Progressive Greetings September 2021 by Max Publishing: Print, Digital Media + Events (London)

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24 designs across specialist and captions Price code 75/JJ to 90/KK

for independent sales Tel: 0161 427 0001

email: admin@papersalad.co.uk or visit www.papersalad.co.uk

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In collaboration with our very good friends at

for multiple sales, please contact Brett Smith at brett.smith@erescue.co.uk or 07494 460696

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We are pleased to announce that we have two nominations in the Henries Best Gift Wrappings Range – for our Paper Salad and Stephanie Dyment collections!

Henries Award winners for Best Gift Wrap Collection for the last 6 years

All of our products are available to order online. Go to trade.glick.co.uk to register.

01274 655980 sales@glick.co.uk www.glick.co.uk Glick Gift Packaging, Allenby House, European Ind. Park, Knowles Lane, Bradford BD4 9AB

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From The Editor

ON THE CARDS A few weeks ago I saw my neighbour’s 11 year old daughter, who usually greets me with a smile that lights up the sky, looking rather forlorn and worried. Asking her what was up, she replied, “I have to go to my new ‘big school’ tomorrow and I don’t want to go. I feel scared, but I don’t know why.” Bumping into her a few days later and she was back to her super sparkly self, with no time to talk to me as she was skipping off to a friend’s house for tea, all fears replaced with joy. That graduation to ‘big school’ has always been something of a step change for all of us. Leaving the comfort of your cosy primary school to walk down larger corridors, transitioning to a different timetable and changing your friendship circle has always been rather daunting, but this year it seems it is all the more momentous, due to the pandemic. I read somewhere that psychologists predict that we will not understand the full effects of pandemic for five years, by which time my little friend will be doing her GCSEs (or whatever they will be called by then!) and I will be edging closer to my pension! I have to admit sharing some ‘big school’ nerves as I made my way to the NEC for Autumn Fair and again a few days later as I stepped up onto the stage at our Licensing Awards to welcome the 1,000 guests at our first ever awards event for two years. However, on both occasions, that fear quickly dissipated, replaced by a somewhat overwhelmingly emotional feeling of belonging; being part of something bigger. It was so lovely talking to Dominic Early of Earlybird Designs who admitted that he felt the same, clearly relishing seeing the real faces of his customers and gauging their reaction to the sunny stand. And while retailers have of course been open and dealing with members of the public for several months now, it is only really with the return of real trade shows (with Harrogate, PG Live, Autumn Fair and Top Drawer now having taken place recently) and industry events that their full cardie ‘friendship circle’ is being reconfigured. (See Viewpoints pages 27-29).

www.max-publishing.co.uk THE HOME OF MARKET LEADING TRADE MAGAZINES

EXHIBITIONS

@Prog_Greetings

Left: PG’s Jakki Brown with Ged Mace, md of The Art File on its stand at the Autumn Fair, which proudly displayed that the publisher has nine places in the finals of The Henries. Below left: The Danilo team came on stage at The Licensing Award to collect the trophy for Best Licensed Paper Products or Stationery Range for its Peaky Blinders collection. Below right: As part of its Thinking of You Week activity, on its stand at Top Drawer, Ohh Deer (Mark Callaby, md in pictured here with PG’s Jakki Brown) was inviting people to write a card and they would cover the cost of the postage.

With the GCA’s Speed-dating with Dragons event on September 27, The Henries on October 7 (see pages 30-67), the GCA AGM and Conference on October 14 and The Retas on November 16, that wonderful feeling of the greeting card community getting back together will only get stronger and stronger. By golly, feeling part of that ‘big school’ feels so good. While some retailers, publishers and suppliers are tentatively reporting that their trade is back to 2019 prepandemic levels, others are still suffering. This could be due to retailers having stores are located in major conurbations where footfall is still depressed (read Cardsharp’s for a fillip on pages 24-25!) or for publishers still mourning the loss of some large accounts or debts incurred (from Paperchase’s prepack administration and Paper Source going into Chapter 11 in the States). And of course, there are still challenges out there. Worries over shipments from the Far East as well as board shortages even for publishers producing in the UK have not gone away, causing real concerns over what Christmas stocking will look like, for starters. I am sure that many will find themselves nodding in agreement with David Robertson’s article this month (see pages 22-23) in which he questions the constant pressure we put on ourselves to be increasing successful and if we are not growing, we are failing. His view is that in today’s climate to be surviving is being successful. And at least we don’t have to do double maths on a Monday morning with that strict new teacher, like so many 11 year olds are having to!

THE HOME OF MARKET LEADING TRADE AWARDS

Max Publishing Ltd, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP Tel: 020 7700 6740 Fax: 020 7607 6411 www.progressivegreetings.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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What’s Inside?

CONTENTS 30

9-21 News

68-69

All the latest happenings and developments in the trade.

The Paper Trail

22-23

Greeting card printers and paper companies discuss the challenges of board shortages and paper price increases.

Industry Issue

Over The Counter

The Winning Hand? David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland considers how to measure success in these uncertain times.

70-72 Innovations Publishers’ new ranges and designs.

24-25

73-75

Cardsharp

Diversity & Inclusion Henries Focus

Music To The Ears

Rewarding Diversity

PG columnist predicts that footfall will return the UK’s city centres.

The finalists in the inaugural Best Diversity &/or Inclusion Range share their views on this important subject.

27-29

Viewpoints

Art Source

A Harvest Festival

Gift Of The Gab(riela)

Enjoying the feeling of being back at actual trade shows, retailers share what new ranges have caught their eye.

Artist Gabriela Larios explains the influences and inspirations of her colourful designs.

30-31

78-79 What’s Hot?

The Henries Judging Process

A Hip and Happening Henries All about the judging panel and the process to arrive at this year’s finalists in the UK greeting card awards.

A quad of retailers share their best selling ranges.

80-91 Sources of Supply

32-67 The Henries 2021 Finalists

Withi n th issue is : THE H ENRI ES 202 FINA 1 LISTS

See the ranges, designers and companies that have made it through to The Henries finals. Subscribe to Progressive Greetings from £60 (UK) to £90 (International). You can organise this quickly and easily online at our secure site: www.max-subscriptions.net For assistance, please email subscriptions@max-publishing.co.uk

Jakki Brown

Warren Lomax

Ian Hyder

Tracey Arnaud

Editor/Joint Owner

Joint Owner

Sales Manager

jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk

warren@max-publishing.co.uk

ianh@max-publishing.co.uk

traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Use your smartphone app to scan the QR code to visit our website.

Copyright© 2021. 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.

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

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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NEWS TOP STORY

VIEWS OF THE NEWS

The Henries Happiness

Publishers were only too keen to share their joy at the news of reaching the finals of The Henries:

Publishers celebrate reaching The Henries’ finals There were whoops of joy from all around the industry recently as the finalists of The Henries 2021 greeting card awards were announced. “Dazzling proof of UK greeting card publishers’ abundant creativity was there in spades in the 1,827 ranges which were submitted by 263 publishers of all shapes and sizes into this year’s Henries greeting card product awards,” stated Warren Lomax, joint managing director of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Henries. “And with our largest judging panel ever, of 64 top retail buyers, overseas distributors

l Jo Wilson (right),

founder of Dandelion Stationery: “Oh bloody wow! I’m absolutely, totally, utterly over the moon! I am lost for words and my hubby will confirm, that does not happen often!”

and wholesalers, the finalists should feel rightfully proud,” he added. This year sees the addition of a significant new award category, Best Diversity and Inclusion Range, which is being sponsored by the GCA. (See pages 73-75). In addition to the final line-up in the product categories, the good news has also been shared about the talented contenders for The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer or Artist award as well as which companies are in the running for the hotly contested Best Service to the Independent Retailer awards. (All finalists can be seen in all their glory on pages 32-67). Above: There is much excitement around The Henries this year. Left: Rush’s Lorraine and Ian Bradley expressing their joy at finding out they had reached The Henries finals!

Tom Allen to host The Henries It is now full steam ahead for The Henries awards event on Thursday 7 October, which will take place at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, in London. The hugely popular Tom Allen is to bring his sharp, acerbic wit and camp, comedic storytelling to The Henries, as host for the event. “After Tom’s stunning performance as host of The Henries in 2019, we had all our fingers and toes crossed that he would be able to juggle his incredibly busy diary to be our front man for this year’s all important grand reunion awards event and so are delighted that he is onboard!” said Jakki Brown, joint md of Max Publishing. The last couple of years have certainly been very busy for Tom, with his profile and popularity soaring as a result of him hosting The Apprentice: You’re Fired, co-hosting Cooking With The Stars and Bake Off: The Professionals, appearing regularly on Bake Off: An Extra Slice and Alan Carr’s There’s Something About Movies as well as on many radio programmes. Tom has also written a critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller memoir, No Shame, plus is teaming up with Jessica Knappett and Munya Chawawa for a new Channel 4 series, Complaints Welcome, as well as hosting The Island, a new show on Dave. Both shows are due to air this autumn. Tickets and tables for The Henries 2021 can be reserved quickly and securely online by visiting Max-Tickets.net or by contacting Clare Hollick of Createvents via email: clare@createvents.co.uk or phone: +44 (0)1183 340085. Above: Tom Allen was not at all flummoxed by the Brainbox Candy boys attire at the 2019 Henries. Left: As well as his media presence, Tom has published a book.

l James Mace, sales and marketing manager of The Art File: “OMGGGGG we’ve been shortlisted for NINE!!!!!!” l Bex Hassett (right), owner of Bexy Boo: “OMG I couldn’t be more happy than I am right now. I am literally jumping! The Boo-anicals range originated from an idea during the first lockdown where my family and I were spending a lot of time in the garden marvelling at the amount of daisies and buttercups we had in our lawn.” l Rosie Harrison, founder of Rosie Made a

Thing: “Woohoooo! Over the moon to be nominated in four categories this year and so excited for the big night! Thanks so much to everyone who voted for us.” l Iain Hamilton, founder and creator of Bewilderbeest: “Well, knock me down with a ginormous feather! I am delighted, and slightly shocked, to be a finalist for The Henries - It's more exciting than when I first found out about king-size chocolate bars! Hats off to all the other finalists, and top marks to the judges for recognising that I'd done my very best colouring-in!” l Sophie Bylina,

administration and relationships manager of the Mint Group: “We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for the Henry Cole Classic award. Knit & Purl is an iconic range that continues to evolve, but has always kept its (knitted) DNA. It’s as fun to make the cards as it is to receive them and we’re proud that the range has stood the test of time - and continues to grow!” Above: Debbie Williams, co-owner of the Mint Group, who handknits all the characters in Knit & Purl.

l Tony Cottrell, studio manager of Words ‘n’

Wishes: “We’re all thrilled with the news that we’ve been recognised as a Henries finalist once again for our range Moments In Time. It’s really nice to get some recognition for all the work that goes into creating this lovely range.”

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NEWS TOP STORY

“Pitiful Payout” From Paperchase’s Former Owners Publishers to only receive 1%-4% of the debts owed Greeting card publishers are among those to have received the disappointing news that they will only receive between 1%-4% of the amounts owed as a result of the Paperchase pre-pack administration at the start of this year. Unsecured creditors, which includes several greeting card publishers, were owed £22.6 million when the retailer was acquired by Aspen Phoenix Newco. The deal enabled 96 of Paperchase’s 125 stores to continue to trade, and saved 983 jobs, but it caused financial bruising to many greeting card publishers who had supplied the chain and were owed money when the company went into administration. Echoing the views of others, Matt Genower, managing director of Five Dollar Shake told PG: “Like others, we are hugely disappointed that the payout is so pitiful. Sadly, though we had pretty low expectations just because this is how things tend to go in these circumstances.”

He added that if nothing else, it further heightens the need to be aware of the risks once you are supplying a retailer who is owned by private equity. “I am not denying that we, along with many others have enjoyed many good years with Paperchase and loved working with the team there. I am sure there are some PE-owned retailers that are good and honourable to work with, but you just need to remember they’re in it to get their investment back…and a lot more!” Above: While Paperchase’s new owners are paying suppliers to terms, the hangover from the former owner is still hurting publishers. Left: Paperchase has made many good moments for suppliers over the years, just a shame that the payout from the recent collapse is so small for unsecured creditors.

Prickly help from The Eco-friendly Card Co The Eco-friendly Card Co/Glebe Cottage has never shied away from prickly issues, having been at the forefront of the industry’s environmental thrust since the publisher started over 25 years ago, but its latest commitment to address climate change is as prickly as it gets. Just as the Devon-based publisher marks its 15th anniversary since receiving its FSC-accreditation (almost unheard of for an SME company), The Eco-friendly Card Co has extended its environmental friendliness to helping hot hedgehogs. The publishing business, co-owned by Sue and Scott Morrish has donated an air-conditioning unit to help poorly and baby hedgehogs stay cool in hot summer temperatures. Elm Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, the largest hedgehog rescue centre in Devon helps hundreds of hedgehogs every year. This latest donation from The Eco-friendly Card Co continues its support of the charity which seen it fund incubators for hoglets as well as holding cages. Right: Hot hedgehogs are being helped by The Eco-friendly Card Co.

Gruff Pawtraits’ Rhian Collaborates With Anya Hindmarch Rhian Ap Gruffydd, the creative maestro behind card publishing business Gruff Pawtraits recently had the opportunity to promote her brand with top fashion accessories designer Anya Hindmarch. Having gained a reputation for her unique style of dog photography, that forms the basis of Gruff Pawtraits’ greeting card collection (which is in the finals of The Henries this year), Rhian was invited to be part of Anya Hindmarch’s ‘Be a Bag’ campaign where her photographs could feature on Anya Hindmarch bags, the sales of which would help raise money for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity. Rhian set up a ‘studio’ in Anya Hindmarch’s store in London’s Pont Street and customers were invited to book a slot to have their dogs photographed. Originally it was planned to run for three days, but due to demand, this was extended to five days. Anya Hindmarch promoted the activity though her huge social media following as well as though her PR team, relaying the background of how Gruff Pawtraits was born when Rhian used a dog as a ‘stand in’ to check the lighting level on a lifestyle photoshoot and realised its face on shot had a unique feel. Adding to the excitement, on the very first day at Anya’s, Rhian popped into Harrods as the department store has just started stocking her cards. “I was bursting with pride when I looked up and saw all my Gruff Pawtraits cards looking down at me. It made every minute I have put into starting my small company worth it. I just couldn’t believe how photographing one dog on a photoshoot as a ‘stand in’ has come to this - PG Live, Anya Hindmarch, Harrods, being stocked in other great retailers and now in The Henries finals. Wow!” exclaimed Rhian. Top: One of Rhian’s photographs on an Anya Hindmarch washbag. Above: Rhian on Anya Hindmarch’s social media feed.

