Progressive Greetings March 2024

March

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INTRODUCING We are proud to launch our biggest collection to date; an abundance of styles and finishes from our best-selling artists.

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PRESENTING New curated collections and an unprecedented number of new products for the year ahead!

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From The Editor

ON THE CARDS “It always seems impossible, until it is done,” so said the mighty Nelson Mandela. These particular words of wisdom, which ignite the power of determination appositely graced the wall of the meeting room of the recent GCA Council meeting that I attended, held in Hyve’s offices.

A major focus of the meeting was about Royal Mail, safeguarding and protecting a reliable and affordable postal service, it being such a crucial cog in our wondrous greeting card industry.

Now, I would not be so crass as to draw parallels with Nelson Mandela’s long battle to stop apartheid in South Africa, but the threat to Royal Mail really does call on a collective determination and perseverance. Irrespective of the above inflation stamp price increases that come into force at the start of April, the argument Royal Mail is putting forward is that it cannot afford to uphold the USO of six days a week delivery and is proposing a five or even three day a week delivery schedule which Ofcom is considering.

We cannot take for granted that the GCA’s sterling work on this front will sort this out for all Top: The recent GCA Council took place in Hyve’s of us. This is a time when offices in a meeting room with an appropriate quote given the Royal Mail challenge that was discussed. everyone who has an Above right: Retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis with PG’s Jakki Brown. (See pages 36-37) interest in the buying and Below: This industry has some great people within sending of greeting cards, it…here are just a few at the ‘PG Pub’ stand at Spring Fair that was superbly built by the cardboard and moreover recognises maestros, N Smith.

Below right: (right-left) Little Giorgio’s Yvonne the incredible social Cadell, Loxley’s Tony Lorriman and PG’s Jakki Brown benefits that greeting cards at the recent GCA Dragons Speed Dating event with a card featuring her young son Giorgi’s artwork that bring, should take action. was given to all participants. (See News)

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EXHIBITIONS

@Prog_Greetings

It would be an absolute travesty to let Royal Mail’s service go down the Swanny without a humongous fight.

We as an industry need to be the siren call, especially as sending greeting cards is the main reason people now use the post.

The ever-erudite Matt Genower, coowner of Five Dollar Shake put it superbly well in an email to me last week: “The latest price increase to a service that is not fit, is another slap in our industry’s face. The work the GCA has been doing and in particular, its efforts with Ofcom are so appreciated, but we’re at a crucial crossroad.

I know some publishers and retailers have written to their MPs, but nothing like enough of us. Ultimately, it’s down to government. This is an election year and for once the electorate have a bit of a voice (for a while anyway). This is urgent and I don’t think enough publishers and retailers recognise how urgent it is - we should all be writing letters.

The public’s lack of confidence in delivering post will surely have ramifications on the appeal of card sending. You can’t have one without the other.”

So, write to your MP, send a card to Ofcom. Be in the fight. Is it worth it? Yes it is.

Moving to a more joyful matter, I join with the industry in congratulating Paul and his son and co-director James Taylor for finally clinching the deal to acquire Clintons, which now means the Cardzone group is trading from 363 stores. For Paul and James it has been a long time coming with a few false dawns over the years, creating a bolstered force in specialist greeting card retailing.

Such examples of perseverance bring to mind a motivational mantra from another great spokesperson: “A good rabbit never gives up,” so said Peter Rabbit in the hit movie based on Beatrix Potter’s characters. Some bunnies are wise beyond their ears!

Appropriately The Retas 2024 greeting card retailing awards event is taking on a Beatrix Potter theme, so we want all retailers to ‘hop to it’ and enter and for all publishers, reps and agents to nominate who they believe are the shining retailing stars of our industry.

Now is not the time to hold back! It is the Year of the Dragon after all.

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B E AU T I FU L LY C R A F T E D PA PE R B LO O M S

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What’s Inside?

CONTENTS 24

26

36

10-23 News All the latest happenings and developments in the greeting card community.

24-25 Talking Shop Accentuate The Positive

51

39-43 Focus on…Giftwrappings Roll With It PG deep dives into the giftwrappings sector, from design trends and rolls versus flat sheets considerations to the sustainability developments.

Indie David Robertson touches on the benefits of turning a negative into a positive, trade fairs and Jellycat.

45-49 Innovations

26-27 Cardsharp Respect Where It’s Due

51-53 Focus on…more than a card The Card That Keeps On Giving

Cardsharp is narked that the media and City types do not give the greeting card sector due credence.

PG looks at just some of the innovative ‘card and gift in one’ ideas.

A host of new ranges and designs.

55 Art Source Roamin’ Saxton

29-31 Viewpoints Feeling The Love…

Artist Ian Saxton’s instinct to draw anything which sparked an interest that started in childhood continues to this day.

Greeting card indies revealed how the love flowed at Valentine’s Day.

33-35 Passage of Time Milestone Markers

56-57 What’s Hot? A quad of retailers lift the lid on their bestselling ranges.

PG shines the spotlight on some notable company anniversaries.

58-67 Sources of Supply

36-37 Face to Face The Disruptive Theo-ry There’s never a dull moment when retail entrepreneur and former Dragon Theo Paphitis is around.

DIARY DATES: London Stationery Show 14-15 May; The UK Gift Awards 16 May; Progressive Greetings Live 2024 4-5 June; The Retas greeting card retail awards 4 July; GCA Conference and AGM 19 September; The Henries 3 October and The Ladder Club 17 October.

Subscribe to Progressive Greetings from £60 (UK) to £90 (International).

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Warren Lomax

Tracey Arnaud

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Features Editor

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Copyright© 2024. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of publication, the publishers cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for the standing of advertisers nor any organisation mentioned in the text. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.

Ian Hyder

PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Amanda Fergusson 020 7619 9266 Email: hello@gca.cards www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk

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NEWS TOP STORY

Cardzone Group Acquires Clintons’ 163 stores Deal almost doubles the Taylors’ estate to 363 stores

Below: All of Clintons’ 163 trading stores have now joined the Cardzone group estate.

Below middle: What a way to celebrate Cardzone’s 20th anniversary!

James Taylor, Paul’s son and trading director of the business.

Paul confirmed that the plan is to retain the Clintons brand. “Absolutely.

The name is still synonymous with quality greeting card retailing,” he summed up, adding that it is highly likely that some Cardzone stores will be converted to Clintons branding in time.

“There will be some changes, but we are very excited to be growing our family business with Clintons joining our portfolio,” added Paul, who has also assumed the role as ceo of Clintons with Eddie Shepard, its former ceo, having now left the business.

The Cardzone group already trades under several brands, including Mooch for its more gifty retail concept, plus it also operates several ‘factory outlet’ stores under the Hallmark brand. It also forged a joint venture with Postmark’s Mark and Leona Janson-Smith in 2021 for future stores under that brand. This really came to the fore last year when the Postmark doubled in size to 15 stores, most notably in station sites that had previously been occupied by Paperchase.

Clintons has been acquired by Pillarbox Designs, the parent company of Cardzone. The deal sees Clintons’ 163 trading stores join with Cardzone’s 180 stores to form what Paul Taylor, founder of the family business is proud to describe as “now the UK’s only national specialist chain selling quality cards.”

Clintons has been owned by the Weiss family, founders of American Greetings (the parent company of UK Greetings) since 2012. Cardzone this year celebrates its 20th anniversary, having been set up by industry stalwart Paul Taylor with his son James, daughter Alex and wife Chris also involved in the business.

Pillarbox’s acquisition of Clintons comes after several attempts over the years, with the two parties getting really close to sealing a deal just before Covid.

“We met again last September and have been to-ing and fro-ing ever since then, but yes, it is a relief to get it over the line this time,” admitted Above: Paul and James Taylor quite rightly see the Clintons deal as cause for celebration for the family business.

Right: There are now 18 Mooch stores in the Cardzone group.

Cardfactory, Cards Direct and Lark expand Continuing a strong show of faith from the greeting card retailing sector, Cardfactory, Cards Direct and Lark have expanded their store portfolios in the last few weeks. These join Scribbler, Postmark, Above: Plenty of smiles at Cardfactory’s Cheapside Ryman Design, and of opening. course Cardzone among Middle: Having just those to have already stated completed the fitout, their growth plans for 2024. Lark’s co-owner Dominic Crowe with some of the London’s Cheapside in Weybridge store team. the city and Walsall’s Crown Below: Maidenhead is among Cards Direct’s Wharf Retail Park are the newest shops. latest locations for Cardfactory, pushing the UK’s largest specialist greetings retailer near to 1,050 store mark as it continues with its growth plans.

Meanwhile, Hemel Hempsteadheadquartered Cards Direct is also gathering pace with the latest store openings being in Maidenhead’s High Street and Sheffield’s Crystal Peaks Shopping Centre, taking its store portfolio to around 70.

Lark London has also been continuing its retail expansion in Surrey with the recent opening of a new store in Weybridge, bringing its store estate to 19.

In keeping with the other Lark stores, the new Weybridge branch stocks a variety of products ranging from clothing to homeware, beauty, jewellery and children’s gifts and greeting cards. “Cards are bread and butter,” states Priya Aurora-Crowe who co-owns the retail group with her husband Dominic.

“Most customers come in to buy a card and then are quickly tempted by everything else that we offer.”

Commenting on the newly opened store, Priya added: “We are so excited to be joining the lovely Weybridge community with our shiny new shop.”

Joe Davies becomes employee-owned Major supplier to card and gift retailers, Joe Davies is to become a wholly employeeowned business.

The existing management team remains in place, headed up by ceo Steve Davies whose great-grandfather Joe set up the company 105 years ago, while the full 100% of shareholding for the business will be held by the Joe Davies Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) for the benefit of all employees.

“I am very proud to be able to say that the transition of the company to a 100% employeeowned business will see Joe Davies being run,

and owned, by the very people that make Joe Davies what it is,” Steve said.

“While I’m not retiring any time soon, and my dad Peter is still very much involved with Joe Davies, there is no fifth generation of family coming through. For Peter and I, an EOT is the perfect solution to secure our staff’s livelihoods and to look after my grandpa Joe’s legacy. This allows Joe Davies to continue in its

own special way and serve our lovely customers for many years to come.”

And md Paul Hooker added: “The whole team are immensely proud and honoured to be with the company as we transition to being an employee-owned business. Day-to-day this will ensure that there is no change in the way we operate or shift in our values.”

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Left: Steve Davies (back row, fourth right) and Paul Hooker (centre) with the Joe Davies team at Autumn Fair

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NEWS TOP STORY

Positive Reactions Greeting card community welcomes the big news “This is probably the biggest news in greeting card retailing for a long, long time,” fellow retailer Miles Robinson, co-owner of House of Cards, the Home Counties group of seven stores, quite rightly pointed out about Cardzone group’s acquisition of Clintons. “I’m thrilled to bits for Paul and James. Knowing how passionate they are about the industry this will hopefully bode well for the future of greeting card retailing,”: said Miles, adding “It will potentially give publishers access to a much bigger store estate which can only be a good thing for the industry.”

Graeme Karavis, group md of Hallmark UKI and ANZ, commented: “We see this as very good news for the industry. Jobs will be protected, it supports the High Street and, most important of all, it provides access for consumers to great greeting cards!

“Paul and the team have a track record of success and we look forward to supporting him in growing the business and differentiating his proposition from the grocers.”

David Byk, ceo of Ling Design, GBCC, Penny Kennedy and Swan Mill, joked: “My first reaction was ‘****ing hell’, which is what I said to Paul when he called me from the car to tell me!

“My second reaction was to congratulate him and James on something that they have wanted for a long time.

“My third reaction was to reflect on the fact it’s great for the industry that someone is supporting the High Street and the card market as a whole when the sector is under pressure and that Clintons isn’t going into receivership in the way that has been predicted.”

“This is good news in terms of wider optics for everyone, including the public and the existing and prospective card senders.”

A “delighted” Daniel Prince, managing director of Danilo, welcomed the “fantastic news”. He said: “I know how hard Paul has been working to get the deal completed, so it’s great that it finally happened.

Clintons is a massive part of UK greeting card history, and a strong brand that’s now in safe hands with Paul and the Cardzone team.”

Allen Taylor, sales director of publisher IC&G, said: “It’s so refreshing to hear good news. This a great acquisition. Paul, James and the team are great operators, and I’m sure they will reinvigorate this sleeping giant of our industry.

“It’s great news for the High Street and will help to keep our public engaged in sending cards, which is key for all publishers.”

Abacus Cards’ md Nick Carey also sees it as “absolutely great news”. He said: “the

Above: (clockwise, l-r) Graeme Karavis; Daniel Prince; David Byk; David Greaves; Nick Carey.

Left: (left-right): Cardzone’s Chris, Paul and Alex Taylor; Jo Jackson (Polytint); Cardzone’s Nina Remnant and James Taylor with Chelsea Levitt (Asda) at The Henries 2023.

Below: The Cardzone group continues the Clintons’ legacy.

Don Lewin, Clintons’ founder (right) in one of its earliest stores.

growth of an independent retailer on UK High Streets is just what we all need”, adding: “This will cement the card and gift market for years to come. Truly fab news.”

David Greaves, director of Emotional Rescue, enthused: “Wow! What interesting news – Paul and his team are taking on a big retail name and an even bigger retail challenge!

“Having worked with Paul as a retail colleague and supplier for over 25 years and been a Clintons’ supplier for over 30 years, my fellow directors Jen Rutter, Brett Smith and I are confident the two businesses will go from strength to strength and wish everyone involved much success.”

The bigger picture “Congratulations to Paul and the team!” said GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson with her positive endorsement of the Clintons’ purchase, seeing it as a positive reflection on the industry as a whole. “With over 81% of cards bought in a bricks and mortar store, according to the GCA 2023 Market Report in the UK, it's great to see further investment in our wonderful industry.

“The British continue to send more cards per capita than any other country, due both to the wonderful diversity and design innovation in our industry and our High Street retailers, who do such an inspiring job in promoting and selling greeting cards…

Cardzone continuing the legacy of Clintons further perpetuates this.”

Feeling the love Spring Seasons 2024 has got off to a great start with Valentine’s Day hailed a success by many retailers.

In addition to grocers reporting a strong uptake, indies were gushing to spread the love about their Valentine’s Day sales.

Sally Matson, owner of Red Card in Petworth proclaimed: “We definitely felt the love at this year – we saw our biggest Valentine’s Day card sales ever!”

Over in the Swindon area, Aga Marsden, co-owner of Highworth Emporium revealed that while sales were somewhat “last minute” she had a 17% uplift in Valentine’s Day sales with a positive knock-on to her general sales too.

Further north, Carl Dunne of Cards & Gifts trounced that, reporting

that his store was “trading up by at least 50%” in the week leading up to Valentine’s Day. In Scotland, Michael Apter, owner of Paper Tiger, with three stores in Edinburgh said like-for-like, its Valentine’s sales were “well ahead of last year.”

Chris Beards, owner of Mantons, Port Erin on the Isle of Man also “had a fantastic Valentine's with just a handful of returns left on the 15th.

Above: Valentine’s sales (For more comments see Viewpoints ‘beared’ up for Mantons and pages 29-31) other indies.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Ofcom Onslaught Greetings community urged to push RM concerns Everyone across the greeting card community is being urged to loudly voice their concerns over Royal Mail, by participating in Ofcom’s stakeholder events, writing to their MPs, contacting their local media and responding to the postal regulator’s Future Of The Universal Postal Service review, in a collective effort to safeguard a reliable and affordable postal service.

While a strong battle is being fought on the industry’s behalf by the GCA, the trade association encourages publishers, retailers and suppliers to also make their feelings known, especially in light of the recent announcement of stamp prices increasing on April 2 and the airing of a damning BBC Panorama programme, the latter further dampening consumer confidence in greeting cards being delivered on time.

As PG went to press, the GCA was encouraging as many people as possible to attend various Ofcom roundtable events, either in person or online to make their concerns heard and to protect a six day a week delivery service. The first one took place in Belfast on March 5, with three others scheduled for London, Cardiff, and Edinburgh during March.

Cardology co-owner and GCA council member David Falkner is on the panel for the London event on Thursday, 14 March, 2pm-4.30pm, with a Cardiff meeting on Monday18 March, and Thursday, 21 March in Edinburgh.

Above: From 2 April first and secondclass stamps are rising 10p, taking them to £1.35 and 85p respectively.

Right: Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA with her MP Munira Wilson.

Below: Cardology’s David Falkner will be on the panel at Ofcom’s London roundtable for its Royal Mail review.

As David explained, “With Ofcom telling us 42% of Royal Mail customers now only use the service to send greeting cards, there really isn’t an alternative – securing the optimum conditions for card sending matters as much to our customers as to our own businesses, and we see it as our duty to be there for them.”

Ofcom has posited options, including allowing Royal Mail to slash letter deliveries to just three days a week – which the government has said it will not support, but the postal giant has been agitating for cuts to its legally-binding universal service obligation, where it must deliver letters across the UK six days a week for the same price.

Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA, said: “It is vitally important everyone in the industry makes their voice heard. The GCA recognises that Royal Mail is a business that needs to make money, but consumers and small business owners need a reliable, affordable and national postal service.” As Amanda added: “After a deep and considered analysis of Ofcom’s consultation document, and following the service issues highlighted again by the Panorama TV programme and above-inflation stamp price rises recently announced, the GCA is concerned the Ofcom Review doesn’t properly reflect the support for the USO from consumers, to stabilise the service before change can be properly assessed.

Indie pushes to keep USO Indie retailer Sandra Jervis, owner of Creative Cove in Lampeter was interviewed by BBC Wales twice in two days about the possible impact of Ofcom’s suggested reductions in the postal service.

In a push to persuade Ofcom and Royal Mail to keep the current six-daya-week letter delivery Sandra said any cuts would mean “businesses that rely on it, like mine, will be suffering permanently”.

The BBC radio presenter asked how important the Royal Mail is to Creative Cove. Sandra responded: “It's incredibly important. We sell cards, so, a major part of my stock is sold with the intention of putting them in the post, on a daily basis.”

Right: Welsh speaker Sandra heads up the English version of the article on the BBC Wales website.

Brown-ed off Jerry Brown, of First Class Greetings in Hadleigh, has been keeping up his efforts to bring Post Office Ltd to account, for not paying postmasters a fair remuneration. The ITN news team even followed him to Spring Fair for an interview.

“I’m determined to help bring the current Post Office’s management to account because the situation has been dreadful for postmasters, and it’s still not resolved – the compensation offered is derisory,” stated Jerry, who has also appeared on countless radio programmes, including BBC 2’s Jeremy Vine show several times, speaking on the matter.

Above: Jerry Brown being wired up for the ITN interview.

BBC’s Panorama confirms RM’s parcel priority Shocking evidence that Royal Mail is routinely prioritising parcels over letters/cards, forcing people to travel to collect their own post from sorting offices was uncovered by BBC’s Panorama reporters.

The TV documentary that was broadcast recently, included the interviews with a family who missed a vital operation for their sick child after receiving no letters for a month and people having to go to the sorting office to be sure of picking up medical appointments, police letters and birthday cards.

One woman said she went two or three weeks without post then receives a “chunk” of letters so now picks up her mail on Saturdays, and she showed Panorama reporter Zoe Conway a bundle, including a police letter

and a very late birthday card from her grandmother in Wales who’d been so upset that the greeting card hadn’t arrived that she’d promised to send a second one.

The programme showed over 20 postal workers shuffling almost empty wheeled mail cages down a warehouse. David Byk, ceo of Swan Mill, owner of Ling Design, GBCC and Penny Kennedy, vented his spleen on a LinkedIn post: “No wonder you’re loss making – imagine what happens when the cameras aren’t there. No offence to the 20+ people pushing a trolley from one to the other, but wouldn’t they be better employed as posties delivering our letters?”

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NEWS TOP STORY

Ryman’s online disruption aim

King’s love of cards Pigment design receives some crowning glory Left: Pigment’s humorous dog design made King Charles laugh.

Below: The King’s cards story appeared prominently in the media, with the Daily Mail including a photo of Pigment designer Lisa Stalker.

The nation’s love of greeting cards starts at the top, with King Charles sharing his appreciation of the thousands of greeting cards has received from members of the public, since his cancer diagnosis was announced.

At the first face-to-face meeting between His Royal Highness and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since the monarch’s health woes were disclosed, in response to Rishi’s assurance that “the country is behind you” showing the positive power of greeting cards, the king said: “I’ve had so many wonderful messages and cards which reduce me to tears most of the time”.

Buckingham Palace also released a short video entirely focused on the 7,000+ greeting cards that arrived within days of the King Charles’ medical diagnosis being made public, explaining how every day a selection of the cards received are included in the famous red box of state which is presented to the monarch each morning.

One greeting card in particular made it into the limelight, a Pigment card depicting a dog with the caption: “At least you don’t have to wear a cone!” which clearly tickled the King as there is footage of him chuckling as soon as he saw it, which the media lapped up.

The Daily Mail included a dedicated

article all about the card, which was ordered via Moonpig by Preston mum Lisa Moffat. The article, written by journalist Natasha Livingstone, described the card that was designed

by Pigment designer Lisa Stalker, as showing “irreverent wit and charming illustrations,” building a picture of how Pigment is “a small Yorkshire firm… based in a converted stableblock.”

Designer Lisa, hailed by the Daily Mail in its headline as the “brains behind the card that made King chuckle’ said: “I still get excited when I see my card designs in a shop, so you can imagine I never expected this. I'm so glad the king enjoyed it. That card is meant to make people smile and it's clearly succeeded.”

Pigment’s creative director Martin Powderly added that he and the team were “absolutely delighted” at cheering up His Royal Highness.

“Seeing the King holding one of our cards on the front pages of the national newspapers was certainly unexpected.

“This is a lovely story which really epitomises all that’s special about our industry – it’s genuinely our mission to help spread a bit of happiness with thoughtful, gentle humour. As card writers and designers we see ourselves as moment catchers and this moment is a particularly memorable one.

At the centre of this story was a heartfelt message of support and good humour from the Moffat family sent to someone facing a challenge, albeit, he’s the King!”

Woody’s queen of hearts The Woodmansterne team were crowned the kings and queens of supplying greeting cards to the garden centre trade winning the Haskins Stewarts Cup for Associate Member Of The Year in Left: Woody’s Kate Leach with Mark Timlett (left) and Mark Curtis.

Disrupting the print-on-demand greeting card sector is the aim behind Ryman owner Theo Paphitis’ launch of an app linked to his UK-wide chain of 190 stationery stores.

The new service offers personalised cards which customers can order online and collect within an hour from their nearest High Street Ryman outlet for just £2.99.

“If you’re a last-minute Larry or Lucinda, or just a commuter wanting to save on postage, this is a game changer,” stated Theo.

A percentage of sales will help two charities, the British Dyslexia Association and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity. (see pages 36-37) Left: Theo instore and showing off the new print-ondemand service.

TV Dragon scoffs up They say every dog has its day. Scoff Paper, which produces edible greeting cards for dogs clinched a £50,000 investment from TV dragon Sara Davies, with the company’s founder Gemma Connolly braving it out on a recent episode of the BBC Dragons’ Den programme.

Gemma walked into the den with Guide Dog puppy Leo to illustrate how her idea came about when a previous pub she was fostering had tried to eat a greeting card.

Gemma’s enthusiasm caught the Dragons’ attention with two vying to give her money before Sara’s bid for Gemma’s full £50,000 request and a 25% stake in Scoff Paper won out over Touker Suleyman’s £25,000 offer for 15%.

“I’m mega chuffed about the outcome,” said Gemma. “Sara Davies is absolutely the right dragon for us at Scoff Paper. She’s genuinely got a good heart and a mighty business brain too, which makes us all feel that she can really help us on our crazy edible dog-card journey.”

Below: Gemma and Leo in full pitch mode.

the recent Garden Centre Association awards.

Peter Burks, ceo of Garden Centre Association said the award was in recognition of Woodmansterne’s “tremendous tenacity, hard work and passion”.

The evening before the awards were announced, the Association

held its annual themed fancy dress dinner for members, with this year’s theme being Kings & Queens with Woody’s head of marketing Kate Leach, Mark Timlett, head of indie sales and Mark Curtis, regional sales manager rising to the occasion as the Queen of Hearts and King of Hearts playing cards.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Springing Up

PG Live 2024 Countdown A ‘Jolly Awesome’ line-up of 200 exhibitors already A recent rush of stand up to the bookings has seen Jolly Mezzanine (where Awesome, Avanti, Rainbow all the leading and Designs, Unique Paper established brands Products and Abbot Print, will be showcased).

The Crimson Finch, Lydia A few stairs up to London and Wildflower the Gallery level will Cards, among others, join an take visitors to the already mighty exhibitor line-up Upper Village Above: Not long now before the global greeting for Progressive Greetings Live card community will be jumping for joy at PG Live area, a 2024. This means that there 2024. continuation of the Below: Some of PG Live’s retail buddies (left-right) are already 200 companies Aga Marsden (Highworth Emporium), Jo Weber (Jo Village Green vibe Armor), Tracey Bryant (Expressions, Cat’s Whiskers with more enticing booked to unveil a host of and Polkadot), Libby Holden (Libby Loves) and newness to tantalise visitors at Katrina Raill (Etcetera) at The Retas and The newbies and Greats champagne reception at PG Live 2023 the show, which takes place encompassing Tuesday 4 June and Wednesday 5 the Springboard area for brand new, first June at London’s Business Design Centre. time exhibitors.

“After a great Christmas and positive The Upper Village is sponsored by long Valentine’s Day, there is no denying the time supporter, The Imaging Centre. love for greeting cards is strong and PG Commenting, Adam Short, managing Live is all set to keep up that positive director of the digital print and fulfilment tempo with some 200 fabulous exhibitors, company, which is a supplier to over 800 from well-loved companies to brand new publishers said: “We share the vision of our start-ups, planning to unveil thousands of friends at Max Publishing, owners of PG new designs and products to excite and Live that crucial to the show’s evolution is inspire retailers, overseas distributors and for it to showcase and celebrate all strands licensees alike,” commented Warren of this wonderful industry, from the Lomax, co-owner of show. established players as well as those just Plans are well underway too on the starting out. The introduction of the entry whistles and bows for the dedicated level Springboard element last year proved a greeting card and allied products twogreat solution for those taking their first day show. tentative steps into trade shows and so PG Live 2024 will we are looking forward to span four key areas. further building on this again Namely, the Village this year.”

Green which will As ever, adding to PG Live welcome visitors on convivial atmosphere, there will the ground floor be a free lunch, free (housing many mustrefreshments and free opening have and emerging night party for visitors and companies), leading exhibitors alike.

The Springboard area at PG Live is shaping up to be full of bounce, showcasing newbie publishers. Here are views from just a few Sprinboarders…

Kirsty Todd, founder of Kirsty Todd Illustration: “As an illustrator I have tinkered around the edges of greeting cards for a couple of years, but did not understand how the industry works or how to get noticed. I went to an In-Press seminar introduction day at The Imaging Centre and was inspired. After this I decided to dive in with more commitment. I am now brimming with ideas and cannot wait to start my journey at Progressive Greetings Live 2024 in the Springboard area.”

Charlotte Frew Brown, founder of Studio Frew: “As an emerging greeting card illustrator with a small number of stockists, I have been looking to take the next step with my business and broaden my audience. I have heard nothing but glowing reviews about PG Live, and that unanimously it's the best event at which to start out. I hope to make people smile with my range of punny cards.”

Michelle Jones, founder of Versed-Aid: “As a newcomer to the industry, the conception of the Springboard area enabled me to take the plunge into trade show life sooner than I would have otherwise. The opportunity to network, learn more about the industry and receive immediate feedback from seasoned buyers on my work – all for a modest financial outlay - is an absolute no-brainer.”

Top right: Kirsty Todd’s meerkats will be on the lookout at PG Live.

Middle: Some delicious designs from Studio Frew.

Bottom: A Versed-Aid design.

House Of Turnowsky collab for Paper Rose Bonding at last June’s PG Live has led to a great new licensing partnership between Paper Rose and House of Turnowsky that has become a reality on a range of greeting cards.

Based in Tel Aviv since 1940, Turnowsky is a global brand and design studio known for a vibrant palette and the deal and initial ranges have just been announced after being put together at PG Live 2023, with Sarah Lawrence at This Is Iris licensing agency.

House of Turnowsky’s managing director Kobi Tadmor said he is immensely proud to partner with Paper Rose: “Both our award-winning companies have proud heritages of many years, and we feel this is the start of a great collaboration.”

And Turnowsky’s creative and marketing director Alice Yonatan added: “We are looking forward to bringing beautiful, new Above: The new Paper Rose catalogue greeting cards and stationery products to the market together.” features Turnowsky’s vibrant designs.

For Paper Rose’s creative studio manager Sarah Tanser it was all about the Right: (left-right) Perlina Pierre-Davis, Paper personal connections, as she explained: “We first met Alice and Kobi at PG Live Rose export and licensing Director, House Of Turnowsky’s director creative and where we bonded over our love for paper, foiling and embossing, from there we marketing Alice Yonatan and md Kobi explored the new collections from this talented design team,” with the resultant Tadmor; This Is Iris’ Sarah Lawrence, and designs unveiled at Spring Fair last month.

Sarah Tanser, Paper Rose studio manager.

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Cardgains’ £50,000 Charity Handover It’s Not Grim Up North is the 2024 challenge Cardgains had 50,000 reasons to thank the greeting card industry recently, as that was the amount on the cheque the buying group handed to the Motor Neurone Disease Association charity on its Village stand at the Spring Fair.

The presentation of £50,000, double the initial target, was the sum total raised by the Cardgains’ Look Out London 2023 charity challenge, which saw 50 cardies complete a 25-mile walk around London last summer, in memory of industry legend David Hicks, founder of Really Good and Soul, whose life was cut short by motor neurone disease.

“Without the support of companies like Cardgains, it wouldn’t be possible for us to deliver our range of care services that

provide essential support for all those affected by MND,” explained Charlotte Taylor, the association’s corporate partnership executive who collected the cheque on the Cardgains Village stand at the NEC show, “or to invest in ground-breaking research that leads to new understanding of the disease, effective treatment and, ultimately, a cure,” she added.

And now it’s all hands on deck for Cardgains’ 35th anniversary challenge, namely an It’s Not Grim Up North 17½ mile route around the buying group’s Sheffield home area, that connects the steel city’s centre with its surrounding countryside. The Challenge will take place on June 27 with the target this year

Left: Penny Shaw (far right) at the cheque handover on the Cardgains Village at Spring Fair with many of the industry walkers who helped smash the target for the MNDA.

being to raise £35,000 for mental health charity Mind.

“It is a hilly one, I’m not going to lie,” admits Penny about the route. “Sheffield is built on seven hills so the walkers will probably visit most of them!”

Explaining the charity of choice for this year’s challenge, Penny said: “We chose Mind because there is a lot about mental health for people day to day and everyone is becoming more aware of the issues in some of the saddest situations.”

Anyone wishing to put their best foot forward and sign up for the It’s Not Grim Up North challenge should email Penny on Penny@bridewelluk.co.uk.

Noel Tatt returns the favour

IC&G partners with IG Design Group

A cute mucky mark and gold foil have cemented the long-term relationship between Noel Tatt Group and Simson Cards in Australia, thanks to a new licensing deal that came about as a result of last year’s PG Live, with a resultant card range launching at Spring Fair last month.

Smudge is the brainchild of Aussie artist Julie Kluwer, a designer within the creative studio at the publisher and distributor run by John ‘Simo’ and Bindi Simson and was featured on its stand at PG Live last summer.

It’s something of a two way street.

“Simson Cards has been buying products from us for a while to distribute in Australia,” Noel

Great customer service to the independents has won International Cards & Gifts a new fan in the shape of IG Design Group – and an agreement to distribute its Eco Nature sustainable products to indies.

“We wanted to expand into offering an eco range,” IC&G sales director Allen Taylor told PG. “IG is one of the biggest companies in the world, but doesn’t have an independent sales team as it sells through wholesale and to bigger customers – we have a 20-strong sales team throughout the UK and Ireland. They approached us to distribute the range after we won gold at The Henries Awards in October 2023 for the Best Service to the Independents.”

The Eco Nature range was officially launched to IC&G retailers at Spring Fair, where the publisher was part of the Cardgains Village.

Alongside the everyday and Christmas products, there is also wrap and giftbags, with Allen explaining the rollwrap has no packaging, only the tear-down strip which is “folded back on itself so there’s no waste”, while the cards sport a rip-off tab with information to highlight recycling and stand out on the shelf.

While wholesalers and multiples like Sainsbury’s also stock the Eco Nature range, they don’t carry every design while IC&G is offering indies the ability to order small volumes, with the wrap and bags available in fives, and orders can also be linked with the publisher’s own products to make up a minimum order. And every customer who buys the full Above: Allen Taylor (left) and David assortment receives the recyclable Jackson, IG’s head of commercial shipper free of charge. on IC&G’s stand at Spring Fair.

Above: Gold foil and a cute mucky mark have made the new range a top seller.

Right: Jarle Tatt at Spring Fair with the new Smudge range.

Tatt’s md Jarle Tatt told PG. Spotting the Smudge designs on Simson’s stand at PG Live, interest was expressed and a licensing deal was struck.

“It’s been selling well,” said Jarle. “We’ve gone for the foiled envelopes which is a first for us, and the new home card is now one of our top sellers. It’s interesting because they didn’t have a new home design in the range and we asked them to design one – now Simson is looking to take it back to Australia too.”

There are currently 20 designs in the collection plus a trio of Christmas cards, with plans to increase the range already.

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They Pitched, They Slayed Superb GCA Dragons Speed Dating Event

Put 72 greeting card publishers, 20 top retail buyers and a panel of industry experts together for an afternoon and what do you get?

This being the Year of the Dragon, the recent GCA’s Dragons Speed Dating event left everyone who participated, in what was a fast paced few hours of pitching, learning and networking, all fired up with positivity and potential.

“What an absolutely gem of an afternoon – being able to actually get your cards in the hands of such prestigious buyers and gauge their reactions to your products there and then was invaluable,” commented Micky Calf, founder of Studio Bokette, echoing the views of fellow publishers who attended.

