beautifully soft illustrations,” elaborated Claire.

Delivering promises

While publishers are getting busy entering their latest ranges into The Henries 2023 awards, with the closing date of June 18, Woodmansterne’s stand at PG Live will be living proof the winner of The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer or Artist in the 2021 awards really has gone on to show even more promise.

The Hazel range, which is a focus on the Woodmansterne stand at the show has been created by Charlotte Mason. This is her first collection since she left the publisher to return to her hometown of Wigan to work freelance.

“I’m so proud and excited that Hazel will be a feature of the Woodmansterne PG Live stand,” exclaimed Charlotte, who joined Woodmansterne as a junior designer back in 2013, shortly after she graduated, progressing to become a senior designer with the company until the move back to Wigan last September launched her freelance career under Charlotte Mason Design.

“I learnt so much during my time at Woodmansterne and was lucky to work with really talented designers and illustrators, who were so inspiring and generous with their time” said Charlotte.

“PG Live is a fabulous opportunity to share our relaunched Forever Friends with retailers. It has a lot of heritage that we are respecting so we’ve taken the best of the past and combined this with all that’s great about the future to create a couple of gorgeous, new Forever Friends collections,” commented Claire Marsom, Hallmark’s head of creative.

Forever Friends is widely accepted as having been a real game changing range in the greeting card industry’s history, becoming a phenomenal success right from the off, when the very first bear was sketched by Bath artist Deborah Jones

Hannah’s very app-y

As well as a new core range of 22 designs with fresh bright colour palettes, neon ink, new poses, longer more emotive editorial and recyclable embellishments for the higher price points, a second range, again comprising 22 designs incorporates innovative AR technology.

Claire believes that Forever Friends’ enduring success is because the brand allows people to emotionally connect with those they love. “The bears have no names, no race and no gender, and offer inclusivity to everyone. They are positive, caring, loving and fun and the illustration, as well as the warm, complementary editorial, reflects this,” says Claire.

Charlotte urges any designer (aged 35 or under) to enter the Young Designer category in The Henries, and as the closing date for that award is not until July 26, creatives have plenty time create their entry mood boards.

“Just go for it!!” says Charlotte encouraging people to enter. “It’s a great opportunity to share your designs with industry experts that may not already be familiar with your work. I also loved the process of putting together my entry. It’s free to enter, so you’ve got nothing to lose!”

www.thehenriesawards.co.uk

Creative Sparrow owner Hannah Curtis has made her life as an art licensing agent as well as that of her clients a whole lot easier thanks to securing a Hertfordshire Start-Up (HSUP) grant which has enabled her to develop a bespoke portfolio app.

“I’ve been in the art licensing industry for almost 20 years, and always looked to find a solution to showcasing artwork while on the road and at trade shows but there were no off-the-shelf apps that arranged and showcased the portfolios as needed,” explained Hannah.

She says the makes viewing art, as well as making and receiving design selections, simple. “It’s the first of its kind and 100% bespoke to Creative Sparrow so this is an exciting development for the agency and my clients,” said Hannah, who will be showing it off on her stand at PG Live in June.

Left: Hannah Curtis (left) at Noted in San Francisco with fellow artist agent and PG exhibitor, Jehane Boden Spiers of Jehane.

Above: AR features on one of the Forever Friends brand new collections.

Below: The Gallery Hall at PG Live will be transformed into a teddy bears picnic for PG Live.

Above: Hannah’s bespoke app makes showing art portfolios much easier.

Above: One of the nine designs in the Hazel collection, each enhanced with gold foil.

Above: Charlotte Mason (right) collecting her Henries award from Leona Janson-Smith, director of Postmark which sponsors this category.

Not long to go until London greetings card exhibition PG Live, where leading licensing publisher Danilo are looking forward to showcasing their exciting new greetings card and gift wrap ranges from their diverse product portfolio. Retailers and distributors will be able to see a variety of popular designs, from throwback classics such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Barbie and Super Mario, which all have new movies releasing in 2023, through to gaming and anime titles, new juvenile licenses and many more. Plus on Tuesday 6th June, Danilo welcome their ‘rad’ guests of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leo and Donnie to meet and greet visitors as well as a few extra treats in store. So why not pop along and say hi on stand 513 to see all this and much more.

KIDS

Juvenile remains a strong genre and Danilo are excited to welcome new brands such as Gabby’s Dollhouse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hot Wheels, Squishmallows, Dinosaur Roar, Super Mario Movie and more. Monster High will also be returning to the Danilo portfolio, with the new movie coming to screens in October this year. Aimed at kids aged 6-10, these new card and gift wrap designs will be based on the classic animated look.

There will also be updated designs for popular brands like Bluey, Peppa Pig, PAW Patrol, Minions, L.O.L. Surprise! Hey Duggee, Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, Paddington and many more.

Following the huge success of the Brightside range, Danilo are excited to add ‘The World of Rachel Bright & Jim Field’ to the juvenile greetings card domain. These internationally bestselling, multiaward-winning stories, aimed at ages 2–7, help kids grow, laugh and learn together. Danilo will be adapting the book series including beloved titles such as The Lion Inside and The Koala Who Could into sweet and colourful greetings cards.

From widespread TV shows Stranger Things, Friends, Only Fools and Horses, Dad’s Army and Peaky Blinders, through to lifestyle licenses such as The Van Gogh Museum, VW Campervans and The Bright Side, Danilo will be displaying a large selection of brands targeted towards an adult audience at PG Live.

New selections displayed at the show include the likes of Bridgerton, where the spin-off show Queen Charlotte is being released this year, as well as Peanuts which focuses on the central loveable character of Snoopy, as a colourful new greetings card range aimed at both kids and adults.

A ‘wheelie’ fantastic brand Danilo are proud to be adding this year, is the Tour de France greeting card range. The Tour de France is the number one annual cycling event and the third most popular sporting event in the world. With a 90% global brand awareness and an audience of at least 150 million TV viewers in Europe, this popular event covers 3,500 km over a 3 week period across iconic French landscapes and landmarks. More than 10 million spectators attend the event and 9.4 million follow on their social media channels. Plus with cycling becoming one of the UK’s fastest growing past times with over 47% of the population having access to a bike, this new range is in line with current trends. The new card range will feature a bright colour palette including the renowned yellow associated with their top performing jersey as well as key cycling icon imagery across a range of birthday, blank and relational cards.

FOOTBALL

2023 is another big year for football as we see the Women’s World Cup taking place over the summer. As women’s football and sport continues to grow in popularity, Danilo are proud to publish again for this year the official card and calendar range for the England Lionesses. Fingers crossed they can build on their amazing success from the UEFA Women’s Championship in 2022. As well as national teams, Danilo also publish the official greetings card, calendar and diary ranges for all the Premier League teams with brand new refreshed designs being launched for all key clubs including Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Man United, Tottenham Hotspurs, plus others.

ADULT ANIME

Danilo will be introducing further new designs within their anime offering this year. With the anime genre rapidly growing over the last few years, there is an increasing demand from fans for products featuring their favourite brands and characters. All of these new card ranges will reflect the striking and individual imagery from each series, incorporating the most renowned characters into the designs.

Introducing a stunning NEW 10 piece stationery collection, featuring the iconic and instantly recognisable prints of Cath Kidston. Available to pre-order for delivery in September, choose from Stationery Sets, Notecard wallets, Zip Pouches and more.

June 2023 Launches

GBCC is delighted to launch our rich and opulent collection of 12 hand-drawn greetings, through our new collaboration with renowned interiors designer, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. Available for delivery from June 2023.

Behold the might Bewilderbeest! We’re beyond excited to have partnered with legendary greetings illustrator and funny man, Iain Hamilton, to present the Absurd collection. 12 laugh out loud designs, encapsulating humour, fun and a good dash of British eccentricity. Exclusive to GBCC and available for delivery from June 2023.

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

£1bn Losses At Royal Mail

Postal boss looks for “strong greeting card sector”

As Royal Mail’s £1billion losses for the year were revealed, the company has told the GCA it “wants to see a strong, successful greeting card sector in the UK”.

The comment from David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, coincided with parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) unveiling its full-year figures, blaming the postal service’s performance for the reported £748million in annual operating losses.

The GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson is in ongoing talks with Royal Mail. As part of this it commissioned a survey to gain industry feedback to boost the industry association’s case for lobbying the government over the impact of the postal service on behalf of everyone involved in producing and retailing greeting cards as well as the general public who enjoy sending and receiving them.

The seven-question survey has already garnered over 100 responses from GCA members, but the deadline has been extended to 5 June to enable more cardies to have their say.

Sub-postmasters’ cards class

As GCA’s Royal Mail sub-committee lead David Falkner, director of Cardology, said: “There is no bigger single issue affecting our industry than our end customers’ ability to send the cards they’ve purchased. If last Christmas taught us anything, it was that we shouldn’t take this ability for granted.”

With watchdog Ofcom announcing a further investigation into Royal Mail’s performance over 2022-2023, RM’s David Gold reaffirmed with Amanda: “We want to see a strong, successful greeting card sector in the UK. We love delivering cards and letters and we know how much people enjoy receiving them through their letterbox, especially when delivered by their local postie.”

As he stressed: “Royal Mail is embarking on the biggest transformation programme in our five centuries of delivering the mail. Our aim is to improve our quality of service; to give our customers more of the services they want at a price they can afford; and to ensure that the Universal Service remains sustainable for the future. We know recent times have been tough, and you need to be able to rely on us. We value our relationship with the GCA. Let's keep working together to achieve our common goal.”

Showing kids #WritingMatters

Getting kids to put pen to paper - and greeting cards - is the aim behind Maped Helix’s National Stationery Week initiative that’s going to last a whole school year.

And the writing equipment giant is keen to enlist the help of the greeting card industry with its Pen Pals 4 Pupils project, so youngsters learn the joy and importance of sending both cards and letters and proves the truth of NSW’s hashtag #WritingMatters.

Maped Helix has set up the free project to link youngsters in Years 3 to 5 with their peers in other parts of the country, offering them a safe way to swap handwritten letters and build lifelong friendships as part of the annual event which took place in May.

“It’s perfect that Pen Pals 4 Pupils started off the 2023 National Stationery Week campaign,” said NSW coordinator and indie retailer Sarah Laker, who owns Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow, “it will help children’s social, communication and handwriting skills and also let them experience the joy of both sending and receiving letters and cards - the true spirit of National Stationery Week.”

The project is continuing after National Stationery Week 2023 with Maped Helix providing support throughout the 2023-24 academic year. And to help the youngsters enjoy their correspondence, Maped Helix is hoping card publishers will send a few notecards and birthday cards suitable for children aged seven to 10, which it can also distribute to the schools.

All UK schools with Years 3 to 5 pupils have been invited to take part and once signed up, Maped Helix will match each class with a suitable group elsewhere in the country.

Above: Pen Pals 4 Pupils is Maped Helix’s year-long initiative with schools.

Highlighting how greeting cards can increase revenue for post offices was the thrust of a presentation given by GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson at the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters’ annual conference in the middle of May.

Amanda was invited to the event in Stratford-Upon-Avon by NFSP commercial and retail director Robert Clack, and followed on stage by postal affairs minister Kevin Hollinrake, who is also parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department for Business And Trade, and Nick Read, Post Office group ceo.

“I gave an insight into the greeting card industry,” Amanda explained, “sharing the latest statistics from our annual Market Report, to illustrate the robustness of the card industry. The NFSP team wanted me to highlight the opportunity greeting cards offer to increase revenue for sub-postmasters, during which I explained that over 80% of cards are bought in bricks-and-mortar stores.”

Amanda did not waste the opportunity of highlighting the greeting card industry’s concerns regarding Royal Mail with Minister Kevin Hollinrake.

Amanda stressed: “We remain concerned about stamp prices and service levels under the universal service obligation. Royal Mail letters delivery is crucial for the ongoing health of our currently robust £1.7bn industry,” she said also reminding him of the mental health benefits of the sending and receiving of greeting cards.

Above: Letter sending is slowly declining while more parcels are being delivered.

Above: GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson with Royal Mail’s David Gold.

Above: Amanda with minister Kevin Hollinrake (left) and the NFSP’s Robert Clack, and an Emotional Rescue card designed for her presentation.

Big 5-0 For Cards Direct

Third store opening in six weeks as card retailer continues expansion

Cards Direct has reached the big 5-0 with the opening of its new store in Newbury taking the store estate to the half-century mark.

Retail operations manager Mark Watson said: “A massive thank you to everyone involved in giving this former Paperchase store a new lease of life and helping us reach another major milestone.”

The store in Parkway Centre is the third opened by the greeting cards, wrap and party retailer in six weeks, following unveilings of the pink and green logo in Wolverhampton and Solihull.

With its headquarters in Hemel Hempstead, the independently-owned business was founded in 2012 and has been gradually expanding over the past decade, now covering from the Midlands down to Poole, Folkestone, and across to Lowestoft, assisted by niche retail and leisure property advisory company AS Retail - which posted on LinkedIn asking for landlords with “opportunities you might feel suitable for

Andrew Shepherd, director at AS Retail, commented: “We at AS Retail are delighted to be helping Cards Direct with their store acquisition programme. We already have another batch of new stores in the pipeline for 2023 openings but are still seeking more.”

And the company post added: “We are excited to announce that our long-term clients Cards Direct have opened their 50th store. This is an amazing milestone for the company with more store openings to come in the next few weeks and months.”

Cards Direct was among 10 greeting card retailers in the top 100 Most Loved Retail Brands league table released in March, entering the list for the first time in the 100th position to join John Lewis & Partners, Waterstones, Card Factory, The Works, Flying Tiger, Hobbycraft, Moonpig, Thortful, and WHSmith

Paper Tiger roars to three

Indie retailer Michael Apter has expanded his Paper Tiger footprint to three stores in Edinburgh by taking over a former Paperchase outlet.

Established in 1981, The Retas and Greats awards-winning Paper Tiger began life as part of the Studio One group of companies, but owner Michael has been at the forefront for the last 25 years, having swopped music retailing for greeting cards and gifts.

“We're delighted to have Augustus Tiger on the side of our new shop,” said Michael about the tiger illustration by award winning author and illustrator Catherine Rayner. “I’m indebted to Catherine Rayner for taking my very basic idea, and turning it into something very special that has brought tears of delight to my eyes.”

Barley Bear helps Henry & Co celebrate

IC&G’s Barley Bear was a VIP guest at a very special Henry & Co event as the independent retailer celebrated the first anniversary of its ninth store.

Named after owner Mark Rees’ son Henry - with the ‘Co’ being siblings Lucy and Alice - the indie stores came about as a rebrand from the previous Penmark name, with all of the group’s stores now trading under the Henry & Co brand.

With Barley Bear as the special guest over the recent weekend celebrations in Ashbourne, there were colouring competitions, free raffles, balloons, free goody bags, promotions on products and free ice cream and chocolate treats to taste.

“We raffled a fantastic hamper,” Mark said, “filled to the brim with gifts and treats from Herdy, Henry & Co Fragrance, Thorntons, a King Charles III Coronation mug, and much more - and the raffle was free, all customers needed to do was ask for a ticket in store.”

The inspiration for the store concept, which offers a curated collection of cards and gifts in retailing environment which has a very contemporary feel, came out of the family time Mark spent with his wife Katy and the three children during lockdown.

The business was originally started by Mark’s parents in 1991 and, as both are now retired leaving him as md and owner, he decided on the reset in December 2020 to put the next generation’s stamp on the stores, with the Ashbourne outlet opening last May.

Henry and Co is in the finals of The

Catherine's books, babywear as well as her greeting cards, the latter developed with enthusiastic input from Michael, feature in the store.

Paying tribute to the “spectacular” support of suppliers, reps and agents Michael added: “We work with over 200 makers, illustrators, designers, and publishers, and their delight in our growth has been an amazing experience for me. I can't namecheck them all, but we are blessed to have our industry behind us all the way.”

In a newsletter he wrote and hosted on LinkedIn at the start of the year, Michael said: “Losing your main competitor is, it turns out, quite a strange place to be, and the demise of Paperchase has left me in a reflective mood,” adroitly highlighting the retail chain’s business failings and likely fall out from its demise as well as his belief that its closure will leave a “creativity gap” on our High Streets that is “up for grabs”. And grab that opportunity in his Edinburgh enclave, he certainly has.

Above: Augustus Tiger graces the inside and outside wall of Paper Tiger’s new store. Left: Michael Apter raises a glass to his third Paper Tiger store.

Below: Newbury saw Cards Direct’s 50th store opening. Below left: Wolverhampton and Solihull were the previous two openings, in a former bank and ex-Next branch.

Retas 2023

Above: Henry and Lucy Rees meet Barley Bear.

TOP STORY

Diana Was A Right Royal Card

Princess’ naughty Emo cards fetched £7k at auction

A transatlantic tussle over a pair of naughty Emotional Rescue greeting cards sent by Princess Diana to Constantine II, the last king of Greece and godfather to her son Prince William ended in victory for an American buyer - at nearly double the auction estimate!

The cheeky designs from the early 90s GirlsTalk range went under the hammer in mid May with the final figure hitting £7,000, not bad for the cards which originally retailed at just 95p, and had gone on sale with a £3,000-£5,000 price in the catalogue from Dominic Winters Auctioneers

Before they went up for sale, Emo’s creative director Jennie Rutter was called in by the Auctioneers to help date the designs by Mike Edwards, although only

midget with a 10" tongue who can breathe through his ears!"

The Princess of Wales, who died in 1997, wrote inside the cards: “Dearest Tino, fondest love as always, from Diana” and “Dearest Tino, lots of love from Diana”, adding “I couldn't decide which card to send & then thought you'd enjoy both!” on the Perfect Man design.

Other lots of individual Christmas and new year cards from the early years of Charles and Diana’s marriage, also went under the hammer at prices between £600 and £850, plus 20 Prince Andrew and Sarah Fergusson greets went for £1,000, and £3,300 being paid for a 125-strong collection of greeting cards from various royals.

Blue Diamond sparkles

Two acquisitions inside a month have taken Blue Diamond to 44 garden centres, and added £18million to group turnover, which stood at £330m last year.

Fosseway Garden Centre in Gloucestershire is the latest site to join the group, with Blue Diamond taking over the freehold of around nine acres at the start of May, following on from the acquisition of Mears Ashby’s Beckworth Emporium in April.

Blue Diamond continues to give considerable thought to its greeting card displays, as testified by it winning The Retas Best Garden Centre Retailer of greeting cards in 2021 and 2019.

Thortful teams up with Fearne Cotton

found out why when the catalogue went online and the national media picked up the story a few days before the actual auction.

Described as adult humour cards, lot 296 in the ‘Photographs, Autographs & Documents, British Royal Memorabilia’ auction shows both cards have cartoons on the front with the punchline inside, one says: “Adam came first...Men always do!” and the other has: “What's the definition of the perfect man?...A

The catalogue also included some information about the popularity of adult humour greeting cards, dating from the saucy seaside postcards of the early 20th century, which grew increasingly bawdy until Winston Churchill’s 1950s government cracked down, bringing in censorship boards which seized inappropriate postcards from traders to destroy them. The censorship boards weakened through the 1960s and were eventually disbanded.

Coinciding with the recent Mental Health Awareness Week, online greetings platform Thortful teamed up with Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place community to offer a new card collection to show people how much they mean to you.

The cards were designed in partnership with mental health advocate, best-selling author and broadcaster Fearne. Thortful will donate 50p from every card bought to mental health charity Mind

Fearne’s wellness brand Happy Place, was originally inspired by her 2017 bestselling book Happy.

With the average adult having six moments of selfdoubt every day the collection aims to provide a pickme-up to friends or family who need it.

The cards mark Happy Place’s first foray into the world of gifting, as Ferne believes that, with the millions of greeting cards sent every year, this feels a good place to start.

Double success for Maybugs

Just seven days after winning a Greats gift retailer trophy in the Best Gift Retailer Initiative category, Maybugs, which has stores in Bexhill-on-Sea, Eastbourne and Hailsham, was doubly honoured to receive the prestigious

To celebrate the launch, Thortful and Happy Place also compiled a list of top tips for encouraging positivity, and self-love - learning to love yourself during all moments of life: the good, bad, and everything in between.

award in The Small Awards.

Top: Some of the Happy Place cards from Thortful.

Above: Fearne Cotton.

High Street Hero

Left: Maybugs’ co-owners Greg Rose (right) and John Dale at The Small Awards.

Top: Emo’s Girls Talk designs caught Princess Diana’s eye (courtesy of Dominic Winters Auctioneers & SWNS).

Above: Princess Diana who died in 1997, and the auction catalogue front and back cover.

Right: Prince Philip’s festive greetings, a thank you letter from Queen Elizabeth II, and the then Prince Charles’ Christmas card were also auctioned.

Card Factory Profits Rise 368%

Instore sales up 7.3% as shoppers return to high street

An “incredibly pleased” Card Factory ceo Darcy Willson-Rymer has overseen pre-tax profits at the greeting card retail giant rocket by 368.5% thanks to shoppers returning to stores and a strong Christmas trading.