Pen poised for Stationery Show London Stationery Show is the next trade show on the industry calendar to be back for real. Taking place at London’s Business Design Centre on October 5-6, the exhibition (organised by Ocean Media Group) will not only showcase all manner of stationery products, but also includes a programme of live talks, workshops and a retail clinic. Among the highlights, Catherine Erdly, founder of Future Retail Consulting will deliver a talk entitled Retail in 2021 & beyond: How has Covid impacted the industry & what happens now? Catherine, who has worked in the retail sector for 20+ years, including managing the stationery and art teams at Paperchase, is to give tailored 1-2-1 advice in the Resilient Retail Clinic at the show. Among the many exhibitors are Exacompta-Clairefontaine, Flame Tree Publishing, Maped Helix, Robert Frederick and Vent for Change. Right: Maped Helix will be one of the companies exhibiting at the Stationery Show.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Thinking of You Week: The Movie GCA-commissioned film by Lanther Black boosts card sending A wonderfully crafted piece of cinematography brings this year’s Thinking of You Week (September 20-26) campaign to life, lifting the spirits and spreading the joy of sending greeting cards. The GCA-initiated film, which was written and produced by Lanther Black’s talented duo Jack Parker and Dominique Miranda, superbly relays in peppy verse (see below) and imagery, the important role greeting cards play in connecting people and showing you care for them. Commenting on the film (which is hosted on the GCA’s YouTube channel), Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA said: “A huge thanks to Dominique and Jack for encapsulating in three short verses of choice words and some great visuals, the strong connections greeting cards forge between those in our lives, friends, family, colleagues and others, both near and far.”

An all embracing ToYW

Having previously created a couple of ‘blockbusters’ for the GCA and being card publishers themselves, Dominique and Jack were able to combine their film making talents with their industry knowledge to come up with the fun visual and aural message for this year’s TOYW. “After a meeting with Amanda and several GCA Council members, we all loved the idea of a 'send it forward' message to repay the happy feeling of receiving a greeting card to someone new,” explained Dominique. This sparked the idea for a great rhyming couplet: ‘If we all send a greeting card to a friend, we could start a trend that’ll never end,’ that appears in the film. As for the pace and feel of the film, Jack added: “We wanted to make something snappy and upbeat, with a lot of movement, similar to the style of Send A Card, Deliver A Smile ‘Choose Life’ from Trainspotting or Pick a greeting card, grab a pen, Edgar Wright’s ‘Hot Fuzz’. We started Write a message inside and then by writing the poem and then Choose the person you’re thinking of most. Pop that greeting card in the post. storyboarded as many shots as we could think of to help us achieve that If a greeting card comes to you, ‘quick cut’ style.” Send one forward to someone new, The GCA has been encouraging A friend, a colleague, your Uncle Frank everyone in the card trade to share Just to say hi or to send a big thanks! the film though their social media If we all send a greeting card to a friend channels in the run up and during We could start a trend that’ll never end Thinking of You Week. Around the world, across the miles Top: The GCA motto of ‘send a card, deliver a smile’ features on the film. We’ll be sending cards and delivering smiles. Above left: Jack and Dominique in filming mode.

Well versed from Schmunki One publisher who turned her Thinking of You Week thoughts into words is Helen Walters, owner of card publisher Schmunki Verse, who crafted a special poem specifically to promote the week. The four verse poem encapsulates the power of sending a card, especially in these ‘instant’ times. “Thinking of You Week is a lovely reminder to connect, and a card is such a lovely way to do that,” sums up Helen who wrote the poem “as a little reminder to do just that, so pop a thoughtful word in the post this week - it’s very likely going to make someone’s day!” This poem, which includes the 2021 Thinking of You branding was made available free for all GCA members to share and support their own activity, downloadable from the association’s website. It also featured on a dedicated display ‘wall’ at the recent Top Drawer exhibition. Above: The special ToYW verse that was created by Schmunki’s Helen Walters.

This year’s Thinking of You Week has been supported by more retailers than ever in its history. From Asda to Clintons, B&M to Cardzone, Sainsbury’s to House of Cards, and plenty more retailers have all really got behind Thinking of You Week this year, with special displays and initiatives all championing the week. What’s more, Thinking of You Week is also gaining ground overseas too, with USbased greeting card multiple Paper Source heavily promoting the initiative in its marketing this year, while the activities have ramped up in Australia too (which marked the event in June). “The last year and a half have really rammed home the importance of our relationships and showing you care, with the sending of greeting cards very much at the heart of this. It is wonderful that so many retailers, publishers and suppliers are on board serving to make this year’s Thinking of You Week the best ever,” said Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA. Above: B&M has supported ToYW in all its stores.

Royal Mail’s delivers the smiles As part of its commitment to Thinking of You Week, Royal Mail tied up with The Haven Residential Home in Metheringham which has seen uplifting cards being sent to residents by strangers. Detailing the names, personalities and interests of the residents alongside their photos, Royal Mail (through social media and its website) encouraged members of the public to send a message via the portal, which the Royal Mail team them handwrote into greeting cards (kindly donated by Woodmansterne) and posted them to the recipients. “At Royal Mail we’re proud that we can connect people through the act of sending a thoughtful gift or a handwritten letter which has been so important over recent times.” Royal Mail also devised a special postmark to support the initiative. Above: Royal Mail was delighted to partner with the GCA and The Haven Residential Home to mark ToYW this year which has seen the residents receive some joyful cards from strangers.

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DANILO ARE BRINGING THEIR

a-Game 2022

2021 has been a mixed year so far, but as we venture ever closer to 2022, prominent publisher of the hottest licenses for cards, gift wrap and bags, Danilo shares with us some of the nation’s trends that are set to continue.

GAMING With an estimated 2.6 billion gamers worldwide, gaming is a trend that has grown substantially, particularly during the lockdowns. With this increase in demand, Danilo is adding to their card and wrap portfolio to include the following titles:

First launched in 2001, Microsoft-owned video gaming brand Xbox is one of the world’s most popular consoles. A new official Xbox greetings card, wrap and giftbag range featuring a fun, graffiti-style look is being released by Danilo.

WARHAMMER

Warhammer is the global leader in tabletop miniature gaming and is an evergreen property. Appealing to people of all ages and featuring stunning character graphics, Danilo are excited to be launching the first official Warhammer greetings card and gift wrap range.

MINECRAFT

Released in 2011, Minecraft has become one of the biggest video games of all time. With sales reaching over 200 million, this popular franchise now has approximately 126 million monthly players. Replicating the block-style feel of the game, Danilo is creating an official greetings card and gift wrap range in addition to the current calendar and diary. Celebrating their 35 years in 2021, over 300 million Super Mario games have been sold in total since launch. Targeted at kids aged 6 to 12 years and families, Danilo is continuing to add to its official range of Super Mario greetings cards, wrap and bags.

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MOVIES

THE GODFATHER

With cinemas reopening again, as well as the upsurge of home streaming, we have seen a welcome return of the big blockbuster hits to our screens. Next year promises to be bigger than ever with some top family movies planned in for the Summer and throughout 2022. With this in mind, Danilo share with you some of the key films they are publishing greetings card and gift wrap ranges for:

PARAMOUNT MOVIES

As well as brand new movies, Danilo have also added some hugely popular Paramount retro titles to their current card portfolio including the likes of Clueless, Mean Girls, Grease, Top Gun and The Godfather, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2022. Using famous imagery and catchphrases, this range will include a fantastic and diverse selection of designs.

MEAN GIRLS

MINIONS 2: THE RISE OF GRU

We see the return of those loveable yellow minions in 2022 with the new movie Minions 2: The Rise of Gru. The film tells the story of twelve-year-old Gru’s dream to become the world’s greatest supervillain and is expected to be one of the biggest movies of the year. A new look Minion’s greeting card and wrap range has been developed using the latest character artwork from the new movie.

GREASE

TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS

Also coming to our screens in June 2022, the next Transformers movie will be set in the 1990s and introduces new robots based on the Beast Wars cartoon. Danilo will be refreshing their current Transformers license with a brand new look and feel that will reflect the movie.

JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

The fourth biggest movie franchise of all time is bringing its next instalment ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ to cinemas in June 2022. This film is expected to be the No.1 movie of the year and is the climax of 25 years of Jurassic movies, starring both new and many original cast members. A new greetings card and gift wrap style is being developed in line with the movie next year.

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published by

01992 702 900 | SALES@DANILO.COM | WWW.DANILO.COM Independent retailers contact Words ‘n’ Wishes on 01942 233 201

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NEWS Stationery Supplies stars in Small Biz 100 Campaign

TOP STORY

Pressing The Reset Button Theo Paphitis inspires with positive views on retailing With his own breed of vim travelator going backwards, and vigour, retail while retailers have been entrepreneur Theo Paphitis trying to look forwards. delivered a punchy keynote We’ve all been walking, and address at the recent walking faster, but the Autumn Fair, which travelator’s going faster and inspired and enlightened. backwards. So, retailers “We are at the have been jogging, and in beginning of a new dawn the end it’s been full pelt Above: Theo Paphitis on the Inspiring for retail. I can only see just to survive. And with the Retail stage at the show. Below: Theo with illustrator Lizzie opportunities for physical travelator going backwards, Martell in the Small Business Sunday retail to start growing and if you didn’t go fast enough (SBS) area of the show. prospering again,” he told a you fell off, with some packed audience. great names in retail who “We are coming through did just that.” the other side of retail in so However, Theo pointed many different ways. There that there are still is an argument that says landmines, advising: “As that we would have come retailers, we have got to through to the other side be careful and not get anyway, even if it wasn’t for carried away. The world is Covid - maybe it would have now growing and evolving been another five years, in which those at a rapid rate, with Covid accelerating five years would have seen the the differential between physical and transformation of the rebirth of retail, But online retail,” highlighting the what Covid has done is to accelerate disadvantage of physical stores due to everything by at least five years, achieving “ridiculous business rates and ridiculous that rebirth in 18 months.” rents. So, our costs were going up but As he explained: “You have to imagine we were losing business. Well, I now that retailers have all been on a massive believe that this is truly coming to an end travelator, with the direction of the or has already come to an end.”

The buzz of biz “It was so good to see retailers enjoying ‘proper shopping’ - you just can’t tell your company’s ‘story’ or share its ‘colour shower’ on a website the way you can at a trade show,” summed up Dominic Early, co-owner of Earlybird Designs about the Autumn Fair. “We were rushed off our feet, didn’t stop at all on the Sunday especially, taking order after order,” added Karen Wilson, co-owner of Paper Salad. Kay Patel, co-owner of The Seed Card Company was equally enthusiastic. “We had broken even by lunchtime on the Sunday. It was wonderful to have such a positive reaction to our ranges, including our brand new Nature Always Wins collection. So good to feel that we are really getting back to normal!” Top: Dom Early of Earlybird Designs on his stand at Autumn Fair. Above: Kay and Jit Patel, two of the three owners of The Seed Card Company, enjoying the positive reaction to their seed card ranges.

Above right: Sarah Laker’s Stationery Supplies business is highlighted in the Small Biz 100 campaign this Friday (Sept 3).

The Ladies of Loxleys ‘mucked in’ for charity Some 16 female members of the Loxley team recently ‘mucked in’ to raise money for a great cause in memory and support of their colleagues. The ‘Ladies of Loxleys’, who work for the Sheffield-based greeting card printers, recently completed the Cancer Research 2021 Pretty Muddy Race For Life, and are aiming to raise £2,000 for the charity. The plucky team undertook the challenge In loving memory of their colleagues Craig Zelly and Kath Rowley and in support of Angie Bahardo, who is currently bravely fighting her battle against cancer and was the race's guest of honour, supporting from the side lines. Commenting, Tony Lorriman, Loxleys’ managing director said: “Running as the ‘Ladies of Loxleys’ was a wonderful tribute to the memory of those employees who are sadly no longer with us and a great support to those who continue to fight their battle with cancer.” Above: The Ladies of Loxleys and supporters. Left: Remembering Craig Zelly.

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Retas’ finalist, independent retailer Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow has been selected as one of the Small Biz 100 stars, as part of the build-up campaign to Small Business Saturday, which falls on Saturday 4 December. “Throughout the crisis we have been reminded of the special role that small firms play in local areas, looking after their customers, communities and the planet,” commented Michelle Ovens CBE, director of Small Business Saturday UK. “We are excited to be kicking off this year’s campaign to show our thanks to amazing small businesses like Stationery Supplies. As firms recover from the challenges of the pandemic we are calling upon everyone to get behind the campaign, to make it our most impactful Small Business Saturday yet.” In the countdown to Small Business Saturday, some 100 small businesses are highlighted, one a day leading up to Small Business Saturday 2021 - and the independent retail business owned by Sarah Laker was selected to be the focus of the September 3 activity. “I'm super chuffed to have been selected for the campaign,” said Sarah. “To celebrate our #SmallBiz100 day and to thank our customers for their support during the pandemic, we gave out chocolates and a lucky dip of free gifts for all customers spending over £5 in both our shops. Gifts were generously donated by Dandelion Cards, Premier Stationery, Zebra Pens and Legami” she added.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Black History Month On The Cards GCA x Sainsbury’s design competition winners go into store In a significant initiative which marks Black History Month, while also giving visibility and opportunities to the immense talent of UK designers, the 26 winning designs in the GCA x Sainsbury’s greeting card design competition are now being printed onto greeting cards by Windles, in readiness of going into 107 Sainsbury’s supermarkets towards the end of this month. The competition, which was hosted on Instagram, attracted almost 1,000 entries featuring multifarious design styles and approaches, each and every one celebrating Black History Month, which falls in October. The task of selecting which of the designs would be turned into greeting cards (giving full provenance to the designer) and sold in Sainsbury’s stores laid in the shared hands of members the Sainsbury’s greeting card buying team (Abi Wilson, Kate Goss and Emma Tanner) as well as GCA council members, Adriana Lovesy (founder of Mrs Lovesy), Ohh Deer’s md Mark Callaby and association ceo, Amanda Fergusson. Commenting on the initiative, Mark Callaby (head of the GCA Diversity and Inclusion subcommittee), who has been instrumental in developing this progressive project with the Sainsbury’s team commented: “Full credit to Sainsbury’s for wanting to mark Black History Month in this way. The level of engagement from so many designers, the vast majority from the Black community, reinforces the wealth of talent which can be harnessed to progress on the diversity and inclusion fronts.”