Continuing a successful formula of previous years, the publisher participants were divided into two groups, with one half first going in to face the retailer Dragons in the ‘Den’ while the other half were treated to insights from a panel of publishers and experts, and then they swopped over.

“It was a really great afternoon - so lovely to meet lots of new faces,” said Tori Heath-Smith and Laura Clarke, buying manager and card buyer of Scribbler. “We will definitely be following up at PG Live and have made several appointments with publishers to see them at the show.”

Other multiple and small group buyers who were happy to be called ‘Dragons’ for the afternoon included those from Cardfactory, House of Cards, John Lewis & Partners, Lark, Postmark and Sainsbury’s.

A strong posse of leading indies completed the horde of Dragons, each

Left: The Dragons of 2024. (Back row left-right): Liz Killick (Calladoodles), Miles Robinson (House of Cards), David Colman (Only Place for Pictures), Kaye Thurgood (Sincerely Yours), Andrea Pinder (Presentation), Shannon Fisher (Postmark),Kerry Nicholls (John Lewis), Jason Billings-Cray (John Lewis), Charlotte Green (Cardfactory), Laura Clarke (Scribbler), Vicky Joshi (Cardfactory), Tori Heath-Smith (Scribbler), Tim Reynolds (Medici Gallery), Anita Thorpe (Diverse) and Sean Austin (Austin & Co. (Front row left-right) Priya Aurora-Crowe (Lark), Sarah Laker (Stationery Supplies), Sally Matson (Red Card), Holly Whait (Sainsbury’s) and Nilou Noorbaksh (Jumping Bean).

Below: One group of publishers ready to be picked and taken into the Den!

and every one enthusiastically sharing their feedback and giving advice to the publishers who entered the Den. Kaye Thurgood, owner of Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch said at the end of the day: “I am shattered, but I loved every minute of it. I met such a broad range of people, each with their own fascinating stories and some fabulous products. I was so impressed by all the preparation they had all done.”

Taking place on the eve of International Women’s Day, it was all all-female panel at this year’s Dragons – AfroTouch Designs’ Georgina Fihosy, Paper Salad’s Karen Wilson, Raspberry Blossom’s Rebecca Green, Kelly Hudson of McDaniels Law and Nicola Webster of NJW Consulting - who shared their advice and experiences on key industry topics.

Having led the organisation of this year’s event, Adriana Lovesy, GCA membership and marketing manager (and founder of the Mrs Lovesy card company) was delighted by the positive reactions from both participating publishers and buyers alike.

“Dragons is such an invaluable event, not just because it enables publishers to pitch their company oneto-on to fabulous buyers, but also for the opportunity it creates to network and share experiences with other publishers as well as learn so much from the panellists,” said Adriana.

Above: Pigeon Post’s ingenious folds bring a new dimension.

Cardies among GOTY finalists Alljoy Design, Belly Button Designs, Ohh Deer, Rosie Made A Thing, Pigeon Loft, Wendy Jones-Blackett and Wrendale are among companies from the greeting card community who feature in the finalists line-up for the GA’s Gift Of The Year 2024 finalists’ list across many of the 24 categories.

The finalists in the Cards, Wrap & Stationery category are Braille Christmas Cards from Dotty About Braille; Choccy Cards from Rosie Made A Thing; Fuzzy Feelings Handmade Wool Felt Animals In A Matchbox from Marvling Bros, Multi-foiled Notebooks from Wendy Jones-Blackett, Paper Theatre Pop up Card from Alljoy Design and Pigeon Post from Pigeon Loft.

The winners will be revealed at The UK Gift Awards ceremony on Thursday 16 May, at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel, along with The Greats Awards for gift retailers.

Brits up for US Louie awards Lucky for some as 13 British greeting card designs have made the grade across the pond, appearing in the 2024 US Louie Awards finalists list that was announced overnight.

Among the 87 publishers who feature in the 57 award categories in the US GCA’s annual greeting card accolades are Paper Salad (which scored a hat trick of nominations), The Art File and Redback Cards (with two apiece) as well as Louise Mulgrew Designs, Ohh Deer, Paper D’Art, The Pigeon Loft, Roger La Borde and Rosie Made A Thing.

The winners will be announced at the Louie Awards celebration on 16 April, at the Fort Mason Center For Arts & Culture in San Francisco which kicks off the two-day Noted greeting card expo alongside the Gifted creative gift and home fair on 17-18 April at the venue.

Above: Paper Salad is up for three Louie awards.

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The Retas 2024 Open For Entries On the hop to discover the UK’s best greeting card retailers Left: The Retas 2024 will take on a World of Beatrix Potter theme.

Below: Who will this year’s winners be?

Artichoke of Tynemouth won Best Independent Card Retailer – North East last year, with the trophy presented by Wendy Jones-Blackett (right), sponsor of the category.

The hunt is on to find the UK’s best greeting card retailers as The Retas 2024 awards are now open for entries, with the entry deadline being Monday 15 April.

“Despite many ongoing challenges, from the concerns over Royal Mail to running cost increases, so many greeting card retailers really have pulled out the stops in the last year with their product selection, customer engagement and marketing initiatives and absolutely deserve to have their prowess recognised – The Retas 2024 awards promise to do just that,” commented Warren Lomax, chairman of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Retas.

The world’s only dedicated awards for greeting card retailers, winning a Retas’ trophy is recognised as a true accolade of retailing excellence, with award categories covering indies through to multiple chains, department stores to grocers, and everything in between.

Retailers can download an entry form from The Retas website (www.theretasawards.co.uk) while nominations are also being sought from publishers, reps and agents.

Once again, The Retas have attracted a strong roster of committed sponsors which include Abacus, The Art File, Belly Button Designs, Carte Blanche Greetings, Cath Tate Cards, Danilo, GBCC, Hallmark, Ling Design, Lucilla

Above: Stationery Supplies’ Sarah Laker will be fully embracing London Stationery Show and National Stationery Week.

Stationery Matters Lavender, Meraki, Museums & Galleries, Ohh Deer, Paperlink, Paper Salad, Pigment, Progressive Greetings Live, Rosie Made A Thing, Sensations/Express Yourself, Spring Fair/Autumn Fair, UK Greetings, W Select, Wendy Jones-Blackett and Woodmansterne.

All Retas 2024 winners will be announced at a fabulous awards lunch and afternoon event to be held on Thursday 4 July in the Ballroom of the Grosvenor House Hotel which this year will take on a World of Beatrix Potter theme, with the full blessing and support of Frederick Warne & Co and Penguin Ventures.

Thomas Merrington, creative director of Penguin Ventures commented: “Beatrix Potter began her prolific career by licensing her beautifully observed artwork to greeting cards companies in the late 1800s. She created the world’s first licensed literary character in Peter Rabbit and such is her legacy as an artist and storyteller that her images are still being licensed today. We are thrilled that The Retas will showcase her incredible characters from The World of Peter Rabbit.”

To be among the UK’s best greeting card retailers as well as some great card publishers, you can book your tickets to The Retas online via Max-Tickets.net or contact The Retas’ awards manager Clare Hollick on 0118 334 0085.

Sincerely Yours advises Minister on cards and Royal Mail Living up to her Retas 2023 award-winning status, Kaye Thurgood, owner of Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch clinched a meeting with Cabinet Office minister Richard Holden and her local MP Alex Burghart in her shop to discuss issues faced by small businesses, including Royal Mail.

“I gave them a clear picture about the importance of maintaining the letter delivery service.” said the indie retailer who helped

spark the GCA’s #Cardmitment campaign as one of the first to call for action to re-engage the consumer with the joys and importance of sending and receiving cards. “I took the opportunity to talk about Royal Mail. They were very keen to tell me that the Prime Minister is very supportive – and it looks like they’re all on message with this.

“I chatted about the importance of card sending from the loneliness point of view and

Retas award-winner, Sarah Laker, owner of Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow has been juggling running her shops with progressing the plans for National Stationery Week. Celebrating all things stationery, the weeklong event – this year runs over Monday to Sunday, 13-19 May – celebrates all things stationery.

And this year, for the first time, The Art File and Ohh Deer are among the sponsors to have come on board for NSW. They join other leading brands, including ExaClair, Lamy, Maped Helix, Pilot, Pentel, Sinclairs, Staedtler and Zebra as official sponsors and partners.

“There will be lots of ways for retailers to share the stationery love with their customers.

There will also be a seven-week countdown to NSW, full of competitions, giveaways and retail fun to get involved with,” assures Sarah.

National Stationery Week encompasses London Stationery Show, a two day trade show which will take place 14-15 May at London’s Business Design Centre. Both LSS and NSW are now owned by Max Publishing, owners of Progressive Greetings.

London Stationery Show 2024’s strong roster of exhibitors is a feast of many leading brands as well as new designer names, including Crayola, Leuchtturm1917, Blueprint Stationery, Stone Marketing, Portico Designs, Hooli Mooli, ExaClair, Daler Rowney, IG Design Group, Royal Talens, Manuscript Brands, Jakar International, Studio Pens, Pentel, Snopake, Staedtler, Sinclairs, Stabilo, Pukka Pads, Edding, The Pilot Pen Co, Zebra Pen, Nu:notebooks, Tallon International and many more.

To register go to www.stationeryshowlondon.co.uk

Right: Kaye with Minister Richard Holden in her shop.

how receiving a card is good for wellbeing. They both said they hadn’t considered it from that point of view but were very interested – may be it resonated.”

And, being the wise independent retailer that she is, Kaye also persuaded Richard to buy his Valentine’s card while he was in store!

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OVER THE

COUNTER

BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.

Accentuate

The Positive Being in business can often come down to one thing and that is being able to turn a negative into a positive.

Every day we will be faced with challenges, whether it be a delivery that doesn’t arrive, faulty item, a customer not getting the service that they require or a little staff niggle.

These problems, while annoying, are not the end of the world. The key thing is how you deal with them. Sometimes even with the right phrase, you can turn things around.

Some big brands really clinch it with their marketing. Think of Guinness and its tagline ‘good things come to those who wait…’

Why do they say this? Well, Guinness is a very slow pour so are tempered with your expectations in all their packaging and advertising.

Now I know that us indies are not worldwide brands with advertising budgets of £millions at our disposal, but the words we use in our stores are still effectively marketing. If you are single manned and a customer is waiting, a quick “sorry I am on my own due to staff illness/problem” will make them give you that time that you need to juggle. A simple bit of communication can make all the difference. Giving context can change things right around.

This goes for customers as well as those that work alongside you. Communication, contact and the perception of what you are doing and why is all that is needed.

In the past few weeks I have had all kinds of instances of this, from redeeming way out of

24 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Top: There will always be challenges, but adopting a positive ‘can do’ attitude cuts through a lot.

Above: Guinness’ enduring tagline – the wait is justified!

Below right: Jellycat remains big news for many retailers who stock the well-loved brand.

Below: Hands up who’s feeling positive?!

date gift vouchers, to trying to get a new service for the business up and running, to a serious problem with a car after it had just tipped out of warranty.

I decided the best thing to do was to tackle them all head on. I am trying to be more decisive as often a pause allows other things to happen.

You look at your

phone, someone calls or you get dragged away. It’s back to my ‘5 second rule’ from a few columns ago – take action and move forward.

In our newsagent business, another business in the next town was stopping newspaper deliveries. For two weeks we tried to offer delivery to the 30 of their customers who contacted us, but sadly we couldn’t get the logistics to work. I decided the correct way to communicate that we couldn’t continue was by phoning each one personally. I hesitated doing this due to the time involved, but I believe they all came away with a better impression of our business.

Partly what prompted me to think about all of the above was a LinkedIn post targeted at Jellycat after the company was perceived to have been offhand to a prospective new customer at the Spring Fair.

Sitting in the hotel in Birmingham on the Tuesday night of the show my phone pinged quite a few times with people sharing and commenting on the post.

Jellycat is without doubt a major reason that many small indie card and gift shops have been trading pretty well over the last few years.

Indeed, one idea for a column I had was to focus on how we can attract new generations of customers into our store. Well one of the solutions right now, is Jellycat. I witness it first hand, almost on a daily basis, seeing younger people who would’ve perhaps walked past our

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OVER THE COUNTER stores coming in, engaging and buying. Once we get them in and they have their Jellycat Marshmallows or Ricky the Rain Frog in their hand to buy we can then sell them a card or one of the other many products we stock. They have found us, hopefully like us, enjoy how they are served and then think about us for their next gift, piece of jewellery or greeting card.

Over the last 30 years many of us will have seen products rise meteorically as ‘must haves’, be it Garfield, Sad Sam and Honey, Non Non bunnies, Tatty Teddy, Forever Friends or Ty Beanies on the plush front.

Jellycat is right up there and its management is doing its utmost to ensure it stays there, by elevating the brand to be recognised far and wide as an upmarket design-led almost luxury ‘must want’.

All of the aforementioned at one time would have had prominent stands at Spring Fair. All of them would have had to say no to some people wanting to open accounts and all would have received criticism. The only difference is that in their heyday, they did not have social media to contend with as a place for a disgruntled buyer to air their views.

What irritated me about the recent post was that Jellycat couldn’t reply so the points put across were one sided.

Jellycat’s growth has been at such an exponential rate that it is still getting many of its processes in place. The company wants its brand to sit in certain stores and expects a certain level of space and support.

This is Jellycat’s 25th year and I have been a stockist for years. Its products have always been very well made, and the launch of the Amuseables collection has brought a genuinely new concept into the market which is one reason more retailers are clamouring to stock it.

All of this chatter came from Spring Fair, which brings me onto another matter of popular discussion, that of trade shows.

There is always a huge amount of chat around how busy trade exhibitions are? Was it actual buyers who were there or as one pal of mine refers to them, ‘just tyre kickers’? – and also the number of companies exhibiting.

In the card and gift sector we now have Harrogate Christmas and Gift, Top Drawer, Spring Fair, Harrogate Home & Gift, Autumn Fair and several other regional shows covering the general market. On top of this are a few choice market specific ones, most notable of which for us being PG Live, which really is a must attend for anyone serious about greeting cards, as this

Far left: There are plenty of happy bunnies in David’s stores’ windows.

Left: Once inside the shop, customers are enticed by the Mother’s Day displays in David’s shops.

Below: David Robertson at last July’s Harrogate Gift and Home show.

is home to the largest collection of both leading publishers and newbies.

Let’s be blunt though, attending trade shows is expensive, especially for the likes of ourselves in Scotland.

You need to justify and recoup the costs involved. You go looking for newness and seeing what existing suppliers are up to.

More and more we are seeing a splintering of great companies only exhibiting at maybe one or two shows with several companies instead wanting you to attend showrooms.

The latter defeats the point for me as you can’t look at multiple company offerings and then make a decision like you can at a good trade show. Showrooms also induce a pressure while again, for the like of ourselves it would be a 6-8 hour trip to get to one.

So where does that leave us buyers?

Well, we all agree that we still like a handson experience, but we can’t afford (in money or time) to go to endless shows, so what is the future?

Well, just as we now see Paperchase areas popping-up inside Tesco stores maybe

this could be an option on the exhibition front.

This may be blue sky thinking, but imagine a Spring Fair with a PG Live card hall and a Top Drawer hall for new gift companies? It would attract everyone; it would put a big tent pole in the start of the year buying season.

Now this could be tantamount to suggesting Rangers and Celtic ground share, but in reality it could provide one solution.

Show attendances are down because there are too many different options for both buyers and exhibitors alike.

I know that Spring Fair has been asking opinions while the Scottish Fair has recently put out a questionnaire wanting people to give honest opinions as well, so this is an area clearly open for debate.

Encouragingly though many of my agent pals reported writing strong orders at the recent shows which bodes well for trade in 2024. The key thing I feel though is that us as retailers need to engage with the brands we stock and visiting trade shows is perfect for not only finding them, but for building relationships.

While many of us have been supporting a large number of publishers and brands since their infancy, you always get those who just want to jump on the hottest thing.

I always find it fascinating that rather than curate their own look, some people often simply want to replicate. For me, in the words of Nike, you have to Just Do It! Far better to tread your own path and be true to yourself than simply being a copy of someone else, but you need to put in the footwork and do the talking… l To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.comz Left: David is a long time Jellycat stockist.

Below: David has his proverbial running shoes on for his business, adopting the Nike slogan.

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cardsharp

respect where it’s due The Brit Awards brought media glory to UK music artists, where is the Aretha Franklin-esque respect for the UK greeting card scene?

Below: City types don’t seem to understand what a success story the greeting card industry is.

Cardsharp has many a bee in his bonnet, but one that particularly irks him is the condescending attitude of the media and City types towards our greeting card industry.

Hopefully one positive from the serious debate on the future of the Royal Mail and what is to happen to Universal Service Obligation and six day delivery will see more mentions of the importance of greeting cards, especially given the sterling efforts of the GCA. Seeing the media bombarded with coverage of The Brits music awards recently, further rammed it home to Cardsharp that there doesn’t seem to be a rightful recognition of the greeting card sector’s contribution to the creative industry in the UK. There’s no acknowledgment of our role as a world leader when it comes to greeting card design and per capita send and no mention of our contribution towards exports.