The preliminary results for the full year to 31 January 2023 showed Card Factory’s instore sales grew by 7.3% on a like-for-like basis, which the retailer attributed to the success of new ranges and implementation of target price increases where its top price point rose from £2.49 to £2.99, although it still sells many cards at 29p.

Pre-tax profits rose from £11.1million a year prior, to £52.4m as sales shot up 27.1% to £463.4m

However, its online sales dropped by 18.8% year-on-year at Cardfactory.co.uk while Gettingpersonal.co.uk was down 34.7% with customers returning to the High Street and the impact of Royal Mail’s

strikes over the Christmas trading period.

Darcy added that the strong results, that are ahead of expectations “reflect positive momentum across the business, including notable progress on our strategic growth initiatives, buoyed by the marked shift of customer spend back towards the High Street.”

In addition to the recent acquisition of SA Greetings in South Africa, Card Factory has also signed a long-term master franchise agreement with Middle East-based Liwa Trading Enterprises, to open around 36 Card Factory-branded stores in the area.

Looking to the new financial year, the company said: “Trading in the first weeks has been encouraging and slightly ahead of the board's expectations. Both everyday and seasonal ranges have performed strongly across cards and gifts during this time, with our offer across our FY24 spring seasons of Valentine's Day and Mother's Day also landing well with customers.”

Above: Continuing store openings like at Spennymoor earlier this year are helping Card Factory’s growth. Left: Online sales have been problematic for Card Factory.

The Eco-friendly Card Co’s bin busy

Sue Morrish has ‘bin’ making sure she and her family live up to their Eco-friendly Card Company name and marked Earth Day 2023 by twinning their bin.

The fridge at the family home in Devon has been twinned through the Toilet Twinning charity, helping provide food for refugees in the Democratic Republic Of Congo, and now Sue has joined the bin-twinning campaign to tackle plastic pollution while helping impoverished communities in the same country.

“We’ve chosen to twin our hot-composter bin which we use to compost food and garden waste, as well as compostable bags that are used on some of our products,” Sue explained.

The project supports a scheme where workers collect, process and recycle plastic pollution from the local community which is then turned into bricks, providing better housing material while lessening the rubbish accumulating in the streets, which exacerbates flooding and spreads diseases, and meaning residents don’t have to burn their waste.

Sue is also keen to help Terracycle with its Zero Waste bins which accept any type of biodegradable or compostable plastic goods including PLA corn-starch bags which is then sent for industrial composting.

“We now have one of these collection boxes in our office,” Sue added, “which means customers can return any Ecofriendly Card Co compostable packaging to us for composting.”

Ian Bradley faces cold water for MND

Sales agent Ian Bradley is half praying that very few people sponsor him for the Cardgains Look Out London charity challenge - because he absolutely detests cold water!

But Rush Design publisher wife Lorraine has made him promise to jump in the Serpentine Lake in the capital if their joint sponsorship total hits £2,000 for the 25-mile walk on 29 June in aid of the Motor Neurone Disease Association

“I actually hate getting into water that’s colder than a hot bath!” Ian told PG. “But I have now agreed that if we raise over £2,000 then I will jump into the Serpentine Lake - please don’t sponsor!”

The couple are part of the Onion Bargee team with pals Caroline and Jon Ranwell, who are Cardgains members through their Hugs & Kisses store in Tettenhall, and among 44 industry folk already signed up for the buying group’s annual charity challenge.

The £2,000 total is for monies raised through Ian and Lorraine’s personal JustGiving page for the event - and industry pals such as Sabivo Designs’ Sabina Kovecha and Progressive Greetings’ Tracey Arnaud have suggested dinky Speedos as the required attire for the stunt in London’s Hyde Park.

“I believe I may now have agreed to budgie smuggler Speedos for over £3,000,” Ian added.

To sponsor any of the other walkers, Cardgains’ Look Out London JustGiving page is now live and donations have already begun.

This year’s cause is close to many greetings industry hearts following the death of the legend that was David Hicks, founder of Really Good and Soul, and it’s brought the Sheffield-based buying group’s annual event to his home town of London.

A 25-mile route around the capital has been mapped out for the event on Thursday 29 June, kicking off at 7.30am in Paddington, and the organisation’s md Penny Shaw is hoping 75 people from across the industry will be pounding the streets - you don’t need to be affiliated to Cardgains to join the throng, or in the case of Ian Bradley, should that be ‘thong’?!

Top: Ian Bradley getting in the mood for his possible plunge into the Serpentine.

Above: Ian and Lorraine getting in walking practice with pals Caroline and Jon Ranwell.

Below: Sue Morrish with her twinned hot-composter bin.

Proud To Parade

Target smashed to cover GCA’s Pride In London costs

Publishers and suppliers have ensured the GCA has smashed its target to cover the costs of the industry’s inaugural participation in the Pride In London parade - and there are still some walking spaces for those who would like to join the march, which takes place on July 1.

Ending on a flurry, Hallmark and UKG came in as the final sponsors, joining Belly Button Designs, Cath Tate Cards, Graphite Creative, Spring & Autumn Fair, The Imaging Centre, Ohh Deer, Lucy Maggie Designs,

explained Mark Callaby, Ohh Deer’s co-founder and chairman of the GCA’s diversity and inclusion sub-committee, “but dressing loud and proud is encouraged!”

While some places have been reserved for sponsors the rest are up for grabs, allocated on a first come first served basis. To apply, go to the London Pride blog on the GCA website (www.gca.cards/london-pride/).

Mark added: “We’re also asking for donations of LGBTQ+ themed greeting cards. These can relate to Pride or simply celebrate love, being yourself, etc. We’ll be handing these cards out along the route to the thousands of people watching. We simply ask that the cards are family friendly.”

To comply with Pride In London sustainable rules, the cards should be naked with a nested envelope, any cards wrapped in single-use plastic or stickered with a clasp can’t be accepted.

Hallmark spreads D&I message

Hallmark is among the companies making sure the diversity and inclusion message is spread far and wide as the publisher has become a proud partner of Grocery Aid’s D&I In Grocery project.

“We’re always looking for ways to expand our learning, understand different experiences and find a way to create meaningful moments,” Jess Lovelace, Hallmark’s head of marketing explained.

“This partnership is a great way to support our Hallmarkers’ D&I learning journey, create tangible change for employees and help everyone in grocery have the opportunity be successful as their authentic selves in the workplace.”

Windles, and Ricicle Cards. This means the GCA’s 50 official places on the march from Hyde Park Corner to Whitehall Place can be offered to industry folk for free.

“We’ll be providing banners, placards and other accessories on the day,”

“We're very excited about joining the Pride In London celebrations and believe this is a fantastic opportunity for us to shout about our amazing industry and show our support to the LGBTQ+ community,” said Mark.

12 May Windles set to im-press with Lydia

Lydia is the latest member of staff at Windles and she’s completely in line with the print specialist’s eco-friendly and sustainable working practices as well as investing for the future.

Alongside Hallmark more than 80 partner organisations, including retailers Tesco, Asda, Co-Op, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Booths, and John Lewis Partnership, are working together on the project to form the grocery industry’s largest collaborative D&I network which includes shared learning opportunities, the Stories To Inspire podcast series, a mentoring programme, and the D&I In Grocery Live! event.

Tesco’s global vice-president Vincent Barnes said: “None of us have the all the answers but, by sharing and learning from each other, we can become more inclusive leaders and better nurture diversity in our organisations.”

Above: Hallmark and major supermarkets support D&I In Grocery.

For Lydia is the name the forward-thinking company has given to its latest ultra-modern printing press, a KBA Rapida 106X an all-singing alldancing seven-colour B1 lithographic offset press that fully supports the Windles LOOP-IT scheme - a platform and benchmark created to encompass all the environmental developments and future progression.

As Ian Kear-Bertie, who is in charge of creative and design direction at Windles’ MuchMore studios, explained: “I get bored of lots of techy names and codes for these machines so, for this one, I decided I’d like to name. So after lots of research and reading history text, the printing press has become Lydia after Lydia Bailey, who was a print and business phenomenon back in the 1800s.”

While having four children in 11 years, Lydia was working alongside her husband Robert as he tried to establish a printing business in Philadelphia and was forced to take over after his death in 1808, going on to transform the firm into one of the city’s busiest printing establishments, employing more than 40 workers, eventually retiring at the age of 82, in 1861.

Ian explained that the key to Lydia's success was her determination, persistence, attention to detail and inventiveness.

She produced books, postcards, leaflets and the first generation of greeting cards. She learned to set type herself, she sold books, took out advertising, trained apprentices, performed the bookkeeping, and took care of the shop. She combined the duties of a ceo, cfo, human resources director, director of operations, and payroll chief in one person!

“As with Lydia the pioneer, Lydia the press looks to the future, bolstering Windles’ print and production capabilities, to ensure the delivery of the high-quality greeting cards customers expect can continue for many years to come,” assured Ian.

Above left: Pioneering printer Lydia Bailey worked in the 1800s.

Left: Lydia the KBA Rapida 106X whose VariDry technology means 30% of the energy is recovered and recirculated, plus there are LED-curing lamps for further increased energy-saving, Above right: The Lydia name sign on the machine.

Above: The GCA can have up to 50 marchers handing out cards along the route.

PG Live is on the horizon and in a few days many of us will be making the pilgrimage to London’s Business Design Centre to view the latest in greeting cards.

No doubt there will be lots of inspiring new designs, companies and finishes on display, and lots of new companies as well as much loved brands.

I missed last year’s show as my son was due to be born that week so had a good excuse but for me this show is all about ‘being in the room’ and seeing where the trends are going.

Trends in life, just like trends in cards are always changing. At present I feel we are working against a backdrop which has never been so difficult for small business. I have lost count of the number of friends who were running their own businesses, be it in joinery or other service-based options that they have closed down to take the security of employment.

Looking to our industry, greeting card publishing and retailing is also not for the fainthearted. It has often been said that everyone has one great idea for a card range but to have the longevity of say a Wendy Jones-Blackett or Beth Genower of Five Dollar Shake takes a little bit more than one great idea.

I know that many buyers come to PG Live looking for the wow and the new, me among them, but I also think we need to respect what the mainstream publishers are bringing to the table. Quite simply they bring consistent strong sales and when visiting the show, please do not overlook this type of publisher as they are at the core of many of our stores.

Legacies, Leave Behinds And Tigers

There has been lots of chatter around the Covid tail and the change from physical retail to etail, but as time progresses our lives have drifted back to more normal ways, though online sales are higher than preCovid, in our sector included.

Etail continues to be a challenge for the majority of independent retailers. During Covid so many small businesses jumped online, sold through Facebook, posted on Instagram and we all looked at other possible sites to try and keep us going but looking longer term I wonder how this is going to pan out. Realistically you could spend a lot of time, effort and investment on something that does not give a return on what we want or need.

Some indies do seem to have cracked it, but I know we struggled with our website to get it to be a fair representation of our physical stores and despite all the clever design, branding and a bespoke Shopify site the sales themselves have never really justified what we put into it.

Some three years on my feelings on this have not changed and with the constantly evolving algorithms and the fact that we don’t manufacture our own goods to have a USP it is very difficult for us to compete with Amazon and the like. Also, many brands are now our direct competitors as they have set up retail sites and are selling to the public. Now, I am not a fan of this practice, but Covid made all companies, big and small, examine how they operate and this is something that we have to accept.

Where indies have fared well is their ability to jump onto trends that pop up from time to time - whether it is an Amuseable pea on Tik Tok or us stocking the right decorations for the Coronation, we are on it!

One Covid trend that has endured are Zoom/Teams meetings and we still regularly use these tools to allow us to attend meetings, seminars and the like.

Last week for example I jumped on a Zoom to view and order a key new product launch a week early. This saved both the agent and myself a great deal of time and also meant that our stock arrived sooner.

This legacy will no doubt continue to evolve and it won’t be long until we are able to experience a 3D hologram of the other

OVER THE COUNTER BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.

Left: Earning your stripes in today’s changing times is tough. Below: David Robertson at PG Live 2021 at which he spent his Silver Ticket with Rush’s Lorraine Bradley.

person physically showing us the goods - just think of the chess scene in Star Wars!

The changing role of the sales agent has been a topic around for the last few years yet I still believe there is a place for seeing people with actual product and like many of us I still gladly welcome them in store.

On trend ‘insperiences’ also became a big hit during Covid. If you were missing the London based Pizza Pilgrims, you could just order their dough and food kits to make them at home. I lost count of the times we did this then, but not now.

But while insperiences may have waned, people still love to be inspired. Thankfully hospitality, while still somewhat tricky has bounced back. Many of our card and gift stores will also have a coffee shop running alongside to aid footfall and boost dwell time - the biggest challenge now is not customer footfall, but getting staff to work in them.

In fact, retail in general is struggling from a staff shortage. People across many sectors have re-examined their working life and many have simply left working life behind. Covid forced many of us into a different way of living and in a poll run by the insurance company Aviva of 4,000 people surveyed across the UK, three out of five said they were seriously considering a

evident in the supermarket world, with 16 hours now being seen as a regular working week.

What it does do however is cause further challenges in bonding a team and getting consistency but we now have staff working two and three day weeks and you learn to adapt.

The convenience sector saw a huge shift during the pandemic. Small food retailers saw a real spike in sales with great stores offering to support local, introduce new delivery services and foster a real community spirit.

What has now been clearly seen is that price is key over local

question the price of things and for them to spend that £5 mark on a greeting card it now needs to be something special or for a very special occasion.

With this being the case we are looking at our displays and the mix of product within them. We still want to lead the way in design and choice, but doing this at a competitive price is key.

With price increases in paper, printing and of course core costs such as heat and light, many UK card publishers have been forced to raise prices.

Covid is no longer classed as a global health emergency, however the acceleration of change caused over the last few years, the lack of money in people’s pockets, the lifestyle shifts as to how we celebrate and enjoy ourselves will all have an effect going forward.

I am among several indies who have been invited by PG and the GCA to join a taskforce to come up with ways of encouraging more Christmas card sending, not helped by the postal strikes last year dampening volumes. We plan to pool our collective thinking to see how we can kickstart the importance of marking togetherness and celebrating special moments in history.

In recent years my personal Christmas card sending has been woeful with it being late or simply to giving cards to those closest to me. This has to change as I need to practice what I preach!

change, with those in the 25-34 year age group being the most likely to want to change completely.

As we all know finding good staff at this time is a real lottery and without doubt this is a legacy that is set to remain with us for some time.

To respond to this we have changed how we advertise and recruit for jobs. The idea is to have more staff on shorter, more flexible hours and this has become the norm. It helps both in terms of cover and cost and is clearly

Adapting, changing, pivoting have all become part of what we do daily as small retailers. Anyone who has come through the last few years with their hopes and dreams intact and still energetic are to be admired.

What we really need to do now is catch that tiger by the tail and do what we have always done and find a way. Find a way to trade, find a way to survive and find a way to be successful…oh and find our way to PG Live on the 6th and 7th of June!

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com

Above: David cites part of the success of companies such as Wendy Jones-Blackett as being down to a constant stream of new ideas.

(Left and far right) Wendy and Steve J-B at PG Live 2022 with Hugs and Kisses’ Caroline and Jon Ranwell.

Below lefte: With Zoom/Teams meetings now the norm, the Star Wars hologram chess game does not seem so far off.

Right: Part of Bijou’s Christmas box displays last year. David is part of the indie thinktank of how to engage the consumer to send more Christmas cards.

Bottom: David urges us all to catch that tiger by the tail and deal with it!

Talkin’ About

My Generation

There was a feeling a decade ago, recalled Cardsharp, that the Millennialsthe generation that were children or teenagers in 2000 - would eschew greeting card sending. This was the first generation that had been brought up in the shadow of the internet and hence would have no interest in giving someone a piece of board with a picture and a handwritten message inside. But like so many other predictions that were made about this generation, this has thankfully for us, proved very wrong.

It was first the Baby Boomers and then Generation X that really powered the rise and rise of greeting card sending in the 1980s, 1990s and then the 2000s. Millennials, it was thought, would only be interested in all things digital and that’s what it looked like post the financial crash of 2009. That subsequent period saw the rise of Uber, Facebook, Twitter, crypto currency, Deliveroo, WeWork and Airbnb, as well as Moonpig and Funky Pigeon in our sector, all embraced initially with relish by the majority of Millennials.

But just look at what has happened post-Covid. Uber is no cheaper than your average minicab now the investment cash has run out, (that’s even if you can get one these days). WeWork and Airbnb have become just modern-day letting agencies.

No Millennials will go near Facebook now and it is populated primarily by the over fifties. Twitter is in financial meltdown, haemorrhaging both advertisers and users. The charges for Deliveroo are apparently nearly as expensive as the takeaways they deliver, and even then, they still can’t turn over a profit. Crypto has shown to be nothing more than an elaborate Ponzi scheme. How those millennial dreams have disappointed.

Even in culture, Millennials have not really made much of a mark. Boomers had hippies and glam rock. Gen X had punk and new romantics and then at the end grunge. Cardsharp supposes you could say the cliched style that typifies Millennials would be the Hipster, but this was hardly a national movement, spreading sporadically from its heartland in the Borough of Hackney in London.

And like the other supposedly iconic new millennial developments that were going to disrupt an industry completely, online greeting card sales have failed to dominate the greeting card market as was predicted when sales were growing like topsy during Covid. Estimates vary but Cardsharp reckons the percentage of online sales in the market by value is still under 20% and much less in volume. Of course, there was a huge sales spike in lockdown when the high street was closed, but since then things seem to have reverted to more or less to the old pattern.

Certainly, reflects Cardsharp, the prediction that online print on demand sales would increase exponentially year on year

Top: The Who brought out My Generation in 1965…things have moved on since then.

Above: Deliveroo and Uber have not continued to grow as predicted.

Left: A stereotypical scene of a group of Millennials, logged on to technology.

have not materialised. Market share has crept up to above pre-pandemic levels, but nowhere near as much as some thought they would.

By contrast, bricks and mortar seems to have bounced back, despite the difficult trading conditions brought about by the costof-living crisis. Indeed, the UK’s major multiple specialist retail chain Card Factory, with over 1,000 stores seems to have gone from strength to strength. Its end of year financial results were exceptionally good. Store sales were very strong and yet its online sales were poor, but this did not stop an overall impressive performance.

It would seem that many (if not all) of this millennial generation have gone back to basics. Yes, they have embraced much of what the internet has got to offer, but still get a thrill out of a pure physical greeting card and buying it in a bricks and mortar store. Cardsharp thinks we could plausibly say we have tamed and converted this generation, which is remarkable considering how so much has changed with technology in the last 15 years.

So luckily for us in the greeting card industry, millennials still like paper, whether it be stationery or greeting cards. The demise of Paperchase was obviously a blow with this demographic, but Cardsharp tends to think that the majority of discerning Millennials had seen through Paperchase’s latter lacklustre own brand offering and had already been sourcing alternatives, hence the chain’s multitude of business failures.

Above: Greeting cards were among the first products to return from online to being bought in high streets, according to Kantar’s research.

Right: What will the current and future generations make of greeting cards - Who knows!

Only The Lonely

So, what of Generation Z, the new term given to the under 25s, who are supposedly pushing a new woke agenda, based on identity whether it be based on gender, race, environmental views, class, sex or generation? Can we in the greeting card industry neutralise their seeming hostility or apathy to ‘traditional or old media’ and get this next generation to embrace the greeting card tradition?

Cardsharp, being a ‘boomer’ himself and so four age classifications up from your average Gen Zer, is not the best person to share an opinion on this, but if past history is anything to go by, if we keep generating new exciting and relevant product, we have a decent chance.

As The Who, one of the iconic voices of the boomer generation sang in their Won’t Get Fooled Again track, ‘Meet the new boss, same as the old boss’.

Mind you this was the band who brought us ‘My Generation which includes the lyrics: “Hope I die before I get old?”, but Cardsharp will ignore that one!

Linking into his thoughts about the Millennials’ continued affection for greeting cards, Cardsharp was perturbed to read a survey by a US health official that claimed that western societies face an “epidemic of loneliness and isolation”. And more seriously, this was a public health risk worse than obesity or drug abuse or smoking 15 cigarettes a day. It is claimed that loneliness was associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression and premature death. These were trends that were becoming more and more apparent before 2020, but were exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. The findings showed that most Americans claim to have a smaller friendship network than before the pandemic.

Interestingly and perhaps pertinent to Cardsharp’s comments in his main article about greeting cards being relevant to Generation Z, ‘social connection’ is what is missing for so many under 25s. The impact of technology and social media is said to be one of the key contributing factors in this mental health crisis. Someone sending a greeting card, emphasising you are thinking of that person, may initially seem a bit weird to this generation, but surely it will boost their feelings of self-worth.

This, to Cardsharp’s mind, increases the importance of the GCA’s Thinking of You Week in September and indeed a crucial hook to use in increasing Christmas card sending this year, after the untimely Royal Mail strikes decimated volumes sent and therefore received. Every greeting card sent at any time of the year is positively contributing to tackling our nation’s terrible mental health crisis. Perhaps it is too much to claim greeting cards should be available free on the NHS, but it does remind Cardsharp that as well as making our living in a fastmoving creative industry, we contribute so much to our nation’s wellbeing, something of which all involved in this sector should feel proud.