Left: Just three of the designs that are winners in the Sainsbury’s Black History Month competition.

The designer/ publisher of each selected design will receive a royalty for every card sold, with any additional profits going into a new GCA Diversity and Inclusion Fund which will be used to drive future initiatives within the industry As Adriana Lovesy added: “This competition is not only significant in that it highlights and addresses the need for greater representation for greeting card diversity at retail, but has also opened up the opportunities to welcome more Black designers and publishers into the industry. Using social media to communicate has given the competition a wider reach and the submissions were richer as a result.” This collaboration with Sainsbury’s is just part of the GCA’s ongoing drive and commitment for greater diversity and inclusion in the industry, something which is underpinned by the association’s sponsorship of the Best Diversity and/or Inclusion Range in The Henries greeting card industry awards this year. (See pages 73-75). “While some progress has been made on the diversity and inclusion front in the greeting card industry, as evidenced by this initiative from Sainsbury’s and the new Henries’ category, there is more that can be done,” states Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA. “With the association now having a dedicated sub-committee, it facilitates and pushes for more progress on this front and will help us to engage with the next generation of card senders.”

Scribbler keeps ‘abreast’ of a situation As part of its ongoing support of the Coppafeel charity, Scribbler has not only used its store windows as part of an awareness campaign to encourage women to check their breasts for possible signs of breast cancer, but is also donating 12.5% of sales on a range of ‘boob’ products, both in store and online, to the charity. As Jennie Procter, co-founder of Scribbler told PG: “The Scribbler ‘Boobathon’, to raise money for this fantastic charity is being coordinated by Aisling Crosland, our head of design.” Scribbler already contributes on occasions and Christmas products as well as having collecting boxes in each store for the charity. Above: The window of Scribbler’s Bath store which sends out the Coppafeel message to check your boobs.

Danilo triumphs at The Licensing Awards Danilo’s Peaky Blinders’ collection of greeting cards, calendar and giftwrappings triumphed in the prestigious UK Licensing Awards in the Best Paper Products or Stationery Range. The trophy was presented at a lavish and lively awards event, held at the Grosvenor House Hotel, which was attended by 1,000 people and hosted by Tom Allen. Other contenders for this award were Animal Crossing Villager Squares stationery collection from Pyramid International; The Beatles Song Titles greeting card range from Hype Associates; Boofle Stay at Home greeting card range from Moonpig; The Gruffalo stationery range from Robert Frederick; The Mandalorian - The Child greeting card range from UK Greetings; Minnie Mouse Positivity Collection from Hallmark Cards; Only Fools and Horses 40th anniversary stamp collection from Royal Mail and Spitting Image greeting cards range from Emotional Rescue. Above: Danilo’s Peaky Blinders’ range won a Licensing Award.

The diary is filling up ‘Real’ events are most definitely back... l First up is the GCA Dragons’ Speed-dating on September 27 at London’s Business Design Centre, which will see publishers pitching their ranges to retailers in a series of quickfire one-to-one meet-ups. (A subsequent Dragons event is already being planned for late February 2022). l Then, Thursday 7 October is the Boogie Wonderland Henries awards extravaganza, hosted by Tom Allen, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. l Shortly after that, on Thursday 14 October is the GCA AGM and Conference, which is taking place for the first time in Manchester, in Bridgewater Hall, with a social meet-up the evening before. The speakers include David Greaves of Emotional Rescue, David Robertson of JP Pozzi and Jo Bennett of Card Factory. l And, then on Tuesday 16 November, it’s The Retas, an afternoon celebration for the UK’s greeting card retailer stockists. It will take place at the Grosvenor House Hotel, on London’s Park Lane.

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NEWS PEOPLE

TOP STORY

Sad passing

An Early Christmas? A third of Christmas shoppers plan to spend more Despite the supply issues, after a somewhat muted Christmas 2020, the UK public are already gearing up for this year’s festive period, with a quarter of the population having started their Christmas shopping by the beginning of September, according to the findings in the Christmas Spend Trends report, undertaken by eBay. The report, which is based on insights from eBay’s 29 million customers as well as a survey involving 2,000 UK consumers who celebrate Christmas, sheds light on how people are feeling about this year’s festivities as well as their purchasing/ expected purchasing for the festive season. ‘While some people may have seen their finances take a hit over the last 18 months, others may have benefited from restrictions on spending. This may result in a split between those feeling optimistic about a more traditional Christmas - and those nervous that best made plans will be ruined,’ reads the report. Almost a third of consumers (30%) are saying that they plan to spend more on Christmas than last year with only 15% saying they are planning to spend less. (This is much more optimistic compared to 2020, where only 13% said they’d spend more), and 31%said they’d spend less. On average, people say they spent £527.88 on Christmas shopping and celebrations last year (2020), compared to £551.34 in 2019. Six out of 10 respondents (60%) feel optimistic that they will

be able to celebrate as usual, while half (49%) think that this Christmas will feel traditional and plan to do what they always do. A quarter (25%) feel Christmas will be more exciting this year, compared to 16% last year. Bearing in mind that the research was undertaken by eBay, some 41% of respondents said they expect to do most, or all, of their Christmas shopping in physical stores. Demonstrating how much earlier Christmas shopping is getting - and the importance of the pre-December shopping period - over two fifths (41%) of people who are intending to give gifts this year say they’re planning to have finished their Christmas shopping before December starts. In comparison, when asked the same question in 2020, only 25% of consumers said they would plan to finish Christmas shopping before December. However, despite people feeling much more optimistic than they were this time last year, there are still worries about further disruption due to Covid-19. Nearly half (45%) of the respondents said they are likely to put off making plans for Christmas until the last minute, and 30% might even celebrate Christmas early with friends or family. Above: Encouraging insights into Christmas spending this year. Left: The traditional, excitement and nostalgia tallies are on the up for this year’s Christmas, according to the eBay report.

l Robert ‘Bob’ Illingworth, the well-known and respected former leader of the Widdop & Co company, sadly died at the end of last month, aged 91. Retiring officially in 1990, aged 60, he never stopped working at Widdop & Co, a major giftware supplier to thousands of card and gift shops, and remained the company’s chairman until November 2020, watching with pride as his sons and grandsons, took the business he grew from strength to strength. Bob is survived by his wife Jean, his four sons, 11 grandchildren and eight great grandchildren along with the whole world of Widdop & Co, now a fifth generation family business. Above: Bob Illingworth, who sadly passed away recently.

l The very popular Michelle Adams has joined The Eco-friendly Card Co as its new south-west account manager. Michelle, who has over 20 years’ experience in the industry. latterly with GBCC, will start her new role on October 1. Sue Morrish, director of the publishing company who has been covering the role during the Covid pandemic, said: "I’ve loved visiting customers over the last 18 months but it’s now time to pass on the baton to someone who both loves cards, and has a heart for independent retail. Looking forward, we know our customers are going to be in excellent hands!" Above: Sue Morrish (left) with Michelle Adams.

l It has to be the industry wedding of the year! The newly wedded Aga and Richard Marsden (right) met at the Spring Fair in 2007 on the H&H stand (Richard was sales manager in the UK and Aga was working for the company’s distribution partner in Poland), love was to blossom over the years. “Aga’s boss asked me to look after her and here we are!! We didn’t start to date till another 12 months after that, on February 4th 2008 and got married 13 1/2 years later to the day!” revealed Richard, who is head of sales for Eco-chic and Scentiment Gifts, while Aga runs their award-winning card and gift shop, Highworth Emporium.

Pukka advice from Holly Tucker “Do what you love and love what you do” was the message from small business champion Holly Tucker MBE (of Notonthehighstreet and Holly & Co fame), a keynote speaker at the recent Top Drawer. “A true entrepreneur can be squashed by life, but then gets up and carries on. Entrepreneurs have the power to really change things,” stated Holly, who is believed to have inspired some 100,000 entrepreneurs.“ Speaking about the challenges of the pandemic, she replied: “it was unbelievable how much everyone learned. For some it was a terrible time, for others it was Christmas, But, we all learned something from it. Overall, small business owners said that they would do whatever it takes.” Right: Holly Tucker MBE, at Top Drawer in conversation with Tiwalola Ogunlesi, founder of Confident and Killing It.

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OVER THE

COUNTER

BY DAVID ROBERTSON OF JP POZZI, ELGIN AND BUCKIE.

The Winning

Hand? The UK psyche has an obsession with success. In the last 18 months there have been some undoubted winners and losers with the Covid situation and this continues to be the case right to this present day. You don’t need me to tell you that some businesses have seen huge growth as people have been forced to shop and live in a very different way, while others have watched years of hard work simply disappear. So, which camp are you/your business in…success or failure or something in between? Our sector is one which has always benefited from a decent margin as well as the fact that Brits love greeting cards, which combined has made us quite robust. Sure, those publishers who have supplied the supermarkets and non-essential chains over the last 18 months have enjoyed a spike with so many indie specialists closed and people forced to buy their cards elsewhere. At the same time many smaller publishers found it hard with the ‘open/close’ scenario. Covid has altered everything, with footfall in the large cities being a fraction of what it was (as evidenced by the demise of Cards Galore, which has been trading in administration since April) with the public’s confidence/office population still at a very low ebb. Cards Galore’s stores had traded successfully for many years from a tested formula but suddenly it just simply did not work. Circumstance made them fail. Its model was so reliant on footfall, but no-one could have predicted a country being shut down. 22

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Above and bottom left: Success or failure or something in between? Left: Rumit and Rajesh Shah, director of Cards Galore appearing on BBC News to highlight how Covid-19 caused the 30 year old business to fail. Below: Elizabeth Day with her best selling Failosophy book.

In figures released recently through Sky News it was estimated that 50 stores per day closed down across the UK during the first half of this year. Some 8,739 outlets went out of business, across high streets, retail parks and shopping centres between January and June, but 3,488 opened during the same period, resulting a net decline of 5,251 shops. Many of these were fashion, charity and betting shops, but sadly the data does not show how many were smaller owner/operator type businesses. These will all go down as ‘failures’, but there is of course more to it than that. As well as facing competition from ‘essential’ stores now stocking cards, gifts

and balloons in order to take advantage of the lockdown, we (as indie specialists) have also faced competition from many small makers of cards and gifts who have instigated online ‘shops’ to supplement their income. So we are being attacked from both sides and I have spoken to many within our sector who are finding it hard to keep going or at least keep motivated. I believe that many of the smaller stores that have closed have done so because the owner has simply had enough of fighting and working very hard for little reward. Throw in the added challenges of deliveries/stock levels

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OVER THE COUNTER Left: David Robertson was delighted to discover Popsy & Plum at PG Live in July as part of his quest to keep his card selection fresh. Bottom: CL Collections’ Shopping in Paris and Fashion Friends ranges have been introduced into JP Pozzi stores (and online) recently to create eyecatching displays of newness. Below right: Don’t be too hard on yourself, urges David. Have a plan and take it step by step.

and you can see that retail is not an easy place to be right now. The indie card and gift retailers have always fronted out the challenges with the quirky products we stock, the innovative displays and of course a service that the larger stores and the internet simply can’t provide. So is this success or is it survival? For me right now, to survive is to succeed simple as that. I heard the award-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Day speaking on a number of different radio talk shows this week. She spoke about the world’s obsession with success, how this was viewed and how she had looked at in another way. Her How to Fail podcast exploration of failure has resulted in over 21 million downloads and one could argue she has made a huge success out of failing. Her book, Failosophy looks at the seven reasons why failure is good and having listened, many of her thoughts are things that I also question and do. I have had a strange week. I had a bit of a chest infection which caused me to feel flat, lacking in energy and drive which is not like me at all. I am in the embryonic stage of my latest big project (more on this to come) and this would normally energise me, but with many hurdles to jump it feels like really hard work and the initial buzz of signing off the planning drawings has worn off. I have also been thinking way too much about the business and ultimately where I am as I approach another birthday (my 47th!). Birthdays tend to be reminders that life is passing us by and with Covid restricting so many of the things that we all

like to do, it has made me feel a little fed up. Putting things into perspective I then spoke to a pal of mine who is an air hostess who told me that as she landed at Heathrow she watched the juxtaposition of folk arriving from Afghanistan while various holidaymakers were arguing about having been delayed. Success or failure means little when fighting to just live is very much a reality. Success is a very difficult thing to nail down and quantify. How do you measure it, in time or money or perception? It can of course be all of the aforementioned and more, but purely measuring it in physical or numerical ‘things’ will always leave you feeling like you want more. I have spoken before about the ‘slippery slope’ of comparison when you look around and think that others are probably earning a lot more and doing a lot less than you are. Retail is a hard graft. It is an unglamorous slog. So how do I get myself going again? How do I get that perspective on things where I realise that actually I am doing OK? I love a list, and hope it helps others too, so here goes… l Am I doing my best? As your mum would always say to you about school: “Effort is everything”. l Am I clear on my goals and how I am going to try to achieve them? Planning the journey is one thing, but you will need to adapt it along the way.

l Understand that sometimes what you

want is maybe not what you need. I can sometimes fixate on one thing - if ‘we can just do this’ or ‘we can stock that’ - you shouldn’t put that pressure on yourself. l Success is believing in yourself and that you can do something. If you don’t believe in you, who else will? Self-care is essential to your and everyone else’s success. This is something I have really struggled with. Switching off has long been my downfall. I feel guilty if I don’t address emails or work issues, but slowly I am forcing myself into time slots where I relax and get away from work. I am having to plan in my downtime, but it does appear to be working. I have realised the importance of being grateful for what we all have - friends, family, work colleagues, your home - rather than that lustful list of the things we don’t have. Plus, tackle the things that daunt or scare you. If there is anything causing you fear, confront it; don’t bury your head in the sand.