Instead, we as an industry get sneered at and patronised on many occasions. Every year prior to

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Christmas so many journalists parrot the mantra that ‘Christmas card sending is dead’ only for our industry to surprise all outside expectations. This last year was a particular case in point with many retailers reporting better than expected Christmas card sales, despite a lack lustre festive period for most non-food bricks and mortar retailing sectors.

Cardsharp has been absorbing some of the figures. December saw one of the biggest downturns in retail sales for three years (and remember that was in the height of Covid), with The Times newspaper commenting that this was an “Unhappy Christmas for UK retailers and households”.

This has been reflected in a huge increase in profit warnings emanating from UK listed companies, the largest number since 2008.

The combination of increased wage, energy and transport costs, higher interest on borrowing and downbeat consumer spending has created a near perfect storm, reflects Cardsharp.

Stir into this mix Cardfactory. Now, Cardsharp knows that our largest specialist bricks and mortar retailer is not universally popular with all of the industry because of its mainly vertical integration strategy which

means it can sell its cards so cheaply.

But Cardsharp thinks certainly since the economic meltdown of 2009-2011 it has served a real benefit to the industry. In the last 15 years, household incomes have remained largely static. Without Cardfactory being able to offer greeting card at affordable prices, it could be argued that a large section of the UK’s population may have been priced out of buying cards and worse still lost the card sending habit altogether.

And indeed PG’s recent Retail Barometer showed only 6% of independent retail respondents cited CF as a ‘serious threat’ indicating that they recognise they each offer something different while still championing greeting cards.

Furthermore, with the shrinking of Clintons’ store numbers (though things will improve under Paul Taylor’s ownership) and the complete collapse and disappearance of Paperchase (living on only as a brand within some Tesco stores), Cardfactory has become the only specialist greeting card retailer in many city shopping centres and high streets.

So, given the unfavourable economic winds, Cardfactory’s recent Christmas trading figures were truly excellent. It delivered double digit like-for-like sales growth to £479 million as store revenue climbed by 7.8% in November and December. It even saw single Christmas card sales increase by an incredible 37% year on year.

And given the strength of this great performance, Cardfactory expects to deliver full year profit at the top of the range of market expectations, between £58million and £62 million.

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Now Cardsharp would think given all the doom and gloom around, the City would love these figures and see it as a big thumbs up for the greeting card industry generally, but the response has been less than enthusiastic. Cfs share price, which had remained stubbornly around the £1 market actually dropped a few pence. And any media coverage of these figures, (and there was very little) was very begrudging in its praise. One City analyst even suggested in The Sunday Times, that Moonpig represented a better investment bet, “in that space”. Online retailer, Moonpig’s share price, although having halved since its flotation, still remains around 60p above that of Cardfactory’s. This is despite having never declared a dividend or ever getting near the profit figures of Cardfactory.

The figures stand out like a beacon amid most of the trading figures of non-food retailers. Contrast this with the figures from The Works. Being a value retailer in the arts, stationery and craft sector it could be argued it’s in a similar position in the retail market to Cardfactory, and of course, Dean Hoyle, the legendary founder of Cardfactory, has also been chairman of The Works.

Well Cardsharp noted The Works reported

Below left: Cardfactory, as our largest specialist has been a positive bellwether for the sector, yet its financial performance is not given due credence by the media or the City.

Right: Is it because greeting cards are still predominantly a bricks and mortar product that the sector is often dismissed as old-fashioned, wonders Cardsharp.

Below right: We need Aretha’s Respect lyrics to ring out, loud and clear about the industry.

a very poor Christmas. The so-called ‘family friendly’ chain reported a doubling of losses from £7million to £14million. The Works blamed market conditions, which had been persistently challenging, putting pressure on sales and profit throughout the festive period. Market conditions that were exactly the same for Cardfactory.

The reaction or lack of it to Cardfactory’s financial results is symptomatic of so many negative attitudes towards our industry. As our sales predominantly still come from bricks and mortar we are seen as a declining sector.

We are viewed as an analogue business in a digital age, and when Cardfactory reported a 12.8% drop in its online sales, which represents a small percentage of its overall sales, this fact seemed to count more than its excellent store sales figures.

Admittedly, with 50% of greeting cards sent by post we as an industry are heavily reliant on the Royal Mail, which is obviously under intense scrutiny at the moment with confidence in our national postal provider dwindling by the day, yet Moonpig is even more reliant on Royal Mail, than any greeting card high street retail business, but somehow Moonpig seems to get the benefit of the doubt from analysts and the media whereas the more profitable Cardfactory doesn’t.

Cardsharp is inclined to think part of the

answer to this conundrum is that perhaps most City analysts and media commentators come from a somewhat closeted metropolitan elite and can be rather snobbish about the simple pleasures that greeting card buying and sending can bring. And secondly that the majority of both City types and media types are male, still the underdogs when it comes to greeting card purchasing.

Cardsharp is not asking for special treatment for the greeting card industry, just that our industry receives the respect and recognition it deserves. The City’s antipathy to Cardfactory is just a symptom of this.

Cardsharp recalls the words of the late great Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin who famously sang: “R-E-S-P-E-C-T…finding out what it means to me!”

Contain(er) Your Enthusiasm As if we did not have enough to worry, Cardsharp mused, another Far East container problem has reared its ugly head.

The Yemeni militant group Houthis’ attacks on Red Sea shipping in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza, is forcing tankers to abandon the traditional Suez Canal route and switch to navigating around the Cape of South Africa, in order to get to Britain.

This currently not only adds 15 days to the journey, potentially creating stock shortages of the millions of greeting cards manufactured in China, but also adds approximately £1million in fuel and wages for every trip. Add on the fact that with every journey taking so much longer and

boats are on the ocean for longer, there is much less availability of shipping, meaning that at the time of Cardsharp writing the cost of a container has risen from around £2,000 to £6,000.

Admittedly, Cardsharp reflects, this is not as much of a disaster as 2022 when the cost of a container went as high as £22,000, but it is a worrying oncost, given that many publishers have started to move some of production back to China post Covid.

This is certainly something of which we as an industry have to be mindful of, concluded Cardsharp, especially as container demand picks up as the year progresses.

Above: The re-routing of containers to now go round the Cape of Good Hope has seen the costs soar, not to mention adding extra time constraints.

Below: The Houthis’ attacks on Red Sea shipping have forced tankers to abandon the traditional Suez Canal route.

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Inset: The heartbeat was strong for indies generally this Valentine’s Day.

feeling Wednesday may not be the most romantic day of the week, but Valentine’s Day 2024 certainly got the Spring Seasons 2024 events off to a decent start with Mother’s Day sales ratcheting up for the final push as PG went to press.

Going to the heart of the matter, key greeting card indies revealed how the love flowed in their neck of the woods.

Sally Matson, owner of Red Card in Petworth:

Above: Red Card’s Sally Matson (far left) and Karen West (far right) with Ben Hickman (Brainbox Candy), Rosie Harrison (Rosie Made a Thing) and Chris Stanley (Redback) sharing the love at the recent Spring Fair.

Sharing the love: “What a great start to the Spring Seasons, we definitely felt the love at this year – we saw our biggest Valentine’s Day card sales ever!”

Passionate kisses: “Most popular Valentine’s card was the dishwasher design from Ohh Deer that we featured in the window – I’m sure we could have sold 100 of those, it’s obviously very much a thing in relationships. The beautiful Bear designs from The Art File were also very popular.”

Above: Dishwasher etiquette is no reason to fall out of love at Red Card hence Ohh Deer’s card taking centre stage in the window.

David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi and Bijou in Buckie and Elgin: Sharing the love: “Valentine’s Day for us was actually pretty solid this year. All our card and gifts stores traded up both on the days leading into Valentine’s Day and for the week.

With publishers cutting back on Spring Seasons, either in choice or by supplying cards in threes we mixed in both new small publisher content and reduced carry over stock which resulted in some good sell through.

Sometimes a slight adjustment on price or placement is all it needs to move stock through.”

Passionate kisses: “Our sales were bolstered by the brilliant Jellycat Valentine’s characters that were

picked up by young and old.

On a personal front, my wife and I always try to give one another cards I don’t sell but sometimes that’s not possible!

My personal fave was the Counting Stars card my wife gave me which is because we are always sending one another dog videos on TikTok – I do stock the wonderful Five Dollar Shake, but this design would have been too niche for me – she customised it by saying ‘We follow’!”

Above left: The Valentine’s Day cards were displayed next to a selection of Jellycat products in Bijou.

Above right: An innovative plush piece from Jellycat.

Left: Valentine’s cards for and from the dog added to the display at David Robertson’s house.

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Aga Marsden, co-owner of Highworth Emporium, Highworth: Sharing the love: “We were 17% up on Valentine’s cards sales and our general trade was up as well. As always Valentine’s sales came last-minute, most in the last few days, but the level of demand took us by surprise.

It always helps when Valentine’s Day falls later in the week.”

Passionate kisses: “Dandelion Stationery’s Valentine’s cards are my absolute favourite, especially the one with the dog. We printed it as a poster this year and had it in the window, which brought lots of customers in.”

Top: The rain in February didn’t dampen Highworth Emporium’s Aga Marsden’s spirits. (Photo courtesy of Keith Davidson Photography.)

Right: Sweet treats at Highworth Emporium.

Far right: An enlarged Dandelion Stationery design in Highworth Emporium’s shop window attracted customers in.

Nigel Williamson, coowner of House of Cards, seven stores in the Home Counties: Sharing the love: “We had a good Valentine’s season. In the three weeks leading up to the event, our sales saw close to a double-digit increase. And we hope the next couple of years will improve sales further as the event will fall on a more romantic day.”

Passionate kisses: “Our top performing Valentine’s cards came from Lucilla Lavender, Wendy Jones-Blackett, Bold & Bright, Tache and Paper Shed.”

Above left and right: House of Cards embraced Valentine’s Day inside and out.

Left: One of three Lucilla Lavender designs that made it into House of Cards’ Valentine’s top sellers.

Julia Keeling, owner of Wishes of Cudworth, Cudworth: Sharing the love: “We had a bit of a boost over the weekend before and up to the day. We’re hopeful that, as the sun starts to shine more, people will be more positive about this year and shop local and support their High Street.”

Passionate kisses: “As ever cards by Cardigan Cards and Words ’n’ Wishes sold well. This year we had some funny ones by Emotional Rescue that sold well and a dog design from Abacus Cards that was especially popular.”

Right: This Abacus design proved especially popular at Wishes.

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Carl Dunne, co-owner of Cards & Gifts, Dronfield: Sharing the love: “We had a fantastic week leading up to Valentine’s Day when each day we were trading up by at least 50%.

We were asked a lot for humour cards by customers this year, which we were able to deliver as we had a fair few from Dean Morris Cards.”

Passionate kisses: “Our sales were helped by the closure of the Clintons store just two doors away. We also Top: It was ‘chocs away’ for Carl saw a huge 120% Dunne’s customers.

Above: The Valentine’s cards display in increase on the gifting Cards & Gifts. side for Sarunds loose chocolates as well as the personalised Toblerone bars and other chocolate brands with Valentines messages.”

Michael Apter, owner of Paper Tiger, three shops in Edinburgh: Sharing the love: “Our like for like sales were well ahead of last year. Valentine's Day was also a hit online and in Morningside, where we’re enjoying our first Spring Season in our new shop. There was a definite move towards cards with a proper Valentine message and a bit of humour.”

Above: Come rain or come shine, Michael Apter (left) and his team were ready for Valentine’s Day. Below: Paper Tiger went full on with a ‘kiss a frog’ theme in their window displays featuring a poster provided

by Ohh Deer based on one of its card designs.

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VIEWPOINTS Kayleigh Hisim, coowner of Milford Cards & Gifts, Milfordon-Sea:

Above: Cath Tate’s 'I love you very mush!' design was a winner at Creative Cove.

Above right: This Penguin Ink card sold well in Creative Cove as a general love send.

Sandra Jervis, owner of Creative Cove, Lampeter: Sharing the love: “As 25 January is the celebration of Santas Dwynwen, Wales’ patron saint of lovers, it makes the 14 February big day a tricky card season, so I took a conscious decision to limit the number of cards saying Valentine’s Day or similar. We went with cards that were love cards – funny ones and sentimental though definitely not wordy - and it seemed to work a treat as we sold more than any year previously.”

Passionate kisses: “Our most sought-after card was Cath Tate's 'I love you very mush!' with The Art File's 'There's so mushroom in my heart for you' coming in second place – mushrooms won hearts! We also had very strong sales from Ohh Deer and Penguin Ink. Ken the cat and blank animal cards were suiting people this year. My hubby snuck in late at night and nabbed me an amusing Redback Card ‘There's no one I'd rather sit in silence & stare at my phone with’ – highly appropriate!”

Sharing the love: “We saw a 25% increase on last year despite sales on the actual day being lower.

We put our Valentine’s Day cards out a week earlier, meaning they had five weeks on Above: An early start saw surprisingly strong sales at Milford Cards & Gifts. display and we saw a really strong start. We normally don't have high hopes for Valentine’s Day due to our customer base being predominantly elderly.

However, we were presently surprised and love was definitely in the air this year. Some people buying up to three cards...who are we to judge!”

Passionate kisses: “Our humour card selection went down very well this year with some people buying one sentimental card and one humour card.”

Caroline Ranwell owner of Hugs and Kisses, Tettenhall: Sharing the love: “We felt huge amounts of love in Hugs & Kisses this year! As always Valentines is so very last minute, but this year trade was slightly better than last year.”

Passionate kisses: “Our bestsellers were from Wendy JonesBlackett, Five Dollar Shake, Rosie Made a Thing, Woodmansterne and Paperlink. We were asked for a lot more captioned cards this year, such as Fiancé, Fiancée, Mummy and Daddy. Wife and husband captioned cards sold really well – we almost sold out – and larger cards did really well too.”

Right: Caroline Ranwell’s husband Jon sent her two cards this year, she laughed: “One wasn’t from my shop, but you can see why he bought it! It did make me laugh.”

Below: Hugs & Kisses customers had no chance of missing Valentine’s Day was coming up!

Below right: Captioned Valentine’s Day cards sold especially well in Hugs & Kisses.

Left and above: Pencil Me In pencilled in some love in its window by creating a 3D display using the junk pencils from its pencil-printing business.

Sarah Holmes, owner of Pencil Me In, Elgin: Sharing the love: “Valentines at Pencil Me In is my favourite seasonal moment – and this year our team created a beautiful LOVE pencil themed display using up our junk pencils from our pencil printing business. We expanded our card section this year as we have a new seasonal corner in the shop. Monday 12th, Tuesday 13th and Valentine’s Day itself were very busy and up on the last few years. The Saturday before we’d expected big sales, but the Scotland rugby game seemed to suck our customers away! The midweek sales made up for it though!”

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MILESTONE MAKERS Being an industry whose very raison d’être is to mark all of life’s moments – not just hatch, match and dispatch – it is fitting to celebrate some of the notable company anniversaries that are happening this year.

Following on from last month’s edition, PG asked another handful of celebrators to share some of the significant moments in their business’ evolution as well as their plans to mark the milestone.

10th Anniversary of…Rush Design Lorraine Bradley, founder and creative maestro tells her tale…

Above: Lorraine and her husband Ian Bradley on Rush’s stand at Spring Fair.

Above right: Lorraine launching its Everything Sparkles ‘game changer’ in 2016.

Below: One of Lorraine’s fave Rush designs.

Below right: There are 50 mini cards in Rush’s new Watermelon collection.

Potted history: “Following several life-changing events, including beating breast cancer, I felt it was time for me to step back from the more corporate world.

My mother was a fashion designer, so with my understanding of the business side it was time to channel my mother’s creativity. While on holiday in 2013, shop owner friends asked: “so what are you going to do next” to which I replied: “I’m

going to start designing greeting cards”.

So, Rush Design was born in March 2014 from the kitchen table and spare bedroom.”

Significant moments: “The successful launch of our Everything Sparkles range in February 2016. This was a game changer.

I remember saying: “It now feels like a proper business”.

With the success of Everything Sparkles, which was hand-finished, the need for fulfilment became urgent, which allowed Rush to grow.

Delayed by the pandemic years at the end of 2022 we moved into an office premises and employed some help, which has made such a difference.”

Marking the milestone: “The main plan for the year is lots…lots of newness. We’ve already completed Watermelon, a brand-new mini card range, a 2024 Christmas collection, a new Wedding & Anniversary range, a

medium card size launched, plus additions to several existing ranges.

And we’ll definitely be making something of the 10th Anniversary at PG Live this year.”

The next chapter: “We are most happy with steady and sustainable growth, always listening to our customers and continually evolving. It would be amazing to win a Henries award at some point too!”

Fave design: “My favourite design that comes to mind instantly is one of the first in the Blossom Collection, which went on to be the inspiration for our New England collection.”

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25th Anniversary of…Dean Morris Cards Dean looks back at the company’s quarter century…

Potted history: “I started Dean Morris Cards in 1999 with the help of the Prince’s Trust and an EUfunded designers start up programme based in Wolverhampton.