Above: The Guardian was among the media to feature the loneliness crisis. Appositely Hallmark paid to have an advert for its Forever Friends boxes of cards to appear alongside!

Right: Roy Orbison sang Only the Lonely in 1960, but now 63 years on loneliness is a modern day scourge.

The Art Of Reta-iling

The final run up to the Coronation weekend was doubly memorable for a special group of UK greeting card retailers, as their week was crowned by finding out that they have reached the finals of The Retas 2023 greeting card retailer awards.

PG revels in some of the jubilant initial reactions, with the winners revealed at a Van Gogh-themed awards event on July 6 at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Sarah Laker, owner of Stationery Supplies, Marple and Wilmslow

Finalist in Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards - North and Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative

“I'm not usually one for quotes, but one by poet SC Lourie came to mind this afternoon when I found out that I'd reached the finals in two categories of The Retas: "Some days I am a goddess. Some days I am a wild child. And some days I am a fragile mess. Most days I am a bit of all three. But every day, I am here, trying."

I'm feeling a mixture of delight and disbelief, and am close to tears. I honestly can't believe that I've been shortlisted for the third year running, and in two categories. I am really blown away that so many people in the industry nominated me. My phone went wild with congratulations after PG Buzz went out revealing the finalists and then again when I posted the news on socials.

I want to say a big thank you to everyone in the greeting card industry that nominated me, I know of seven of you so far which is just, well just, unbelievable. I'm totally blown away. It honestly means so much.

And massive congratulations to all the shortlisted businessesregardless of who wins, we're all champions in my eyes.

And lastly, thank you to my staff, without whom none of this would be possible.”

Kate Hodgson, co-owner of Design@six, Wetherby Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North East England

“We are absolutely delighted to have been nominated once again. It’s testament to our continued hard work in difficult economic times and keeping our wonderful Wetherby customers happy.

Fingers crossed 2023 is our year to take home the trophy!”

Right: Kate Hodgson’s mission is to keep her customers happy!

Hayleigh Nolan, co-owner of Maddy Moos, Totton

Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Home Counties

“This has made our year! We were lucky enough to be nominated for The Retas Best Newcomer in 2012 and Karen and Kevin had a great time at the awards before. Sadly, Kevin is no longer with us but myself (his daughter) and Karen (my mum/business partner) are thrilled to be nominated again! He'd definitely be proud!!

After the last few crazy and unpredictable years of so many up and downs, we're so excited to be coming to The Retas again and as a finalist! We feel very grateful to be a part of such a wonderful industry, not to mention how proud we are of our small business.”

Left: Maddy Moos’ Karen and Hayleigh Nolan celebrating the news.

Heidi Early, co-owner of Earlybird Designs, Stoke Newington Best Independent Greeting Card RetailerLondon (inside the M25)

“Wowweeeee! We’re so, so chuffed to reach the finals again! It is an absolute honour to be recognised among such tough competition. This gives us such an emotional boost and we really, really appreciate that. Our customers often tell us how much they love our selection of cards - we write it all down in a book - so to get industry recognition too really gives us a warm fuzzy feeling!”

Maura Quinn, owner of Bus Stop Cards & Gifts, Castleberg Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North West England and Northern Ireland

“For once I was completely speechless when I heard that my shop was a finalist in The Retas! We have been overwhelmed by all the congratulations and good luck wishes from our customers and also all the local businesses in the area.

It is such an achievement for a shop in a small town to get to the finals of such a prestigious award.

To celebrate I hosted a staff appreciation day with afternoon tea and of course some bubbly!”

Caroline Ranwell, owner of Hugs & Kisses, Tettenhall Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card RetailerThe Midlands

“I can’t tell you how much this means to me, it a real honour to be a finalist and to be up there with the best in the business in these prestigious awards.

Susan Miller, owner of Joyce’s With Best Wishes Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Home Counties

“Wow, what incredible news to receive as we celebrate our special 25th year! We are absolutely thrilled to hear that we have made the finals of the prestigious Retas 2023 awards! It is a true testament to all of the hard work, dedication, and passion that we have put into our shop, and I couldn't be prouder of our team. This is a moment to celebrate, to bask in the joy of our accomplishments, and to look forward to the exciting possibilities that lie ahead. I can't wait to see what the future holds and to continue to build upon this incredible success.”

We were away in Cornwall when one of the Retail Buddies congratulated the finalists on our group chat… I hadn’t seen anything until then. The locals in St Ives must have wondered what all the noise was about when Jon and I were jumping up and down and shouting in the street!

As for the Retas awards event, Jon and I will be there with bells on! I absolutely can’t wait; I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

Victoria Robinson, co-owner of Wishes of Cockermouth Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North West England and Northern Ireland

“Oh My Goodness!!!!!!!! We were overjoyed to receive the email confirming that we are in the finals

As Mum [Fiona] walked into the shop, I said to her...”you're going to need a new frock. When I told her why, she nearly spilled her coffee!!!!”

We're so extremely grateful to whoever may have nominated us.

What a quadruple celebratory weekend - the Coronation, birthdays for Mum and Sharron (one of our Wishes’ Team) and now we're a Retas finalist!”

Right: A crowning moment for Heidi Early.

Above: Sue Miller (second left) with manager ‘Little Sue’ spreading the news about reaching The Retas’ finals.

Right: Maura Quinn (with the balloon) and the Bus Stop Cards & Gifts team at their Retas’ celebratory event.

Right: Caroline and Jon Ranwell shared their sense of joy with those in St. Ives!

Above: Wishes of Cockermouth’s CCTV caught the moment when Victoria Robinson (left) told her mum and business partner, Fiona that she would need a new frock as they are off to The Retas as finalists.

Sean Austin, owner of Austin & Co, Malvern Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Midlands and Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative

Sean took to social media to share the news…

“Well knock me down with a feather, we've only gone and done it again!

The nominations for this year's Retas greeting card awards were announced this afternoon and we're up for two awards; the Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer in the Midlands and the Greeting Card Retailer Initiative for Nessa's Annual Christmas Dog Food Collection.

The winners will be announced at a lavish Van Gogh-themed awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on July 6.

Am I Van Gogh-ing? You betcha! I'm off to Google 'Sunflowers bow tie".

Left: The image Sean used on his Instagram post about reaching the finals in two categories.

Tim Reynolds and Charlie Wheatley, retail manager and assistant manager of Medici Gallery, West Kensington Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - London (inside the M25)

“We at Medici Gallery are delighted to be nominated again for the best Independent Greeting Card Retailer in London at this year’s Retas awards. It is such an honour to be chosen and yes, we feel rightfully proud. We look forward to seeing everyone in July at the ceremony at the Grosvenor House.

The Van Gogh theme this year is very appropriate for Medici as we have sold prints of his work for many years and we have sunflowers in our staff room!”

Tiffany Leach, owner of Kingfisher Cards & Gifts, Sidmouth Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card RetailerSouth West

“My oh my! We’ve made it again that’s unbelievable and to say we are so excited is an understatement. What an achievement, never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d be nominated again! To hold onto the trophy for a second year would be just so awesome. Can’t wait to see everyone at the awards! I hope I don’t get too excited, drunk and cut my ear off beforehand ha ha ha!”

Jo Barber, owner of No.14, Ampthill Finalist in Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards - South

Jo posted her good news in her weekly newsletter to customers. She wrote…

“I found out this week that we’ve reached the finals of the Retas Awards, in the category ‘Best Non-Specialist

Independent Retailer of Greetings Cards’. It’s a highly recognised award within the greetings industry, and we’re chuffed to bits. The category we’re in (non-specialist) is because we’re predominately a gift shop, with cards considered a smaller part of our offering, but in truth, where would we be without our cards? They’re my favourite part of the shop and last year we sold over 34,500 cards!!”

Right: It was a double celebration at No.14 – the Coronation and The Retas news.

Cathy Frost, owner of Loveone, Ipswich Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - East Anglia

“How exciting…being shortlisted for a Retas award is very exciting. It is great to be recognised by the industry for good practice and a testament to the many talented artists and card designers who help to make my business a real experience to visit.”

Left: Cathy

outside her Loveone shop.

Right: Tim Reynolds (right) and Charlie Wheatley outside the landmark Medici Gallery shop in West Kensington.

Above: It was a happy day indeed for Tiffany Leach when she found out her shop is in The Retas finalis.

Frost

Sally Matson, owner of Red Card, Petworth Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Home Counties

“Whoop whoop! We are so excited! We’ve just done a quick count in the shop and we currently have over 12,000 cards out - and this is the reason we are excited - because we do cards! It’s what we love - we have so many different companies that we work with and we love this industry. Just looking across the shortlisted businesses is great too because we know all these people - they are our industry buddies and it’s great to see everyone’s hard work recognised. Plus it’s a lot of fun to see all these people at The Retas awards event!”

Penny Bailey, co-owner of Bailey’s in Ainsdale, Crosby and Maghull

Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North West England and Northern Ireland

“Wow! What a fabulous surprise. Being honest, having three shops is a real challenge. I feel like I've just had my head down recently, doing all I can to keep them running well. So, to look up for a moment and realise people have seen something worth nominating for a Retas award has put one big smile on my face.

For suppliers, who visit dozens of shops in our area, to take the time to nominate us is very special. Although we are fortunate to have been in this position before, it is never taken for granted and really does give me a boost in confidence that I am doing something right.

I went down to our Ainsdale shop this morning to share the news. Sarah and Chris were there, throwing themselves into the Coronation celebrations, so we had double the reason to celebrate!”

Malcolm Adams, owner of Stationery House & Gifts, Somerton and Clevedon Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card RetailerSouth West

“We were so thrilled to get the news we have got through to the finals. The girls, Angela, Sarah and Lynne got right royally dressed up!”

Helen and Paul Southgate, co-owners of Cards ‘N’ Things, Norwich

Finalist in Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - East Anglia

“Amazing!!! This has put a big smile on our faces! It is such an honour to be selected as finalists and want to say a big thank you to whoever nominated us for an award. There are so many amazing independent card shops working so hard to bring great product and personal customer service, it’s a huge honour to be put forward as a finalist. We love our work and friends from other stores and thankful for amazing artists, reps and companies that supply us.

Thank you for all you do for championing our industry! We can’t wait for 6th July!”

Gogh-ing for it

The winners of The Retas 2023 will be unveiled at a lavish afternoon event on Thursday 6 July, taking place in the Ballroom of the Grosvenor House Hotel in London that will be attended by over 400 retailers, publishers and suppliers. The event this year will take on a Van Gogh theme, selected to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Marijn Veraart, head of global partnerships and licensing of the Van Gogh Museum commented: “We are very excited to be part of The Retas Awards 2023. It’s a privilege to celebrate our special year, being the 50th anniversary of the Van Gogh Museum, with such a prestigious retail awards programme. We hope to contribute to this exciting event by inspiring everyone with the life and art of Vincent Van Gogh! Good luck to all the finalists.”

One of the world’s greatest painters, Vincent van Gogh completed more than 2,100 works in less than ten years as an artist, creating some of the most iconic paintings which have an ageless and diverse appeal.

Bringing together Van Gogh’s creative talents with that of The Art File studio, the publisher’s designer Beth Kemp has created the official invitation to The Retas 2023 awards event, which pays tribute to the Dutch post-impressionist painter.

To book your tickets, visit www.maxsubscriptions.net/tickets

Left: Sally Matson was in her Coronation gear when she found out Red Card was in The Retas’ finals.

Above: Penny Bailey (centre) with her colleagues Sarah and Chris.

Left: (left-right) Stationery House’s Angela Billing, Sarah Musk and Lynne Brown.

Above: Part of

Left: Helen and Paul Southgate immediately got into celebratory mode.

“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

Big

Shoes

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

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.

2017, Ceri put sustainability firmly on the industry agenda, urging publishers, retailers and trade suppliers to progress on the environmental front, something which UKG continues to champion while not losing sight of the need to create special greeting cards.

“By the end of this year we will have reshored 60% of all of our production to the UK,” confirmed Ceri, highlighting just one of the company’s many improvements on the environmental front.

As part of this, in something of an historic turnaround, the company is once again manufacturing in Dewsbury, having invested in printing, die-cutting, foiling and folding machinery for its greeting cards as well as a rollwrap facility.

“It was so great to be able to bring back a lot of the members of our old team who know, understand and have a passion for greeting card printing,” said Ceri.

And this has coincided with challenging UKG’s creative team to be ever more

Personal Revelations

Ceri shares some of her personal secrets…

What did you want to be when you ‘grew up’?

manufacturing on its Dewsbury site once again and has invested in new printing and finishing machinery. Above: As well as bringing a lot of its manufacturing back to the UK, which has involved sizeable investment in machinery at its Dewsbury site, UKG has given careful consideration to different treatments to add value to the cards which are also more sustainable. Right: Ceri with James Conn, UKG’s former ceo, at the GCA conference last September.

inventive in their product design for greeting cards and wrappings that still deliver on specialness and value for money without costing the planet.

“Our focus on sustainability and how we reduce our carbon emissions will continue, because it is the right thing to do - for our customers, their customers and our planet, both now and in the future,” stated Ceri.

“One of my favourite TV programmes in the 80s was Just Good Friends, a sitcom which centred around the relationship between Penny [played by Jan Francis] and Vince [played by Paul Nicholas]. I wanted to be Penny and go to work wearing a really nice suit!”

If you were forced to do something else for a living, what would your dream job be?

“I love gardening so my dream job, other than the one I have at UKG of course, would be to work for the RHS as a gardener.”

Is there a quirky fact about yourself that few people know?

“I am a supertaster, which means my sense of taste has a greater intensity than most people. This came in handy when I was doing my wine exams, when I was a wine buyer for Asda.”

What three descriptors would your best friend use to sum up your personality?

“Hardworking, competitive and party animal.”

Where would you want a magic carpet to take you?

“I love nature and wildlife so a trip to Canada as well as to Wyoming’s Yellowstone Park in the States would be good to start with, followed by Italy’s Amalfi Coast.”

What are your guilty pleasures?

“Salted caramel chocolates and wine - Viognier and Malbec are among my faves.”

As far as the greeting card industry as a whole is concerned, Ceri believes it is in pretty good shape.

“The best news of all is that consumer participation in greeting cards is at an all time high. Our latest research tracker report shows that 94% of the UK adult population have bought at least one card in the last year, up on previous reports. This is a positive for everyone involved in this great industry,” reinforced Ceri.

She highlights how there have been some channel shifts in the last few years, exacerbated by the pandemic, with grocers gaining ground and online sales now accounting for around 16% of the market, way up on pre-Covid levels.

“I think 2023 greeting card sales generally have been better than expected. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day sales were good and Easter was respectable while everyday has been solid, with special sends doing well. I always talk of cards being inexpensive gifts and this has been the case during the cost-of-living crisis,” believes Ceri.

The promotion of Matthew James to UKG’s director of independent sales Ceri highlights is part of the publisher’s commitment to indies.

“Our independent retailers are very important to us, especially as they are all about the UKG brand. We have not had anyone in this role for five years, and Matt’s appointment will help ensure that we continue to serve and support in the best way possible. We won The Henries Best Service to the Independent Retailer Gold trophy last October, we want to keep hold of that title!” Ceri stressed.

So, a few months into her new role, how does it feel to be filling James Conn’s shoes?

The quick-witted Ceri responded: “Well, I have tiny size 3 feet, so I would never be able to walk in James’ shoes, but as he was my mentor for 15 years and we had similar ways of thinking, I will do my utmost not to trip up!”

C ol o u r ful Coming of Age

Paper Salad’s stand at PG Live will be even more of a beacon than usual, as the publisher will be kicking off its 18th birthday celebrations, with cake, bubbles and of course its latest clutch of super colourful new greeting cards.

PG visited the publisher’s co-founders Karen Wilson and Claire Williams in their new ‘grown up’ offices and studio in Romiley to talk about the company’s coming of age.

Its trademark neon ink greeting card designs, with their accompanying patterned envelopes stand out in any retailer display, from indies through to the grocers, but Paper Salad as a company stands out as a fabulous example of how tenacity when combined with talent and passion can win through.

This year marks the 18th anniversary since Claire Williams and Karen Wilson, took the plunge and set up their greeting card company bringing their own hand-painted style onto the market.

Having met at Stockport art college, after graduating they started working together initially selling and licensing their designs to other companies through an agent. It was a trip to New York’s Surtex surface design show, which was then colocated with the National Stationery Show, and a chance conversation with PG’s Jakki Brown and Warren Lomax on a bus, that reinforced their decision to stride out with their own publishing company.

Fast forward 18 years and Paper Salad has an impressive collection of 15 Henries trophies, and another seven Louie awards

from the US, testament to the company’s design prowess, not to mention a Stockport Business Award in recognition of its growth. Its cards are now sold all over the world and the brand’s reach is further amplified by the strong ongoing licensing collaborations with Glick on giftwrappings and Emotional Rescue on five humorous and sentiment-based ranges to date.

Sitting in their delightful new studio and offices, which is something of a step up from operating from a corner of their warehouse below, which they did up until the expansion last October, Karen and Claire agree that Paper Salad is feeling a bit more “grown up”, but like all 18-year-olds there is still a lot on the wish list.

The recent Coronation was a moment of reflection for them, especially as they met the now King just before they set up Paper Salad, when he visited the shared office complex where Karen and Claire worked together.

“Looking at our rather cramped working area, he said to the person taking the tour: “Can’t you get these girls some more space?” Well, it has only taken us 20 years!” quipped Claire.

Thinking back to the early days of Paper Salad, Karen explains that it was not an overnight success, far from it.

Top: Paper Salad co-founders Karen Wilson (left) and Claire Williams with some of the 15 Henries trophies the publisher has been awarded. In addition, it has seven US Louie awards in the company’s trophy cache. Above left: The image which graces the cover of Paper Salad’s catalogue which acknowledges the company’s grown-up birthday.

Left: All Paper Salad designs, including this one from its latest Fleurescent range, are hand-painted in the studio by Karen or Claire in a collaborative process. This design is also being translated into a giftwrappings as part of the licensed range from Glick.

“We always believed we would get there in the end, but it wasn’t really until 2017, when we launched Jamboree, encompassing lots of different embossing patterns in a way that no one else had really done before, that really started people talking about Paper Salad,” revealed Karen.

Claire also remembers working on the company’s first business plan in order to clinch a loan for the embryonic company. “We worked out that we would have to be selling 10,000 cards every month to stay on target, which seemed a scarily large amount. Thankfully we did it and were so relieved. Now, we can’t quite believe that we sell 10 million cards a year!”

Claire adds that she and Karen always joke that: “We’ve failed our way to success.”

Above: The licensing relationship Paper Salad has forged with Glick for giftwrappings has been successful for 13 years and counting.

Below left: Designs from the Mine’s a Pint (right) and Is It Friday Yet? collections, two of the five card ranges that are published under licence by Emotional Rescue featuring designs by the Paper Salad duo combined with humorous captions by Emo.

Below right: As part of their commitment to the industry, Karen and Claire created the branding for the GCA’s Thinking of You Week which has now also been adopted by the US Greeting Card Association. The Paper Saladies were delighted to see their design on a banner at the recent Noted show in San Francisco.

warehouse and HR manager, the founders can do what they do best, and concentrate on designing.

Sprint to the finish

It has not just been their hand-drawn designs and full-on colours that have set Paper Salad apart, but also Karen and Claire’s appetite to try new print processes and finishes to give their cards a USP.

“Blimey, what do these two women want…the sun, the moon, the stars and 20 embossing dies on one card?! I like a challenge, but let me get my head round whether this is possible,” exclaimed Bruce Podmore, the owner and managing director of Windles printing group, when presented with Karen and Claire’s wish list for their Jamboree range, which launched in 2017.

Refusing to be stumped, Bruce, who is something of a Willy Wonka magician where new printing processes are concerned, not only worked out how the embossing fest could be achieved, but invested in a new machine to ensure the magic happened.

As she added: “We are just two designers, which has been our strength and our weakness. We have had some great successes, but also some major flops. We have had cashflow issues due to our growth, which saw us having to pay for things on our personal credit cards as well as other infrastructure setbacks.”

With Karen’s son Jack now firmly in his stride as general manager and latterly with Diane Woollam, an experienced logistics and behavioural maestro, joining the team as

Up Close and Personal

“Claire and I work closely together on designs, which are always hand-painted. While bright colours have always been our thing, and probably always will, our ideas come from all directions. We both love interiors and our latest range, Fleurescent, which we will be launching at PG Live, was inspired by the renaissance in chintz, but we have just done it in a Paper Salad way!” described Karen. “Some people think that designing in our naïve style must be easy, but just as Picasso said: “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child,” it is not as simple as it looks.”

This 18-year-old has certainly earned its right to enjoy a drink or two at PG Live!

Commenting, Bruce told PG: “I feel delighted to have played a part in Paper Salad’s evolution, which goes to show you can teach an old dog new tricks. Woof woof!”

Karen and Claire entered into the spirit of being put in the hot seat for some personal revelations…

What three words would best describe you?

Karen about Claire: “Quirky, detailed and colourful.”

Claire about Karen: “Feisty, creative and instinctive.”

