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GCA’s Conference And AGM
Left: Emotional Rescue’s David Greaves in full flow…he went back to his childhood which gave insight into his drive and personality. David ended his speech urging everyone to do what they can to help those living in dire poverty in the UK with a card on each seat with some relevant charities’ details. Right: As incoming president Chris Bryan of Second Nature presented outgoing president Rachel Hare, md of Belly Button Designs with a bouquet of flowers and thanked her for heading up the association’s council for the last two years. Below right: In his Presidential address, Chris Bryan highlighted how greeting cards have been there to reflect the changing times and events of the last 20 months. Below left: Encore envelopes was one of the sponsors who had a display table in the foyer of the main room.
Under Amanda’s stewardship, the GCA’s profile and that of the industry has been heightened with government bodies, education, the media and Royal Mail. In her report Amanda told how the GCA Thinking of You Week initiative this year reached record levels of engagement with UK retailers as well as how the Week has now spawned activities all over the
world, while the collaboration with Sainsbury’s on a design competition has not only supported the GCA’s drive for diversity and inclusion, but has also brought many new designers into the community. The afternoon panel session of ‘hot topics’ was introduced by Darren Cave, commercial director of UKG and vice president of the GCA, who prefaced the deeper delve down into sustainability (covered by Rachel Hare, md of Belly Button Designs and Helena Mansell-Stopher, ceo of Products of Change), online (covered by Sarah-Jane Porter, head of cards and licensing at Moonpig) as well as diversity and inclusion (covered by Mark Callaby, md of Ohh Deer and chair of the GCA Diversity & Inclusion
committee) by revealing findings of some recent consumer research, commissioned by the GCA. There were some common threads that ran through the day’s discussions - the importance of sustainability and driving on diversity & inclusion, among them - but it was the feeling of camaraderie and the pride of being part of such an incredible industry that added the real sparkle.
Sustainability is at the heart of greeting card purchases today Almost two thirds of greeting card consumers - a whopping 65% - are now making their card purchasing decisions taking the product’s sustainability and environmental credentials into account. This is just one of the shifts in the consumer’s greeting card buying patterns that was tracked in the recent research project commissioned by the GCA and undertaken by respected survey company OnePoll. The findings are based on the responses from 2,000 adults who give greeting cards at least once a year. Sharing some of the highlights at the recent GCA AGM and Conference, Darren Cave, vice president of the GCA and commercial director of UK Greetings, highlighted that over a fifth of those surveyed went so far as to say that sustainability is a “very important” consideration in their greeting card buying decisions today. “Only 8% of those responding to our survey said that consideration for the environment was not something they thought of when selecting a greeting card,” said Darren. The responses showed that females and younger card buyers are the most acute in their environmentally-centric greeting card purchasing habits. The findings were shared by Darren just before a panel session in the afternoon, with Rachel Hare, managing director Belly Button Designs and Helena Mansell-Stopher, founder of the Products of Change membership hub, going into greater detail on the sustainability front. While Rachel shared what measures she has put in place in her business - which includes all Belly Button Design cards being supplied completely plastic-free from the start of next year, Helena hit home the urgency of businesses adopting more sustainable practices while remaining commercial. Right: Darren Cave (far left) with (left-right) Helena Mansell-Stopher (Products of Change), Rachel Hare (Belly Button), Sarah-Jane Porter (Moonpig), Daniel Prince (Danilo) and Amanda Fergusson (GCA) on the stage in Bridgewater Hall.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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