The previous year I had walked round Paperchase looking at all the fancy papers and in a moment of uncharacteristic confidence had the idea of starting my own greeting card company, especially as since childhood I always customised and illustrated shop bought cards and envelopes for my family.

My first standalone trade show (at Top Drawer 2000) introduced me to a larger audience and a big order from Paperchase later that year meant I could quit my part-time job working in a building society and push forward with the business.

Dean Morris Cards now has lots of very loyal customers (a couple from 1999) in the UK, Europe and worldwide.”

Significant moments: “My old designs were always comical, but switching from handmade to printed and focusing almost exclusively on humour I found the niche I was comfortable with.

Social media, which scarily wasn’t even a thing when I started, has transformed how I connect with my customer base. While being time-consuming I have found this essential in pushing my brand and also showing the person behind the brand. People buy from people.

Thirdly, and linked to social media

is the buzz, surprise and ego boost I get when I’m recognised by members of the public. I’ve been recognised by cabin crew on several Virgin Atlantic flights, out and about in Benidorm and at the check-in area of British Airways when I was asked: “Are you THE Dean Morris of Dean Morris Cards”. It was a miracle my head could get through the plane door.

The GCA march at Pride last year was an absolute buzz and one of the proudest days of my entire 25 years in the business. The love the crowds showed for all our cards that day was amazing.”

The next chapter: “I don’t set huge goals as I’m just happy that I’m still doing this after 25 years. I am happy to continue to make people laugh, make some decent money doing it and have my eye on retirement.”

Fave design: “I think the design is a bit 2006 nowadays, but our ‘Happy Birthday now F**k off back to Economy’ card will always have a soft spot in my heart as it continues to be a big hit with cabin crew. I don’t believe anyone had done any plane humour up until that point and it was featured in GCA centenary collection.”

Top left: Dean with one of the early card designs, based on a school photo of himself.

Above right: Dean (left) with the company’s stand sign at Top Drawer in 2000.

Left: Dean proudly brandishing a placard at Pride last year as part of the GCA contingent.

Middle right: One of Dean’s fave DMC designs.

15th Anniversary of…Rosanna Rossi Anna Nelson, co-founder of the company shares her memories…

Above: Anna and Troy Nelson, who co-run Rosanna Rossi.

Right: Anna on Rosanna Rossi’s stand at Spring Fair 2019 that Troy proudly built.

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Potted history: “With both fine art and a textile design background, my mother Filippa and I joined forces to create Rosanna Rossi in 2009. After spending the Summer putting together capsule greeting card collections, we took the plunge and exhibited at our first ever trade show at Top Drawer Autumn. We spent the first few years heads down in designing, navigating our way and the house was slowly becoming overwhelmed with cards! In 2012 we finally moved to an office environment which allowed us to grow. In 2015 my husband Troy joined the business which took away the stressful job of admin and the never-ending paperwork. Thankfully he loves spreadsheets!

We spent a few years in Australia. Moving abroad really improved my creative thinking ability and we returned to the UK feeling more fired-up to take the next step business wise.

In 2017 we moved into a larger office space nestled in the Cotswolds and knuckled

down building strong relationships with both UK and international customers, and we continue to cherish the relationships we have with all of our customers.”

Significant moments: “One of the big developments for Rosanna Rossi has been

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building great relationships with our international distributors.

Troy joining the business in 2015 was a significant moment, as this allowed me to focus more on the creative side of the business, which is what I enjoy the most.

Another development recently was becoming an affiliate of 9Trees. Every one of our cards sold helps go towards planting more trees within the UK.” Fave design: Anna: “That would be the Flying Cranes design from our Novella Collection. I find Japanese culture and art deeply fascinating.”

Troy: “The Snowy Slopes from our Odyssey Collection. This design was inspired by a trip to the Alps in 2022, when I reignited my love of snowboarding!.”

Marking the milestone: “It’s a privilege to reach any milestones, so let’s celebrate it! We’re launching a milestone age birthday collection entitled Decade which is a little nod to our past.”

The next chapter: “Our ethos has always stayed the same since day one, to create designs Above: Anna and Troy’s fave designs from Rosanna Rossi. doing just this for as long as we can. We are that bring joy to people's lives. A little piece of hugely grateful for all the support we've had happiness on a card to lift spirits, send love, along the way from our agents, customers, say thanks and connect in a way that is suppliers and everyone in between!” personable and thoughtful. We will continue

Ten years of…Louise Tiler Designs Louise Tiler, the company’s co-founder and creative director shares some of the highlights…

Potted history: “While studying at Leeds College of Art, I started freelancing in greeting cards while still studying. Working in the industry gave me a real insight and I was really inspired to continue in the creative design world.

I was delighted to win an

award at the New Designers show in my graduating year and also clinch the top prize at Surtex in New York, while finishing the last weeks of my degree course.

These awards encouraged me to launch Louise Tiler Designs the following year, debuting at PG Live 2014 with around 60 cards, and things just took off from there.

We were soon taking orders from all over the world and quickly outgrew my home office and conservatory, so moved into a small one-room location in Baildon Mills. In those early days, taking delivery of stock meant we had to create walls of stock boxes from floor to ceiling and navigate between them like some kind of cardboard maze. We ended up having to build a platform above these boxes for my desk as there was simply nowhere else for them to go! This made working at the desk slightly challenging, and the desk got ever higher as more deliveries of cards arrived as the orders increased.

Our evolution has also led to some exciting opportunities in licensing and collaborations with other companies including licensing our designs onto gift packaging with Penny Kennedy.

Now supplying so many lovely retailers and distributors in over 20 countries, I feel so proud to have created a product that people love, and being part of a friendly, creative and uplifting industry.”

Significant moments: “Winning two Henries awards, including Most Promising Young Artist or Designer early in the journey of Louise Tiler Designs was a real honour.

Moving into our current premises in Keighley was also significant.

The building though was in a dilapidated state and required gutting from top to bottom. The upper floors were renovated by my partner Gavin, who built a wonderful studio, a workshop for designing and building our trade show stands, and also transformed the ground floor into a warehouse and packing rooms.

Another turning point was Gavin joining the business to help push it forward. Also, expanding the team by employing skilled passionate people has enabled me to concentrate on creating the detailed illustrations that our cards have become known for.”

Marking the milestone: “I am sure we will have some bubbles at PG Live to celebrate!”

The next chapter: “We aim to continue to bring our customers beautiful, hand-drawn greeting cards and look towards new opportunities to grow as a brand in new product areas. We will also be going live with a brand new website, redesigned from the ground up.”

Fave design: “There are lots of new favourites in our new Kids Tiny Sparkles range.

Even though our designs have moved forward over the 10 year period, hand-drawing and painting and use of elegant colours still remain at our core.”

Above: Louise in 2016 with one of her Henries’ trophies.

Above right: Gavin joining Louise in the business was one of the significant developments in Louise Tiler Designs’ evolution.

Right: Louise continues to paint and draw by hand to create designs.

Far right: Among the newness are the new card packs from Louise Tiler Designs.

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A DISRUPTIVE THEO-RY His love of greeting cards, plans to disrupt the online greeting card sector, a rallying call to revise business rates, how AI has “thrown a massive bomb into the melting pot of retail” and that retailers need to have a “reason to exist” to woo the “promiscuous” consumer were just some of the topics retail entrepreneur and former TV ‘Dragon’ Theo Paphitis covered when he took to the Inspiring Retail Stage at Spring Fair last month.

PG was granted a backstage pass to meet this leading light of retail, and get an inkling of his plans for the new Ryman Design retail concept as well as his intention to make waves in the greeting card arena.

Left: Theo Paphitis is a committed greeting card fan.

Below: Theo with some of the instore marketing for the new greeting card app which is also promoted in the windows of the Ryman estate.

Below right: Donations from the sale of the cards from the Ryman app will be made to the British Dyslexia Association and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Charity as part of a minimum £100,000 of support Theo has pledged from the Ryman business.

As retail celebrities go, Theo Paphitis is right up there.

While no longer one of the TV Dragons on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, he must be one of the most well-known retailing faces, not only that, but through his Small Business Sunday initiative has, over the years, provided a lifeline to hundreds of budding businesses.

Theo not only talks a good game, but still gets his hands dirty, driving developments within his emporium of retailing brands which include Ryman, Robert Dyas, London Graphic Centre and Boux Avenue.

Seemingly greeting cards are one of his current “passion projects”. Following swiftly on the heels of unveiling the new Ryman Design retailing concept, was last month’s launch of its brand new greeting card app, the USP of which is offering the consumer the opportunity to create a personalised card online and then collect the physical card from any Ryman store an hour later.

“I love sending cards,” Theo professed to a packed audience at his keynote talk at Spring Fair. “They are such an important tangible way of showing you care,” he told PG, proud of the commitment he’s making in the sector.

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which now trades from 190 stores, has been part of Theo’s retail portfolio for 28 years, he explains that he became “back involved with the running” of the stationery retail multiple in October 2022 with the recent development of the Ryman Design retail concept being a step up on the design-led stationery and greeting card front.

With two Ryman Design stores already trading in London (Marble Arch and Bishopsgate) and one in Birmingham’s Grand Central, Theo revealed that growth is on the cards. “We are looking at opening our next store in Scotland in the next few weeks,” he confirmed.

Theo was also personally involved in the launch of The Artists’ Collective by The London Studio greeting card collection, the brainchild of Soula Zavacopoulos, as part of Ryman Design’s Christmas offer, featuring designs by 38 artists which very much chimed with Theo’s mission to support small businesses and designers. The Artists’ Collective was expanded for Valentine’s Day and is to form part of the everyday offer, strengthening the greeting card selection alongside the vast array of stationery.

Soula and Theo have known each other since 2011 when she was a winner of his Small Business Sunday. The relationship has blossomed with Soula now on board in a consultancy role, which has involved her being heavily involved in the development and launch of the Ryman online greeting card app.

Theo proudly states his intention of

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“disrupting” the online greeting card sector with “something completely unique” that works in tandem with the high street. He accepts that he is entering “a massively competitive market for personalised cards that was born out of the digital era” but is excited to be “leveraging it through our stores”.

Like other online platforms, the Ryman service works on downloading the app which enables the consumer to personalise one of thousands of cards, “but what makes ours unique is that you can then collect the card in a Ryman store within just 60 minutes. So, if you’re a last-minute Larry or Lucinda, or just a commuter wanting to save on postage, this is a game changer,” believes Theo.

As to how far he is intending to go in the greeting card space now the new app has

Left: Plans are to expand Ryman Design.

launched, Theo is aiming high: “All the way,” he told PG with a wry smile.

Having been six months in the development, Theo says the whole premise of the new greeting card app is “to drive people back into the stores, giving them another reason to shop with us. It is all part of our evolution.”

The fair necessities It was standing room only as Theo Paphitis took to the Inspiring Retail Stage at Spring Fair to be interviewed by Natalie Berg, a retail analyst, author and host of podcast NEK Retail, about opportunities and challenges for retail businesses.

Asked by Natalie how he is seeing customer expectations evolve, he stated that the world had changed for retail and is continuing to change. “Customers are far more promiscuous than they ever were,” he pointed out.

“It’s like a one night stand. People move from one brand to another all the time and can shop from anywhere at any time, so retailers have to ensure that customers have to have a reason to come back to them. It’s a lot, lot tougher, and I actually think it will get a lot tougher yet,” he predicted.

Above: Theo is never short of an opinion, some of which he shared at the Highlighting the importance of Spring Fair.

Right: Theo Paphitis being interviewed on bringing online and offline retail the Inspiring Retail Stage at the recent together, Theo cited Next as a Spring Fair by Natalie Berg, a retail successful, evolving business analyst, author and host of podcast NEK Retail, about the opportunities and that has prospered by adapting challenges for retail businesses. to the consumer, changing its business model to marry offline and online. “Failed retailers don’t adapt,” he stated, citing Debenhams as one of the many failures on this front.

Illustrating how Ryman, a 130 year old business, is mixing technology with the company’s physical offering in 190 stores, he highlighted the launch of Ryman’s mobile greeting card app (see main article).

He remains optimistic about the role and relevance of greeting cards, believing they will endure, just in the same way that stationery has.

“I bought Ryman in 1995 when it was all talk of the paperless office. Here we are today and people still like to grab a pad and pen and write things down; creating something. I’m dyslexic and I do it!” says Theo.

And he acknowledged that sending a greeting card is one of the last bastions of sharing the handwritten message, revealing he is about to teach his 16 year old grandson how to improve his handwriting. “I have told him to get his exams out of the way and then we will work on his handwriting. It is not hard to do and in two weeks I will have taught him how to change it forever.”

This Dragon is still firing on all cylinders, one of which is clearly stationery fuelled.

“As customer behaviour changes, your stores have to have a reason to exist, for customers to shop with you today, tomorrow and the day after that,” Theo stressed.

Sharing his advice for small business start-ups, Theo urged: “Do your homework. Over 50% of businesses fail in the first two years because companies haven’t done their homework. You have to know your numbers. Business is simple as long as you do the simple things right. Everyone gets things wrong and you learn from that. Just don’t bet the farm!”

He also advised that although it wasn’t possible to do anything about the current business rate system – something he passionately believes must change - retailers should take heart that rents generally are decreasing in shopping centres and on the high street.

Asked how different he believes retail will be by 2034, Theo predicted: “In ten years’ time, we will all be using things and products in our everyday lives that haven’t even been invented yet.

AI, for example, has thrown a bomb into the retail pot, and after the explosion we are now seeing huge growth, because AI is good if you use it properly and understand what it can do for you. So, my advice is, if you get an advantage take it, because if you don’t, someone else will.”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 37

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Inset: Wrap is big news as the appearance of Hansel’s eco products on Channel Five’s Christmas On The Farm shows.

Roll Giftwrap really is on a roll these days, not just with the specialist suppliers, but with the growing number of card publishers getting in on the action expanding their product ranges to include matching packaging.

And it’s all about the design where matching cards and wrap are concerned as everyone works to make sure it’s the pattern that matters.

Well established in the giftwrap sector, Unique has just made the move into a range of Christmas boxed cards to complement its bestselling wrap ranges in both print and using bioglitter, all fully made in the UK. “We made the decision as we have proven design sales in our wrap, director Lydia Scamponi explained, “and can forward sell the cards without having to commit to a huge production run.”

Above: Pop is Unique’s latest range.

Pop is Unique’s new collection Above right: Iconic festivals have taking inspiration from 60s and 70s inspired Storigraphic. pop culture and aimed at giving everyone more colour in their lives, it comes as flat and roll wrap with coordinating bags and accessories and is all fully recyclable and designed,

Mushrooming sales Sales of giftwrap have been mushrooming at Earlybird Designs after its latest foray into fungi designs thanks to a request from Creative Cove’s Sandra Jervis.

The Lampeter-based retailer made a plea to Earlybird’s Dom Early: “She kept saying ‘mushrooms please Dom, I just can’t keep anything mushroomrelated in stock’. It was a trend we were happy to embrace and knew the look would work well in our Buddy & Betty range.”

Expanding the theme into cards has worked too, and Dom joked: “Mushrooms are proving they’re magic!”

Right: Giftwrap sales at Earlybird are mushrooming.

We’re living in the wrap n roll era baby!

As the findings of the recent PG Retail Barometer testify retailers’ appetite on the wrappings front is on the rise, with it being cited as one of the areas flagged for expansion this year which is mirrored by a myriad of developments on the publisher side.

PG deep dives into design trends, rolls versus flat sheets considerations, sustainability progress, and a host of other ribbons and bows! printed and converted in the UK using non-toxic water-based inks.

Storigraphic also starts with the wrap, with its latest Festival Series inspired by iconic music festivals such as Monterey Pop Festival and Woodstock, and then add the matching greeting cards, often along with stationery, homeware and accessories.

At Dandelion Stationery, it’s the other way around as the cards come first, with its most popular designs being the dog and cycle wraps taken from the bestselling cards.

“We’re seeing customers becoming more environmentally conscious when buying wrap,” founder Jo Wilson said. “They’re keen to clarify and understand if the wrap is recyclable – all our wrap is produced on FSC paper and fully recyclable. We have tended to move away from any special formats or finishes simply to ensure it’s clear the paper can be recycled.”

As wrap specialists, while Glick doesn’t publish cards, it has strong licensing partnerships with many greeting card publishers or designers, notably Paper Salad, Louise Mulgrew, Think of Me and Stephanie Dyment and so works with them to turn the greeting card designs into giftwrap and bags.

Some fashion trends may be muted for spring and summer 24 but, as Glick md Becky Dobson deadpanned: “Muted is not our bag!” So, the focus has been on bright pops and an eclectic palette in the new Colour Hub collection in collaboration with Paper Salad using the publisher’s signature neons.

There are also new releases from Stephanie Dyment, Think Of Me, and Kate McFarlane licences, with Louise Mulgrew to come in the summer, in double-sided flat wraps, roll wraps, tissue papers and gift bags, as well as plenty of accessories, including new fabric bows and ribbons, plus neon additions.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 39

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With Ohh Deer having just And Glick is on a introduced its own sustainable sustainability mission, as rollwrap solution, co-owner Becky explained: “During Mark Callaby commented: creative decisions we respect “We’ve been wanting to do the future of our planet and rollwrap for ages, but it’s a big future generations, we act investment and bulky product with responsibility and to work with. We've been courage even if it’s difficult. asked so much we relooked at We only use water-based it and the solution we found inks and FSC papers, and Above and right: Paper Salad’s neon gift dressings add was offered to us by our polybags used in our impact for Glick along with its new Stephanie Dyment range. manufacturer and we knew packaging are made from that's what we wanted. recycled plastic, including the shrink wrap around our roll wrap.