Guilty pleasures

“Gorgeous food and lovely wine…and we don’t feel guilty about liking them. It is what has driven us forward. Paper Salad has not been a ‘get rich quick’ scheme, we worked for years before we made any money.”

A magic carpet awaits, where would you like to go?

Karen: “Jamaica as it is such a colourful, happy place; Italy for the food and culture and New Zealand for the scenery.”

Claire: “Japan, somewhere I have always wanted to visit and Fiji, I have been before and loved it, so would love to make a return trip.”

You both love good food, but who would you like to have at a Paper Salad dinner party?

“Freddie Mercury, Pablo Picasso, Marilyn Monroe, Prince William, Salvadore Dali and William Burroughs.”

Below: Graphical depictions of Paper Salad’s co-founders celebrating their company’s coming of age.

15 Years

of PG Live

This June marks the 15th anniversary of Progressive Greetings Live.

Warren Lomax, joint show director of PGL shares some of his personal recollections of the exhibition...

“15years - where have they gone? In many ways, 2008 when the first PG Live show was staged, seems like yesterday. But then, when you think about what we have all gone through in those intervening years - the financial crisis and subsequent economic downturn, the Scottish and EU referendums, Covid and lockdowns and now the Ukraine war and the energy crisis - it feels like a generation ago.

There have been so many great memories and a few not so great ones. I remember particularly the few weeks before the inaugural show, a volcanic ash cloud emanating from Iceland threatened to curtail all international air travel. Since we were expecting export buyers from all around the globe, this was a real worry, but luckily the weather Gods were on our side, and a change of wind direction meant the threat never materialised.

I clearly remember the worries, despite having a great line up of exhibitors and having promoted extensively, we still wondered if any buyers would turn up. But as Jakki repeatedly quoted from the Kevin Costner movie, Field of Dreams, “If we build it, they will come”.

And come they did! The opening day of the first show was packed with buyers, overseas distributors and exhibitors, and everyone seemed to love it. The complimentary lunches went down a storm (especially the vegetarian lasagne which has been a staple on the menu ever since). The first night party on site was a riot, but the news in the evening of the death on Michael Jackson and Manchester United losing to Barcelona in the Champions League final also sticks in my mind.

Being newbies to the exhibition organising business, we were initially disappointed that the

second day was not so busy, but as the day wore on, we realised that this was when a lot of the serious business was being done, especially by the international buyers who had just been doing their ground work on the first day and were back to place their orders.

In our second year we introduced what has become a PG Live institution, the meeters and greeters in their greeting card dresses featuring hundreds of exhibitors’ greeting cards and the soothing sax player in Graeme Airth (of Curiosity Killed the Cat fame) providing a jazzy soundtrack to proceedings. Although one year the opening was not quite so soothing, courtesy of a band of Indian Bhangra drummers, who almost broke the sound barrier!

It was also in our second year that we introduced the Springboard section, which for many visitors has become a key highlight of PG Live. This ‘show within a show’ put the spotlight on new and emerging publishers. Under the auspices of Springboard Queen Tracey Arnaud, it has given the first start to many new publishers, who have gone on to greater things. Wrendale, Bexy Boo, Raspberry Blossom, Rush Design and Stormy Night to name just a few.

Covid precipitated the cancellation of the exhibition in 2020, but the following year, despite the ongoing pandemic and international travel being prohibited, the great greeting card industry rallied around meaning we could create a great, if (partially) socially distanced show. Jakki and I were emotionally moved, when the show closed and there was a rapturous round of applause from exhibitors, so pleased to be back together.

We are so proud that PG Live has grown to become the greatest greeting card show in the world, only of course possible thanks to the support from our friends in the industry, exhibitors, retailers, overseas distributors, reps and agents.

We can’t wait to see everyone again at this year’s show and if you are a cardie and have not yet visited PG Live in those 15 years, come and see what you’ve been missing!”

Live takes place June 6-7 at London’s Business Design Centre.

PG

Top right: Having been cancelled in 2020 due to Covid, even though the pandemic was still around, the 2021 show was an emotional reunion.

Top: Warren (centre) with Pigment boys Steve Baker (left) and Martin Powderly, who have exhibited at every single PG Live show.

Above: Loyal visitor Sean Austin of Austin & Co with Bex Hassett of Bexy Boo.

Above right: PG Live aussie mates at last year’s overseas drinks reception.

Right: Saxophonist Graeme Airth welcoming visitors to the 10th anniversary show…he’ll be there again this year.

Five Reasons Good

“I’m so busy and short staffed. Give me five good reasons to come to PG Live and I will consider it,” was the challenge laid down by an independent retailer to Jim Bullough, operations director of PG Live.

Here, crystallising the two-day greeting card showwhich takes place Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre - Jim shares his response. Happily, that retailer will be at the show and will be busy doing business!

Newness means profit

See the largest line-up of greeting card companies anywhere in the worldthousands of new designs, hundreds of new ranges and lots of tempting ‘show only’ offers.

The crux of PG Live is that it is a dedicated greeting card show. There will be 200 greeting card publishers and allied businesses exhibiting at PG Live - all the leading brands, as well as a host of ‘waiting to be discovered’ ones.

At this year’s show, the Springboard section for new and emerging publishers (sponsored by The Imaging Centre for the last 10 years), which has proved so popular in previous years, has been expanded to include even more new gems. The Springboard Intro addition, which debuts this year, provides an inventive entry point option for a whole clutch of newbies.

In addition, The Retas’ and Greats’ finalists and winners (2022/2023), plus all Cardgains’ members will have extra incentives to visit the show, having been sent special tickets and vouchers, worth up to £150 to spend against an order placed at the show.

PG Live at a glance

When: Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 June 2023

Where: Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 0QH

Timings: 9.30am-6.00pm (with a free opening night party onsite until 8pm) on Tuesday 6 June 9.30am-4.30pm on Wednesday 7 June

Registration: Via the show website (www.progressivegreetingslive.com) or by calling +44 (0)7734 111633

Getting there: The BDC is only a few minutes walk from Angel underground station and a 20 minute walk from Highbury and Islington station. It is also a short taxi ride from Kings Cross/St Pancras and Euston while Waterloo, Liverpool Street and Paddington stations are also easily accessible.

www.progressivegreetingslive.com

Be inspired, feel you belong

The key is in the name - PG Live really is where the greeting card community comes alive

Feel inspired, meet the people behind the cards, reinforce relationships, make new contacts, feel you belong.

People do business with people, the greater understanding there is on a human level, the better the business relationship can be. Something somebody says can spark a new idea and face to face feedback can overcome obstacles and strengthen connections.

Above: Here’s to lots of jumping for joy at PG Live 2023.

Above: Some of the PG Live postcards exhibitors have sent out, that were produced for them by The Imaging Centre.

Left: Maggie Wynn of Just Cards, Honiton spending her Silver Ticket (worth £75) with Bewilderbeest’s Iain Hamilton at last year’s PG Live.

PG Live provides a fantastic opportunity to meet the people behind the cards, catch up with agents and reps, chat to fellow retailers - and enjoy being inspired and realising that you are a part of the big wide world of greeting cards.

The friendly atmosphere at PG Live means that the chat flows freely on stands, in the aisles, perusing The Retas/Greats Wall of Fame, in the Gallery Luncheon Room - and of course at the Opening Night Drinks Party!

And there will be some famous faces to take selfies with for your social media, including the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (on the Danilo stand), Laurence LlewelynBowen (on the GBCC stand), Boofle (on the UKG stand), Forever Friends (on the Hallmark stand) and Tatty Teddy (on the Carte Blanche stand), and no doubt there will be other surprise visits too!

Above: Business and pleasure combine at PG Live.

UKG’s Tracey McMinn was delighted that Cards & Gifts of Dronfield’s Carl Dunne (left) and Ollie Guise-Smith chose to spend their Silver Ticket with her.

Below: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Leo and Donnie will be making their way to the Danilo stand at PG Live this year.

Location Location Location

The ‘home’ of PG Live is the Business Design Centre, an attractive, airy building that is easy to get to in London’s trendy vibrant Islington

As an industry with lots of personality, it is fitting that this dedicated trade show takes place at a venue to match. The Business Design Centre does not disappoint on lots of levels - from the historic to the practical, the aesthetic to the geographical.

Light pours in through the wonderful glass roof of the Business Design Centre, a building that has lots of tales to tell since its foundations were first laid in the 1860samong which was that it was used as the venue for a famous 24-hour walking race in 1876 between an American Edward Weston racing against British William Perkins.

Its compact nature makes getting round PG Live very easy. And it’s only a short walk away from the Angel underground station and a hop, skip and a jump from London’s mainline stations makes it ideally placed for visiting by public transport (though limited car parking is available on site).

And as the BDC is surrounded by a great selection of bars, restaurants and shops, with hotels close by, it is easy to justify staying over.

Left: The light and airy BDC is the perfect home for PG Live.

Be part of living history

While the PG Live exhibitors’ stands will be living proof of the relevance of greeting card designs that chime with today’s tastes, the show will also include a fascinating exhibition showcasing the evolution of greeting card design over the last century

Created to mark the UK Greeting Card Association’s 100th Anniversary in 2019, the GCA’s Centenary Exhibition features a rich history of greeting card designs from the previous 10 decades.

There for the greeting card industry, the GCA will have a presence just outside the Gallery Hall, with its display wall which gives details of its upcoming Conference (to take place in Leeds on Sept 28), work that it is doing to protect the industry, fighting its corner with Royal Mail on postal deliveries as well as instigating a proactive campaign to promote Christmas card sending. Amanda Fergusson, ceo and Adriana Lovesy, membership and marketing co-ordinator will be walking the aisles and are always up for a chat.

Eat, drink and be merry

Ensuring visitors are ‘fed and watered’ in style is of paramount importance at PG Live. After all, no one can work effectively on an empty stomach and feeling thirsty

So, you can feast your eyes on a smorgasbord of new products, but also enjoy a scrumptious complimentary lunchand free tea and coffee in ‘proper’ cups all day!

As ever, buyers and exhibitors will be incredibly well looked after. The popular PG Live tea trolleys will be out in force pouring out cuppas throughout the day (thanks to Windles) while a free delicious lunch will be served to exhibitors and visitors alike (with

this year) and there is also

Above: The GCA Centenary Exhibition was curated by industry expert Geoff Sanderson with support from Helen Snell of Orchard Design House.

Hallmark sponsoring the lunchroom

an opening night drinks party for all to christen the first day of wonderful trade.

Left: Windles will once again be sponsoring the tea trollies at this year’s show.

Above right: The lunchroom at this year’s show will become something of a teddy bears picnic as it is being sponsored by Hallmark to mark the relaunch of Forever Friends. (Right-left) Ohh Deer’s Mark Callaby, GCA’s Amanda Fergusson and Adriana Lovesy and Gabrielle Ezen caught up over lunch at the last show.

While the Springboard section of PG Live 2023 will see a host of newbies making their industry debut, the main mezzanine and Village Green will be full of well-loved publishers showcasing thousands of brand new designs, ranges and their latest ideas.

PG checks in with some of these leading names, many of whom have exhibited at every single PG Live, for a sneak peek of their stand action at this year’s show (June 6-7) as well as their hunch for the opportunities and challenges for the sector as we enter the second half of the year.

Wendy Jones-Blackett

With two brand new ranges launching and tons of new designs joining Wendy Jones-Blackett’s star collections, the company’s creative maestro and namesake is even more excited than usual. Over to you Wendy…

Show sparklers: “We’re launching lots and lots of new at PG Live! We have a new male range, In Vino Veritas, which comprises 18 open birthday designs featuring clever Latin and French sayings with hand-drawn illustrations of wine, bow ties, beer, strongmen, tequila, stars, whisky, party hats and more wine. Also new for the show is Oh Hello, a cheery range of 18 birthday cards in a contemporary graphic design style with on-trend colours and a variety of fonts on 100% recycled board. Imagery includes hearts, stars, retro rays, cats, dogs, stripes, ditsy flowers and tulips, and they come with a bright sunny yellow envelope.

We are also expanding our popular Rainbow Drops range with 12 new foiled, embossed and hand-finished open birthday cards, which are being kept under wraps and will be delivered fresh from the printers (via Leeds) for the show! There are six male and six female cards, all 165cm square, on 100% recycled board.

Our classic Quicksilver range has a whopping 38 new designs being launched at the show! Children’s ages in pinks and blues from ages 1-10 have been added by popular demand after several retailers called for them. Relation birthdays will also make an appearance, making the everyday range 98 cards strong! Spring 2024 will also be showcased to give retailers a heads-up on September ordering.

Lastly, there are 24 new designs being added to our Pretty As A Picture art range of blank cards, featuring sunny summer holiday scenes and soft florals. This digital art range has been 2023’s huge success for WJB and these new additions will take the range to 84 designs!”

Industry opportunities and challenges: “Well summer offers a reprieve from heating bills which will give everyone more to spend on cards! Also, the warmer weather and more outdoor events mean people are more likely to shop in person rather than online (hugely preferable anyway), so that increased footfall will be welcomed by retailers.

We do need a huge push on the tradition of Christmas card sending as shops will have been left with stock last year after the double whammy of postal strikes and the cost-of-living crisis; we all need to shout about the feelgood factor of card sending and of course lead by example by sending our own! Festive Friday offers the opportunity to get cards out with a second class stamp and is embraced by the card industry, but it would be brilliant to get more national coverage on this!”

PG Live Stand 235

Right: There will be lots of product surprises at PG Live.

Above: Wendy Jones-Blackett with a winning hand of new designs. Below: The bright and cheery Oh Hello range will debut at PG Live from WJBO.

Above: In Vino Veritas is WJB’s new male range.

Museums & Galleries

This summer marks the 10th anniversary of Debbie and Alan Williams acquiring Museums & Galleries and bringing it into the Mint Group. PG Live will kick off the celebrations with a plethora of new products.

Eddie Clarke, M&G’s rights and product manager spills the beans…

Show sparklers: “On the greeting card front, our stand will include a very major refresh of our Transport for London card range, and a new contemporary art range from the Tate Gallery - looking really sharp with our ecoband branding against neon green envelopes.

We will also be showing our new Christmas napkin packs for the first time. The everyday napkin packs we launched at Spring Fair have been very warmly received and so in response to retailer requests we are launching a Christmas range of napkin packs. There are 16 designs, all based on best-selling Christmas cards. We’re really excited about them and we can’t wait to show them off.

Also showing at PG Live for the first time is a small range of 2024 diaries - five A6 pocket diaries and five A5 desk diaries. Our bold and beautiful collection of 2024 diaries will be available for pre-order at the show, featuring a range of prints and themes from the V&A, Sarah Campbell, and Catherine Rowe, with themed artworks running through each month.” Industry opportunities and challenges: “The first half of the year has been very strong for us, and we are looking forward to summer and the traditional Christmas selling period. I think the most pertinent challenge facing the industry as a whole will be rebuilding retailer and consumer confidence in Christmas cards after last year’s unfortunate disruptions to the sending seasonalthough based on feedback we’ve been getting perhaps these fears have been overstated, but always worth keeping eyes on the ball!”

PG Live Stands 218 and 219. Sibling company, Mint is on Stand 217

UK Greetings

With this being Boofle’s 15th birthday you can be sure there will be some celebrations on the UK Greetings stand, as marketing communications director, Jill Alexander explains…

Show sparklers: “Our main message is ‘celebrating’ as after all that’s what our industry is about - celebrating birthdays, events, life, people, moments in time. We will be articulating this by showcasing amazing product across our portfolio of well-known sub brands.

We will be featuring a series of fabulous new ranges to celebrate Disney 100 whose centenary is October this year.

And not forgetting Boofle, who celebrates his 15th birthday this year. There will be a curated range of gorgeous designs including those of original poses in an illustrated look from the artist and originator David Blake - and Boofle will be there too.

We will be running a prize draw competition on the stand giving retailers the chance to win a magnum of champagne by just completing a postcard with their details on the stand.”

Industry opportunities and challenges: “There are lots of opportunities for retailers, whether they are current UKG customers or new to us. We have lots of fabulous new products launching across all key categories and are launching a brand new everyday POS kit which we will provide free to all our customers.”

PG Live Stand 400

Top: Jill Alexander reveals there is a lot of product newness and retailer support on the cards from UKG. Right: Boofle will be making the most of his 15th birthday at PG Live.

Cath Tate Cards

Rosie Tate, director of Cath Tate Cards lifts the lid on the company’s PG Live launches… Show sparklers: “At PG Live, we will be launching a whole host of newness! We have a brand-new range - Lost Plots, with a vibrant colour palette, hand-drawn type and illustrations, each design overflowing with retro wonder!

We will also be showing new additions to our Pina Colada humour range, which has been proving popular since its launch in January. In addition, we have new designs in our bold, bright and shiny HotFoils range and new current celebrity additions joining our Modern Icons range.

We’re also looking forward to christening our licensing tie-up with Deadpan Cards.”

Top: M&G’s Eddie Clarke is excited by all the newness the company will be launching at the show.

Above right: One of the designs in the new Transport for London range from M&G.

Above: One of M&G’s V&A Christmas napkin designs.

Above: Rosie (right) with her mum and company founder, Cath Tate. Left: one of the vibrant designs in Lost Plots.

Industry opportunities and challenges: “On a huge positive, the high street feels like it’s back! Although online shopping saw a huge boom over the pandemic it now finally feels like people are returning to real life bricks and mortar shops again.

International shipping will also hopefully be easier in 2023 and spiralling paper prices seem to be settling.

Christmas 2023 is going to be a challenge. The 2022 Christmas postal strikes had a very negative effect on Christmas card sending, and sadly we may never see Christmas card sales fully recover. However, greeting cards as a product are still a popular form of expression for up-and-coming artists and designers and it still feels the UK is the market leader for cards.”

PG Live Stand 307

Hallmark

Sponsoring the lunchroom at PG Live is a case of perfect timing for Hallmark, coinciding with the relaunch of its Forever Friends brand. Claire Marsom, the publisher’s head of creative reveals more…

Show sparklers: “2023 is a massive year for Forever Friends and PG Live sees the launch of a new wave of Forever Friends’ activity where the bears are yet again shining in the spotlight they deserve. Through sales, we can see how much our customers still love the bears, and this echoes what we’ve heard in consumer testing, which has been an important part of the development of the new product.

To celebrate all we’ve loved and still love about Forever Friends over its 36 years, we’re launching two brand new ranges that are big on nostalgia, brimming with feels, and bursting with cuteness. We’ve taken the best of the past and combined this with all that’s great about the future to create this duo of gorgeous, new Forever Friends collections, with the designs featuring new poses, brighter colours and the latest technology.

We will be excited to share how we are incorporating QR technology into one of the Forever Friends ranges, meaning that by scanning a QR code with your phone, you can actually bring the iconic bear to life in front of you! And QR technology has also been incorporated into our Doppelgang range. We will be unveiling another seven brand new card rangesPerfectly Framed , Botanique , Oh Darling , Whale of a Time , Doodly Doo , Oui Petite and two neon collections in Electric Parade and Break the Rules . We will also be sharing exciting updates of our RNIB collaboration, with the designs developed in conjunction with the partially-sighted community as well as newness in our National Geographic range, plus in our other key licensed ranges.

In addition to sharing updates in our Lucy Cromwell and Sugared Almond ranges, we will also be showing seven of our humour ranges from the Comedy Club, plus our new gift bags and rollwrap collection.”

PG Live Stand 211

Pigment Productions

While a stalwart of PG Live, every year Pigment Productions dishes up some new surprises. Martin Powderly, creative director and co-owner gives a taster of what visitors can expect on its stand at this year’s show. Show sparklers: “PG Live is always a very exciting show for us, and this year particularly as we’re showing off our breadth as a publisher with a theme of ‘brand new and best sellers’!

We have a big brand new collection, Lucia Heffernan; a big captions expansion on our most recent hit Studio Blom; a special preview of a July release featuring a series of micro ranges with a theme of ultra bold colour and powerful finishes for maximum stand out!

We also have newness on key lines such as Life in Pencil, Etched and our Pigment photohumour classics.

For the first time we will be showing off our guided journals For many years we created successful own brand collections of content rich journals so now were bringing many of the most popular themes to the wider market with brand new design attributes and updated content. We will also have a comprehensive display of our Fox and Butler brand, including stationery and box card collections.”

Industry opportunities and challenges: “The retail environment is changing fast and change always presents opportunity. We’ve never been busier, hence our bigger studio and a trends&insights programme to ensure we stay relevant.

Inflation is a challenge but while we’re acutely aware of rising costs we’d still rather put a little more added value into our products, particularly on great UK print techniques, extra colour and special sustainable finishes so we can keep it all local.”

Steve Baker, sales director adds: “Many of our high streets continue to have some footfall challenges, but as always entrepreneurial retailers are adapting by creating more unique and personable experiences for their shoppers. These brilliant adaptable retailers are helping shape an evolving high street.

When the money in shoppers’ pockets becomes more important, the value and cost of a gift also becomes more important. People often buy more emotionally … or humorously. Both work really well for greeting card sales. We have great confidence in our independents.”

PG Live Stand 313

Top right: Pigment’s Martin Powderly can’t wait to show retailers all Pigment’s new products and ideas. Above left: One of the designs in the new Disco collection. Right: A Pigment guided journal.