You can’t win every battle, but you need to keep working towards winning the war. Sometimes it is easier to walk away from things or retreat to fight another day. You need to stand up for what you believe in and celebrate small wins along the way, especially just now. Recently we have celebrated hitting our 2019 sales figures, but it could be as simple as celebrating good customer reviews; anything to keep the positivity up. Ultimately you control your path and destiny to success, but what that looks and feels like is entirely up to you. Elizabeth Day makes the point that we all fail every day. It is quite a democratising thought because if we don’t fail, we can’t learn. So, in fact we need to fail and accept it. Sometimes we need to shift our mindset to come back stronger. You need to train your brain to be content and accept your success in different ways, but quite simply, you just need to keep going. To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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cardsharp

Music To

My Ears

“It was 20 years ago today! Sgt Pepper taught the band to play” Perhaps it’s all The Beatles’ retrospectives that are in the media at present, or the multiple Paul McCartney interviews that have been everywhere, but that particular first line from the title track of The Beatles’ most famous album, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, has been an earworm for Cardsharp for the last few days. Why that iconic line stuck in Cardsharp’s brain was not just nostalgic boomer ‘Beatlemania’, but something a lot more significant. As he wrote this column, he realised it was almost exactly to the day the 20th anniversary of the 09/11 terrorist atrocities. Cardsharp was reminded of this all too clearly with the excellent recent television documentaries, in particular the BBC’s ‘9/11 Inside the President’s War Room’. It certainly brought back memories. Those particular tragic global events, exactly 20 years ago almost to the day, could have been totally different for Cardsharp. To explain, on the evening before it happened Cardsharp and PG editor, Jakki Brown were very nearly in the epicentre of the inferno that would rock the world to its foundations and still has ramifications to this very day. To elucidate, both had been invited to give a talk at the annual American Greeting Card Association convention. The US publishers were desperate to learn about the success of the UK’s world leading greeting card industry and so were honoured for the opportunity to travel, expenses paid to extoll the virtues of the UK greeting card trade to the ‘great and the good’ of the American greeting card industry. The venue for the GCA convention a vast high-class country hotel in stunning Lake George, in up-state

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Above: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album came out in 1967, but the lyrics of the title track remind us of milestone happenings. Left: The 9/11 anniversary is a reminder of the devastation that was caused to the whole world. No one believed Manhattan would recover, but it did.

New York in the Adirondack mountains. In the US, the GCA AGMs are not the single day events that we have in the UK. Due to the vast geographical distances between the location of publishers, the US annual convention is part holiday, part networking, part social, part business, taking place over a number of days.

We arrived earlier than the rest of the delegates having flown to Buffalo, New York state via Washington. The plane that followed ours out of Washington, was one that was hijacked by the terrorists who attempted to fly it into the Pentagon, only to be thwarted by brave passengers who stormed the cabin but failed to stop the plane crashing into the ground killing all on board. We were unaware of this at this time. The first we heard of it was at breakfast the following morning, via the screams of all the residents watching the television news live, as the Twin Towers came crashing down.

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Over in London, it was the second day of the Top Drawer exhibition. There was not the instant digital communication there would be today. In fact, all transatlantic contact was down for a couple of days, and rumour had it we were both in New York city not up state in the mountains, so there was considerable concern for us, that we could not do anything to alleviate. Not surprisingly the US GCA convention was immediately cancelled with all flights stopped. We were then stranded in a paradise hotel, virtually the only guests with no way of knowing when we could get back. The small local community took us under their wing. The local bar owner and his wife, took us out for dinner and on trips on their boat across the heavily wooded mountain surrounded Lake George. All the work we had done on our presentation on the British greeting card industry was in vain. Eventually flights were

allowed to take off again and after a surreal, tragic yet life affirming week we escaped our gilded cage back to Heathrow and home. The 9/11 attacks had a devasting effect, the results of which in Iraq and Afghanistan are still with us to this very day. New York was a ghost town. The site of the Twin Towers was a smoking toxic rubble strewn site. Manhattan was deserted for many months. When Cardsharp returned for the New York Stationery Show the following May, restaurants were still closed, and long-established shops had disappeared and the normally extortionate hotel rates had more than halved. People were saying the Big Apple would never bounce back and that New York was dead.

Left: Cardsharp and PG editor were in Last of the Mohicans country about to give a talk about the UK greeting card market when the Twin Towers came down. Below left: A busy scene from the City of London from years gone by. Below right: Leona Janson-Smith, coowner of Postmark outside the new Blackheath store which opened in June, swiftly followed by another one in Wimbledon, joining the existing three branches, with more on the drawing board. Bottom: Cardsharp believes there will be a calling back to London (and indeed other cities), as people return to work. The Clash’s famous hit lives on.

But Cardsharp recalls by the next May, Manhattan was buzzing again. New businesses were cropping up, new trendy areas like the Meatpacking District on the East Side were booming and hotels were even more expensive than prior to 09/11 as tourists, both international and domestic, poured in. By 2019 New York was probably busier and more vibrant than 20 years earlier, having emerged virtually unscathed from the recession of 2009-2011. The New York experience showed that you write off such a major metropolis at your peril. So what point is Cardsharp trying to make? Basically, those commentators that have written London and other major cities off since Covid struck, may well be wrong. In London financial institutions will gradually put pressure on their employees to return to the office. Tourists will return to what is still a fabulous and unique city in their droves. And as older workers retire, a new generation will want to experience the social and cultural attractions that England’s capital city can offer. City centre London greeting card retailers have had a torrid time in the last 18 months. The Shahs who started and grew Cards Galore to be a vibrant chain of over 60 stores, mainly in London and some other transport hubs, saw their empire (but not their dignity with the way they respected their suppliers) collapse. Any retailer that had 11 stores in the

square mile of the financial centre of the City of London, which has been a ghost town until recently, was always going to suffer horrendously. But to Cardsharp’s mind, if the experience of New York is anything to go by things will get better sooner rather than later. Whatever the experts say, the ‘New Normal’ will not be everyone avoiding city centres and working from home. London and indeed Manchester and Leeds city centres will bounce back big time. Just like the Big Apple did in the years after 2001. By 2022 Cardsharp predicts that the

London greeting card retail scene will be back. Cardsharp hopes that Cards Galore and other city card shops can be revived. Meanwhile mini chain Postmark is certainly gung-ho about the opportunities in the suburbs and Cardsharp feels certain that savvy independents are well poised to take advantage of a lowering of rates to fill the gaps. Paperchase if it can get its product offering right could grow stronger and Scribbler will no doubt be agile in spotting opportunities at the right price. All this is no consolation to those business owners in London that have not managed to survive the last 18 Covid-ravaged months, but Cardsharp will finish with another lyric, from musical legends Joe Strummer and Mick Jones of The Clash… “London Calling!”

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VIEWPOINTS

A Harvest

Festival

With Autumn Fair and Top Drawer following on from PG Live and Harrogate Home & Gift, retailers are clearly relishing being spoilt for choice of all the new ranges that have been launched. In the second part of a series, PG harvested views from retailers who visited PG Live as to what new collections and publishers really stood out for them as well as their feelings of being at an actual trade show.

Above: There has been a bumper harvest of new ranges for retailers to relish.

Hayley Bastable owner of HBB Cards, Newport Pagnell Top product picks: “Wowzer, there was so much good stuff to choose from at PG Live. I placed new orders with Hearts Designs, Paper Salad, Lizzie Perkins/Art Matters and spent my Sunshine ticket with Hopping Dog Cards. I also placed orders with some old faves, including Dandelion and Sarah Kelleher among others, making for a very successful trip.” Keeping it real: “It was lovely to finally be back at a trade show, and PG Live this time it was even more special as it's been so long since we all had a chance to meet and chat with all the lovely suppliers. It was a real treat to see lots of fabulous new designs and meet new faces as well as old. It was a real ' feelgood' day and a much-needed chance to be normal.” Above: Hayley Bastable (left) with Joanna Hayward of Hopping Dog Cards. Right: Talented printmaker Lizzie Perkins of Art Matters attracted a lot of attention with her new designs.

Kim Lewis card buyer for Longacres garden centre group Top product picks: “I placed four orders on new products at PG Live from Pigment and GBCC/Ling. I also really liked and ordered Christmas and everyday roll wrap from Unique. I also ordered Christmas and everyday designs from Paper Shed, which is a new supplier for Longacres.” Keeping it real: “I really enjoyed the show there was lots of lovely product to see! It was lovely doing something so normal again after so long.” Above: Kim Lewis (right) with Paper Shed’s Jo O’Brien. Left: Kim loved the Christmas and everyday selection from Unique.

Maurice and Debby Esofsky owners of QLM, Leeds Top product picks: “There were so many new products on display…we placed our first order with Paper Salad, who had some great new designs and a fab Christmas offering. We also bought the Blue Mountain Arts new sentiments range, Pix & Pagels on a spinner from Carte Blanche which we strongly fancy. New ranges from Pigment and Abacus were also great and there were some fab new designs from Woodmansterne. Good too to learn that Hallmark is bringing out some superb Empowerment cards, which look fantastic.” Keeping it real: “We really enjoyed our visit to the show as the atmosphere and buzz was a real breath of fresh air to be honest - not to mention the wealth of new products on display. It was so great to be back in the mix and we left to travel back up North feeling revitalised…exciting times ahead.” Top: QLM’s Maurice and Debby Esofsky with (left) Penny Bailey of Baileys at PG Live. Right: BMA’s new Pix & Pagels range from Carte Blanche caught Maurice and Debby’s eyes.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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VIEWPOINTS Caroline Chatwin buyer of Dobbies Top product picks: “The Seed Card Company caught my eye as did Stormy Knight’s Bloom range, which has seed sticks inside. Other stand outs included the Passion4Plants collection from Rocket68 and stationery from Roger la Borde. It was also great to see some good wrap suppliers there too, and I especially liked the wrap lines from The Art File.” Keeping it real: “It was great to be back down to a trade fair; you really miss seeing the product in real life and the buzz of the whole industry being together. We have a brokerage deal with UK Greetings so I was primarily there to meet with them and to seek out new brokered publishers. While Dobbies has approximately 69 larger garden centres we have recently opened four small concept urban stores called Little Dobbies, feeding into those new gardeners and house plant lovers.” Above: Little Dobbies offers a curated selection of greeting cards. Left: The Passion4Plants range from Rocket68 was one of the stand outs for Dobbies’ Caroline Chatwin.

Steph Lloyd retail buyer of Utility Top product picks: “We discovered two new brands that we placed orders with at the show - Eleanor Bowmer and Hux Loves Honey. Eleanor Bowmer's range is really fun, bright and eye catching with a high-quality finish. Hux Loves Honey's designs are very sweet and cheerful, while remaining contemporary. Both publishers had exciting Christmas ranges too which we will be considering too. I'm positive both ranges will hold their own among our vast greeting card selection.” Keeping it real: “We had a wonderful time at PG Live. It was really great to be out meeting brands again and seeing new ranges in person! As always, the event was really well executed with a great atmosphere. We found lots of new potential ranges and placed orders!” Above: Utility’s Steph Lloyd with Eleanor Bowmer on her stand. Left: A sweet design from Hux Loves Honey.

Marion and Mark Flaherty Best Wishes, Garstang, Lancashire Top product picks: “Besides the companies we already buy from we were especially attracted to Gruff Pawtraits, The Pattern Book, Art Matters and Deva Designs. We placed four orders at the show with others on the back burner for the future.” Keeping it real: “We so enjoyed the buzz of being back at a trade show and seeing how creative the designers have been during lockdown. It was so great to part of PG Live again, meeting up with card reps, agents and other retailers all who have been in the same boat and finding how everyone has managed during the last 18 months. It is always good to talk to other shop owners, swapping info about what sells well for each other and picking up other possible suppliers. The hospitality, fizz, food and after show party was all much appreciated too! Thanks to all at Max Publishing for going ahead with all the planning and hard work under such uncertain circumstances - may PG Live go from strength to strength.” Above: Best Wishes’ Marion and Mark Flaherty with The Pattern Book’s Neil Baker (right). Right: The amazing dog photographic cards from Gruff Pawtraits got Marion and Mark Flaherty’s tails wagging!

Mark Goshawk working as a consultant with Cardzone Top picks: “Particular companies that stood out with new product for me were Wendy Jones-Blackett, Emotional Rescue and Paper Salad.” Keeping it real: “I really enjoyed PG Live. It all ran very smoothly with a nice relaxed, happy atmosphere that felt very ‘normal’. It was so good to get to talk to so many people in person and just to catch up on the last 18 months. My main takeaway from the show was just how great it was to see so much fresh new product from so many suppliers which proved they had not stood still during lockdown and kept the creativity moving forward which is so vital for our industry.” Left: Mark Goshawk (right) with UKG’s ceo James Conn. Right: A design from Emotional Rescue’s Is It Friday Yet? range.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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VIEWPOINTS Davina Parkhouse owner of The Bean Hive, Kettering and Falmouth Top product picks: “It was great to have a laugh with Objectables and see what weird and wonderful ideas they have come up with. It was brilliant to meet Bold & Bright’s Thea Musselwhite, the face behind the naughty but funny Jeffrey & Janice cards (our best sellers in the shop) and we ordered nearly all of the new range. After this horrible year, a card that puts a smile on someone’s face is priceless. We also got to meet the wonderful Eleanor Bowmer who we have stocked for a long time but never met. Her stuff is bright and fun and very much our shop vibe. I think we bought almost the entire catalogue, including homewares. We added many new companies to our ever growing card obsession and we were very proud to be the very first trade order for Amy Illustrates who designed my favourite card at the show, ‘Toad in the Noel’.” Keeping it real: “It really was a great show. I was even more excited than usual. It was so wonderful to see people and products in reality after over a year of online purchasing. We ordered from loads of our existing suppliers as well as from quite a few new ones. PG Live most certainly did not disappoint.” Above: The Bean Hive’s Davina Parkhouse (centre) with Hype’s Jane Patterson-Wright and Richard Ford. Right: Davina’s fave card at the show was this design from Amy Illustrates.