“The nifty little tear strip for easy open is plastic-free and it's much “Some of our bags have innovative paper handles which means they neater than wrap clasps, so we've tested it lots to know that it works are fully recyclable, and we promote recycling of our gift bags through rea treat.” gifting and have added this message to the base of our gift bags.”

As a Fair Trade wholesaler of gifts and handicrafts from around the Family company Giftwrap UK has taken the eco vibe to heart with world, Siesta Crafts takes ethical products to the max, as Lucy Barton investment in new and innovative substrates including grass and sugar explained: “We’ve found ethically-sourced and cane paper to provide an alternative to the wood pulp sustainable giftwrap traditionally used in wrapping paper. options to be a very “Wherever possible, we have tried to do without popular addition to plastic,” commented director Matt Allam. “For wrapping our collection – our paper we recently launched an extensive range of recycled sari giftwrap plastic-free rollwrap which features a tear-down strip. has gone down a “And, within both our Everyday and Christmas storm with our collections, we also have a number of designs which customers.” have been printed on grass, sugar cane and recycled It also has papers. The packaging for our gift bags and boxes handmade paper wrap has also been changed to plastic-free with recyclable and gift bags which belly bands and euro hooks replacing the older Above: Cycles and dogs are Dandelion’s have all been produced plastic versions.” bestsellers. with care – and absolutely no plastic.

Its Go Green ribbons and bows are produced from Right: Paddington’s a wrap hit for M&G The handmade route is the only way for Paper sustainable raw materials including cotton, linen, paper and the bags do well too.

Mirchi founder Rani Moochhala where her award-winning wrap is and jute, again packaged without plastic where possible, and Matt added: produced using traditional techniques of hand-marbling and block “There has definitely been a significant shift in sales towards the more printing, and the paper uses 100% recycled cotton rags which gives it eco-friendly products.

“Feedback from customers in 2023 was that they liked the introduction a unique texture.

Rani added: “We also do matching cards and gift bags. For us, the of new substrates, finishes and style of designs we have achieved, wrap designs come first and the cards and bags are designed around it ensuring we satisfy all giving occasions for the consumer.” to either match or complement.”

The cards lead the way at Roger la Borde where Helena Maratheftis Bonkers about wrap explained: “They are our anchor, and from there we design our product Content creator and home renovator Emily Norris has revealed and wrap ranges, and we make our gift bags in five sizes with grosgrain her special indulgence in her latest Instagram post – a home ribbon handles and die-cut tags to match the artwork.” giftwrapping station!

And the company’s double-sided flat sheets can be turned into a The huge cupboard, complete with poles for rollwrap, and decorative feature with a section folded back to reveal the other side dedicated storage for scissors, ribbons and tape, is a dream for as a trim instead of a ribbon, with colourful dinosaurs a kids’ the dedicated gift-giver favourite alongside bold, graphic Below: Giftwrap UK’s eco offer although the covers a full range. florals for adults. @emilynorrishome social media It's the pattern that matters for influencer admitted her partner Pennychoo’s Sue Lee, who works Matt thinks she’s “bonkers”. an idea to create the design before Emily said: “Honestly, trying it out on wrap, cards and although far from a necessity, stationery, and is aiming for more this space fills me with matching card and wrap this year.” immense joy. It may say seem Having spent too long working in sad, but it’s something I’ve offices before changing careers to dreamed of ever since we become a designer, Fiona Wilson were lucky enough to start our believes life’s too short to be without home renovation.” colour and has just launched the Left: Emily Norris unveils her giftwrap first Fiona Wilson Prints greeting dream. card range of five collections which 40 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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We are now only days away from the first Woodmansterne gift packaging displays being installed in retailers at the beginning of April.

Marking a significant move for the publisher as well as the industry, the first phase of the launch sees the publisher offering retailers up to a fivemetre planned display of rollwrap, bags, tissue, ribbons, bows and tags.

In addition to its own 62 skus, the publisher has forged a partnership arrangement with Stewo and its UK distributor Giftwrap UK for a selection of the Swiss-based brand’s products to also be included in the plans, thus broadening the selection.

The launch comes as a logical extension to its W Select greeting card programme.

Andy Paterson, sales director of Woodmansterne, described this wholehearted expansion into gift packaging as a “massively significant step for the company” and something “retail customers have been asking us to do for the last three or four years.”

As he explained, the inaugural range is being pitched as a “premium collection in both look and feel with strong ecocredentials”, and it is completely plastic-free, including the handles, multi-tags string, eurohooks, paper banding, and all outer packaging.

Andy added: “We always strive to cut our own path, rather than following trends. Our collection has been developed with premium

licences, and trusted bestsellers from our card collections, and from the host of talented creatives that Woodmansterne is renowned for.

“In the decades we've been producing greeting cards we’ve learned a lot, and all that knowledge has helped inform the creative direction for our gift packaging. We've looked at bestselling ranges, but we haven’t just recreated the cards, we’ve carefully selected each design to make sure it suits the product each time.”

The products have designs that are a combination of recognisable licences, namely Emma Bridgewater, Quentin Blake and Sanderson, as well as some of Woodmansterne’s key in-house brands, such as Peach & Prosecco and Mambo.

All the Woodmansterne products are 100% paper, and completely plastic-free. The rollwrap is protected by a paper sleeve which can be opened using a pull-down kraft tab, the giftbag handles are made from woven paper, and the tissue paper and Above and below: A W Select 5m display, gift tag multipacks come in kraft and the plastic-free roll wraps, include a kraft paper packaging with the tags pull-down tab themselves fastened using paper string.

The Woodmansterne launch does not include flat wrap, “as customers seem to prefer the better value in buying rolls and the convenience of gift bags,” Andy explained.

she’s immediately extended into 12 giftwrap designs which all coordinate.

Celebrating 20 years as part of the Swan Mill Group, Penny Kennedy is this year set to combine its gift packaging expertise with the design talents of its sister card company Ling Design by launching collections based on its cards and those from its The Curious Inksmith brand as well as its ongoing licensing collaborations.

Business manager Emma Puzey explained the company’s design-focused approach sees it work with trusted licensing partners Morris & Co, Sara Miller, and Toasted Crumpet, while adding fresh collections from publishers such as Cath Kidson and Raspberry Blossom to its ranges that cover recyclable roll wrap, gift bags, tissue, nests of boxes and tags.

Meanwhile Widdop and Co has refreshed its collaboration with Hotchpotch, part of the Carte Blanche Greetings creative studio, to bring some of its card designs to the gift bag market.

“In a crowded market, keeping things simple is working for our customers,” Widdop’s head of marketing Catherine Paul explained. “The visual simplicity of matching these thoughtfully-designed gift bags with the coordinating gifts, means their customers can buy in to the complete end-to-end purchase experience, maximizing the cross-selling potential.

“Hotchpotch has a firm grip on the greeting card industry with avid consumers and stockists keenly on board so it made sense, with our depth of product experience here at Widdop, that our creative team design gifting collections inspired by the Hotchpotch portfolio of cards.”

While UK Greetings has many of its own images, its hugely successful partnership with the Royal Horticultural Society gives its designers access to the RHS Lindley library of botanical illustrations and has led to a new greeting card and gift dressing collection.

Having ensured the designs work for both the gift bags and cards, UKG has also kept to the Above: A teardown strip means Ohh Deer sustainable theme with the whole range being now has rollwrap.

Left: There’s no plastic fully recyclable. at Siesta Crafts.

Cathy Snow, RHS licensing manager, said: “It Below: It all starts with art for Wendy Bell. is a privilege for the RHS to be working with UK Below left: A beautiful RHS giftbag from UKG. Greetings on this superb new collection. We are immensely proud that eight years since the partnership began, the RHS range continues to perform at retail and promote the charity in such a positive way.

At Caroline Gardner, the card design generally comes first, then inspires the wrap and bag prints, although head of marketing Kyra White added: “Occasionally a wrap comes from an original painting that then inspires a card range. Sometimes we use prints from our gift range on wrap and bags, and vice versa.

“A lot of the design team have been print designers at some point in their career and we’re certainly a print-driven brand, which bags and wrap are a great canvas for.”

This year has seen one of the company’s biggest gift bag releases

Woody’s packaging debut

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Left: Paper Mirch’s handmade the giftbag front, adding three new for years, with the product having paper and cards. designs with super deep gussets to fit fabric handles, and bold patterns Below: Double-sided flatwrap is king at Roger la Borde. candles, mugs, and various gifts in the inside and out, and Kyra said: wider cube shape that has a reinforced base.

“They’re nice and thick, so are an On the trends side, its licensing partnership with Lola important part of a thoughtful gift, Design is working well, and Deva has also launched a that can be used again and Cheerful Tulips range, as well as a new doublepassed on as part of a wonderful sided and printed in the UK All The Fun Of The chain of giving.”

Fair collection from in-house designer Reuben Duffy.

Giftwrap was one of the first All Hallmark’s rollwrap is cello free and it has products Emily Byrd wanted to replaced metallicised paper designs with high-lustre create through her Bird & Co metallic inks which give the shiny look while being 100% business as the majority of wrap back then was recyclable, as part of the laminated or contained microplastics in the glitter so publisher’s sustainability non-recyclable, commitment.

Having found an eco-conscious printer for her flat wraps Product and range and singles folded into manager Claire Warren biodegradable cello bags, Emily added: “There’s definitely a said: “I’m so pleased I can now move away from nonoffer wraps made from 100% recyclable polyprop ribbons. recycled FSC paper and printed Paper raffia, cotton twine and with vegetable inks, meaning ribbon made from recycled they’re biodegradable and plastic have an increased recyclable. They’re also carbon-zero Left: The Art File has many matching wrap presence in the market but, meaning all the carbon generated and card ranges.

Above: Hallmark’s card and wrap teams because costs are often higher during the production of our papers work together. on sustainable accessories, the is offset by the planting of forests market changeover is slow. We are actively looking to develop a range and woodlands in association with of sustainable accessories to coordinate with our giftwrap in the future.”

Carbon Footprint.”

For matching cards and wrap, Claire said Hallmark’s teams work With her latest Wild Flora range, based on British wild flowers, Emily closely together and highlight strong sellers to each other that may created the cards and wrap alongside each other. work well.

Nature is also a key trend for The Art File with natural patterns She added: “Cards are usually more specific in terms of the recipient, making up a large portion of its giftwrap selection – and the Bees rollwrap compared with wrap, as generally was the most popular last year, wrap has a wider job to do. Due to followed by the Major Oak design this, simplified elements of a card and Peacock Feather.

Wrapping up a challenge may be used on wrap designs and “All our rollwrap, flat wrap and Seeing a video about how much giftwrap goes to landfill was the then cards may take elements of a luxury flat wrap is sustainably inspiration behind Joshua and Charlotte Smith’s eco-wrap wrap to work into the design. resourced and fully recyclable. Our business Hansel.

“We also develop curated rollwrap is wrapped in recycled cello The couple stepped in to continue the legacy of a military wife collections, like our much-loved wrap with a recyclable cardboard who started the business aimed at making the planet greener Forever Friends collection, where tube,” said sales and marketing one giftwrap at a time. we have cards, gift bags and roll manager James Mace. “We have After rebranding the company to Hansel, Charlotte said: “We wrap that all sit together for a many matching card and wrap now have a thriving Derbyshire factory with a small team of strong visual solution in store.” designs! The card design will more assistants. We’ve brought more of the making in-house and got Museums & Galleries has often than not come first, with an ever-increasing range of giftwrap designs besides accessories. always offered a full spectrum gift adaptions of giftwrap We’ve also teamed up with JCB to produce a licensed range of packaging solution with flat and coming after.” products featuring its official machines’ image portfolio. rollwrap, plain and foiled, gift tissue While peers are now going down “We take pride in crafting all our products from recycled packs, gift bags and Christmas gift the kraft-pack route for materials or ensuring they are biodegradable, as we strive to tags, which is all FSC-certified with sustainability, Deva Designs md combine sustainability, aesthetics, and functionality in every recyclable finishes, and licensing Andrew Maddock tried it a decade aspect of our eco-friendly gift Inset: Hansel’s manager Eddie Clarke said: ago but his customers disliked it so eco products and wrapping and gifting JCB licence went “Customers seem to enjoy the much the company came up with a accessories.” down well at freedom they inspire in expressing biodegradable cello pack for its 60Spring Fair.

All Hansel’s gift their own creative wrapping ideas.” plus tissue paper range. presentation products are Eddie added that rollwrap is “It wasn’t easy,” Andrew said, 100% plastic free and increasingly popular among “we had lots of trials, but we’re so 100% recyclable or independents so M&G’s range is happy with the new pack. it feels biodegradable – and it growing in this format, while Asianstrange to be going in a different also offers a bespoke inspired or sourced artwork is a direction – but our customers are brown paper rollwrap distinct design trend with the V&A’s thrilled with our choice.” printing service.

Kimono Cranes a big hit currently – And Deva has gone for it too on

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Rolls vs flat sheets

along with the Paddington Bear wraps that are popular with both children and adults.

He explained: “Not all best-selling cards translate to good wraps, and not all wraps can make cards, but there is definitely enough crossover to make taking the risk worthwhile! I’d say card-to-wrap is the route most often taken at M&G although, if we have sufficient confidence, we will issue the card and wrap versions simultaneously at launch.”

Scottish-inspired imagery and verses have proved popular for Fife-based Wee Wishes so director and design manager Laura Mysak launched complementary giftwrap at January’s Scotland’s Trade Fair Spring.

Wendy Bell’s work always begins with a piece of her alcohol ink abstract art, which is photographed and used to create a greeting card collection, the original frequently framed and sold, then flat wrap and other coordinating products are created, with everything printed to order to cut wastage and mean it only needs transporting once, from printer to customer.

As the artist explained: “From day one, the ethos for Wendy Bell Designs has been to source suppliers from within the UK in order to try to keep our economy afloat, support small Above: Flatwrap is the businesses and also reduce our carbon footprint by norm for small publishers – though Pennychoo likes not having to ship things from far afield. It also helps to roll each sheet.

Below left: Alongside new with quality control.”

Lola patterns, super deep With cards that have become wrap and wrap gussets make Deva’s gift bags more useful. designs turned into cards, navigating the difficulties Below: Prints drive the of producing rolls and bags in the UK, and product at Caroline Gardner. continuing the sustainability driver, one thing’s for certain – publishers definitely have the gift packaging market all wrapped up!

Above: Coordinating cards and wrap from Fiona Wilson.

Above right: Raspberry Blossom from Penny Kennedy.

Below: Widdop has refreshed its Hotchpotch collab.

The difficulty of getting UK-produced rollwrap is an issue with most product coming in from the Far East so it needs to be bought in huge quantities to make it viable.

That means many small publishers go down the flatwrap-only route, as Unique director Lydia Scamponi explained: “As a manufacturer we’re in complete control of our production process from start to finish, including our own conversion facility, and so are in a fortunate position to be able to offer our wrap in both flat sheet and roll format, although we sell mostly rolls.

“Given the origination costs and minimum order quantities we work to, I can certainly understand the cost implication should smaller publishers wish to launch an extensive range of rolls and why they mostly offer flat sheets only, which are easier and cheaper to produce.

“The same applies for gift bags, as we ourselves must import these from China where a minimum order quantity of 3,000 bags per size applies which, again, is high and limits the number of new bags we can launch each year.”

Storigraphic’s co-founder and creative director Roz Nazerian said: “We started off with flat sheets because it allowed us to print digitally in smaller batches keeping the process as sustainable as it can be with a reduced environmental footprint, manufacture in the UK and keep agile while developing new collections. We have been planning rollwraps and gift bags for a while. They’re both on the horizon.

Flatwrap is currently the only offer from Dandelion Stationery as founder Jo Wilson commented: “We’re really keen to sell items which have been produced in the UK – all of the roll wrap solutions we’ve found can only be produced overseas, and in huge quantities, which makes it difficult for small publishers to offer.

“Flat wrap is popular, though some customers struggle with finding ways to display it, so we’re currently looking into a folded wrap solution which has three to four folded sheets in a pack, with gift tags – watch this space!”

Sue Lee, owner of Pennychoo offers flatwrap, but she actually likes the sheets to then be rolled as she “hates crease folds, and it’s nice for buyers to be able to see the finish”.

For Caroline Gardner, flatwrap has historically been its largest wrap category, but head of marketing Kyra White said: “We’re seeing increased demand for rollwraps now they’re cello free, and a longer length with no need for a wasteful cardboard inner tube. We’ve introduced plastic-free packaging for our set of two sheets of flat wrap too for those who don’t need a whole roll.”