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Chalan Field, Eden Chalan Field, Eden Edinburgh, Edinburgh,

Sock Therapy socks have been Eden’s top selling accessories this year and make the perfect gift.

The Scottish themed designs have been extremely popular with visitors to Edinburgh.

The Factor(y) X

In its first Capital Markets event for three years, Card Factory put on a mighty impressive, all singing all dancing performance for City analysts, shareholders and would-be investors. While the main purpose was to share its own high kicks, revealed in its Opening Our New Future four-year plan, there were sprinkles of reassurance for the greeting card sector as a whole, not least how card sending among 16-24 year olds is up 14% year on year.

PG bagged a front row seat as the UK’s market leading greeting card retailer strutted its stuff.

Having delivered an impressive set of financial results earlier that day, with profits soaring by 368% and instore sales up by 7.3%, not surprisingly the Card Factory cast who addressed those attending its Capital Markets Strategy Update, either in person or online, were in confident mode.

With two years under his belt as ceo of Card Factory, Darcy Willson-Rymer set the upbeat tone, relaying how “putting consumer data at the heart” of its decision making had paid dividends, especially as the consumer has returned to the high street, with the retailer stores sales now back to prepandemic levels.

Passing the parcel to members of the retail group’s senior management team, the message was amplified that Card Factory is

confident about future four years covered by its ‘Opening Our New Future’ strategy.

The team detailed key areas for growth, notably in gifts, international expansion, in addition to swelling its UK store estate, while retaining its reputation for offering great value for money.

While Card Factory’s consumer insights confirm the generally accepted fact that the cost-of-living crisis is causing the consumer to reevaluate what they are spending their

pennies on, they also shine some reassuring light that the public still feel it is important to mark life’s events and celebrations.

In a recent Card Factory survey, 73% of respondents stated that celebrations are important to them, for spending time together, for feeling closer, for having something to look forward to and for providing a break from the everyday.

“In 2023 we’ve seen footfall returning to the high street and more normalised shopping behaviour, including around seasonal events,” relayed Brian Waring, Card Factory’s executive director for customer. “And actually, in our most recent Spring

Seasons, we’ve seen comparable shopping behaviour to 2020 pre-pandemic. The day before Mother’s Day this year was one of the best ever trading days in our company history,” he added.

Already a clear market leader on the greeting card front, with a 31.1% market share, there are still aspirations to further augment this, seeing some of the remaining 70% as still being up for grabs!

Sending out a positive message for the greeting card sector as a whole as how it is remaining relevant for the next generation, an attention grabbing slide showed the number of cards being bought by 16-24 years has very much been on the rise since 2020, as these youngsters recognise that sending a card is a great way of letting someone know you are thinking of them, deeming it more personal than a quick text message.

However, it sees the biggest prize on the product front by Card Factory becoming the go to omnichannel retailing master in ‘Celebration Occasions’, deemed to be worth an astonishing £13.4billion a year. Within this, gifts hold the greatest allure, especially as Card Factory’s current slice of this market is just 1%, albeit considerable ground has been gained in the last year in some product areas, notably confectionery and tableware.

As Adam Dury, chief commercial officer shared: “We are already the number one in balloons, number two in party and are increasingly strong in giftwrap” before going on to champion how it intends to continue to woo the consumer with a revitalised gift offer, with coordinated homegrown own brand collections as well as by stocking key brands and licensed ranges.

“I have no doubt everyone in the room will have received a Me to You card at some point in their lives,” said

“Ireland has proved to be a profitable market with good scope for further growth,” explained Adam. Currently trading from 27 stores in Ireland the plan is to increase this to around 40 stores by 2027.

There is work well underway on the store layout evolving ideas that were first tested in the unveiling of the new look that debuted in its Coventry city centre store back in February 2022.

The trial of putting cards around the perimeter of stores with gifts in the centre, strategically placed so as to trigger complementary sales, is proving successful, and will have been introduced into 50 stores over the coming year with the plan to replicate it in all stores over the next four years.

But it is not just within its own UK retail estate that the distinctive blue and gold brand will continue to be fanfared, with Syed Kazmi coming on board as executive director for business development having come on board to drive on the partnerships front globally.

Joining its current partnerships with other retailers, such as Aldi, Matalan, The Reject Shop (in Australia) and SandpiperCI (in the Channel Islands), more international expansion is on the cards. Having acquired SA Greetings in May, giving Card Factory a presence in South Africa, this was swiftly followed by the news that some 36 stores are set to open in the Middle East while India, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada are cited as other target territories where it is keen to make its mark.

Card Factory has definitely come a long way since Dean Hoyle’s market stall in Huddersfield 30 years ago to now soon to be global player hosting fancy Capital Markets day, but it is still largely down to the value of sending greeting cards.

Adam, highlighting how it is introducing an exclusive collection of cards and gifts into many of its stores alongside other brands, including Baylis & Harding and Yankee.

While its online as well as its recently launched click & collect hybrid service form part of the future, Adam stressed that Card Factory’s 1,000+ stores will continue to be its “most prized assets”, he revealed how it has set its sights on opening an additional 90 stores in the UK and Ireland over the next four years.

Carded Messaging

In its annual report, Card Factory shares the strength of greeting cards place in UK society… ‘The UK greeting cards market has shown ongoing resilience over recent years, continuing its post-pandemic recovery, with a volume growth of +2%. The number of UK adults purchasing greeting cards rose to 40.3 million, a +7pp increase from last year, and 827 million cards were bought in total, up from 811 million the previous year. The average number of cards purchased per person was 19.9 per annum. There was positive growth in the younger audience categories, with the 16-24 age group rising to 24 cards per person, per annum, an increase of +14% on FY22. In terms of card categories, Mother’s Day/Father’s Day and Valentine’s categories saw a sizeable increase of +153% on the previous year, as did Wedding, up +170%.’

Left: Card Factory’s new card buyer segmentation. Below: The potential growth for Card Factory.

Below middle: Adam Dury, Card Factory’s chief commercial officer.

Bottom left: Positive news about 16-24 year olds’ card buying.

Bottom right: The best selling Mother’s Day card in Card Factory this year.

Maximalism Personified

With his flamboyant dress, exuberant turn of phrase and lavish designs, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen knows how to flaunt the max out of maximalism, and now he has turned his frills and flair to a range of greeting cards for The Great British Card Company (GBCC) which debuts at PG Live 2023.

As LLB preens himself in readiness for his trip to the London show, PG maxed out with this self-confessed ‘original gangster of maximalism’.

There is only one Laurence LlewelynBowen, the master of style and substance, who has built up a widespread following for his elaborate design aesthetic, distinctive eloquent verbosity and adroitly delivered witticisms. Having achieved fame and a strong following from his 30 year TV career, notably through flexing his interior design skills on Changing Rooms, he has returned to his fine art roots, setting up his own ‘glamporium’ showroom in Cirencester, his hometown for the last 15 years and sharing his design acumen through various collaborations.

As if primed, Laurence countered: “I suppose because I have been around for

2,000 years I am recognised, that said I am more frequently mistaken for David Grohl [of Foo Fighters fame], Captain Hook or Dick Dastardly - the first has great kudos, the latter two less so!”

Somewhat at odds with his full-on natural flourishing, the collaboration with GBCC came about as a result of some chilled-out mooching by GBCC creative director Lucy Ledger.

“Lucy had recently joined GBCC, which is based locally to us, and happened to pop into our showroom. Lucy is great and it is so lovely to be able to work with businesses on your doorstop, something which has definitely become more prevalent since Covid,” believes Laurence.

The idea of collaborating on a collection of greeting cards was something that chimed with Laurence, both for personal and historical reasons.

“Jackie [Laurence’s wife] and I have always been big greeting card senders, hoovering them up when we see something

Above: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen in his glamporium in Cirencester.

Below: GBCC’s creative director Lucy Ledger has enjoyed developing the inaugural collection with Laurence.

beautiful or a design we think would be perfect for someone we know,” revealed Laurence. “I feel proud to have been involved in developing a greeting card range with Hallmark back in 2002, which I still believe was very influential in that it took ornate damask and tapestry patterning, largely monochrome, into greeting cards,” recalled Laurence. “Back then, pattern was a bit underground, we had not gone through the big wallpaper revival that has happened in recent years.”

Now, over two decades later and with the consumer’s pattern barrier lifted Laurence has turned up the colour and luxurious flourishes with the designs for the GBBC inaugural greeting card collection, which exudes his own richly decorative fine art.

Laurence positively rejoices in his lavish creative outpourings, his burgeoning archive now bulging with thousands of pieces of his artworks, with some of his fine art pieces due to feature in a dedicated art exhibition later this September year.

“I greatly admire William Morris, but he only created 67 patterns in his lifetime. I have

2,500 designs in my collection and I am still alive and creating. The explosion of digital printing makes it a very exciting time to be a creative. Instead of having to commit to reams and reams, I can be capricious and produce a single metre of special fabric if I so choose, which encourages wild experimentation,” believes Laurence.

Laurence is also delighted that popular culture has caught up with his penchant for over the top patterning.

“I am the original gangster of maximalism, it’s just lovely to see so many people joining

What maketh the man?

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is a classically trained fine artist with experience in both the public and private client design world. However his stints as a TV presenter in the 90s very much brought him into the public eye.

His love of pattern and design was accumulated during a Fine Art degree at Camberwell School of Arts (now a constituent college of the University of Arts London) a degree that Laurence freely admits left him “with a steady hand but a bigger ego”. This led to him taking his new-found knowledge to a variety of design companies and TV shows before establishing Llewelyn-Bowen Design in 1998. Since then, pattern has remained the key component to every licensed product and project in LLB's portfolio. In addition to a whole host of products, from sofas with ScS, bedlinen with Next and Wayfair and collaborations with Very, this also includes the greeting card collection with The Great British Card Company (GBCC) which debuts at PG Live.

me now!” Laurence quipped. “There is room for everyone.”

Laurence accepts that pre-modernism was a period in the 20th Century “when society needed to be equalised, but too many babies got thrown out with the bath water.” To his mind, an obsession with “not wanting to be seen as bourgeois” saw a rejection of anything overly ornate. Thankfully now though, he rejoices that patterning from the past is being embraced by the consumer.

“Historical art styles offer us the most extraordinary dressing-up box of opportunity which can then be combined with your own creative ideas,” and he feels very glad to be able to plunge right in to this veritable dressing-up box, as evidenced in the soon to be launched greeting card range from GBCC.

“Tradition somehow has more meaning with consumers, irrespective of their age, and greeting cards are part of this. Greeting cards are a very important part of making and retaining relationships. The sending of a greeting card is not AI, it is something real, based on real emotions, creativity and craftsmanship, and I feel privileged to be a part of this,” said Laurence, spoken like a true greeting card gangster!

Right: Laurence sporting some dashing wellington boots from Grisport featuring his own fine art.

Left: The GBCC greeting card designs reflect Laurence’s penchant for lavish patterning.

Below left: The licensed LLB upcycling and crafting product range from AV2 for Aldi reached the finals of the Brand Licensing and Lifestyle Awards (B&LLAs) this year.

Below: Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen was extolling the aesthetic virtues of maximalism long before it became fashionable as this book by him celebrates.

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Bright and Beautiful

To celebrate Earlybird’s move to the ‘big boy’ mezzanine at PG Live, it is launching even more colour and pizazz in form of its Neon Super Fabs. Featuring bright neon inks, these new greeting card designs incorporate spot UV and embossing. Printed on FSC board and carbon balanced, each card is supplied with a craft fleck envelope.

Earlybird Designs

01227 765372

www.earlybirddesigns.co.uk

PG Live Stand 401 Mezzanine

Nature Calling

Inspired by nature and botanicals, Dandelion’s brand new Blooms collection features intricately drawn florals enhanced by beautiful metallic gold foiling. There are 21 designs in the range, which come supplied with metallic gold envelopes. The cards are suitable for a wide range of occasions such as birthdays, thank you, anniversaries and lots more.

Dandelion Stationery

01332 504940

www.dandelionstationery.co.uk

PG Live Stand 517 Mezzanine

Fancy That

The Floral Fancy range from Cake and Crayons spans 14 design blooming with uplifting pastel hues. This bright and joyful range of cards, 120mmx170mm in size, centres around beautiful bouquets. The collection covers birthdays, celebration, thank you, Mum and sympathy sends, each accompanied by a kraft envelope.

Cake and Crayons

07717 684 153

www.cakeandcrayons.com

PG Live Stand 12 Springboard Intro

Animal Magic

Marking The Occasion

The GBCC stand will be showcasing some 70 new relations and occasions designs, a dozen new Dark Room humour designs, plus a trio of new licensed collaborations. In addition to a licensing tie-up with publisher Bewilderbeest (for 12 inaugural designs), there is a Laurence LlewelynBowen range of a dozen designs, plus a 10piece Cath Kidston stationery collection.

The Great British Card Collection (GBCC) 01452 888999

www.greatbritishcards.co.uk

PG Live Stand 228 Mezzanine

From Little Acorns

Acorns is James Ellis’ brand new children's range. Designed by talented artist Linda Tordoff, it comprises eight colourful birthday cards depicting cute animals, vehicles, dinosaurs, space, underwater and woodland scenes and six age cards featuring hot air balloons, enhanced by gold foil, for ages 1-6. Blank inside, the 125x175mm cards are printed in the UK on FSC uncoated board. Supplied plastic-free and 100% recyclable, each comes with a white laid envelope.

James Ellis 0117 927 7667

www.jamesellis.com

PG Live Stand 427 Mezzanine

Evie Warren Illustration’s Animal Milestones range covers ages 1 to 10 and features some creature friends, namely Ziggy the zebra, Gabi the giraffe, Ezra the elephant, Taylor the tiger and Lennox the lion. Each 127mmx177mm card is printed on FSCapproved paper and comes with a recycled envelope and in eco-friendly cellowrap.

Evie Warren Illustration 07415 205 723

www.eviewarren.co.uk

PG Live Stand 15 Springboard Intro

Hand-Painted ‘Style’ Range

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Keeping Your Moji

Following the successful launch of its Moji range, Redback is adding to this adorable collection, which incorporates a sweet plushie patch that can be removed and reapplied to clothing, bags or furniture. Two of the nine additional designs are Woody the toadstool and Hamish the highland cow. The 160mm square cards are blank inside, come with a white envelope and are available naked, clasped or cellowrapped format.

Redback Cards 01752 830482

www.redbackcards.com

PG Live Stand 421 Mezzanine

Winging It

Twenty Birds’ festive card collection will be celebrating the 12 days of Christmas. This will comprise small 125mm square cards available in packs of six cards as well as larger 150mm square versions of the designs that are available singly. All come with kraft envelopes, unwrapped or wrapped in compostable cello.

Twenty Birds 07887684780

www.twentybirds.co.uk

PG Live Stand 1 Springboard Intro

Eau That’s Lovely

Paper Shed Design will be launching two brand new waterside-themed ranges at PG Live. Fresh summery designs in a mix of birthdays and blanks feature in By the Seashore and Down by the River. Fun Illustrations of waterside animals including puffins, seagulls, otters, ducks and more all feature in this charming collection.

Paper Shed 0118 9744283

www.papersheddesign.com

PG Live Stand 180 Village Green

Golden Moments

Winter Florals is Sarah Kelleher’s new greeting card range, the designs in which feature dark heavy florals with gorgeous contrasting gold text. The collection comprises 16 designs, including birthday, wedding, with love as well as those covering ages 40 to 80.

Sarah Kelleher

07768123957

www.sarahkelleher.co.uk

PG Live Stand 100 Village Green

Blooming Colour

New from Dyson Design is a collection of 12 greeting cards featuring vibrant and joyful watercolours by Diana Fegredo. The new fresh, versatile and impactful range comprises six birthday designs, four blank cards, as well as a thank you and a thinking of you card. Each of the cards are 150mm square and come with a stylish grey envelope.

Dyson Design 0116 285 5725

www.dysondesign.com

PG Live Stand 153 Village Green

Summer Lovin’

Bursting with vibrant colours, Globe Enterprise’s latest range of handmade gift wrap papers, gift bags, boxes and stationery exudes warmer climes. In addition, it is launching papier mache and honeycomb Christmas baubles all made from sustainable handmade paper.  Globe Enterprise 0208 845 5057

www.globeenterprise.co.uk

PG Live Stand 335 Mezzanine

Top of the Pops

Lottie Simpson’s new POP collection bursts with neon colour. The range comprises a selection of age cards, aimed at both male and female, general birthday and new baby. There are 20 designs in this inaugural collection which exudes beauty and brightness.

Lottie Simpson

07464 163528

www.lottiesimpson.com

PG Live Stand 524 Mezzanine

Woof Woof

With pet adoration reaching new heights, 2 to Tango has barked up the right tree by adding to its pop-up Dog range, as evidenced the new Dachshund design. In addition, the publisher has also had a blooming good time adding to its 3D Flower Stalls collection.

2 To Tango 020 8996 9972  www.2-to-tango.com

PG Live Stand 221 Mezzanine

The Bees’ Knees

Pink and Mint Design is launching a range of cards to express kindness and gratitude to the important people in our lives, as well as to our planet. The range also acknowledges the important role bees have in our ecosystem. The cards are available in both A6 and A5 sizes, supplied naked or wrapped in biodegradable cello and accompanied by a kraft envelope.

Pink and Mint Design

07841666101

www.pinkandmintdesign.co.uk

PG Live Stand 729 Springboard

Shiny Happy People

Cause For Celebration

Confetti Celebrations is Marina B’s latest collection of 12 exciting, colourful, embossed rainbow foil cards. Each card is printed on 350gsm artboard and comes paired with a kraft envelope to add a special, sophisticated touch.

Marina B 01858 434462

www.marinab.co.uk

PG Live stand 179 Village Green

Precious Gems

Type and Story’s brand-new greeting card collection, Precious, comprises 15 dazzling foiled range of designs, which celebrates the hidden treasure found in vintage jewels and symbolism found in ancient mythology. Whether you’re looking for a card to celebrate your soul sister’s birthday, or to celebrate your magnificent dad for Fathers’ Day, these shimmering cards are set to impress.

Type and Story

07738285884

www.typeandstory.com

PG Live Stand 129 Village Green

Comedy Card Company has been busy melting down Great Aunt Mary's family gold and silver, along with some domestic copper pipes to create a luxurious Hot Foil range. In this nine of the publisher’s favourite best-selling captions have been treated to a bit of luxury, using thick 350g card and hot foiling them in gold, silver and copper.

Comedy Card Company 07885 027 381

www.comedycardcompany.co.uk

PG Live Stand 101 Village Green

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Making Ripples

Raspberry Blossom is releasing 30 new colour-infused greeting cards, including designs for weddings to new baby and everything in between. In addition, there are 25 brand new stationery products, including notebooks and daily planners as well as a sprinkling of festive cheer, plus its licensed gift and homeware collection with Widdop & Co will be on the stand opposite.

Raspberry Blossom 01926 257757

www.raspberryblossom.com

PG Live Stands 206 and 207 Mezzanine

Spicy Additions

Additions to Cinnamon Aitch’s lovely Bloom range includes a mushroom frenzy of loveliness adorned across new giftwrap, eco soaps, soy wax candles and lip balms, all carefully made in the UK. Also launching are new designs in the best-selling He and She ranges (pictured), extending these modern graphic designs into birthday titles. Newness is also being added to its painterly Primrose Hill, Skylark and Cobalt ranges.

Cinnamon Aitch

www.cinnamonaitch.co.uk

0121 773 6833

PG Live Stand 231 Mezzanine

Nature’s Way

IG Design continues to evolve its Eco Nature brand, adding to its collection of sustainable-focused collection of greeting cards and stationery that is available to the general retail sector with a whole host of new designs.

Eco Nature (IG Design Group)

01908 618 811

www.econature.uk

PG Live Stand 239 Mezzanine

Small Is Beautiful

Style Counts

The new Style collection from White Cotton Cards covers ages 13-60 as well as various relations and general birthday sends across some 60 designs. All cards are encrusted with diamantes and glitter and come with a gold envelope to add to the glamour.

White Cotton Cards

07909 911229

www.whitecottoncards.co.uk

PG Live Stand 225 Mezzanine

Art of The Matter

Alongside new designs in its existing ranges, Susan O’Hanlon is launching a beautiful new Art range, comprising 12 birthday, 12 occasion and 12 Christmas designs. Unashamedly high end, the range features designs based on fresh, contemporary watercolour paintings, enhanced by gold foiling. The 140x165mm cards are printed on thick, high quality FSC board and come with high quality ‘candle glow’ envelopes.

Susan O’Hanlon

01753 887 659

www.susanohanlon.com

PG Live Stand 507 Mezzanine

Alljoy Design is augmenting its Miniature World 3D pop up card collection. With the new additions this collection now comprises 60 designs showcasing stunning 3D scenes, intricately crafted with laser-cut paper, that springs to life upon opening the card. This collection of 150mm square cards offers a diverse array of scenes, from beautiful gardens and forests to enchanting castles and cityscapes.