Amy Symons and John Parry co-owners of Moda in Folkestone

Kaye and Emma Thurgood co-owners of Sincerely Yours, Shenfield and Hornchurch Top product picks: “Most notable was Rush Designs, a new company to us that we discovered at the show. Great products and lovely people, definitely a keeper for us. The cards will be very well received.” Keeping it real: “We had such a great time at PG Live this year. It was so good to have an opportunity to network in person. There was a refreshingly positive vibe about the show and we placed a number of orders. Well done to all at PG for persevering to put the show on and give us a welcome day out.” Above: Sincerely Yours’ (left) Kaye and (right) Emma Turgood with Dandelion Stationery’s Jo Wilson. Right: A design from Rush Designs’ new large card collection.

Top product picks: “We placed orders with Art Press and also with Santoro for its quirky new Masterpiece range, which are both great for a town with an arty vibe like Folkestone. We also spotted many other ranges we would like to add in the future.” Keeping it real: “It is so nice to be back at a trade show, everything seemed so lovely and 'normal' (which is meant as a huge compliment at the moment!) and everybody was in a really positive mood.” Above: Moda’s Amy Symons and John Parry at the drinks reception at PG Live. Left: The modern meets the classics in Santoro’s Masterpieces collection.

Aga Marsden owner of Highworth Emporium, Highworth Top product picks: “I always look for something not only new but different. From new interesting companies, I really liked Schmuncki Verse’s poem cards and Paper Shed Design’s cards.”. Keeping it real: “I just loved being at PG Live! I loved the buzz, the chit chats and seeing all familiar faces (both suppliers and fellow retailers), it really felt normal. I loved the champagne reception and meeting up with my Retail Buddies. It was a nice sized show to feel safe. Above: Aga (right) with Schmunki’s Helen Walters. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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The Henries Judging Process

he Judging Panel for The Henries 2021 reads like a ‘who’s who’ of greeting card buyers, from top multiple names to leading indies as well as a few select overseas distributors and greeting card wholesalers. Buyers from Card Factory, Cardzone, Fortnum & Mason, Garsons, Klondyke/Strikes, John Lewis & Partners, Longacres, Oliver Bonas, Morleys, Morrisons, Moonpig, National Trust, Paperchase, Waterstones, WHSmith and Yarnton Home & Gift joined a host of leading small groups (including Baileys, House of Cards, Lark, Postmark, Temptation Gifts and Utility) an incredible array of independents (see separate box), some notable overseas distributors (Hendersons/Waterlyn, Image Gallery, McMillan Cards, Notes & Queries, Shapiros and Simson Cards) and select wholesale distributors (Archway Cards, Cards & Party, Crosswear Trading and Greetings Wholesale) in scrutinising the 9,000+ greeting card and giftwrappings which were submitted into The Henries 2021 to arrive at the worthy finalists which are featured in all their glory in the following pages. Due to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic when The Henries were being planned, the entering and judging process this year took

In keeping with the Boogie Wonderland theme for this year’s Henries awards, the whole greeting card community got fully into the groove, with this year’s 1,827 entries coming from more card publishers than ever before, with the judging embraced by the largest ever judging panel. Not allowing any uncertainty over Covid restrictions to get in the way of recognising and rewarding the best in UK greeting card design, the entering and judging process was taken online, with the winners being announced on October 7 at what promises to be the biggest comeback party ever! PG explains The Henries process which will result in the wonderland of winners. place entirely online, but this did not detract in any way from the quality and quantity of the entries, the thoroughness of the judges and the integrity of the judging process. The entire responsibility of judging the product entries and the Most Promising Young Designer or Artist award lay in the collective hands of the judging panel. Over the course of several weeks, they individually scrutinised the thousands of entries. The criteria for judging were: l Quality of design l Quality of print, production and manufacture l Appropriateness for the market sector at which it is aimed l Value for money Each judge voted for what they considered were the top six entries in each category. Six points were then assigned to all the top choices down to one point for the sixth choice. The points from all the judges were correlated to arrive at the winner and the other finalists in each category. Above: This year’s Henries is on a Boogie Wonderland theme. Left: All entering and judging for The Henries 2021 took place online this year via a portal on the website.

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International Focus

Joining all the multiple buyers on The Henries’ judging panel were a huge bunch of independent retailers who spent many hours logging into the website, going through the thousands of entries. This knowledgeable bunch included… Box of Delights in Flitwick (Michelle Ellingham); Cadeaux in Wells (Kristan Miller); Calladoodles in Carshalton (Liz Killick); Cardies in Stevenage (Jo Sorrell); Cards & Gifts in Sheffield and Dronfield (Carl Dunne); Cartoon Museum in London (Helen Burrows); Cranbornes of Shaftesbury (Karen Hardwick); Blue Dog Trading in Clare (Sarah Barrington); Daisy Park in South Molton (Emma Paisey); Diverse in Brixton (Anita Thorpe); Dragonfly Cards & Gifts in Knaresborough (Rachael Barnes); Expressions/The Cats Whiskers/Polkadot in Swindon, Bishop’s Cleeve and Keynsham (Chris and Tracey Bryant); First Class Greetings in Hadleigh (Jerry and Debbie Brown); In Heaven at Home in Market Harborough (Anne Barber); The Indigo Tree in Crystal Palace and Streatham (Adam de Wolff); Memorable Moments in Ripon (Fiona Trees); Mooch Gifts and Home in Bewdley and Stourport on Severn (Jon May); Papilio at Heritage in Thornbury (Tabi Marsh); Presentation in Barrowford (Andrea Pinder); Pretty Shiny Shop in Stroud Green (Georgina Black); Sincerely Yours in Shenfield and Hornchurch (Kaye and Emma Thurgood); Stationery Supplies in Marple and Wilmslow (Sarah Laker); The Well Good Card Shop/Boroughbridge Post Office (Nigel HamiltonEvans) and Wishes of Cockermouth (Victoria Robinson). Above: Mooch’s Jon May in judging mode.

Here are some snippets from just a few of the members of the judging panel… Jon May, co-owner of Mooch in Stourport on Severn and Bewdley “It was a pleasure to have been asked to judge the 2021 Henries. We love to promote cards from British designers here at Mooch and feel honoured to be part of The Henries awards that champion such great talent! The recent lockdowns have certainly not stopped lots of fabulous greeting cards being designed and published as testified by the high-quality entries. It certainly has been a tough judging process this year.” Jenny Cummins, McMillan Cards in Sydney, Australia “I was really delighted to be a judge, it brought me back into the circle of a part of my life which is truly missing right now. Privileged as we are to live where we live (winter here is the best weather of all!) I miss the UK greeting card community, just NOBODY anywhere knows how to come together like my Brit friends and acquaintances, while all the time managing to be so inspiring in all their business. I have learnt heaps about what’s going on creatively…so thank you.” Penny Bailey, co-owner of Baileys in Ainsdale, Crosby and Maghull “I really enjoyed the judging process. How the artists keep coming up with new talent always amazes me. I’ve spotted a couple of potential new suppliers which is very exciting!” Above: Jenny eating her way through the judging process. Left: Penny Bailey took her judging responsibility on holiday with her to Anglesey.

Eulinid Stevenson, ceo and director of Henderson Greetings, Melbourne, Australia “I absolutely loved doing this job…It took a little longer than I had expected as there was so much to look at, so I tackled the task over a number of days.” Right: Eulinid logged on from the other side of the world to see what the UK publishers have been up to.

Kate Nelligan, buyer for the Morley Group “It was really exciting to see the new designs and amazing creations from all the lovely publishers.” Deirdre Robinson, product director of Image Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand “Judging The Henries has been a great opportunity for me to be part of this process, especially since it appears I will not be able to travel to the UK for shows for maybe another year or more. Seeing all the new imagery in the selections really helps keep me updated on the industry, design focus and trends. Thank you so much for the opportunity to see all the newness, work from new designers, and continual marvellous new product coming out of the UK. It is so heartening to see the industry still alive and well in our Covid world.” Sarah Barrington, owner of Blue Dog in Clare “The judging coincided with a week when we were moving our canal boat so I took the laptop with me and judged a category any time we moored up with a decent phone signal! Glad I made the effort as I have come across a few new companies to take a look at and some of my existing suppliers have some lovely new ranges that I’m excited about ordering. It’s good to see that time in lockdown has been put to good use, coming up with fresh new designs. Fewer unicorns and dachshunds this year - they seem to have been replaced by rainbows and houseplants!” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Sarah Douglas, designer for Talking Pictures/Ling Design l Emma Grant, senior designer for Woodmansterne Publications and The Proper Mail Company l Iain Hamilton, founder and creator of Bewilderbeest

Sarah Douglas, designer for Talking Pictures/Ling Design “The greeting card industry embraces my passion for variety, due to the diverse occasions, captions and relations it brings. Each card can feel like its own miniature piece of artwork. I particularly like to use my illustrations to tell a story and enjoy working with characters, scenery and intricate details within the small space of a greeting card. I often combine analogue and digital media to create textured, hand drawn graphics which give more depth and detail. Since working for Talking Pictures, I have been especially interested in paper engineering as it is a great eco-friendly alternative that still adds interest and value to a design.”

Iain Hamilton, founder and creator of Bewilderbeest “I believe the best things in life make you look twice. They’re absurd, they’re extraordinary and they don’t always make sense. I’m 6ft 8” so people always look twice at me! I started designing absurd greeting cards with no other goal other than to make people laugh, without just drawing ideas that had already been done to death. I draw/scribble/paint the daft designs with pen and ink on watercolour paper. I mostly draw the varied world of animals; they make great subjects because they’re weird and expressive (and don’t get upset if I draw their ears too big).”

Hannah Marchant, founder and creator of Hannah Marchant “My journey began when my mum asked me to create a special birthday card for a friend. I was currently working for a printers at the time. This card was well received so I decided to create a little range of cards. I explored different papers and discovered seeded papers. Made from recycled paper pulp which is embedded with seeds during the manufacturing process, the cards are not only compostable but, as they grow and blossom, permanently echo the greetings and good wishes of the friends or lovedones who sent them.” 32

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Open to: All card designers under 35 on August 1 2020.

l Jessica Hogarth, founder and creator of Jessica Hogarth l Hannah Marchant, founder and creator of Hannah Marchant l Charlotte Mason, senior designer for Woodmansterne Publications and The Proper Mail Company

Emma Grant, senior designer for Woodmansterne Publications and The Proper Mail Company “I put a lot of heart into my designs and I hope this translates into an uplifting, special or thoughtful card. I can often be found painting with a huge, messy palette and love to create decorative, imaginative, detailed artworks. Antiques, astronomy, nature, Japan, animals and high fashion all inspire me. My intention is for my designs to celebrate both the fullness of human connection and the romanticism of the dense, natural world. If I can facilitate even a tiny bit of helping people feel better or perhaps a feeling of escapism through a design, then my job is well done!”

Jessica Hogarth, founder and creator of Jessica Hogarth “I launched my first card range in 2012, and my brand has slowly and steadily grown from there. My coastal upbringing has had a huge influence on my work, as has my love of architecture and travel. I trained in surface pattern design so repeats often find their way into my pieces of work. Every design is hand drawn in black pen on paper before being scanned and digitally enhanced with my striking colour palettes. This way of working allows me to scale my designs up easily for print across a wide product area.”

Charlotte Mason, senior designer for Woodmansterne Publications and The Proper Mail Company “I have worked for Woodmansterne Publications and The Proper Mail Company for the last seven years, since graduating with a degree in Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern Design. My love of pattern, colour and texture has continued since then. I love to experiment with drawing and painting techniques to design in a broad range of styles. All of my designs start by hand, from a detailed pencil illustration, to a colourful painting or hand-written calligraphy. I feel very privileged that my cards are chosen by others to comfort loved ones and celebrate their special milestones.”

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Open to: All greeting card ranges (humorous and nonhumorous) that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021 that reflect diversity and inclusion. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Cath Tate Cartoons from Cath Tate Cards l Embrace (Race) from Emotional Rescue l Family and Friends Collection from Kitsch Noir l Fierce & Fabulous from The Art File l Hello Family from Lottie Simpson l Live in Colour Collection from AfroTouch Design

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Open to: All greeting card ranges which demonstrate a current trend, be it in subject matter, terminology or production technique, that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

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2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Apricot from Louise Tiler Designs l Happy Days from Belly Button Designs l Hunky Dory from Paper Salad l Say it with Songs from Say it with Songs l Skooshies from Sooshichacha l Soul Mates from The Art File

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Open to: All art (fine art, contemporary and illustrative, but not photographic) greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Around the World from Toasted Crumpet l Artisan Days from Pigment Productions l Natural Phenomenon from The Art File l Sanderson from Woodmansterne Publications l Vitamin Sea from Onneke Studio l Wildlife Botanical from Lola Design

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Open to: All greeting card ranges sold via the wholesale distributor/cash & carry channel that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Candy Club from Xpress Yourself l Everyday In-stock from Out of the Blue Studios l Isabel’s Garden from Simon Elvin l Rainbow Friends from Simon Elvin l Shimmer from Kingfisher Cards l Special Fold from BGC Studios

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e or Occasions Rang Best Relations and/ Best Christmas Box or Pack

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Open to: All humorous greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs which have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Cloud Nine from Redback Cards l Gin & Frolics from Rosie Made a Thing l Is It Friday Yet? from Emotional Rescue in collaboration with Paper Salad l Jeffrey & Janice Everyday Collection from Bold & Bright l The Life and Times from Pigment Productions l Quotish from Brainbox Candy

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

www.boldandbright.co.uk E: hello@boldandbright.co.uk T: 07738 702 067

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Open to: All greeting card ranges aimed at children that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l 3D Children’s Pop-up from Alljoy Design l Hoopla from Paper Salad l Mouthies from Kali Stileman Publishing l Shine from Redback Cards l The Storybook Collection from Natalie Alex Designs l Tiny Sparkles from Louise Tiler Designs

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Bob Ross from Ohh Deer Henries Award Finalist 2021 Best Licenced Range

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Open to: All greeting card ranges that are published under licence (eg entertainment properties, brands or named artists) that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs which have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Bob Ross from Ohh Deer l Crayola Colour Me in from Hallmark l Explore and Treasure with National Trust from Toasted Crumpet l National Trust Harmony from Woodmansterne Publications l Peaky Blinders from Danilo Promotions l Sara Miller London from The Art File