Giftwrap UK’s, director Matt Allam sees rollwrap as the dominant format for consumers, especially at Christmas, with the company one of the UK's largest suppliers of in-store gift wrapping rolls: “With over 135 seasonal designs and finishes available in 30cm, 50cm and 70cm widths, counter rolls are a cost-effective way for retailers to offer a giftwrapping service.”

As a larger producer, Hallmark is able to offer its own UKproduced rollwrap as well as folded two flat sheets two tags packs, which product and range manager Claire Warren said “allows in-season rebuys at Christmas if needed and no lengthy shipping time”, and she added: “It has a lower carbon footprint.”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 43

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A selection of wonderful new ranges and designs from a host of different publishers.

Blooming Lovely New from ArtPress Publishing is Bloom, a card collection featuring Claudia Lowry’s botanical drawings. Delicate and almost ethereal, the designs encapsulate nature’s wonderful palette and seasonal variations. The range comprises eight everyday blank card designs, all 170mmx120mm, which come with a white envelope.

ArtPress Publishing 020 7231 2923 www.art-press.co.uk

Fun Of The Fair Woof Woof Bex Hassett, owner of Bexy Boo collaborated with her friends Nicholas and Ross from The Children's Illustrator (formerly known as The Grumble and Co) for the new look Mugshots range. Nicholas refreshed the dog-based imagery while Bexy came up with the captions. Printed on FSC 350gsm board, each of the cards are ecostickered as standard and come with a soft mulberry envelope.

Bexy Boo 01565 830546 www.bexyboo.co.uk

A “fun range of daft celebratory captions” is how publisher Objectables describes its new Fun Fairs range. The inaugural collection, which features lovely illustrations from in-house designer, Jenny Davis, includes 17 designs with more set to launch at PG Live in June.

Objectables Publishing 01303 767240 www.objectablestrade.co.uk

Killer Lines

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Rusty Pencil is at it again with designs that blast out acerbic, sarcastic slants on ageing, love, friendship and life in general. The Suburban Killers range of 22 cards feature a grungy font style that reflects a blunt attitude and a general world-weary annoyance! The cards measure 120mmx170mm and come with a white envelope in biodegradable cellowrapping.

Rusty Pencil 07970 950541 www.rustypencil.com

Special Delivery Cards has bolstered its collection of distinctive 3D cards, with several new dinosaur designs (including a Velociraptor and Triceratops) and a couple of sporty designs joining the line-up. The publisher has also updated its ‘The Family’ card which features the King and Queen as well as their now famous Jack Russells from Battersea Dogs Home.

Special Delivery Cards 01273 699913

Christmas Cuties Paper Shed Design has just launched its new Christmas 2024 range. The publisher’s festive portfolio includes Wintery Tails, a charming new collection featuring magical illustrations including both open and relation captioned cards.

Paper Shed Design 0118 9744283 www.papersheddesign.com

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 45

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A selection of wonderful new ranges and designs from a host of different publishers.

Free Flow Gabrielle Solly Illustration’s new collection of Celebration cards covers many major life events, from engagements to retirement.

Based on hand-drawn illustrations created using dip pens and painted in a freeflowing, loose watercolour style, the designs are inspired by the natural world and the decorative arts. The cards come with luxury envelopes and are packed in biodegradable cello bags.

Gabrielle Solly Illustration www.gabriellesollyart.co.uk

Sunny Times

Flora And Fauna

James Ellis has added age designs, covering years 18-80, to its Sunbeams range. Inspired by the great outdoors and nature, the designs encompass teal green gardens, parks and countryside, inky blue skies, colourful flowers and graceful birds with details picked out in gold foil. The cards are printed on 300gsm FSC board and come with white laid envelopes, held together with a peelable clasp label.

James Ellis 0117 927 7667 www.jamesellis.com

Claire Louise has added some cute children’s designs to her popular Cottage Floral range. Featuring the popular Pantone colour of the year, Peach Fuzz and a pastel colour palette, Claire’s illustrations of cute animals feature on floral backgrounds. Each 155mm square card is blank inside and comes cellowrapped with a white envelope..

Claire Louise 07715 373344 www.claire-louise.co.uk

Roll Up, Roll Up

Spot On

Joy is the latest hand-painted range from Heather Trefusis Art. The collection of 10 new birthday designs feature jolly watercolours with a variety of fun images, from fairground rides to sweet treats. All 150mm square, the cards are printed on textured FSC-certified board and come with a recycled kraft brown envelope. They are available naked or in a biodegradable cello bag.

Heather Trefusis Art 07946 605564 www.heathertrefusisart.com

Recently launched at Spring Fair alongside four other brand new ranges from Megan Claire is Polka Dot. This contemporary collection consists of 16 luxury gold foiled cards covering everyday and birthday captions. Each card is accompanied by a branded dotty envelope.

Megan Claire 01536 560345 www.meganclairetrade.co.uk

Cheek To Cheek Cheeky Legends by Arrthi continues to build momentum, with several new ranges joining the brand, plus an extra 16 new designs debuting in the core humour range. The family-friendly ‘naked’ cards, featuring cute mythical wizards, witches, elves and gnomes are not too naughty, just a little cheeky.

Arrthi Little 07735 398457 www.arrthi.com

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 47

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A selection of wonderful new ranges and designs from a host of different publishers.

Flocking Together Roger la Borde is on a wave of creativity with a host of new ranges. Among these is Sunday Morning, a neon-bright card range, illustrated by Aura Lewis which oozes seventies cool; Holly Jolley, featuring the chic-est cats and dogs and Birdhaven (pictured) which features the opulent artwork by Katie Vernon which is carried over to the rear of the cards.

Roger la Borde 0207 328 0491 www.rogerlaborde.com

Retro Pull Stormy Knight’s ever-growing Holly Maguire collection has expanded again with some gorgeous new additions.

Proving to be an instant hit at Top Drawer, the Child of the 80s and 90s designs are triggering some serious nostalgia and are predicted to become bestselling designs in this popular range. There are now 25 designs in the collection, based on illustrations by Bristolbased painter Holly Maguire covering birthdays, new home, baby, retirement, sympathy and many more.

Stormy Knight 0117 9098684 www.stormyknight.co.uk

Wishes Come True Nature and all things spiritual were the inspirations behind Counting Stars’ new Magical collection of 30 intricately hand-painted designs.

Magical illustrations and motivating captions depicting love, hope and good fortune combine on a mission to bring light and a little bit of magic into the recipient’s life.

Counting Stars 01424 434062 www.fivedollarshaketrade.com

Animal Pundits Strong animal illustrations set against contemporary colour backgrounds with a punchy birthday pun caption are the three main ingredients in Noel Tatt’s new Manomals range. There are 12 birthday designs in the collection, all 160mm square in format. Printed on FSC textured board, the cards come with a luxury graphite grey envelope and are available wrapped or nested with a kard klasp.

Noel Tatt 01227 811600 www.noeltatt.co.uk

Stitch In Time After a year of designing, making and sewing Jane Buurman Handmade has released two new collections: Summer Breeze and Bouquet, encompassing a total of 80 designs. The Summer Breeze Collection captures the essence of sunkissed days and warm evenings while the Bouquet Collection features beautiful floral bouquets, buzzy bees and bold type which combine to create a modern twist on a traditional theme. All cards come with a brown Kraft envelope.

Jane Buurman Handmade 07703490241 www.janebuurmanhandmade.com

It’s Party Time Apple & Clover has launched a new Fiesta collection, with each card handfinished with a rainbow ribbon bow. The cards feature a variety of four legged friends, plus other birthday themed designs and are complemented by a spotted, kraft envelope. There are 20 designs in the collection which include relations and occasions captions.

Apple & Clover +447790 900976 www.appleandclover.com

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 49

new!

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Focus on…more than a card

What’s better than a fabulous greeting card? A fabulous greeting card with an added extra! And there are so many great products about offering a card and gift in the same small package which can be popped in the post for the price of a stamp – albeit sometimes a large letter one. PG looks at just some of the innovative ideas around.

Inset: Large letter stamps allow cards with gifts to land through the letterbox.

The card that keeps on giving Is it a card? Is it a gift? No, it’s even more exciting than that – it’s a card with a gift attached!

And the various versions, from bookmarks and jewellery, through coasters and jigsaws to baubles and patches have all come about because publishers want to offer even more value.

For Yoojoo it’s always been about that something extra as owner and designer Julie Ashworth has based her whole business on the

idea since setting up almost a decade ago after the bookmark cards she made for pals went down a storm.

“With the increase in postage costs cards that give that something extra have great appeal,” Julie said. “When I first started making bookmark cards some people tried to warn me off saying ebooks were going to kill off paper books, but I’m glad to say the resurgence of bookshops has proved them so wrong.”

In addition to an 18-strong bird range which include origami ‘beaks’ as page keepers, her Monsters and Tall Tales range include integral bookmarks which can be popped out using the perforations. She also has her Plectrum range which came about by chance after Julie gave her guitar-maker son a plectrum cutter and ended up playing with it herself, coming up with plectrums made from upcycled gift store cards saved from going to landfill.

Check out cheeky choc Chocolate’s nigh on always an acceptable gift for any occasion and Rosie Made A Thing has gone one better by incorporating the sweet stuff into a card.

And the move, which has come to fruition in less than six months after the Cambridge Confectionery Co approached the renowned humour publisher with the idea, has only gone and made it into the Gift Of The Year finals already!

“Back in May 2023 they proposed a collaboration of our two favourite things,” product development manager Charlotte Dudley explained, “cards – obviously! – and chocolate. We loved the idea of supersizing card-giving to include a delicious choccy treat.

“After some serious sampling we chose our four favourite flavours – milk chocolate drizzle, salted caramel, dark chocolate with raspberry, and rocky road. Within these flavours we’re pleased to be able to offer vegetarian and vegan options.”

Fully launched at Spring Fair, the Choccy Cards range contains nine of Rosie’s top Gin & Frolics designs printed on cardboard packaging, each with a hefty chocolate bar inside, which can be shown off in store in the cheekily chomped display unit.

Charlotte added: “Early sales have been amazing! Customers have been excited by the innovation,” and the Choccy Cards – which are one of just six finalists in the GOTY 2024 Card, Wrap & Stationery category – can be slipped into an envelope to post a sweetly cheeky greeting.

Above: Sweet collaboration has earned Rosie Made A Thing a GOTY finalists’ place.

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Focus on…more than a card Julie added: “Some stockists like to keep them by the till as they’re a great little impulse buy with great eco credentials,” as are her bookmarks which give the cards a much longer life.

Similarly, sustainability is at the forefront for UK Greetings which is always looking for new ways of offering novelty and play value through paper engineering and innovation.

It’s Disney Build Your Own designs offer collectable figurines that folks can have lots of fun building themselves from the pop-out pieces that come with the card.

Sticking with the Disney theme, UKG is about to bring to market iron-on patch designs which add value to the cards and make amazing keepsakes that can upcycle a denim jacket or rucksack with a classic cartoon character.

And patches are the key to Redback Cards’ Shine range which was sparked by a reversible sequin top that owner Chris Stanley’s daughter Ella was given.

“Shine isn't just about sending a card,” senior designer Luka Thorp said, “it's about sharing a piece of joy that sticks around long after the card's been opened. Adding these removable and reusable keepsakes adds an extra layer of value that has played a big part in the range’s success.”

Having seen Ella’s top, Luka and the Redback team came up with the detachable flippable sequin patches for Shine and have brought out new

Above: Redback’s new croc Shine design is selling well.

Above right: Paper Mirchi’s hand-marbled baubles.

Below right: Bloom and Baubles from Stormy Knight.

designs to meet trends while the dinosaur, unicorn, Smiley and sausage dog are consistent bestsellers.

Stormy Knight has proved something extra is a winner with a Henries 2023 awards trophy for its Bloom seedstick cards, that really meet the eco vibes of the genre.

Each card comes with five biodegradable and sustainable seedsticks and growing instructions 52 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Above: Bookmarks and plectrums from Yoojoo.

Below: Disney features on UKG’s Build Your Own designs.

for the 14 different seed varieties, from beefriendly wild flowers to herbs, strawberries and Norwegian spruce for the festive designs, and the latest designs include cocktail recipes.

Owner Sarah Jackson said: “I’d been really keen to design a range of cards that had an added extra gifting element to it for a while and really wanted to launch a first-to-market product. One morning when I was planting some tomato seeds in the garden the idea came to me!

“Sourcing took a little while – I discovered the seeded papers, which are great but have a more limited product offering and wouldn’t allow me to use gold foiling, which is a core part of the Stormy Knight brand offering.”

And she’s used her experimentation with print processes to expand into a Christmas Bauble collection, threaded with satin ribbon to be popped out and hung on the tree.

Having worked with the Utility store group in Liverpool to create bespoke versions featuring local landmarks, as well as some for the Houses of Parliament gift shop and Curated Cambridge Museums, Sarah has new

designs for 2024 along with a spin-off range of different-shaped die-cut baubles in a more graphic style.

Baubles are also a new product for Paper Mirchi where owner Rani Moochhala started with wooden prototypes then moved to recycled rigid boxboard as a more affordable base material for the detachable hand-marbled Christmas ornament with gold hanging string.

Rani explained: “We wanted to develop a range that was a gift and card at the same time.

We went through a few rounds of tweaks and finally settled on the boxboard which has worked very well. The Keepsake collection got an excellent response at Spring Fair where we first launched the cards.”

Me To You is all about sharing the moments that matter and Carte Blanche has taken the bauble to new heights with its keepsake cards boasting that extra element of a 3D lenticular design bringing key character Tatty Teddy to life.

The detachable cardboard plaques feature a silk ribbon for hanging with the Christmas designs featuring festive bauble shapes, while there are also everyday captions and key seasons such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. A trio of cards with extras links Love Country from the baubles through to jewellery, as director Sarah Reilly really piles on the added value.

Her detachable wooden baubles made the Gift Of The Year 2024 shortlist and feature a festive story on the reverse of the card written by the artist, while the Forever Cards are just that, a wood plaque that doubles as both the card and gift to be hung as a keepsake by the jute string – and there’s an accompanying tale about the design on the reverse.

And Tiny Tales offers silver earrings on a collection of 10 expanding story cards, which extend to tell an illustrated tiny tale complete with a grey embossed gift box that can be used to store the jewellery.

“Crumble & Core began as a card company and we wanted to stay true to that,” co-owner Louise Pike said of the publisher’s journey into

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Focus on…more than a card

Far left: Love Country piles on the extras.

Left: Jewellery continues to add value for Crumble & Core.

Right: Jen King was teasing her ‘secret squirrel’ innovation at Spring Fair and will reveal all at PG Live.

Below: Seeded cards are Letterbox Love’s gift that keeps on giving.

adding that something extra. “Most of our customers are boutique gift shops and we wanted to offer them gifts as well so we combined the two and created really special cards and gifts in one.”

First came the boxed card with silver jewellery which now boasts over 400 designs, then the boxed candle and mini card, and now there’s the recentlylaunched card with a ceramic keepsake attached, which fits the large letter dimensions and covers love, friendship, mum, daughter, and new baby.

Louise added: “Cats and dogs are always popular but trending for us at the moment are our guinea pig and elephant designs! Cards and gifts in one are ever popular as they have that letterbox love factor.”

Talking of Letterbox Love, that’s the perfect name for Kerry Bilson’s business where she offers sentimental ranges just right for sending through the post with a card, and she’s just launched a new seeded card and bracelet collection so the card can be planted and the gift treasured.

“It’s affordable, eco-friendly and unique, a gift that keeps on giving,” Kerry said. “The collection was inspired by my mum as the family dog of 20 years passed away and I wanted to give something to bring her comfort.

“I wrote a Sympathy Pet Loss poem complete with an adorable paw bracelet, then the thought came, what if we could plant the card in tribute?”

And just a few months later, Letterbox Love’s first Seeded Card & Wish Bracelet collection was launched, adding to its constantly evolving sentimental ranges.

Wearable gifts are the latest from Hotchpotch with the Lucky Dip range, where each card includes a cute bracelet.

Head of design Anna Price and the team “wanted to be able to convey a positive message in a meaningful and longlasting way long after the card had been taken off the mantlepiece”.

Having decided to do it with “ontrend” alphabet beads and bright abstract artwork with wording including happy, peace, dream, fabulous, magical, mama, and bff, Anna said the difficulty was in figuring out how to attach the bracelet to the card.

“It was a challenge,’ she added, “but we got there in the end with a tent-fold design, and neon pink elastic and a lobster clasp on the bracelets.”

Danilo is always looking at ways to diversify and improve its greetings offer and Coaster Cards are its relatively new format, with licensing director Dan Grant saying they “came about as an innovative way to combine added value and a more sustainable feature”.

He added: “With extras such as hair clips being included on some new

Above left: Wearable gifts from Hotchpotch.

Above right: Piece together the fun with Pasell Below right: Danilo’s Coaster Cards cover great licences.

female juvenile designs, a coaster is a great item, especially on male adult captioned cards, that provides a sustainable use to the product as well as giving the recipient an extra keepsake.

The range covers adult brands such as Peaky Blinders, Wallace & Gromit and Only Fools And Horses and new designs from licences like The Grinch are already in the mix for the Christmas collection.

Looking at the cards with extras trend from a different angle, Dutch

Jen’s a real tease!