Alljoy Design 00 353 1630 121

www.alljoydesign.com

PG Live Stand 321 Mezzanine

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Bouquet Bonanza

Continuing to blast out the colour from Paper Salad is Fleurescent. This new range of 155mm square cards encompasses designs featuring neon bright, hand-painted florals, topped with chunky typography, shiny foil and embossed details. Printed on recycled board, each card is accompanied by a patterned envelope, supplied either naked or cellowrapped.

Paper Salad

0161 427 0001

www.papersalad.co.uk

PG Live Stand 413 Mezzanine

Truly Tree-mendous

Featuring the artwork from award-winning designer, Charlotte Mason, Hazel is the latest range from Woodmansterne. Filigree and lustre of the golden foil combines illustrations of exotic, classical animalia and natural elements in the collection.

Woodmansterne Publications 01923 200600

www.woodmansterne.com

PG Live Stand 301 Mezzanine

Well Krafted

Lucy Driver Illustration will be bringing three new ranges to PG Live, one of which is its Krafty collection. These cards feature Lucy’s characterful animals and are printed on a kraft-effect background, which makes the colours pop. There are 15 cards in this collection, covering a variety of everyday and occasions sends. Blank inside, the Krafty cards come with a white envelope, are sold naked, but can also be supplied cellowrapped.

Lucy Driver Illustration

07841 698068

www.lucydriver.co.uk

PG Live Stand 112 Village Green

Baby Steps

Nature’s Fantastic

In keeping with The Crimson Finch’s existing seven ranges, its two new ones are animal and fantasy-orientated. The designs in its Tudor Birds range features fantasy historic portraits of medieval times while the designs in the Fauna & Flora collection are beautiful close-up study of corvids framed with plants and flowers.

The Crimson Finch

07950 475906

www.crimsonfinch.co.uk

PG Live Stand 7 Springboard Intro

The Important Answers

Bexy Boo has extended its Henries’ nominated This card is for you because… range to include male ages from 21 to 70. These quirky characters are full of fun and designed to make the recipient smile.

Bexy Boo 01565 830 546

www.bexyboo.co.uk

PG Live Stand 178 Village Green

Master of cute, Ginger Betty has created a contemporary greeting card collection targeted at the younger sends. Baby Betty comprises 16 designs, all 150mm square, covering baby-related captions, covering birth, christening, baptism and early birthdays. The cards include wooden leaf attachments and come in a compostable cellobag with a kraft envelope.

Ginger Betty 01706 557285

www.gingerbetty.co.uk

PG Live Stand 424 Mezzanine

Flower Power

Inspired by the iconic fashion designer, Mary Quant and 70s style, is Rusty Cards’ Flower Power range. The collection of 12 designs, all 15cm square, features retro references, such as nods to love, peace and platform boots. The cards, supplied with matching kraft envelope, can be packaged either naked or cellowrapped.

Rusty Cards

07584 627 296

PG Live Stand Springboard Intro 5

Join The Cubs

Cute Cubs is Louise Mulgrew’s new children’s range. The 12 designs, which are mainly gender neutral, feature a variety of adorable animal characters to celebrate kids ages 1-5 along with some general birthday captions. The 150mm square cards are printed on 300gsm forest friendly board, paired with a Kraft envelope and clasped.

Louise Mulgrew

(0)1273 783833

www.louisemulgrew.com

PG Live Stand 506 Mezzanine

Up In The Air

Arrthi will be making its PG Live debut with an array of characterful children’s cards. Cute, chubby and cheeky are three attributes the publisher’s founder Arrthi Little puts into her fun character designs.

Arrthi

07735 398 457

www.arrthi.com

PG Live Stand 2 Springboard Intro

The Dating Game

Showing at PG Live for the first time, the Carousel Calendars’ stand will be brimming with licensed calendars and diaries. English Heritage, Guinness, New York Botanical Garden and wellness magazine Breathe are among the company’s latest signings for its 2024 products.

Carousel Calendars

01392 826 482

www.carouselcalendars.co.uk

PG Live Stand 530 Mezzanine

Nostalgic Tales

The Porch Fairies is debuting a range of licensed Foxwood Tales’ everyday and Christmas cards, featuring Harvey Mouse, Willie the Hedgehog, Rue Rabbit and their friends from the famous books by Cynthia and Brian Paterson. The 120x170mm cards are printed on FSC board, and come with a jolly yellow or Christmassy red envelope in biodegradable wrapping.

The Porch Fairies

07775 826629

www.theporchfairies.co.uk

PG Live Stand 173 Village Green

The Bets Are On

Alff a Bet Design will be launching a range of cards, postcards, wrapping paper and chocolate featuring the stunning artwork of Susan Cousins of Bandra Arts, who as well as being an artist is also an official advisor on race relations and a lecturer. All customers placing an order at the show will receive a signed print of Susan’s artwork.

Alffca Bet Design

02920 495 347

www.alffabet.co.uk

PG Live Stand 319 Mezzanine

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

and

A Cut Above

As one of four new ranges for PGL, Poet & Painter has been having a bit of a romance with lino cutting. Its Simples range, a collection of 10 designs, is a departure from the publisher’s usual splashy style, but the clean lines and simplicity maintains its signature handmade finish. The range features plenty of humour and punnage, with cheeky cats and dogs and a dash of booze.

Poet and Painter

07779 064 894

www.poetandpainter.co.uk

PG Live Stand 310 Mezzanine

Making Folklore

Angies Folk Art makes its PG Live debut with a range of captioned cards for birthdays, relations and Christmas. The publisher is also offering a special 10% off show discount while there’s a free Angies Folk Art mug for the first 12 orders.

Angies Folk Art

07973 156570

www.angiesfolkart.o.uk

PG Live Stand Springboard Intro 8

Citrus Zing

Pink Lemon is just one new Stop the Clock Design range that is launching at PG Live. This striking, contemporary range comprises 18 designs, featuring pops of neon yellow and a bold mix of patterns, imagery and colour. The range has captions to cover birthday, congrats, baby, thank you and new home. The cards are 105x148mm and come cellowrapped, clasped or nested with a matching neon yellow envelope.

Stop the Clock Design

01457 763335]

www.stoptheclockdesign.com

PG Live Stand 429 Mezzanine

Open Mouthed

Moon and the Stars

Dream Capture Artwork is launching two brand-new ranges. Spirited Collection is a beautiful collection that encapsulates a child’s spirit and celebrates their individuality with thoughtfully written character traits section on the back. The Guided Collection has a written verse on the back for encouragement in the path of life. Both ranges have 10 cards in each, with shimmering gold foiling details.

Dream Capture Artwork

07872 436 809

www.dreamcaptureartwork.com

PG Live Stand 157 Village Green

Feeling Peckish?

Art Matters’ founder Lizzie Perkins has teamed up with celebrated wildlife photographer John van der Dol (of The Card Gallery, Sandwich) to create designs from his superb source photography. This has resulted in new work not only featuring safari animals (tiger, ostrich, elephant, zebra) but also a design based on the celebrated signpost to Ham and Sandwich!

Art Matters

01491 671 158

www.lizzieprints.com

PG Live Stand 116 Village Green

Stormy Knight’s new kids’ cards collection, Holey Moley has been inspired by the interactive children’s books the publisher’s creator Sarah Knight has read to her young daughter. The card collection, featuring friendly monsters to roaring tigers, includes pop-out flaps and peepholes to add extra interest. The eight die-cut designs are finished with spot gloss and come paired with a GF Smith Callisto pearl envelope.

Stormy Knight

07875 027 551

www.stormyknight.co.uk

PG Live Stand 160 Village Green

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June

Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Spinning Discs

Celebrating both music and drinking, AB Card’s new Bottles & Vinyls collection is likely to go down well at PG Live. The 130x205mm cards have a 3D appeal, enhanced by diecutting. The cards are printed on 350 gsm board,and come cellowraped with an ecofriendly colourful envelope.

AB Card

+48 886 844132

www.abcard.co.uk

PG Live Stand 508 Mezzanine

Go Caerphilly

Stoats & Weasels will be launching 45 brand new designs for PG Live, including in its Say It With Cheeeese, You Say Potato and its Lady Love ranges. The former (pictured) is a humorous range of cheese pun cards covering love, friendship, congratulations, missing you, and encouragement. All A6 in size, they come with a yellow envelope, naked or cellowrapped.

Stoats & Weasels

07796 664912 stoatsandweasels.shop

PG Live Stand Springboard Intro 4

Party Animals

What a Hoot is a beautifully illustrated new collection of birthday designs from Abacus Cards featuring a gorgeous array of celebratory party animals. The designs, created by layering tints, textures and loose line work are contrasted with gold foil details, embossing and front captions which characterise the design and add a smattering of sparkle. White envelopes accompany the cards.

Abacus Cards

01638 569050

www.abacuscards.co.uk

PG Live Stand 425 Mezzanine

Drifting Along

Rising To The Occasion

Sophie Swan Design is launching her first range of occasion cards at PG Live. There are two collections - Lily and Chrysanthemum - both consisting of 23 cards, with modern floral designs inspired by Oriental gardens and fairy tales. There are also eight Christmas designs, sold individually, featuring colourful pine cones, and Christmas tree branches. All cards are 150mm square, blank inside and come with a white envelope and wrapped in biodegradable cellophane.

Sophie Swan Design

www.sophieswandesign.com

PG Live Stand 726 Springboard

Flying High

Sabivo Design is launching 29 new designs into its popular Up & Away range. The new cards cover relations and anniversary milestones and the designs are handembellished with small cup flower sequins. Each card comes with a brown kraft envelope in a biodegradable cellobag.

Sabivo Design

01858 683 278

www.sabivo.co.uk

PG Live Stand 749 Springboard

Rosanna Rossi is launching over 50 brand new designs at PG Live across three new ranges –Driftwood, Floral Pop and Into the Wild – as well as a festive Christmas collection. Driftwood (pictured) is a set of patterned designs featuring celebratory birthday illustrations in a sweet, soft palette. The 120x170mm cards come with emerald and lilac envelopes.

Rosanna Rossi

07900 698522

www.rosanna-rossi.co.uk

PG Live Stand 520 Mezzanine

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Totally Roarsome

Dinosaurs Doing Stuff will be launching over 40 new cards at PG Live. Its new ranges include brightly coloured dinosaur-themed alphabet cards, pun cards, scene cards and Christmas cards. Each card features the name of the featured dinosaur, marine reptile or flying reptile on the rear. The A6 cards are supplied naked with a brightly coloured envelope.

Dinosaurs Doing Stuff

07460 228 609

www.dinosaursdoingstuff.com

PG Live Stand 728 Springboard

Sea-ing is Believing

Ocean Lovers is the latest range from Washed Up Cards which makes an environmental message while delivering joy. As with all the publisher’s designs, every card in the new ocean-themed range is decorated with a piece of upcycled plastic that has been collected on beach cleans. The 125mm square cards are supplied naked or with a clasp.

Washed Up Cards 07816 360831

www.washedupcards.uk

PG Live Stand 17 Springboard Intro

The Feeling’s Nuptial

Jonny Javelin's brand-new wedding collection features as part of its Signature range. The 20 wedding cards and money-wallets are enhanced by embossing, fluted foil and flitter finishes, across a number of captions. The publisher will also be showing its Christmas collection at the show, which comprises five ranges across a myriad of styles.

The Jonny Javelin Card Company

01423 563740

www.jonnyjavelin.co.uk

PG Live Stand 502 Mezzanine

Coasting Along

Amalfi Coast is one of Megan Claire’s brand new ranges. Inspired by a mix of bright and pastel colours from the Mediterranean, this range includes designs covering female ages from 18 to 100 enhanced by a luxury embossed finish in gold foil. The cards are paired with a bright pink neon envelope.

Megan Claire

01536 560345

www.meganclaire.co.uk

PG Live Stand 154 Village Green

Shout Out

Yippee! Is Rosie Made a Thing’s brand new range of children’s age cards. The collection of 12 cards covers ages 1-6 for both boys and girls. These colourful cards are full of cheeky characters doing things they love. Hot off the press too are lots of new additions to the publisher’s Pout, Stroke Me and Gin & Frolics ranges.

Rosie Made a Thing

0116 4062000

www.rosiemadeathing.co.uk

PG Live Stand 500 Mezzanine

Walk On The Wild Side

Ling Design is to fanfare some 120 new designs on its stand, across many collections, including The Wildlife, At Home, Beautiful, Galleria, Rainbow, and More Than Words. New much-loved animal illustrations hand drawn by Ling’s in-house artists feature in The Wildlife collection (pictured). The colours have been freshened to feature a cool and contemporary palette with each design featuring a party element.

Ling Design

01892 838574

www.lingdesign.co.uk

PG Live Stand 228 Mezzanine

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6 June and Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Sticks and Stones

New to PG Live, Battered Cards is launching a new range of A6 cards, aptly named Insults, which are perfect for those who love to poke fun at friends and family, rather than just wish them a happy birthday. The simple text-based designs each feature a signature speech bubble. All cards come naked, with an eco-kraft brown envelope.

Battered Cards

07792 302569

PG Live Stand Springboard Intro 6

Spilling The Beans

New from Wendy Bell Designs is Abstract which contains designs created from the accidental ink overspills on backing cards which have resulted in beautiful, unpredictable patterns and colour combinations. The 32 greeting card designs cover a variety of sentiments but with a twist - each one consists of just one word, to be interpreted as you wish. In addition, there are 10 notebooks and 12 giftwrap designs in the collection.

Wendy Bell Designs 07803 609 902

www.wendybelldesigns.com

PG Live Stand 176 Village Green

Showering Affection

Instant Confetti is a new type of instant confetti label that adds interactive fun to any card, package or novelty product. It’s a sticker and confetti all in one. The recipient just needs to peel it to create a burst of confetti and reveal hidden messages.

Instant Confetti

0131 337 4680

www.instantconfetti.cards

PG Live Stand 791 Springboard

The Paper Trail

Raining Supreme

Among the host of newness Heyyy Cards is launching comes Dancing in the Rain, a range of 60 eclectic designs that celebrate everything from rubber ducks to moka pots! The A6 cards are printed with a mix of high build gloss and brightly coloured inks. All of Heyyy’s cards are supplied either naked or in biodegradable cellos.

Heyyy Cards

07488 283524

www.heyyycards.co.uk

PG Live Stand 324 Mezzanine

Opening Doors

Caroline Gardner will have its entire new AW23 collection on display at PG Live, comprising over 100 new cards. There are six new ranges within the release, including Let’s Celebrate (pictured) the designs in which features a die cut aperture in the centre to reveal pretty motifs printed on the inside of the card. Each Let’s Celebrate card is also finished with gold foil text.

Caroline Gardner 020 8288 9696

www.carolinegardner.com

PG Live Stand 404 Mezzanine

Paper Mirchi will be showcasing its latest range of beautiful cards, each of which is handmade on 100% recycled cotton rag paper using traditional artisanal techniques of wood block printing and hand marbling. Each card comes with a peel and seal envelope which is also marbled or blockprinted on the reverse to give a truly special touch. The envelope is nested inside the card and secured with a belly band made of recycled cotton paper.   Paper Mirchi 0203 633 1415

www.papermirchi.co.uk

PG Live Stand Number 535 Mezzanine

June and

High Kicks

Kicks and Giggles is a brand new illustrative humorous range from Clare Maddicott. These bold, edgy designs feature simple but striking illustrations of quirky animal characters, defined with black, hand-drawn, linear details. Created using a minimal palette, bright pops of colour introduced by the character and caption speech bubbles, are offset by the contrasting pale grey background.

Clare Maddicott  01638 569050

www.maddicott.com

PG Live Stand 425 Mezzanine

Natural Leanings

Paper Bird has chosen five new beautiful designs by Dutch artist Tjitske Kamphuis to add to its collection in time for PG Live. As ever, Tjitske’s soulful work expresses her deep love of nature.

The cards are 150mm square, printed on 350gsm board and eco packed using translucent bellybands.  Paper Bird Publishing 07766 164 807

www.paperbirdpublishing.co.uk

PG Live Stand 164 Village Green

A Taste Of The Orient

Half Moon Cards’ designs lovingly spread Japanese art from the 18th and 19th centuries. Inspired by his father's many years of experiences in Japan, who was invalided out of the Korean War, Half Moon’s founder David Bennett went on to appreciate the unique beauty of Japanese art which has led to him launching a collection of cards that celebrates traditional Japanese paintings and woodblock prints.

Half Moon Cards

07790 459 290

www.halfmooncards.com

PG Live Stand Springboard Intro 19

Pots of Gold

Drawn To Them

Hooli Mooli Trading Co is launching a new licensed range by Emma Lawrence Designs. The Ditsy Collection of 66 designs covers birthday, just because, milestone ages, Valentine’s, Easter, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and occasions. Based on some of Emma’s surface pattern designs, they feature her charming and recognisable handdrawn illustrations.

Hooli Mooli Trading Co

01202 622403

www.hoolimooli.co.uk

PG Live Stand 320 Mezzanine

Watery Moments

Under the Sea is a new range from Ricicle Cards which features eight brand new designs, all diecut with a scalloped edge and printed with gold or silver foil. There is a mix of birthday, new baby and anniversary designs in the range and contains lots of charming illustrations of sea life.

Ricicle Cards

07850 757 676

www.riciclecards.com

PG Live Stand 162 Village Green

As ever Lucy Maggie Designs and sibling brand Sunshine Llama are brimming with newness. In Rainbows is just one of the new Lucy Maggie ranges, which comprises 13 character-focused cards, featuring colourful illustrations of human figures in interesting positions. The range has been designed to bring positivity and happiness to the recipient for birthdays, new home and congratulations.

Lucy Maggie Designs 07763239731

www.lucymaggiedesigns.co.uk

PG Live Stand 770 Springboard

A selection of wonderful products that will be on show at PG Live 2023 –Tuesday 6

Wednesday 7 June at London’s Business Design Centre

Waste not...

The Imaging Centre, a leading player in digital print and finishing for the greeting card industry, is marking its 25th anniversary - but that’s not the only milestone the Kent-based business is celebrating, having recently signed up the 750th publisher to its trailblazing Simplicity platform, and this year’s PG Live will be its 10th anniversary of sponsoring the Springboard area.

PG joins the celebrations with the IC team.

When Bob Short decided to use his imaging experience with photography pioneers Kodak to set up his own business, he never dreamed that 25 years on it would be all about the sentiments and designs of the greeting card industry, with a healthy shot of helping the environment.

And, with Bob and wife Jan now having handed over the running of the business to the next generation – managing director son Adam and operations director daughter Jessica – they have made an impressive start with investment in machinery, premises and staffing levels to make The Imaging Centre’s digital print offer a more than viable alternative to traditional litho printing with an emphasis on far less wastage.

In addition to the 25-year anniversary, a company rebrand is about to be launched. The Imaging Centre is also marking 10 years of sponsoring the Springboard section at PG Live, as well as passing the 750-customer milestone on the IC Simplicity Publisher platform, and the growing reach of IC Simplicity Retail.

Solar panels, electric vehicles, veganfriendly and recyclable inks, machinery where excess oil is extracted and recycled along with the consumable elements, eco-friendly paper stocks, and CO2-neutral presses all help The Imaging Centre do its bit for the environment.

“There's lots of different environmental benefits of going digital, but the biggest issue of all is reduction of waste,” stressed Adam.

And that’s been the case since Bob bought his first digital press which exposed the inefficiencies in the then-accepted greeting card industry business model.

“With the acquisition of ABC Cards it

Potted history 1998-2023

became clear to us that the stock ordering/holding system didn’t suit our own needs, so initially we changed the traditional route to one that suited our own business, that was print on demand. While exhibiting our own cards at trade shows we soon realised that this model was not just more viable for us, but was appealing to other publishers,” said Adam.

Adam explained they’d often visited small publishers at home with rooms and garages stuffed full of cards because they’d had to place a large order to be cost-effective in print terms but which tied up money in stock that they then had to store but might not be sold through before the designs were out of date, leading to huge amounts of waste product.

And the issues were exacerbated when start-up publishers found even limited success meant most of their time was spent by taking orders, packing cards, and administration - anything but the creative side they love.

l 1998: Bob and Jan Short set up The Imaging Centre in a shed in Tonbridge as an electronic imaging firm preparing art for traditional print processes.

l Early 2000s: First digital press, with ABC Cards as a customer which Bob aquired and used print on demand as a method to get the cards to market.

l 2005: Began producing more work for other publishers on demand.

l 2007: Stopped self-publishing to concentrate on growing its service for greeting card publishers, giving shorter, more efficient print runs with less waste.

l 2012: Bob and Jan’s son Adam and daughter Jess joined the business.

l 2014: Springboard sponsorship at PG Live introduces The Imaging Centre to a wider audience of new and small publishers.

l 2016: The IC Simplicity bespoke e-commerce platform launched, combining print and fulfilment offer with an online artwork library and a complete on demand order system.

l 2019: Adam and his sister Jess take over as md and operations director when their parents retire.

l 2021: Settled into an eco-friendly and efficient new Marden home with room for growth, after stints in Pembury and East Peckham.

l 2022: Monthly InPress seminars launched, giving new publishers pointers on how to work collaboratively with printers, suppliers and retailers.

l 2023: Anniversary celebrations - 750 IC Simplicity customers, 25 years in business, 10 years of PG Live Springboard sponsorship - and a rebrand on the cards.