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Open to: All traditional ‘words and sentiments’ greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Blooming Fabulous from Emotional Rescue l Eternal from IC&G l Helen Steiner Rice from UK Greetings l Moments in Time from Words ‘n’ Wishes l Piccadilly Extra Large Collection from Cinnamon Aitch l Reflections from Paperlink

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Open to: All contemporary ‘words and sentiments’ greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Daddy Knows Best from Popsy & Plum l Kate Andrew Collection from The Eco-friendly Card Co l Moonlit from Louise Tiler Designs l Senti from Emotional Rescue in collaboration with Paper Salad l Snap to Grid from The Art File l Words of Wisdom from Dandelion Stationery

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Open to: All relations and/or occasions greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

in alphabetical order 2021 Finalists

l Blossom Love & Sympathy from Rush Design l Five Star Relations from Rosie Made a Thing l Grace from Cherry Orchard Publishing l Hunky Dory from Paper Salad l Occasions & Relations Collection from The Art File l Words of Wisdom from Dandelion Stationery

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Open to: All greeting card ranges which are either completely handmade or include a hand-finished element, that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Bee Happy from Laura Sherratt Designs l The Boo-tanicals from Bexy Boo l California Dreaming from Five Dollar Shake l Mark My Words from Poet & Painter l Pocket Bouquet from Seedlings Cards & Gifts l Rainbow Drops from Wendy Jones-Blackett

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Best Contemporary Words & Sentiments Best Occasions and/or Relations Collection

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Open to: All photographic greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l BBC Countryfile from Abacus Cards l Fabulous Florals from Alex Sharp Photography l Into the Meadow from UK Greetings l Loose Leashes from Woodmansterne Publications l RSPB from Woodmansterne Publications l We All Have Something To Say from Gruff Pawtraits

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Open to: All greeting card ranges aimed at male recipients that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Charcoal from Hotchpotch l Gin & Frolics from Rosie Made a Thing l Hunky Dory from Paper Salad l In the Garden IC&G l Man on Mars from Woodmansterne Publications l Vertigo from The Art File

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Open to: All single Christmas card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs which have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

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2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l The Curious Inksmith from Ling Design l Holiday Dreams from Five Dollar Shake l Hunky Dory Christmas from Paper Salad l Luxury Christmas Collection from Louise Mulgrew l Ooh La La Christmas from Janie Wilson l Rainbow Drops from Wendy Jones-Blackett

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Open to: All Christmas boxes or packs that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. These could be branded, own brand or charity products.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Boxed Christmas Cards from Wrendale Designs l Christmas Pop from Five Dollar Shake l Christmas Tri-fold Die-cut Collection from Roger la Borde l Elle from Belly Button Designs l Gin & Frolics Christmas Boxed Sets from Rosie Made a Thing l Luxury Christmas Boxed Collection from The Art File

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Sending love f rom Barley the little brown bear.

AvailAble to order now!

E: customerservice@icgcards.com T: 01202 897494 W: www.icgcards.com 58_PG_September 2021.indd 1

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Open to: All cute greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021.In the case of an ongoing range, only designs which have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Barley the Little Brown Bear from IC&G l Confetti Sprinkles from Rosanna Rossi l Hoopla from Paper Salad l Owl’s Nest from Ginger Betty l Party Faces from Sirocco Design l Tiny Sparkles from Louise Tiler Designs

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Open to: All Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. Due to the effects of the pandemic if ranges are being carried over for sale for 2022 events, publishers could enter these. The entries needed to be specific to a Spring Seasons event.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Fur, Feathers and Whiskers Easter Collection from Wrendale Designs l Mother’s Day from UK Greetings l One Lump or Two Father’s Day from Holy Mackerel l Rainbow Drops Valentine’s from Wendy Jones-Blackett l Rose Garden Mother’s Day from Five Dollar Shake l Thulian (Valentine’s) from Apple & Clover

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Open to: All giftwrapping ranges (either ranges of sheet wrap or collections of co-ordinated wrappings such as boxes, bags, ribbons etc) that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 1 July 2020 and 28 July 2021. In the case of an ongoing range, only designs that have been launched during the aforementioned dates could be entered.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Bees Collection from Belly Button Designs l Book & Botanics Gift Packaging from The Art File l Hand-marbled Giftwrap Sheets from Paper Mirchi l Louise Tiler Party Garland Collection from Penny Kennedy l Paper Salad from Glick l Stephanie Dyment from Glick

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M!NT is thrilled to have been nominated for the Henry Cole Award for our Knit & Purl range. It’s as much fun making the cards as it is to send and receive them and we’re proud that the range continues to grow, stay fresh and find fans everywhere! See the full range online!

www.mint-publishing.co.uk

sales@mint-publishing.co.uk

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Tel: 0116 230 4197 Fax: 01536 401 031

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Open to: All greeting card ranges that have stood the test of time, having been published for at least the last eight years. The range must currently be on sale in some shape or form. Ranges can only win a Henry Cole Classic award once and then will be added to the Henry Cole Classic ‘Hall of Fame’. Previous winners include: Bestie from Paperlink, The Bright Side from Really Good; Eric the Penguin from GBCC; Forever Friends from Hallmark; Giggles from UKG; Ink Press from The Art File; Me to You from Carte Blanche; Medici Cards Blue Label from GBCC; On The Ceiling from Emotional Rescue; Pizazz from Nigel Quiney Publications; Pop-Ups from Second Nature; Quentin Blake from Woodmansterne Publications, Rainbow from Ling Design and Virtual Safari from Emotional Rescue.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l Bottom Line from Paperlink l The Country Set from Wrendale Designs l Genius from Woodmansterne Publications l Happy Jackson from Pigment Productions l Knit & Purl from Mint Publishing l Quicksilver from Wendy Jones-Blackett

Bottom Line from Paperlink Having launched over 30 years ago, Bottom Line was one of the very first off beat cartoon ranges to come onto the market. It was a brave, highly original concept, very much bucking the trend at the time. Created by Jamie Charteris, it shows his ability to innovate, push the boundaries and most importantly give us all a laugh which is very much needed these days.

Genius from Woodmansterne Publications Genuis is the brainchild of Ian Blake, Woodmansterne’s art director, which came from a chance conversation with his mother, a former teacher. The concept came from some of her examples of frank and obvious answers to teachers' questions that might not have been expected, but were always spot on!! The range continues to be a best-seller and the humour has proved to be timeless in our ever-changing world.

Knit & Purl from Mint Publishing Knit & Purl is the original knitted character greeting card range. Each and every card features a knitted, bobbly-eyed character handmade by Mint Publishing's co-owner Debbie Williams. The key to the success of the range is the combination of simple, humorous captions with these unique characters which create cards which can be enjoyed by the broadest possible range of recipients. CATEGORY SPONSOR

The Country Set from Wrendale Designs Artist Hannah Dale began Wrendale Designs on her kitchen table in 2012. Inspired by the glorious Lincolnshire countryside Hannah started to paint hares, loving their expressive faces and characterful personalities. After printing these designs as greeting cards she began sharing these with local gift shops and they were an immediate success. Hannah expanded her repertoire by painting other animals for The Country Set cards, all of which are printed on sustainably sourced textured board.

Happy Jackson from Pigment Productions It's big, bright, bold and bursting with positivity. Happy Jackson was co-created in 2012 by designers, Giles Andreae and Heather Flynn. Marrying Giles’ upbeat, playful phrases with Heather’s eye-catching palette, patterns and distinctive lettering style, Happy Jackson was born. The casual editorial voice of the range, and its uplifting design direction has made it a very easy buy for male and female customers, young and old, working across practically all occasions.

Quicksilver from Wendy Jones-Blackett The Quicksilver range has been active since 2006 and despite going through many changes of style and font, has retained the same board and foiling techniques to keep the cards contemporary with a classic twist. The cards use two different fluted foil dies to create a really textured card - the uncoated magnolia board really sets off the foils. They are printed, die cut then foiled by hand on an antique Heidelberg press twice!

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This award recognises the pivotal role publishers play in providing a good service to independent retailers. The finalists in this category were arrived at as a result of an exhaustive poll, involving over 2,500 independent greeting card retailers, who were each asked to nominate their top three card suppliers on the service front over the last year. These responses were then correlated, awarding three points to all first choices, two points to those mentioned as second choices and one point for all third choices. These points were then totalled to arrive as the ten finalists. There are three awards in this category – a Bronze, Silver and ultimate Gold, that will be presented to the top three scoring suppliers in the retailer poll.

2021 Finalists

in alphabetical order

l The Art File l International Cards & Gifts l Jonny Javelin l Nigel Quiney Publications l Noel Tatt l Paperlink l Second Nature l UK Greetings l Woodmansterne Publications l Words ‘n’ Wishes

Other publishers who were ranked highly on the service front by retailers in the nominations, but just missed out on making it into the finals, are (shown in order of the votes):

11th Museums and Galleries Marketing/Mint Publishing 12th Five Dollar Shake 13th Belly Button Designs 14th Pigment Productions 15th Cherry Orchard Publishing 16th Wendy Jones-Blackett 17th Caroline Gardner 18th Redback 19th Rosie Made a Thing 20th Dandelion Stationery

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68-69.qxp_Grid 15/09/2021 13:55 Page 2

Industry Issue

The

PaperTrail

On top of the headaches of shipping and haulage, the greeting card industry is finding itself buffeted by a shortage of board supply and cardboard boxes, a paucity of kraft envelopes as well as a continuing upward spiral of costs paper prices alone have risen by 8%-10% over the last few months with another 5% increase on the cards for October. PG spoke to some dedicated trade suppliers about the rocky road and what they are doing to try and mitigate the challenges. The catch all phrase of ‘it is what it is’ continues to provide some brief solace during this extended period of uncertainty which is laid at the door of the pandemic. There are some things you can control, others that you cannot, it is learning to differentiate amid the yearn to satisfy customers’ expectations, be it from a paper company to a printer, a printer to a publisher, a publisher to their retail customer and ultimately a retailer to the consumer. “Board that we used to be able to rely on for an almost next day delivery may now take a month, kraft envelopes you cannot get for love nor money right now, thankfully there is still a supply of recycled kraft envelopes and publishers have been happy to swop to those,” summed up Adam Short, managing director of The Imaging Centre, which prints for over 500 greeting card publishers. “This is not about a blame game. The reality is we are all in this together. It is all about us Top: Some 80% of GF Smith paper is made in the UK. Above right: Windles’ md, Bruce Podmore in front of Iggesund’s Workington factory when the Incada campaign was launched. Right: The Imaging Centre’s Adam Short, allowing PG’s Jakki Brown to press the production button!

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

continuing to work together, facing the challenges as then we have a chance of overcoming them.” As Adam adds, the erratic pattern of trade is further adding to the complexity of the situation. “It used to be that we all knew the rough pattern of how the year would pan out. This year that has gone out of the window. For us, usually January and February are peak months, then trade levels out during March and April, with a slump in August before rocketing in October and November. This year, January was dead, March was booming and August, usually one

of our quietest months went mad. You have to prepare for the unexpected!” With so many greeting card publisher customers, The Imaging Centre keeps 25 different boards in stock. “Publishers have designed their ranges with a board in mind. In these times of shortages and unavoidable price rises some have accepted a move to a very similar board, but for others their board is part of their look. We have tried to absorb as much of the price rises as possible, but in some instances this is just not possible. It is just a reality.” Ian Braithwaite, commercial manager of Fedrigoni UK (which supplies many greeting card publishers and printers with board), explains that one reason for the supply issue has been the rise in ecommerce during the pandemic which has triggered a big “demand for delivery packaging materials, the vast majority of which are made up of paper or board. There is also a growing backlash

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Industry Issue

against single use plastics among today’s consumers, meaning that paper and board in packaging has never been more popular. Lead times have therefore crept upward as have manufacturing and distribution costs,” adds Ian. “While primarily affecting the packaging sector, this shift in the paper and board market has naturally trickled-down to other categories, particularly the supply of greeting card board, which often uses similar materials.” In light of this Fedrigoni has increased its stock to cater for rising demand and mitigate the lengthening lead times, but admits that “The road ahead continues to be difficult to predict.” Sharing his views, John Skeet, managing director of Skeet Print, sees the paper situation in the UK as “a perfect storm. After years of a declining UK and European paper industry, as tonnage has recently increased, prices have risen and supply has become difficult.” He believes that some of the increases “are down to ‘rebalancing’ as paper prices have remained constant for many years now, as the demand has been weak, so now the industry has taken the opportunity to claw back some lost margin, which is understandable, to protect their industry.” He, like others has been working to mitigate the impact on his card publishing customers, either by encouraging them to commit to slightly larger print runs to bring the unit price down, shift to another substrate or consolidate orders. Chris Sandwell, sales and marketing director of EBB Board is predicting that the supply of “commodity one-sided coated product will remain challenging well into 2022”. The reason being that “One side coated grades are also used in general packaging work where demand extremely high. Currently in this area all of the major European suppliers have announced price increases in Q4 of 10-15 % and all of them pretty much working on 20–25 week lead times from Europe. Fair to say that demand is greater than supply, with many factors contributing to rising costs.” To ensure that its customers remain abreast of the situation, EBB has produced a Board Market Insights document which encourages printers and publishers to share the issues with their end customers. “The paper industry is certainly experiencing serious issues with board supply

Lefte: Fedrigoni’s Ian Braithwaite (second right) and colleagues at PG Live. Below left: John Skeet, owner of Skeet Print. Below right: Abbie Ross, director of sales at GF Smith.