There’s something special going down at Jen Winnett Art where founder Jen King has come up with a revolutionary idea that she’s keeping tight-lipped about until the official launch at PG Live in June.

Teasing about her “secret project”, Jen promises it will keep “the personal touch of a handwritten card while adding a playful, interactive element that will both preserve and expand the industry. Almost a year in the making, the time is nearly here to launch.”

publisher Pasell is fine-tuning its Animal Friends jigsaw puzzle cards offer.

Sales director Pascal Veen said: “Imagine the delight on your loved ones' faces as they receive a beautifully crafted card, only to discover it holds an exciting surprise within – a jigsaw puzzle featuring the same captivating image! It's a gift that keeps on giving, offering both heartfelt sentiments and entertainment.”

As retailers are always puzzling about ways to give customers added value this variety of cards with added extras shows publishers are determined to help the pieces fall into place.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 53

ART SOURCE

TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE

ARTSOURCE

SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051

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Art Source

Roamin’ Saxton

Growing up, it was always Ian Saxton’s instinct to draw anything which sparked an interest, be it a passing train, a building or an animal, which he would commit to memory and then re-imagine it on a sketch pad.

Always destined for a career in an artistic field, PG follows his creative pathway which has spanned greeting cards, plush toys, graphics with more to come in his renaissance as a freelance illustrator.

“It was clear at school that I was always going to go down a visual arts or design route. For a while I had a notion that I may become an architect, but the mathematical side of architecture and the length of the courses put me off that option. So, after doing A levels in Art and Printmaking I signed up for a general foundation course at Blackburn college.

I then chose to pursue graphic design at Newcastle Upon Tyne Polytechnic, as it was a very open course.

My first job after leaving poly was, funnily enough, for a large architectural company in Manchester called Building Design Partnership. I was part of a team which produced presentation boards and brochures, logos and sign systems for buildings.

I left BDP in 1991 and decided to try my hand at freelance illustration. I was fortunate that I knew someone at The Chase design group in Manchester and so started doing some work for them. I picked up a few more clients and eventually joined the New Division illustration agency. I would describe my work at New Division as early 20th century poster style with the Cassandra railway posters and Russian constructivism inspirations for me. It was all manual gouache and acrylic artwork back then, with lots of ‘stippling’.

Towards the end of the nineties it was becoming clear that I had been somewhat left behind by the digital revolution that was reshaping the old world of drawing boards and type setting. So, in 2000 I bought an Imac and set about the torturous task of teaching myself Photoshop and Illustrator from a couple of educational DVDs. It was at this time that I responded to an ad in the local paper which simply read ‘Artists wanted’. It turned out to be for Hambledon Studios, a leading wholesale card publisher and thus I entered the world of greeting cards.

Hambledon was a great place to work. We sometimes had workshops and were encouraged to try out new styles and subject matter. I mainly worked in traditional styles, but also moved into cute.

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

Above left: Ian Saxton is very happy with the way his freelance work is going.

Above: A traditional wildlife depiction by Ian. Left: A cute approach from Ian. Below left: Ian was full of the joys of Spring when he created this design.

Below right: Some contemporary styling and colour palette from Ian. Bottom middle: A quirky festive design from Ian.

All good things must come to an end and Hambledon closed in 2013. I was then shipped over to the Hallmark ‘mothership’ in Bradford.

The wholesale part of Hallmark continued to shrink, and so I moved to the Tesco team within Hallmark and really enjoyed three years with them. I was a general designer for Tesco, but my illustration led me to the ‘ideation’ team, or for non-Hallmark speakers, the illustration studio.

I spent two years with the Hallmark illustration team and looking back, it was like going back to university. As well as working with really brilliant people, we also had special ‘creative days’, when we would go off to Bradford College and make use of its facilities for screen printing, laser etching, wood block typesetting, lino-cutting etc.

I left Hallmark in 2020 and had a three year break from illustration and worked for 8th Wonder, a Wigan-based plush toy design company. I never fully lost touch with the greeting cards world though as I spent a lot of my time working on seasonal plush for Clintons. After three years I decided to leave and dived back into the world of freelance illustration. Within the first couple of weeks I contacted Hannah at Creative Sparrow which has led to a steady flow of sales and commissions.

I am currently developing some more signature looks and a lot of my inspiration at the moment comes from the ‘naive’ painters of the St Ives School, such as Alfred Wallis and Ben Nicholson, and mid 20th century British artists such as Eric Ravilious and Paul Nash.

Being freelance in 2024 is a lot more comfortable than it was back in the 1990s. No more running to the post office to catch the last post or forking out for couriers to send things to London for the next morning. I can now just press a button and off it goes!

I am coming up to my first anniversary of going freelance again and I’m looking forward to another year of creative evolution.” l Ian Saxton is represented for licensing and commissions by Creative Sparrow.

If 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.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 55

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PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS Liz Stevenson and Jo Parker, owner and assistant of You, Stamford. A popular medium sized card, gift shop and lifestyle shop in a picturesque Lincolnshire market town.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Wendy Jones-Blackett

Quicksilver

Louise Mulgrew

Bijou

“Every design is a winner – customers love the bright foiled cards.”

“Simple and beautiful cards – no customer just buys one.”

Relations and Occasions

Five Dollar Shake

Crystal Curiosities

“Super special hand-embellished cards that are worth every penny.”

Humour

Redback Rosie Made a Thing

Holy Flaps Gin & Frolics

“Just hilarious.”

“Rosie gets it right with humour that customers can relate to.”

Children’s

Caroline Gardner

Little Letters

“A cute new range of children’s ages that is proving popular.”

“Customers love the larger card and the classic designs.”

“The new designs with the bright foiled colours are selling well.”

Adult ages

Rush Design

New England

Top: A Crystal Curiosities design from Five Dollar Shake.

Right: A Foxwood Tales design from The Porch Fairies.

Molly Mae

Flutter on the Breeze

Cute

The Porch Fairies

Generally

“Beautiful nostalgic cards that transport customers back to their childhood.”

Giftwrappings

Paper Mirchi

Generally

“Exquisite, hand-marbled designs on 100% recycled cotton paper. The slightly higher price has not put anyone off as it is stunning.”

Daniel Lee, owner of The Card Gallery, Wimborne. A popular shop stocking a large range of cards, accessories and gifts in a Dorset market town.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Nigel Quiney

Pizazz

“Mass appeal at a good price point.”

Occasions

Lucilla Lavender

Charm; Anna

“The fresh styling and handwritten captions work well.”

Sentiment

Cherry Orchard

Grace

“Great combination of design and sentiment.”

Cute

Nigel Quiney

Doodle

“Cute, but not overly so.”

Photographic

Abacus

BBC Countryfile; BBC Gardeners’ World; BBC Springwatch; BBC Wild Isles

“Great images and the branding of the BBC well-loved programmes helps attract attention.”

Humour

Redback

Cloud Nine; Holy Flaps

“These two ranges just hit the button.”

Children’s

Ling Design

Ziggy Star

“Wide appeal.”

Spring Seasons

UK Greetings Ling Design Nigel Quiney

Valentine’s: Boofle Mother’s Day/ Easter Mother’s Day

“These three publishers are the masters of Spring Seasons for our customers.”“

Giftwrappings

Glick

Across the board

You just can’t go wrong with Glick.”

56 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Top: A Charm design from Lucilla Lavender.

Above: A BBC Wild Isles design from Abacus.

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Lara Wares and Emma Watson, owner and card buyer of Threads, Harpenden.

International Focus A well-loved sized card and gift shop in a desirable Hertfordshire town.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Caroline Gardner

“Consistently good.”

Paperlink Louise Mulgrew

Joyful Notes; Special Celebrations Route 69; Paloma Across the board

Humour

Bold & Bright Rosie Made a Thing Redback

Across the board Babble; Gin & Frolics Holy Flaps

“Cheeky and fun.”

“Has a huge following.”

“These resonate with people.”

Children’s

Paper Salad Rachel Ellen

Jamboree; Star Jumps Cherry on Top; Star Jumps

“Bright and lots of choice.”

“The designs are very child-friendly.”

Photographic

Woodmansterne

Framed; Loose Leashes

“Wide variety of designs.”

3D/Pop-up

Second Nature

Various

“The spinner makes a very eye-catching display.”

Small cards

Lagom

Mini Cards

“Great pick-ups, customers buy several at a time.”

Giftwrappings

Glick

Across the board

“Great designs and well-priced.”

Gifts/self-purchases

Freckleface

Wax Melts

“They smell gorgeous and look very gifty.”

“Great for male and female birthdays.”

“Fun and quirky designs.”

Top: A Paloma from Paperlink.

Above: Freckleface offers a RHS wax melts collection.

Karen Hardwick and Sally Pope, owner and card buyer of Cranbornes, Shaftsbury and Dorchester. A duo card and gift shops in historic Dorset towns.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Caroline Gardner Woodmansterne Think of Me Cinnamon Aitch

Generally Generally Generally Generally

“You can’t go wrong with these four publishers and their variety of designs.”

Humour

Redback Rosie Made a Thing Dandelion Cath Tate

Cloud Nine; Holy Flaps Gin & Frolics Words of Wisdom Photocaptions

“Customers love the risque ones.”

“Great for everyday and occasions.”

“The words make these so relatable.”

“Our middle-age+ customers love the images.”

Children’s

Tracks Kali Stileman

Gogglies; Fluff Generally

“They fly out.”

“Really strong illustrations.”

Teenagers

Cinnamon Aitch Dandelion Stationery

She; He Kaboom

“Great contemporary designs.”

“A bit of silliness.”

Adult ages

Caroline Gardner

Across the board

“They cover everything.”

Cute

Ruth Jackson Lagom

Pencil Shavings Generally

“There’s nothing else like them.”

“Consistent appeal.”

Art

Museums & Galleries Canns Down Press Green Pebble Dry Red Press

Generally Generally Generally Generally

“These four publishers collectively offer such a variety of art styles, I am spoilt for choice to pick what our customers will like.”

3D

Tracks

Lenticular

“Clever and eye-catching.”

Male

Rosie Made a Thing

Male designs

“Male cards are still tricky, but Rosie gets it right.”

Giftwrappings

Glick The Art File Penny Kennedy

Generally Generally Generally

“While Glick covers the mainstream buys, The Art File and Penny Kennedy offer something more upmarket.”

Top: A design from Cinnamon Aitch’s Gypsy range.

Above: A Party Animals design from Kali Stileman.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 57

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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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

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Greetings Cards Plush & Giftware Gi G ft Dressings & Wrrap Gift

bexyboo.co.uk enquiries@bexyboo.co.uk By

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Also acting as the exclusive UK distributor fo forr Bl Blue Mountain M t i A Ar ts t

Order s can be placed on our tradeer site

www.cbgtrader w. r..co.uk or call our customer ser vices team m on

+44(0)1243 792600

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THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

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

58 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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l PRODUCT DIRECTORY THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

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WISHES

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Including firm favourites and brand new designs

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Te T el: 0161 1 64 641 0 06 655 Email: m sales@daav sales@d avora.co.uk

Brands include: Keepsakes, Words of Love, Jelly Beans, Bella Rose, Champagne and many more

135 Hea 13 135 eaton Moorr Rd | Stockp ock kpor port ort SK4 4HY 4 4H HY

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

Enquiries:

Innovative high quality gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper and accesssories galore for all seasons and occasions.

Tel: +44 (0)115 986 0115 customerservices@paperrose.co.uk www.writefromtheheart.co.uk

or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

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01274 655980 sales@glick.co.uk glick.co.uk trade.glick.co.uk

CHARITY GREETING CARDS One of the UK’s leading publishers of Charity Greeting Cards.

Impress offers a wide collection of images, including fine art, graphic, photographic and cute.

We also offer a bespoke design service for bulk orders and/or mail order fulfilment.

Glick Gift Packaging Ltd Unit 1 Allenby House European Ind. Park, Knowles Lane Bradford BD4 9AB

@glickgiftwrap

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

warren@max-publishing.co.uk

Hallmark Cards PLC Dawson Lane, Bradford, BD4 6HN UK&NI: 0800 90 20 900 ROI: 012 480 104 customerqueriesUK@hallmark.com

Impress Publishing Appledown House Barton Business Park New Dover Road Canterbury, Kent CT1 3TE Tel: 01227 811 611 Fax: 01227 811 618 email: info@impresspublishing.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 59

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

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

+ Send Love ( ll year round) (al d)

Great brands, Great service Bespoke planning We can help with all your planning requirements.

From smaller displays to redeveloping complete card departments

paperbirdpu blishing.co.uk

p p paperlink... the home of fabulous cards!

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@NoelTattGroup

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk

01227 811 600 sales@noeltatt.co.uk www.noeltatt.co.uk

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

356 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD T 020 7582 8244 info@paperlink.co.ukk www.paperlink.co.uk Paperlinkcards

60 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

@ @paperlinkcards

or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740 email: warren@max-publishing.co.uk

Greettiing g Card C ds

or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 email: traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

ww ww.pas selllpublisshin ng.com m iinfo nfo o@ o @ passsel ellpu lpu u blissshin hin ng n g..com m @pas ublis THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

6 Heron Trading Estate Alliance Road, Park Royal, London W3 0RA T: 0208 385 4474 F: 0208 385 4471 E: info@Xpressyourselfcards.co.uk WWW.XXPRESSYOURSELFCARDS.CO.UK

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.

METHOD OF SALE: SENSATIONS – Direct to retail XPRESS YOURSELF – Now one of the leading wholesale publisher suppliers in the UK

Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Partyware

Brands: Blossom & Bows Card Essentials Greetings Impressions In Touch Isabel·s Garden Planet Happy Sentiments With You In Mind Word Play

Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors

Simon Elvin Limited Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com

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

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 61

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE l DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

Market Leaders in

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design-led Greeting Cards for all occasions, Spring Seasons & Christmas.

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Method of Sale: Direct to Retail Orders can be placed on our trader site

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EUROPE’S LEADING GREETINGS CARDS, PARTY PRODUCTS, GIFTS, CANDLES, TOYS, STATIONERY AND FLORIST SUNDRIES DISTRIBUTION CENTRE 75000 SQ FT

Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

We offffer a COMPREHEN

BESCOT CRESCENT, WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS. WS1 4NG 01922-646666 www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm

range of high Greeting Cards f ALL Occasions,

WALES

CHRISTMAS an Season f Sale:

mail: inffoo@words-nWeb: www We w..words-n-wishes.co.uk

Tel: 01942 233201

62 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD

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CLASSIFIED

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BAGS

BAGS

BAGS

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BAGS

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www.transrappackag ging.co.uk sales@transrap.cco.uk CALL US TODA AY

01773 537 7810

30 YEARS EXPERIENCE - QUA ALITY SERVICE EXTENSIVE STOCK RANGE - QUICK K DELIVERY Y ASSURED

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0122 1228 228 2 28 8 5605 56 60 052 26 6 www.fful ulcrumfilms. ulcrrum mfillm ms s co.uk uk

Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists

GREETING CARD

Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available

T 01206 396209 E sales@badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories contact Warren Lomax T: 020 7700 6740

We’ve been producing p bags of high clarity and high q quality for over 30 years.

01274 220 220 www w.wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk

warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud T: 07957 212 062 traceya@max-publishing.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 63

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ENVELOPES

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Manuffa acturers off high quality envelopes 10 popular greetings card sizes in stock recycled & kraft envelopes in stock RECYCLED PA P APER

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THE SPECIALIST GREETINGS CARD PRINTER Litho Print

D Die-cutting

Digital Print

F ering Flitt

Foiling

Packing

Embossing

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Tel:0127 e 4 4531828 Email: info@herbertw o alkers.c co.uk

CALL US TODAY

www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk

01773 537810

W W W. EN VE CO .CO .U K

01 90 83 78 86 6

www.transrappackaging.co.uk sales@transrap.co.uk

IN FO @E NV EC O. CO .U K

‘we we make Envelopes and Stationery’

MOREE THAN 50 COLOURS 6 POPULAR GREEETINGS CARD SIZES 50+ WH HITE SIZES IN STOCK BESPOKE ENV VELOPES AV AVAILABLE PEEL A AND SEAL CLOSURE RECYCLED / KRAFTT / 140GSM / 120GSM 11 SUPER BRIG GHT NEON COLOURS BESPOKE NOTEBO OOKS & STATIONERY

PLEASE GET IN TOUCH FOR YOUR COMPLIMENTA TARY RY ENVELOPE OR NOTEBOOK WATCH PA PACK SWA

Hello Cards are FSC approved digital printers, offering high quality print at competitive prices, working with both large and small publishers. Contact us to discuss your requirements.

Additional Services • Foiling with no dies • Inhouse fulfilment

• Distribution • Wiro Bound Notebooks

T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk

www.hellocards.co.uk

Enquiries: warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk 64 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PJ PRINT LONDON The Capitals Only Specialist Greeting Card Printer All Industry Finishes Available In-House Including Laser Cutting

The Print Works Colville Road, Acton, London, W3 8BL E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk Tel: 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 65

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WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION WA WAREHOU USING & DISTRIBUTION

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T: E: E: www.lb-warehousing.co.uk

66 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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DISPLAY AND SPINNERS

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