Far left and left: The Imaging Centre’s md Adam Short outside its Marden base, and staff show off the huge space that leaves plenty of room for growth.

Above: Bob Short with his original Indigo 1800. Right: The HP Indigo 12000 latest B2 press.

Stand 320

Come and see Hooli Mooli at the PG Live show, where they will exhibiting new ranges of cards by Emma Lawrence, LoveLilly, Siobhan Harrison, Richard Partis and Penny Gaj. In addition to these fine artists, we will also be showing Little Brian Creative Play. See you at the show!

“Dad was really clear that the next level was how we could give those publishers back their time to design, and that’s when we came up with the IC Simplicity concept,” Adam said, so he, Jess and the team worked to create their own bespoke ecommerce platform that automates key functions and integrates processes allowing customers to remotely log in to set up and store their designs and artwork within the system, then order exactly what they need.

Adam added: “Prior to IC Simplicity, with digital print publishers could order just 1,000 cards – our unique MIS system took this to the next level of just ordering what they want, when they want it. And we took all the hard work away by offering a complete end-to-end

only doing small runs, however the development in technology and the company’s investment in an HP Indigo B2 digital press, along with the 7800 and 7900 machines, means The Imaging Centre can now offer print runs from just six cards up to its biggest-yet single order to date of over 300,000 cards – as well as single sheet giftwrap on demand. “We believe this means that digital can have a place for publishers no matter their size,” said Adam.

The launch of the InPress seminars last September has also widened its mission to help publishers, with monthly events where newbies receive pointers on how they can get the best out of their designs, invaluable insights from retailers and other trade suppliers, plus IC’s sustainable progress - and see their cards come to life on the day.

Working with suppliers and experts including the GCA, Progressive Greetings, G.F Smith, Enveco, Poet & Painter, Toasted Crumpet, Scribbler and indie retailer &Quirky, the mix of in-person talks and videos at the day-long InPress sessions covers everything you need to know to get started in the greeting card world.

on large runs as well as short ones, with all the digital benefits on flexibility and turnaround times. But most importantly we’re here to help. We can use our experience to advise customers on all of the options available to them and work with them to find the best possible solution”.

The company’s ongoing investment also includes its people, with 30 full-time in the factory and over 60 outworkers on hand to ensure there’s no bottleneck on the fulfilment side.

service with fulfilment. The customer places the order, we print it, we finish it (including special finishes), we pack it and we send it straight to the retailer. All the publisher has to worry about is invoicing the retailer.

“You've now gone from a position of very, very high risk for start-ups of the initial high cost of printing a massive run, to reducing that risk through producing work digitally with 1,000 cards and now we can do it for however many cards you like – our minimum run is, essentially, six cards and there’s almost zero risk.”

The appeal of the publishers’ side of IC Simplicity has seen it already reach 750 customers since its launch at PG Live seven years ago.

In its early days The Imaging Centre worked predominantly with start-up publishers

Looking to the future

Adam explained that “due to the developments in technology, digital can now offer a far larger range of products than ever before. Digital can now be competitively priced

Above: Efficient working helps cut waste.

Above left: IC’s Simon Davis with some InPress seminar attendees.

Above right: IC staff celebrating the 700th Simplicity customer.

Below: Adam and Jess at PG Live 2022 with new business manager Simon Davis (left) and customer services manager Alan Miller.

“We have worked really hard to reduce turnaround time, which has sped up already thanks in part to the Duplo DC-20K cutter which feeds directly into a DC-746 slitter, allowing high volumes of B2 sheets to be printed and finished in one pass, even with multiple-cut or creasing/perforating work, or multiple formats on the same sheet. Previously the sheets had to be hand-cut to size to fit the existing finishing machines,” explained Adam.

After testing the new machine for the manufacturers, The Imaging Centre’s own version came on stream last autumn, along with a new hot foiler and digital foiler which boosts capacity for high-end cards and there’s also embossing, debossing, die-cutting, neon inks, metallic inks and white ink capabilities.

Adam and Jess have also developed the system to include IC Simplicity Retail, which works like a licensing agreement whereby publishers can upload a selection of designs to the platform, and retailers can trial different ranges, which are all sent direct to the store.

The publisher’s contact details are on the back of the cards so a retailer can then go direct to them for a larger subsequent order and choose from their whole range as there’s only a snippet on IC Simplicity Retail platform.

Marking The Imaging Centre’s 25 years, managing director Adam Short and operations director Jess Penfold are working on a rebrand to take the business forward.

Moving away from the colourful logos introduced by founders Bob and Jan Short in 1998, and the even brighter update from a decade ago, the pair have settled on a slick image to represent the business for the next chapter.

After a peripatetic life moving between four homes, the business is now settled in Marden and the calmer colours of the new logo reflect the mood at the digital print specialist which is looking to a very stable future.

Above: That was then, this is now, and the new logo.

“We initially aimed Simplicity Retailer at independents, but it seems to have got more interest from bigger retailers because it also gives them the chance to try different things –proving that the versatility of digital printing with The Imaging Centre works for all sizes of customer. We’ve come a long way in our first 25 years, who knows what opportunities the future will hold,” Adam concluded.”

Healthy Loving

Like all good 30-year-olds, the Me to You brand has undergone a thorough ‘health check’ and while Tatty’s BMI may be a little higher than some medical professionals would advise, the people that matter in this case - members of the public - have given the blue nose bear a clean bill of health, with 75% of the UK adult population being aware of the brand, head and shoulders above its nearest competitor.

PG delved into the data and the rationale of Carte Blanche Greetings’ massive research project with CBG’s ceo Alister Marchant and marketing manager Grace Elphinstone.

Even the fittest of souls invariably feel a tinge of apprehension when going to see the Doc for a full health check, wondering whether despite following steadfast to a controlled eating and exercise regime such investigation would highlight a deficiency they did not know about.

And these worries extend to grey bears with blue noses too, as Grace Elphinstone, marketing manager of Carte Blanche Greetings explained.

“It was back in 2016 when we last embarked on a major consumer research project into what Me to You meant to consumers, which gave so many valuable insights that we put to good use. However so much has changed in the world in the

intervening period at both a macro and micro level, that we felt it was important to undertake what is effectively an up-to-date brand health check on Me to You which would help inform our own product development as well as that of our licensing partners, plus of course our retail customers,” Grace elaborated.

“The scary thing is when you commission an independent research project you never know what results you are going to get, but it’s better to be in the know than deluding yourself in the dark,” added Grace candidly.

This was no small straw poll as the research (undertaken in early November last year so as not to be skewed by Christmas buying), involved 1,000 members of the public, the group being a fair representation of the UK adult population. Each committed 15 minutes of their time to completing a questionnaire which delved into whether they were aware of the Me to You brand, how it compared to other similar brands, whether they had bought a Me to You greeting card or gift product in the last year, if so, what were the main considerations

Above: Tatty Teddy, the star of Me to You.

Left: CBG’s ceo Alister Marchant (right) with marketing manager Grace Elphinstone and PG’s Warren Lomax in the company’s Chichester HQ.

Below left: The recent research findings showed the strength of the Me to You brand.

Below: Point of Sale items that CBG has developed for indies.

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when making their purchase. They also answered whether they were likely to purchase MTY in the future and if so, which retailer or type of retailer would they be most likely to make that purchase and for what occasion or buying need.

“Having been around for 30 years we expected consumer awareness of Me to You to be high, but it was so gratifying to see that 75% of our respondents, equating to 40 million adults in the UK are aware of the brand and that 30 million of them had purchased a Me to You product in the last three months and that almost 23 million of UK adults see Me to You as their first choice when selecting a greeting card or gift,” revealed Grace.

The findings also endorsed how the Me to You brand is most closely associated with relationships, reinforcing the need for the CBG ranges of cards and gifts to include a

Above: Carte Blanche develops different Me to You card designs for multiples while indies have a choice of the 490 MTY designs in the core model line.

Left: The Me to You distribution in Card Factory which will be expanded into 673 stores this month, will involve 110 skus, comprising 97 greeting card designs and 30 gift items.

Right: Some of the popular items in the Me to You Signature collection.

Below: Carte Blanche continues to invest in new looks for Me to You, such as this Lake View design treatment which lends itself to wellness products.

visibility also brings with it challenges, as highlighted by indie retailer David Robertson in a recent column in PG when Card Factory started stocking a small selection of Me to You cards and gifts in a few hundred of its stores as part of a trial.

You is such a well-loved brand that plays a part in so many people’s relationships. This is anchored of course by the support we receive from thousands of retail stockists - from our many independent customers through to the specialist multiples like Clintons and Cardzone, supermarkets and online platforms. As the UK’s largest specialist greeting card retailer, we are delighted that Card Factory will be introducing a range of Me to You cards and gifts into more of its stores, as this will further support the brand and facilitate even greater consumer engagement which will benefit everyone.”

Alister is keen to stress that, just as it does with the supermarkets, the Card Factory Me to You selection has been

strong mix of relationship and familial captions, ranking highly as what brand consumers would look for when buying for Birthdays (62%), Mother’s Day (41%), Valentine’s Day (40%), get well/sympathy (40%) and anniversary (39%).

A second phase of research, quantitative (involving 4,000 UK adults) and qualitative is due to be completed by the end of July, which Grace says will give even greater insights into the brand and its continued relevance in modern society.

In some ways, Me to You’s incredible strength as a brand and therefore clear

Not surprisingly, this trial has proved successful and this month a bespoke range of Me to You products will be go on sale in 673 Card Factory stores.

As Alister Marchant CBG’s ceo explained: “We feel very fortunate that Me to

Meet Tatty and Spin to Win

Tatty Teddy will bringing his own cute charm to PG Live again this year, fluffing his fur for lots of selfie opportunities with retailers on the first day of the show.

Carte Blanche Greetings will also be fanfaring a whole host of show offers and competitions on its stand.

“We will be showcasing our best-selling lines - those must haves that every retailer should take - across both Me to You and Wishing Well with a show offer that if you buy into both ranges, you can receive Wishing Well for 50% off,” explained Grace.

It will also have an offer on its Blue Mountain Arts spinner where retailers will receive stock to the value of £250 when they purchase the spinner.

And adding to the fun, Grace reveals there will be “a Spin to Win game on the stand where anyone who places an order can win prizes on the day, including a chance to win their order for free. We love PG Live, and Tatty is already preparing himself for the trip to London!”

Carte Blanche will be on the main mezzanine at the show on Stand 222.

specially created for the retailer, and as such is noticeably different to the much broader core model line that is very much the heartland of indies.

“It is all about differentiation. The Me to You brand lends itself to different treatments and formats, which means we have been able to create a distinct curated product range for Card Factory that, while remaining true to the brand, is different to the much larger selection independents can order from us,” Alister elaborated, revealing that the Card Factory range will be continued to 97 greeting card designs and 30 gift items, while independents can select from a core model line of 490 MTY cards and 111 gifts.

“Independents have always been and always will be very important to Carte Blanche,” added Grace. “Which is why we continue to support them with dedicated PoS, inclusion in the stockists list on our website (which received 600,000 unique visitors a year), a social media pack with a press release template, as well as other marketing initiatives, such as a big prize competition that we are to launch for indies very soon,” she added.

With all this activity and expansion which will take Me to You into 10,000 retail rooftops in the UK alone, it is just as well that Tatty’s 30 years of fitness training has paid off!

A quarter-century of Tatty Teddy, Forever Friends is 35 years old, Boofle is well into his teens at 15 and Barley Bear’s been around for a fair few years too - bears and pups are the epitome of cute brands and have been with us almost since the advent of greeting cards. While these cuddly characters are major league ‘aah factor’ contestants, what’s now considered cute has been expanded, as PG discovers…

It would appear that we’re in the midst of something of a cute fest. Coinciding with PG Live, Hallmark is putting its full weight behind the relaunch of Forever Friends, with two inaugural collections (one including AR technology).

Meanwhile, Carte Blanche Greetings will be spreading the news about the findings of a major research project which delved into the potency, awareness and popularity of Me to You.

And UK Greetings will be barking up the right tree with the 15th anniversary celebrations for its cute pooch Boofle while IC&G is

still revelling in Barley Bear’s recent TV fame on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway programme.

Whatever your favourite character, there’s bound to be a cute version that’s just aching to jump off a greeting card to give you a warm hug.

Dogs, cats, teddies, rabbits, foxes, and even sea life are among the designs finding favour with publishers, as The Ecofriendly Card Company’s co-owner Sue Morrish explained: “My primary school-aged son is really into all things cute and cuddly and I’ve noticed a growing interest on the part of him and his peers for more unusual cute creatures, for example red pandas - they’re fluffy and they have those big, big eyes!”

For Jo O’Brien, at Paper Shed, the legendary Sir David Attenborough has been inspiring: “I think

Above: Classic cute characters Barley Bear, Boofle, Tatty Teddy and Forever Friends.

Left: Paper Shed’s inspired by David Attenborough. Below left: Owl’s Nest is a winner for Ginger Betty. Below: Sausage dogs are a favourite at Utterly Conkers.

We can’t wait to see you!

See our latest ranges from Me to You, Wishing Well, Hotchpotch, Humour and Blue Mountain Arts plus exciting show offers!

50% off your Wishing Well order when you buy into both Me to You and Wishing Well ranges

Get £250 worth of stock free when purchasing a Blue Mountain Arts spinner

Play our fun Spin to Win game when you place an order to win your whole order for free, along with lots of lovely on the spot prizes

sealife is very popular due to his latest TV series, this inspired our newest range By The Seashore featuring puffins, crabs, sea turtles and more.

“A heart-warming image can convey so much more emotion and sentiment than words alone - I’d proudly define all our ranges as cute, we produce cute designs for a modern audience with soft hand-drawn artworks celebrating pets, animals and wildlife.”

Ginger Betty’s gentle illustrations and thoughtful words personified in its Henries-winning Owl’s Nest range help the publisher stay true to its British birds and wildlife genre which “feels natural” for founder Tracey Colliston, combining “to create an emotion that connects with both young and old”.

Hallmark has seen a resurgence of nostalgic cute, with people finding joy and comfort revisiting the characters and licences they loved in the past. As head of writing Ruth Turner-Blood explained: “It seems natural that, as people become parents, they want to tap into their favourite childhood cute

characters so they can share them with their own families.

“Another important area is pets. While dogs and cats have always been popular on cute cards, the increase in pet ownership has boosted this significantly as people resonate with characters that remind them of their own pet family members.”

With a whole raft of cute designs across its licensed portfolio, including Forever Friends, Winnie The Pooh and RSPCA, Hallmark continues to grow the genre, finding rabbits and bears are still very popular, with guinea pigs and woodland creatures winners too, and Ruth added: “We’re also seeing sea creatures, such as narwals and crabs, become more popular, as are teeny tiny inanimate objects and unexpected animals that are anthropomorphised.”

“I have a Dachshund and feature a lot of sausage dogs on my cards,” Utterly Conkers’ Emma Harrison said. “These are always popular and sell the most. They never go out of fashion and I can see why when everyone I meet wants to say hello to my little Dachshund!

“For me, cute has a deeper meaning these days, it’s tough times and the need to tell people you love them has never been more important. In our Canine Chums cute range - a 2022 Henries finalist - each card tells a little story beyond the page, from wondering who put the honey-coloured Chihuahua in the bubblegum pink tutu to who’s scrummy cupcake the mischievous little sausage pup ate.”

Headline act gains AR tech

Forever Friends is the headline act in Hallmark’s cute portfolio which contains unique character designs from the loveable bears all the way through to modern, fun and quirky characters.

This year is a big one for the brand as it launches new stand-out collections with a reinvented, reinvigorated look and feel.

“Filled with hugs and happiness, the much-loved bear takes centre-stage,” said head of writing Ruth Turner-Blood, “and is complemented by an impactful new design style featuring bright neon colour pops, bold striking captions and a warmer, more expressive editorial voice.

“To add even more excitement and innovation, Forever Friends has well and truly been brought into the 21st century with cards featuring augmented reality technology!”

Launching at PG Live, on 6-7 June at London’s Business Design Centre, Forever Friends fans can simply scan the card’s QR code with their phone, and bring to life a 3D version of the iconic bear in front of their eyes!

Above: A refreshed Forever Friends aims to capture hearts at PG Live.

Left and below left: Hallmark’s classic Winnie the Pooh and new Apple Picking. Right: Hun Bun is IC&G’s loveable bunny. Below: Louise Tiler draws what’s interesting.

Right: Runner Ducks is new from Stripey Cats.

A range of over 100 googly-eyed animals means Stripey Cats should have almost any trend covered, and owner Jonathan Crosby commented: “We don’t go out specifically to design cute cards, but some designs just seem to become cuter as you’re working on them. We’re never sure what the latest cute themes are but, if Stripey Cats’ designs continue to make people go ahhhhh, then we’re on the right track!

“We won a Henries award for our Dogs range so they’ve got to be up there in the cute department, also our Fruit & Friends range has some adorable cute designs and, not forgetting, our googly-eyed animals.”

Dogs even has its own star with the Delightful Doris design based on the pooch from one of the publisher’s best customers, The Indigo Tree in Streatham and Crystal Palace.

“Barley Bear has remained a favourite since his launch some years ago,” IC&G studio manager Robin Birch said, “but we also have Hun Bun, the loveable bunny. We find our loyal customers support both characters, which we believe indicates the strength of cute within in the greetings market.

“More recently IC&G has added the Big Little Love range, with delightful little characters and simple heartfelt edit, this is a more whimsical

Puppy love

cute. We're thrilled that this has resonated with both retailers and their customers.”

Louise Tiler picks different animals that she thinks are “interesting to illustrate” and suited to the customer she’s designing the card for, “they have to be relatable characters and illustrated in a way to reflect the caption or display the relationship between cute characters that customers can connect with”.

As a proud Henries Best Cute Range winner with Tiny Sparkles, Louise has continued to focus on creating endearing animal designs. The Mini Paws collection is her latest charming addition, featuring birthday cards and expanding into seasonal captions for Valentine's Day and Christmas, she said: “These hand-painted illustrations feature fluffy doggies with a real ahhhhh factor!”

The Porch Fairies bills itself as the “home of nostalgic happiness” so its Holly Pond Hill and Nostalgia World ranges meet the cute brief perfectly - and Foxwood Tales is the latest licensed collection of everyday and Christmas cards, with images taken from the books by Cynthia and Brian Paterson.

Co-owner Fiona Bishop explained: “Our themes are all about the sweetest little rabbits and their woodland friends all having adventures. They all star in nostalgic illustrations from adored and much-loved artists. Cute cards are all about the earnest expressions on the little faces and cosy settings.”

Determining the ahhhhh factor means different things to different people with Paper Shed’s Jo O’Brien reckoning the “best cute cards have characters so alive they look like they could jump off the page for a hug”!

At UK Greetings, special pup Boofle is about to celebrate his 15th birthday, having sold over 100million cards, so the publisher has 15 brand-new designs with seven new ones from creator David Blake to offer something a little bit different for the millions of fans.

Taking inspiration from some of the very bestsellers, David has recreated these special poses in a beautiful new style that brings Boofle to life in a soft, gentle and really appealing way, and the anniversary edition designs have the messages written in the original hand-drawn lettering.

“The sentiment in the designs includes some of the most emotive Boofle messages that have meant so much to millions of people over the years,” explained UKG marketing assistant Alice Cass, “and this has always been a very important part of Boofle’s success - a kind, heartfelt, genuine way of communicating and letting people know just how loved and special they are.

“The rest of the new designs feature the original classic knitted Boofle images that customers know and love, and these are finished in a complementary palette and style to the hand-drawn designs, so they work brilliantly together on display. Here’s to the next 15 years!”

Above: UKG’s special pup is now 15 and has new designs from creator David Blake.

Far left: The Eco-friendly Card Co’s Hares are popular.

Left: Doris from The Indigo Tree Stripey Cats. Below and below left: Nostalgia is key with The Porch Fairies.

Focus on...Cute Cards

Hallmark’s Ruth Turner-Blood reckons a cute card is the perfect solution when people want to embrace their softer side and show how much they care “as it’s such a fantastic way to express emotion”, with the designs evoking a feeling of happiness and instant ahhhhh reaction.

“Cute characters trigger our caring side,” Ruth explained, “as they predominantly reflect the characteristics of babies. We innately want to take care of anything that’s cute, so it’s no surprise that characters with large eyes, round cheeks and little noses make us go ahhhhh!”

She said that, from an editorial perspective, sentiment complements cute design by building on that warmth and emotion with messages of love and friendship, while writing devices such as puns, alliteration and rhyming verse also make people smile.

For Simon Elvin art director Sarah Vockins, cute designs are all about a feeling: “A feeling you get when you first see the greeting card. You need to feel the ahhhhh factor immediately and know that the person you’re sending it to will feel the same. This comes from the artist knowing just how to capture it and the writers using a heartfelt verse.

“It’s all about the fluff, prettiness and meaningful eyes that make a cute, cute. We use bears a lot throughout our ranges. We put them into sweet situations and poses such as holding a bunch of balloons or flowers which helps make them look even more adorable and relatable to the person you are sending to.”