at the moment,” adds Michelle Mills, business development and marketing manager of specialist greeting card printer Windles. She cites one key reason is the restricted or no tonnage coming from China to service the UK and European market. “Coupled with higher demand for pulp globally, where a large percentage of plastic packaging products have been switched to paper and board during the last 12 months, this has also affected price increases of all materials that the UK’s lovely greeting cards are produced on,” she adds. However, she stresses that the current situation further reinforces the merits of publishers specifying board that is made closer to home, something Windles has been urging publishers to do for the last four years, with its Incada campaign, which 90% of its customers have now switched to. Abbie Ross, director of sales at GF Smith, is another one who is banging the drum for using UK made paper, with 80% of all of the board it supplies being made here, notably by James Cropper, based in the Lake District. “Not only does James Cropper produce beautiful paper with a low carbon footprint, but there is no issue with supply. The silver lining to the global paper supply issue could hopefully be that more publishers recognise the merit in sourcing closer to home,” she added. Putting things into perspective, both Jeremy Bacon, ceo of The Sherwood Group and Mike Lammas, managing director of Herbert Walkers both agree that compared to

what is happening in the packaging sector, things are relatively calm in the greeting card world. Both are well qualified to comment as both their respective businesses straddle greeting cards and packaging. “In many instances in packaging there is now a six-month lead time instead of a six week one, caused by a shortage of board, a situation that escalated when China stopped shipping board from there after Chinese New Year, keeping supply for their own domestic market,” says Jeremy. Conversely, he assures that Sherwood has not had any availability issues for board for its greeting card customers. “We buy a lot of our board for greeting cards from India and so are used to working to longish lead times and these have remained on track as have the UK boards. However there have been some wobbles with some of the European boards. There have of course been some price rises that we have done our best to resist due to our long-term contracts, but there is no denying the inflationary trajectory.” Jeremy reveals that while Sherwood Group’s packaging business is up 50%, its greeting card trade is also marginally up on 2019 prepandemic levels. “There is a definite shift back to UK manufacturing, which is good news, but everyone is having to accept that the lead times of certain materials will affect turnaround times.” The situation is similar at Herbert Walkers. As Mike Lammas elucidated: “Yes, every day brings a different challenge, but those challenges in greeting cards are a lot fewer than in other sectors. Some publishers have had the foresight to forward order, others are contacting us for the first time, finding themselves without assured delivery from the Far East, in the hope that we can accommodate them at the last minute. I really do hope that this desire to move production back to the UK sticks.” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Innovations September 2021 copy.qxp_38-39/40-41 15/09/2021 14:36 Page 2

PG showcases a selection of new product launches

Sprinkling Happiness Confetti Caper is the latest range from Emma Bryan Design. This new design-led collection encompasses 12 everyday designs, hand-painted in pretty pastel shades. Each 5”x7” card is printed on luxury 350gsm textured matt board and is supplied with a recycled kraft envelope. Retailers have the choice of the cards being supplied nested or bio cello-wrapped. Emma Bryan Design 07889 598606 www.emmabryan.co.uk

Cheers Big Ears

Wing And A Prayer Eye-catching watercolours capture the enduring charm of British birds in Dyson Design’s new range, the Splash Bird Collection. The collection features the alluring art of Laura Andrew, who begins each image with a random splash of paint that she carefully turns into energetic portraits of familiar garden birds, including the blue tit, robin, wren, bullfinch and swallow. Dyson Design 0116 285 5725 dysondesign.com

What would be the ultimate libation?..one that combines a birthday card with a cocktail recipe, that’s what! Coulsen Macleod’s latest collection comprises greeting card designs featuring vintage illustrations and instructions as to how to make your favourite cocktail at home. This greeting card ‘mixology’ collection serves up Negroni, Espresso Martini, Long Island Iced Tea, Margarita, Passion Fruit Martini, Strawberry Daiquiri, Mojito, Cosmopolitan and Pina Colada designs. The card designs are also available as a coaster, mug, recipe card set and hanging wooden sign for the kitchen. Coulson Macleod 01536 419944 www.coulsonmacleod-trade.com

Dead Funny A Homer-ly Welcome

Deadpan has launched two ‘dead funny’ card ranges. With a feeling of ‘every cloud, and all that’ the Deadpandemic collection celebrates all the things about our Covid life, from being on mute, hand sanitising, social bubbles etc. Also new are some additions to the Deadpan Classics portfolio, which ever so gently cock a snook at some of the lazy stereotypes you might see on other people’s cards. (They are talking about the gin and Prosecco designs?!) Deadpan Cards +44 (0)7779 279847 deadpancards.com

Celebrating life's exciting journey with all its milestones and worldly experiences, Odyssey is brand new collection from Rosanna Rossi that celebrates all aspects of life, from births, birthdays, anniversaries, friendships, sorrows and everything inbetween. The 42 design-strong collection spans birthdays and occasions, with each card printed on a high-quality soft white board and finished with a contrasting black gloss varnish. Each 150mm square card is presented with a complementing pastel grey envelope. Rosanna Rossi (0)7900 698522 www.rosanna-rossi.co.uk

A Heartfelt Launch Lesser and Pavey has launched a whole array of ceramic vases, plant pots, wax melt and oil warmers as part of its wellbeing product collection. The products come in an assortment of white, grey and black coloured items in a mixture of stars and hearts shapes. Lesser & Pavey 01322 279225 www.leonardo.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 70

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PG showcases a selection of new product launches

Wild and Free Lucy Maggie Designs has initiated a trio of artistic collaborations with Aley Wild, Beth Free, Ella Kasperowicz, and Olivia Sullivan. The teaming up with talented illustrator Beth Free has resulted in a collection of a range of diverse LGBTQ cards. (pictured), featuring an original graphic style, vibrant colour palette and strong compositions. Celebrating diversity in both gender and sexuality, this fun, distinct, positive range enables retailers to celebrate and promote equality for generations both now and in the future. The cards, which cover birthdays, love, weddings and new home measure 120 x 170mm and are printed on FSC-approved on Callisto 350gsm board. Lucie Maggie Designs 07763 239731 www.lucymaggiedesigns.co.uk

More Feline Fun Bengals & Fluffballs is a brand new 36 card range from Tomcat Cards, which features the wonderful work of renowned feline artist Denise Laurent. The range comprises 12 Bengals, 12 Fluffballs and 12 Christmas cards of mixed pedigree pussycats. The cards, which come in a variety of sizes are all supplied wrapped or unwrapped, according to a retailer’s wishes. Tomcat Cards 01207 775987 www.tomcat.cards

Hugging Is Allowed Cherry Orchard has just released Paper Hugs, a fabulous new collection of 34 occasions and relations 5 x 7”, Code 50 greeting cards. These designs feature lovely artwork of flowers, narrowboats, cute bears and bunnies, all of which are finished with a combination of fluted foils, encapsulated flitter, flitter and embossing, supplied with a coloured envelope. Captions include a wide selection of relations’ birthday as well as retirement, christenings, thinking of you, new home, sympathy and get well soon. Cherry Orchard Publishing 01684 295500 www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk

To the Core Carefully nurtured, Apple & Clover’s new Splatter collection is aimed at 5 -13 year olds and beyond. The collection includes both numbered cards and open designs on a paint splatter theme, with gold foil and neon ink also featuring. The cards measure 105mm x 148mm (including envelope). Apple & Clover 07790 900976 www.appleandclover.com

Fab And Moving Motivational words and sentiments combine with bright, bold and contemporary graphics in Popsy & Plum’s Awesomely Fab collection. Designed to inspire and uplift, the greeting cards, which are all blank inside, are printed on FSC-certified deluxe, textured board and each comes with a kraft envelope. Popsy & Plum 07769 212269 www.popsyandplum.com

Famously Festive New for Christmas 2021 Cath Tate Cards has extended its successful Modern Icons range to include a host of Christmas Modern Icons. Hand drawn by illustrator Jo Burrows of Wot Ma Like, the new Christmas collection depict celebrity icons, such as George Michael, Mariah Carey and Shane MacGowan, all paired with witty captions with a festive twist. Cath Tate Cards 0208 671 2166 www.cathtatecards.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE 71

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PG showcases a selection of new product launches

Giving It Large Cinnamon Aitch has launched some new additions to its gorgeous Piccadilly and Piccadilly Extra Large ranges. As well as elegant birthday titles festooned with balloons, flowers and the odd caravan, there are also some brand new wedding anniversary designs. Sensitively drawn and hand-decorated with touches of silver sparkle and the occasional satin bow, all cards are printed and foiled on 350g FSC board, carefully finished by hand, supplied with an FSC envelope and all made entirely in the UK. Cinnamon Aitch 0121 7736833 www.cinnamonaitch.co.uk

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

It’s Getting Dark Dark Matters is Go La La's latest range of dark and disturbing, yet playfully funny, birthday cards. Providing the perfect subject matter for sociopaths with a wickedly twisted sense of humour and ideal for those slightly misanthropic and misunderstood friends we all try to steer clear of, the cards are printed in FSC-certified uncoated board, printed on carbon neutral presses in the UK with vegetable inks and measuring around 5" square. Having just launched in everyday, additions are planned for Christmas, Valentine's and other occasions. Go La La 01458830913 www.golala.co.uk

Bound to result in lots of happy bunnies, Hallmark has launched a new Peter Rabbit greeting card collection which comprises birthday designs as well as a birth congrats) featuring Peter Rabbit as well as a couple of Flopsy Bunny designs. The cards are fully recyclable, and made of material from well-managed, FSC-certified forests and other controlled sources. The cards feature die-cutting, embossed elements and come with a co-ordinating Hallmark branded, Kraft envelope. Multi occasion 2 metre rollwrap as well as a giftwrap and tag duo pack is also part of the launch. Hallmark Cards 0800 902 0900 www.hallmark.co.uk

Christmas With Balls On

Suds Law Dandelion Stationery’s brand new soap collection has landed, and it smells amazing. Choose from 19 designs, which have been handmade in Nottingham with essential oils and other natural ingredients. These high quality cleansing and moisturising soap, contain no artificial colours or preservatives and lather up wonderfully. Computer geek, outdoorsy, yoga lover…there is literally a bar for everyone. A cardboard display unit is also available. Dandelion Stationery 01332 504940 www.dandelionstationery.co.uk

Poet and Painter is bringing out all the bells and whistles for Christmas 2021, with its fab new Pop-Up Baubles collection (which include a detachable ribboned cardboard bauble) as well as a glorious spread of brand new vibrant festive new designs. Ding dong! Poet and Painter 07779 064894 www.poetandpainter.co.uk

Sensational Succulents Roger La Borde’s Cactusland collection is a flamboyantly colour-soaked feast for the eyes, bursting with vibrant fuchsia, orange, green and teal! We may not be travelling to far flung destinations this year, but Katie Vernon's magnificent, lush botanical artwork brings the desert in bloom to us. The range includes stunning lasercut greeting cards (which are printed inside and outside), sumptuously illustrated A5 and A6 books and journals, a letter writing set (including stickers and printed envelopes), gift bags in three sizes, and a very stylish boxed notecard set. Roger la Borde +44 (0)207 328 0491 www.rogerlaborde.com

72 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Diversity & Inclusion - Henries Focus

This year marks the debut of a Best Diversity and/or Inclusion Range award category in The Henries greeting card industry awards. “This award takes the industry another step forward on its journey to become more diverse and inclusive, something which the GCA is very committed to driving,” said Amanda Fergusson, ceo of the GCA, sponsor of this new award category. PG touched base with all the finalists in this significant category.

Live in Colour Collection from AfroTouch Design This range was conceived to break down diversity and inclusion barriers within the greeting card industry. Each card is individually hand-finished, incorporating one of three African wax print fabrics. Due to the nature of the fabric cut no two cards will ever be the same. There are 32 designs in the range, with the cards printed on 350 gsm board and come smart sealed with a white envelope. Georgina Fihosy, founder of AfroTouch Designs: “I am shocked, excited and very pleased to be part of the very first Best Diversity & Inclusion Range category in The Henries - helping to make history on such an important issue. It has been a long time coming, but the industry as a whole really has moved forward on the diversity and inclusion fronts in the last few years. The launch of this dedicated award is part of that, and it is fitting that it is not only race, but gender and disability also being represented and appreciated. It is good to see that the GCA has made a commitment to diversity, both in its activities and Council members, with the recent Sainsbury’s design competition for

Right: All of the Life in Colour Collection from AfroTouch Design includes a piece of actual African wax fabric in one of three patterns. Below: Georgina Fihosy is delighted that her cards are now stocked by several leading retail multiples, but hopes for more for herself and other diverse publishers. Right: The fabric addition on the cards gives an authentic touch of African culture.

Black History Month being a great example how major retailers are recognising the need to embrace diversity and in doing so highlight the huge creative talent out there from the Black community. The last few years have seen several major retailers become more open to having discussions about reflecting diversity in their greeting card selection as reflected in my AfroTouch Design cards on sale in Waterstones, John Lewis, Selfridges, Waitrose and soon to be TK Maxx. More importantly, the cards are selling, showing that there is an appetite from the card buying public. Of course, it is not just about being a Black publisher, you need to produce cards that people want to buy. There is still progress to be made, but with every conversation comes greater understanding. Things are being talked about now, which in turn will encourage more diverse publishers to come forward and feel part of this great industry.”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Diversity & Inclusion - Henries Focus

Cath Tate Cartoons from Cath Tate Cards Cath Tate Cartoons is a long-standing range, with these disability focused designs being introduced in July 2020. This collection of designs is by artist Dandy Doodlez. Dandy’s primary focus is on queer and disability representation. The designs on the cards depict Dandy’s experiences of living with a disability with an added healthy dose of humour. Printed on high quality 100% recycled paper, the cards come with a white envelope. Dandy Doodlez, creator of the designs: “I am absolutely delighted the range is getting attention…hopefully this nomination will demonstrate the need for representation within the industry.” Rosie Tate, director of Cath Tate Cards: “We are so pleased that our cartoon card collection in collaboration with artist Dandy Doodlez has reached the finals of this new Henries award category. As one of the first ever disability representation greeting cards, these cards are unique and with over 11 million disabled people in the UK it feels like high time for

Family and Friends Collection from KitsCH Noir The Family and Friends Collection is aimed at current millennials who have a diverse range of family and friends. The designs are appropriate for a wide range of ages and sexes, while totally representing the black British community in all its glory! There are 10 cards in the range and they are printed on Castillo Diamond White board. Cherelle Brown, founder of KitsCH Noir: "I am really happy to be included in The Henries as a finalist for the second year running! I submitted a range which is very close to my heart and one which I believe has been long overdue within the industry. I am proud to finally be making a change for myself and my community. I feel we are at the very start of such a big positive change in the greeting card industry and I am so proud to be part of this evolving movement. It is definitely a promising start and so wonderful to see everyone truly beginning to understand the importance of representation. 74

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

a card range that represents those who are living with disabilities. For us at Cath Tate Cards, diversity and inclusion has always been part of the core of our business. We like to think of ourselves as radicals with a sense of humour! We have always been keen to publish the work of artists who have been marginalised and our early card publishing was largely the work of alternative cartoonists/artists and we sold predominately to fantastic independent shops like Gay is the Word and Diverse. It feels like the greeting card industry has perhaps taken the first few steps towards increasing diversity and representation in greeting cards. How these steps ‘pan out’ in the future remains to be seen and it would be good to see retailers not just initially putting the product into stores but keeping the product in stores. What is on the shop floor is not just about what is the most commercial thing, but also about what creates change and difference, and big retailers can have a huge impact on that.” Above left: Pithy wit features in Dandy Doodlez cartoons. Above right: While there are 11 million disabled people in the UK, there are very few cards depicting disability. Left: Dandy Doodlez is an illustrator, musician and podcast host with a focus on disability and LGBTQ+. Right: Rosie Tate (right) with her mum Cath, founder of the company.