The eyes also have it for Sue Morrish, of The Ecofriendly Card Co, as she said: “It’s one of the things that strike me - an image of a fox with big eyes where it looks as if it’s making eye contact with the viewer creates that ahhhhh feeling.

“Kate Andrew’s bestselling hare range includes cute occasions although it’s not just the characters that are cute but also the way the artist depicts

relationships through those hares, and we have a fine artist, Kathryn Callaghan, whose portraits of baby animals certainly have the big ahhhhh factor.”

And Sue added that Kate Andrew’s hares are often hugging, holding hands or dancing together combined with words that emphasise relationship - the reason we send cards in the first place - as two little hares giving each other a hug is often be cuter than one hare by itself.

The Porch Fairies’ Fiona Bishop said:

“The moment when customers give a heartfelt 'ahhhhh...I love this' makes everything right with the world. Customer reactions determine the ahhhhh factor every time - reliving cosy moments with a trip down memory lane with nostalgic joy.”

Cute in the Utterly Conkers studio is stylish and fun with colourful, delicately hand-painted canine characters which Emma Harrison said “feel like they could leap off the card and give you a warm hug and sloppy kiss”, while she added that what the character on the card looks like is part of the ahhhh factor and “the rest is what they’re doing or wearing and the caption is the icing on the cute cake”.

Emotions count for Ginger Betty’s Tracey Colliston, who has also created a myriad of major cute characters for other publishers: “As well as a character or animal being cute, it’s as much about the situation and linking the image with the right words, making a connection to create a reaction, an emotion. A cute image has the ahhhhh factor when it shows an element of vulnerability and openness, like wearing your heart on your sleeve with your feelings on show.”

For Louise Tiler, it’s as soon as you open the envelope and take out the card: “If a card gives you a instant ahhhhh factor then you know it has the right impact and level of cuteness. Cute cards can really touch people’s hearts and make the receiver feel the card is a warm and thoughtful gesture.”

Tatty Teddy investigates

Cute may be sugar and spice and all things nice, but there are snips and snails too in the form of the competition between brands.

Research by Carte Blanche Greetings saw a 1,000-strong panel consulted across the UK, which revealed: “Me to You brand awareness is the strongest among our competitive set, at a staggering 75% of respondents recognising the logo and character.”

IC&G’s Robin Birch thinks a cute card is any design that makes you feel a little ahhhhh when you look at the image or read the message that accompanies the art, and added: “It's very personal and different for everyone, it can be the slightest nuance in the art, a head tilt, a turned-in foot coupled with the right sentiment. The same guide applies when editorial and image meet - you need that instinctive ahhhhh moment.”

Ahhhhh! So that’s what it’s all about!

Top and above: It’s the ahhhhh feeling that counts at Simon Elvin. Right: Bear from The Art File has been a runaway cute success.

Left: Me to You’s brand awareness is staggeringly high.

Global Glamour

Eurovision was great, but the imminent PG Live show will involve far more countries, in the overseas distributors and retailers who will be coming to buy as well as the growing number of international exhibitors, all of whom will add to the glitz and glamour of this significant global greeting card gathering.

PG enjoys a ‘dress rehearsal’ with a handful of exhibitors who will be adding their own international vibes to the show.

From Wilmette, Illinois, USA…Fine Moments

Husband and wife team Jason and Hae Carberry started Fine Moments in 2005, primarily as an online provider of stationery designs, but three years ago they diversified into publishing contemporary greeting cards, giftwrappings and stationery for the general retail market and haven’t looked back since, as evidenced by their recent Louie award wins.

Your star turns: “Since this is our first time exhibiting outside of the United States, I guess you could say that our entire portfolio is our launch. Our collection consists of modern greeting cards, gift bags, wine bags and mini pocket-sized notebooks.”

Hopes and dreams: “Many of our colleagues and customers have suggested we do UK shows, and PG Live will be our first. We are excited to meet buyers, agents and distributors from the UK and beyond, who find our line compelling and different. We’re hoping that this show in the UK with be the first of many.”

Voting points for the UK? “There is so much to love about London, we have been many times. We have been long-time admirers of the UK greeting card market, long before we even got into the wholesale greeting card space. We have three kids, our oldest currently attends university full time at UCL (University College London) and our second oldest will also be attending university in London next year, at the University of Greenwich. So needless to say, London is quickly becoming our second home.”

PG Live Stand 426

Above: Fine Moments’ Jason and Hae Carberry with their recent Louie awards that.

Above and left: Modern clean design is a feature of Fine Moments’ cards.

The PGL Globovision

This year’s PG Live has its largest contingent of overseas exhibitors to date. These include Avanti, Designer Greetings, Fine Moments, Quilling Cards and Up With Paper who will be making the trip across the Atlantic from the USA; Greetings From Lowlands Studios will be travelling from The Netherlands; Perleberg is all set for the journey from Germany; AB Cards will be coming across from Poland; Cozywood is looking forward to a return trip from Lithuania; P&G Cards, TrassaArt and Alljoy are hopping over from Ireland; Origamo and Cromo will be venturing from Italy, while the longest trek of all sees Simson Licensing popping up from Melbourne, Australia.

Above: John and Bindi Simson of Simson Cards have been coming to PG Live since it started, placing sizable orders with the publishers they distribute in Australia. This year, they will also be wearing an exhibitor ‘hat’ as they will be looking to licence their company’s own designs to other publishers and companies.

From Turin, Italy… Origamo

Furio Ceciliato, the once met never forgotten founder of Origamo, has taken the greeting card market in his homeland of Italy by storm with his inventive 3D pop-up and quilling card ranges, including a recent licensing agreement with the Van Gogh Museum. Having now also set up a base here, Origamo is looking forward to saying “ciao” to even more UK retailers.

Your star turns: “During PG Live we will launch our Mini Flora Collection, a handmade greeting card that becomes a little gift thanks to the 3D popup bouquet inside. This will encompass eight different

Inset: PG Live 2023, which takes place June 6-7 at London’s Business Design Centre is all set to be a global gathering.

flowers, plus an official Van Gogh Museum edition. We will also be showing 16 brand new models of our Popup cards and our Quilling cards.”

Hopes and dreams: “PG Live is always a fantastic opportunity not only for sales, but to meet people, create links and understand the market. I hope to meet many international customers too, like we did last year.

I am sure it will be an incredible event, thanks to the fantastic organisation as always!”

Voting points for the UK?: “I have a very deep link with London and UK in general. I love the people, I love the culture, I love the attitude of being open to others and share experiences.

I reckon I am the only Italian who spent all his summer holidays - the whole month last July - in Brighton with my family!”

PG Live Stand 527

From Framingham, Massachusetts, USA… Quilling Card

A native of Vietnam, Quilling Card co-founder Huong Nguyen Wolf previously worked in marketing throughout Southeast Asia and the US for large corporations such as Unilever and L’Oreal. In 2011 together with her husband Raphael turned her passion for quilling into a greeting card company with PG Live forming part of its global expansion plans.

Your star turns: “We are launching a large assortment of quilled greeting cards for the European market, but we are most excited to share our Artist Series. The collection of 12 designs artfully transforms paint strokes into paper strips using the ancient art of quilling. Each card takes several hours to handmake and reimagines a famous work of art into a magnificent greeting card.”

Hopes and dreams: “We are striving to make connections with European distributors and sales agents, but most importantly our goal is to bring our beautiful premium greeting card collection to European retailers and ultimately card senders.”

Voting points for the UK? “What I love most about London/UK is that there’s so much history and diversity. I also love the paradoxes that the city offers: old vs. new, ancient vs. modern, past and the future.”

PG Live Stand 236

Above: Huong Nguyen Wolf, co-founder of Quilling Card.

Left: Some of the designs in Quilling’s new Artist Series.

From Kaunas, Lithuania…Cozywood

Vygintas Zmejauskas heads up Cozywood, a company

which is gaining awareness for its wooden cards as well as its surprising paper cards. The company sees sustainability not as a luxury, but rather a necessity, so 5% of its profit is donated to replanting trees to protect the planet.

Your star turns: “I am very happy to be a part of PG Live 2023. I will be flying in from the small country of Lithuania to present my wooden and paper greeting cards. These wooden cards are truly extraordinary! We will also be showing our wooden folded greeting cards made of very thin and flexible wood. If you haven’t seen them before, you need to appreciate how good it feels to touch the surface of the wood. Most of the cards feature illustrations created by my wife.

Our paper greeting cards include a surprise inside. As soon as you open the postcard, you will be surprised by a butterfly flying out.”

Hopes and dreams: “At the end of the first day of PG Live last year, after an intense day of meetings, I decided to take a break and so went up to the BDC café on the second floor. While sipping my coffee I looked down on the hall, at the other exhibitors' stands, and I thought about my future plans. I was then overwhelmed by a wave of gratitude and sweet joy as I remembered myself as a child, when I used to make greeting cards that I gave to my family to make them happy. And here I was many years later, my working career having taken me into the printing business which led to Cozywood and so our wooden cards were borne. I felt quite emotional realising that my childhood dream had become a reality, and here I was exhibiting at a global greeting card exhibition in London. So, it’s lovely to be exhibiting at PG Live again this year. My hopes and dreams for the show are for our lovingly crafted cards to reach UK buyers and make their hearts happy. And it would be great to find distributors or wholesalers.”

Voting points for the UK? “I would love to revisit Cambridge, to walk the streets of the Old Town, the Market Square, and the King's College buildings. I would also love to visit the magnificent cathedral in Ely. I have warm memories of visiting these wonderful places exactly 20 years ago and feel something of a magnet pull to go again.”

PG Live Stand 538

Above: Furio Ceciliato with a display stand of Origamo’s Mini Flora cards in Blue Diamond’s Bicester centre.

Left: Origamo has recently signed a licensing agreement with the Van Gogh Museum to produce two designs each for its Flora Collection, Quilling and Pop-up cards ranges.

Above left: Vygintas Zmejauskas with a display of Cozywood’s wooden cards. Above: The wood used on Cozywood’s products is FSC.

Art Source

From Doctor to Drawing

Dr Emma Lawrence of Emma Lawrence Designs has had an interesting change of career, inspired by her lifelong love of nature and drawing. From being told she couldn’t mix art and biology at school, to becoming a successful consultant psychologist, she has come full circle to become an illustrator who draws upon inspiration from the natural world.

“Ever since I was a young child, I've been enthralled by drawing and nature. I would spend countless hours painting, sketching, pressing wildflowers, and creating things outdoors. I have vivid memories of meticulously copying oil paintings and crafting boats from pieces of driftwood discovered on the beach. When I was still very young, my father gave me a tin of beautiful, pristine Caran d'Ache colouring pencils, which I still cherish to this day, even though some colours are now reduced to tiny stumps! Although I enjoyed art at school, I was never truly encouraged, and when it came time to choose my A-level subjects, I was not allowed to study both art and biology together. Instead, I was pushed to pursue a ‘proper’ degree.

I ultimately decided to study psychology and spent seven years obtaining a doctorate and diploma to qualify as a clinical neuropsychologist. For over 20 years, I dedicated myself to the NHS, specialising in brain injury rehabilitation.

In an effort to achieve a better work-life balance, I reignited my passion for drawing by picking up pencils and pens once again. While still working, my first illustrated book was published, which motivated me further into designing greeting cards that I successfully sold to local shops.

I never anticipated that I could leave the NHS, however, seven years ago, I had to undergo major surgery, which required several months of recovery. I took this as an opportunity to hand in my notice, and since then, I've never looked back.

If

In addition to undertaking commissions and publishing two more books, I established myself as a greeting card publisher, but also was introduced to the world of licensing. Now, my cards are licensed by Hooli Mooli Trading Co., and I've formed partnerships with Joe Davies, Stubbs Mugs, Art on Scarves, Carousel Calendars, and Jardinopia.

My illustrations are inspired by the beautiful Shropshire countryside, where my home studio is based. I love to draw in my garden and the nearby woodlands, immersing myself in the small details - the vibrant berries, the diverse leaf shapes, and the everchanging colours and seasons. When depicting flowers, plants, and animals, I strive to ensure they can be easily identified as I believe it's so important to educate children about our incredible wildlife. Every creation of mine begins as a pencil sketch, which I refine before drawing in black ink. I then bring life to the illustrations with my favourite and now expanded Caran D’Ache pencils or digitally, giving the illustrations a fresh, clean look. I particularly favour colouring pencils for my Little Nature Explorers range, as I endeavour to showcase to children the versatility of simple pencils and encourage traditional techniques.

I am excited to be launching the Ditsy Collection in collaboration with Hooli Mooli Trad Co at PG Live, which draws inspiration from my surface pattern designs. I am fortunate to have the support of my agent, Mel Humberstone-Garley of MHG Licensing. Together, we hope to announce exciting new collaborations in the near future.”

you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Jakki Brown on jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge.

Left: Emma Lawrence coming up with design ideas in her garden.

Below: A little bird features in many of Emma’s deisgns.

Left: One of the Books Emma has written and illustrated. Below left: One of the designs in the new card range from Hooli Mooli. Bottom: A selection of mugs from Joe Davies featuring Emma’s artwork.

PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS

Nigel Williamson, co-owner of House of Cards. A group of seven card and gift shops located in the Home Counties.

Everyday

Photographic

Humour Children’s Cute Adult Ages

Anniversaries

Weddings

3D and Pop-ups

Giftwrappings

Gifts Children’s gifts

Woodmansterne

Emotional Rescue/Paper Salad

Tracks

Woodmansterne Emotional Rescue

Emotional Rescue

Rosie Made a Thing

Rachel Ellen

Paper Shed

Dandelion

Rosie Made a Thing

Cinnamon Aitch Woodmansterne

Dandelion

Bexy Boo

Special Delivery Glick

Boxer

Wrendale Designs Depesche

Generally Mishmash

Generally Loose Leashes

Virtual Safari

Norbert and Val

On the Ceiling

Mine’s a Pint Generally Generally Absolutely Barking Generally Generally Generally Generally Generally Generally Generally Paper Salad; Stephanie Dyment Books

The Country Set Top Model

“Strong selection.”

“Bright and fun.

“Interesting manipulation.”

“Emo just knows what sells; inspired tie-up with Paper Salad.”

“Nails popular culture.”

“So strong for kids cards.”

“Captures the cute emotion.”

“Both are so clever with their words.”

“Great attention to detail.”

“Different design ideas.”

“Nothing else like them.”

“The market leaders on quality, design and service.”

“The Sherlock Holmes Escape Rooms, J Clarkson’s Diddly Squat, Air Fryer Cook Book and Peter Rabbit Good Night books are our best sellers.”

“Recognisable art style with a strong following.”

“Something different.”

Kayleigh Hisim, co-owner of Milford Cards & Gifts, Milford on Sea. A card and gift shop in a small village on the south coast.

Category Name of Publisher

Everyday

Relations & Occasions

Humour

Photographic

Nigel Quiney

IC&G

Dandelion Abacus Cards

Product/Name Range Comments

Pizazz

Generally

Words of Wisdom

BBC Gardeners’ World; Springwatch; Countryfile

“Customers buy several at a time.”

“Top sellers.”

“Hilarious and not too rude.”

“The spinner covering all three brands works really well.”

Above: A BBC Gardeners’ World design

Children’s Adult Ages Thinking of You

Giftwrappings

Gifts

Cardoo

IC&G

Nigel Quiney Giftmaker

The Wooden Postcard Company Otter House

Generally Month you were born

Flower Press

Generally Localised designs

Latte mugs

“They include stickers and activity elements.”

“These cards are also a gift.”

“Pretty smaller size cards.”

“Cheap and cheerful.”

“We love them!”

“The animal ones sell very well.”

Right: House of Cards’ top selling Mishmash design from Emo, in conjunction with Paper Salad.

from Abacus.

Right: A cute Absolutely Barking design from Paper Shed.

Category Name of Publisher

Everyday

Relations & Occasions

Humour Cute

Art

Licensed Children’s

Keeping in Touch

3D/Pop-ups

Pets

Gifts

Rosanna Rossi

Sabivo

Two Little Monkeys

Rush Designs

Lucilla Lavender

Rosie Made a Thing

Dandelion

Paper Shed

Love Country

ArtPress

Catch Publishing

Hype

Janie Wilson

Rosanna Rossi

Stripey Cats

Hearts Designs

Louise Mulgrew

Paper D’art

Scoffs

Dandelion

Blade & Rose

Indulgence

Eat Sleep Doodle

Product/Name Range

Novella Generally Generally Generally

Generally Gin & Frolics and Babble

Words of Wisdom

Wonderfully Wild

Generally

Generally Generally Generally Milkshake

Confetti

Wobbly Eyes

Mad Dots

Generally Generally Dog Edible Cards

Generally

Baby/Toddler wear

Costume Jewellery

Placemats/pillowcases

Comments

“All offer strong general birthday cards across a range of genres.”

“Great ranges covering many captions.”

“I couldn’t run the shop without these two companies’ brilliant humour cards.”

“They are so cute.”

“They cover the art masters as well as general art cards.”

“Great retro TV memories.”

“They all offer bright and fun designs to cover all children’s ages.”

“Beautifully classy.”

“An eclectic range of designs.”

“Fabulously intricate.”

“Wonderful idea.”

“Great for pets to give to their fave humans.”

“Fabulous quality.”

“Lovely range.”

“Pure fun.”

Everyday Relations & Occasions

Humour

Cinnamon Aitch

Janie Wilson

Megan Claire

Caroline Gardner

Paperlink

Woodmansterne

Ohh Deer

Brainbox Candy

Redback

Woodmansterne

Rosie Made a Thing

Primrose Hill; Piccadilly

Generally Higgledy Piggledy

Generally Mimosa

Generally Generally Viz; Type; Quotish Cloud Nine; Holy Flaps

Genius; Off the Leash

“Super pretty”

“Sophisticated.”

“Great local company.”

“Many strong ranges.”

“Wide appeal.”

“An easy pick up at a good price.”

“Lots of choice.”

“We are doing really well with lots of humour ranges right now.”

Children’s Cute Art Photographic

3D and Pop-ups

Rachel Ellen

The Art File

Ginger Betty

Woodmansterne

Paperlink

The Art File

Tracks

Woodmansterne

Me and Mq

Tache

Redback

Rachel Ellen

Generally Generally Bear; Toby the Dog

Owl’s Nest

Generally Skylark; Lotus

Book and Botanics;

Sara Miller

Generally

Framed; Country Life; RSPB

Generally Generally Shine

Jigsaw

“Rosie has her finger on the pulse!”

“All their kids’ cards rock.”

“Customers love them.”

“A local company.”

“These two companies have great designs.”

“Beautiful illustrations.”

“Distinctive.”

Giftwrap

Glick

Caroline Gardner

Artebene

Generally Generally Generally

“The sequin patches are striking.”

“A card and gift in one.”

“Hands down winner!”

“Contemporary designs.”

“A bit special.”

Susan Miller, owner of Joyce’s with Best Wishes, Lingfield. A greeting card and gift shop with an adjoining café in a popular Surrey village.

Kate Hodgson, owner of Design@six, Wetherby. A contemporary card and gift shop in a West Yorkshire market town.

Top: Rosanna Rossi’s Novella range is an everyday winner for Susan.

Above: A Stripey Cats’ Wobbly Eye design.

Top: A Cloud Nine design from Redback Cards. Above: One of Paperlink’s Skylark designs.

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud

T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

sales@glick.co.uk glick.co.uk trade.glick.co.uk

from the

Including firmfavourites and brand new designs

Brands include: Keepsakes,Words ofLove, Jelly Beans, Bella Rose, Champagne and many more

Tel: +44 (0)115 986 0115 customerservices@paperrose.co.uk www.writefromtheheart.co.uk

Hallmark Cards PLC Dawson Lane, Bradford, BD4 6HN UK&NI: 0800 90 20 900 ROI: 012 480 104 customerqueriesUK@hallmark.com

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

CHARITY

PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons.

BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics.

Products:

Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Partyware

Brands:

& Bows

GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists

Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available

T 01206 396209

E sales @badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk

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FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock 100% Recycled PaperAvailable Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request

WE’RE HIRING!

Full-time Territory Managers

(a part-timer would be considered too, with smaller ‘patch’)

Locations • South East • West Midlands • North East:

Allsorted is searching for more ‘SUPERSTAR’ Territory Managers to join our highly successful team, and our growing business.

■ Are you the best - or at least one of the best - sales reps in your current and previous teams?

■ An address book with lots of Garden Centres, Visitor Attractions, Department Stores would be a major plus! As would great Excel and PowerPoint skills.

■ Books are a great product; would you be passionate about selling them?

■ You’ll get to sell bestsellers - great ‘brands’ – and some

thoughtful gift books, fabulous kids’ books: our range includes books with some truly thoughtprovoking and inspiring content. Your job will be to persuade prospects that our service is the best in our marketplace, then to match the right books to the right place, and then to do what you say you’re going to do, and more!

■ You must be persuasive, honest, hardworking, positive thinking, dedicated, smart,and really enjoy helping customers to be even more successful.

■ You’ll get a choice between a car allowance and mileage reimbursement.