We are pleased that Tesco has joined Paperchase, Scribbler and others in now stocking our greeting cards, This is a massive achievement for KitsCH Noir, as when we first created the brand, the main mission was to make fun, fresh black greeting cards easily accessible to and for our

community, which meant being in high street stores and supermarkets. It’s been a long time coming, but we are happy to finally be making real change to the public’s shopping experiences across the whole UK.” Above left: KitsCH Noir cards are stocked by Paperchase, Scribbler, Papersmiths, Moonpig and now Tesco too, among others. Above: KitsCH Noir’s designs cater for men, women and children. Left: A snapshot from the promo film Cherelle made recently to mark KitsCH Noir cards going on sale in selected Tesco stores.

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Diversity & Inclusion - Henries Focus

Embrace (Race) from Emotional Rescue Emotional Rescue’s Embrace range delivers a contemporary view of the celebration of diversity and inclusion through photographic and graphical images. The collection includes 12 designs which are a celebration of race and another 12 in the Embrace (LGBTQ+) selection. The cards are printed on 280gsm Incada silk with a velvet soft touch varnish. Jennie Rutter, creative director of Emotional Rescue: “We were keen to create a range that celebrated gender and race, but was fully inclusive as well as commercial. The essence of any greeting card is about the appropriateness, each design needs to be relevant to both the sender and the recipient. With Embrace, I sought to select images that would appeal to a broad cross section of people

Fierce & Fabulous from The Art File Fierce & Fabulous collection celebrates diversity and female empowerment. There are 16 designs in the range with the cards printed on a textured 280gsm FSC sustainable board, with debossing and tasteful gold foiling. James Mace, sales and marketing manager of The Art File: “Everyone in the greeting card industry, as well as all other consumer product areas, has a responsibility to ensure that the products we produce are as inclusive as they can be, reflecting the diversity of the population. Our launch of Fierce & Fabulous is very much part of that as is our ongoing Peace & Blessings Cultural Festivals

Hello Family from Lottie Simpson All families are different, but those family relationships are what bind people, irrespective of the colour of their skin, religious beliefs or sexual preference. There are 12 cards in the range, each of which are hand-finished with hand crafted crystals, printed on 300gsm, FSC luxury board and come with FSC-approved envelopes in a mix of fuchsia, yellow and kraft. Lottie Simpson, founder of Lottie Simpson: “If there was one category to be a finalist in, it’s this one as it is so important. Over the last 12 months the industry has made a huge leap on its diversity and inclusion journey. Publishers large and small have started to introduce really wonderful cards into their ranges

while still very much acknowledging diversity and inclusion. I feel Embrace will have done its job if the same card design that will be sent between gay, trans or non-binary partners picking up on the rainbow reference or recognising a phrase from RuPaul’s Drag Race will also be bought by heterosexuals because they like the design. The same is the case in the Race selection with the imagery acknowledging diversity, but also being beautiful as a piece of art. It is all about having the choice and keeping cards relevant.” Above left: While this design features a little boy enjoying the Hindu festival of Holi, the card appeals to all. Above: Jennie Rutter created designs for Embrace that are inclusive. Right: This Embrace design appeals to the LBGTQ+ community as well as dog lovers and seaside fans among others.

collection, the result of our collaboration with Zakera Kali (founder of Peace & Blessings). We have learned so much from working with Zakera, not least the importance of not being scared about things you don’t know. By talking and listening, barriers are broken down and you gain a greater understanding of other people’s perspectives. Greeting cards may not be able to change the world, but they are very much part of relationships and need to be there for all irrespective of colour, creed or gender.” Above left: The Fierce & Fabulous designs celebrate diversity and female empowerment. Left: James Mace feels that it is everyone’s responsibility to push for progress on the diversity and inclusion fronts. Above right: A united message from a Fierce & Fabulous design.

and the debut of this category into The Henries is so positive and a powerful message of exactly what publishers should be working towards. From the very beginning of our business, it was really important that our card ranges would be as inclusive and diverse as possible. It wasn't difficult choosing what to illustrate as we listened to our customers. A case in point is our New Baby Stork card which is both diverse and gender neutral and has been a hit! And we're far from finished; there's so much more to come.” Above left: This gender neutral design featuring a black baby from the Hello Family range has been well received by Lottie Simpson’s retail customers. Left: Lottie at PG Live with Tim Reynolds of Medici, who spent his Golden Ticket with her.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

on to Su lin the bs c e at new rib PG s e Bu flas zz h .n et

ART SOURCE

From the team behind Progressive Greetings Worldwide, PG Live, The Retas and The Henries, PGBuzz.net has launched as the new online central resource for the greeting card sector online...

TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE

ARTSOURCE SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051

Jakki Brown Joint md & editorial director jakkib@max-publishing.co.uk

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The very latest news, views, articles and analysis

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Art Source

Gift Of The Gab(riela)

Hailing from El Salvador, aka the Land of Volcanos, known for its hospitality, loud music ‘Chicken buses’ and abundant flora and fauna, artist Gabriela Larios had a rich inspirational treasure trove to plunder - and that was before she overlayed her love of storytelling, nature and vibrant life in London. PG immerses itself in Gabriela’s pattern and colour fest and finds out more about her life and loves. “I grew up in El Salvador, a very small country in Central America, known for its delicious pupusas (a flatbread made with cornmeal or rice flour) and amazing volcanoes. I now live in London, having come here to continue my studies in art and graphic design in 2007, thanks to an Alban Scholarship. It was here that I realised that I had a passion for illustration, textiles, patterns and children’s books so I continued honing my skills and working hard independently which is what I always wanted in order to have more flexibility between family and work. It was my artistic mother who taught me my first lessons about art, taste for colour combinations and my love for watercolours. My main inspiration in becoming an artist was in fact migration and the experience of coming to London, one of the most creative, cultural cities in the world, which offered abundant artistic stimulation and countless possibilities and pathways for the creation of art. Storytelling is an essential element in my work. My art is inspired by childhood memories brought to life in a playful, poetical and mythical manner, involving flowers, plants, birds, fish and other colourful creatures. Elements that are part of that naive and colourful world made their way into my creative wanderings, with the resultant art being a way to express my thoughts, dreams and imagination.

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Above: Gabriela’s decorative touch draws from her El Salvador birth country as well as her many years living in the UK. Left: The folkloric and storytelling is often present in Gabriela’s designs. Below left: Pattern, colour and nature in perfect unison. Below right: Gabriela’s work lends itself to greeting cards as well as lots of other products.

Recently a client, a fabric company I collaborate with, described it wonderfully, saying that my work is like “stepping into my imagination for a private viewing”. My art is also inspired by my love of textiles and folk art from my native El Salvador and Latin America. Depicting the joyful beauty found in the countryside, through scenes that hopefully give hope and light about the possibility of living a harmonious existence with nature and the importance of coexisting with it in a balanced way, to safeguard it for future generations. Apart from watercolour, some of my favourite techniques are collage and gouache, while I also really enjoy trying out new art techniques. Experimenting is one of my most joyful moments, playing with paper, brushes, colours, inks. It is by following a very instinctive and spontaneous process that I am able to find unexpected results. I love to create art with my hands. In this day and age when we are permanently surrounded by screens it is very fulfilling to be able to create art scenes in a hand-crafted way. It is very uplifting to see my work come to life when it is applied onto greeting cards (I am lucky to have worked with Museums & Galleries and Canns Down Press), textiles, wallpapers, picture books, wall art and packaging. I feel so much gratitude for each and every company that has put faith in my work and my vision as an artist. It is great to see such a great response by the public and how it touches people’s lives in a positive way, especially during these challenging times we are all experiencing. I really feel that it is important now more than ever to surround ourselves with colour, joy and things that inspire and nurture our spirits as that in turn gives us hope and reminds us to be thankful for the beautiful natural world we have.” l Gabriela Larios is represented on the licensing front by Yellow House Art Licensing.

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

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PG ASKED A SELECTION OF RETAILERS FOR THEIR BEST SELLERS. Tim Reynolds, shop manager of Medici Gallery in Kensington. A landmark card and gift shop in the museum area of London Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Roger la Borde Cherry Picked for You

Scissors Paper Tree Alphabet Cards

Hype Associates

Beatrix Potter; Alice in Wonderland; Peanuts Photocaptions Words of Art V&A and generally

“Su Blackwell’s creations are incredible.” “Beautifully illustrated with the flower depicted being related to the letter.” “These all do very well for us.”

Right: An intricate Su Blackwell design from Roger la Borde.

Cath Tate Frankie Whistle Museums & Galleries

Humour Relations and Occasions Art

Fitzwilliam Museum Artists Cards Catch Publishing

Handmade PhOtographic Giftwrap Self-purchases Gifts

Dry Red Press Forever Cards Leonard Smith U Studio

Tile designs Across the board Vermeer and Aubrey Beardsley Across the board Laser cuts Across the board Across the board

Penny Kennedy Flametree Enesco/Gund

Morris & Co Notebooks Beatrix Potter Plush

“So diverse and timeless.” “Old masters with great speech bubbles.” “Wonderful art designs that work well for occasions.” “Just beautiful.” “A mainstay for us.” “They also do lovely Alice in Wonderland designs.” “Good contemporary designs.” “Wonderfully amazing!” “The sympathy designs are especially strong.” “The superheroes and book designs are lovely.” “The bags and boxes are great.” “They always sell as they are beautiful.” Above: A design from Frankie “Always popular.” Whistle’s Words of Art collection.

Penny Bailey, co-owner of Baileys, trio of award-winning card and gift shops in Ainsdale, Crosby and Maghull. Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

Woodmansterne Cinnamon Aitch

Pink; Opal; National Trust Harmony Extra Large Piccadilly

Hallmark

Across the board

Think of Me Paper Salad Jonny Javelin Hallmark Pigment

Across the board Hunky Dory Across the board Across the board Across the board

Lanther Black

Stickman

Rosie Made a Thing Berni Parker

Gin & Frolics Ladies Who Love Life

Louise Mulgrew

Awesome World; Big Love Artisan Days Words of Wisdom TLC Year You Were Born Chatterbox Jewellery

“Beautiful artwork that all shouts quality.” “An elegant, sophisticated, luxury range.” “Hallmark has really upped its game in terms of design and embellishments.” “Fresh and contemporary.” “Massive hit - the colours really pop.” “The ‘go to’ for the traditionalist.” “Customers buy them in their droves.” “Relied upon to cause outbursts of laughter.” “A personal favourite - unique, distinctive and funny.” “We could not be without it.” “Friendship encapsulated in delicate artwork and quirky humour.” “Beautiful cards that are big sellers.”

Right: Friendship personified from Berni Parker. Below right: An Artisan Days design from Pigment.

Relations and Occasions Humour

Art

Thinking of You Adult ages Children’s Gifts 78

Pigment Dandelion Rachel Ellen IC&G Rachel Ellen Joma

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

“They cover a multitude of sending reasons.” “They say what you want to say when you don’t know how.” “Lovely words of encouragement and support.” “A real winner with their fun facts and figures inside.” “Fun characters, neon colours, gold foiling and vibrant colours.” “Something for every occasion and very nice packaging.”

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Karen Ebers, owner of Something Special in Edenbridge. A popular medium sized card and gift shop in small town on the Kent/Surrey border. Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

UK Greetings Nigel Quiney

Indigo Blush; Damson Noire and Peony Pizazz

Woodmansterne IC&G

Quentin Blake Fairlight

Woodmansterne

Genius

GBCC Paperlink UK Greetings

Bird Wit; Avanti; Look At It This Way Sassy; The Funny Farm Across the board

“I re-order these very pretty ranges repeatedly.” “A perennial favourite with new designs introduced regularly.” “Quirky and fun.” “A traditional male range covering popular sports and hobbies.” “Completely different. Many of the designs are suitable for teenagers, a tricky age group to buy for.” “All very popular with my customers.” “They sell consistently well.” “The backbone of my integrated control.”

IC&G

Across the board

Nigel Quiney Cherry Orchard

Female relations Thinking of You

Children’s

Danilo IC&G UK Greetings

Across the board Age relations Across the board

Adult Ages

Cherry Orchard Pigment Paperlink Glick

Down Memory Lane Nutty Neon Mimosa Across the board

Humour

Right: One of the designs in Cherry Orchard’s Thinking of You range. Below right: A Hey Duggee card from Danilo.

Relations and Occasions

Thinking of You

Giftwrap

“Traditional, wordy cards that my customers just can't get enough of.’ “Among our fastest sellers.” “A definite winner throughout the lockdown periods.” “Up to the minute licensed age cards.” “Popular with the grandparents.” “The new designs for age 10+ have been selling very well.” “We could not be without this range.” “These flown out since we reopened.” “A favourite of ours.” “Just the best! Something for everyone.”

Celia Leeson-Cox, card buyer and visual merchandise manager of Yarnton Home & Gift. A garden and home lifestyle centre located near Kidlington in Oxfordshire. Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Everyday

The Art File

Ink Press; Natural Phenomenon; Sara Miller London Bree; Florals, Art and Traditional Across the board Lemon Sorbet Honeysuckle Lane Skylark Jamboree; Lucky Star

“Very strong line-up of enduring design as well as quirky new.”

Noel Tatt

Relations and Occasions

Caroline Gardner Paperlink

Children’s

Paper Salad

Art

Earlybird Designs Museums and Galleries Lagom Design Toasted Crumpet

Humour

Roger la Borde Lagom Design The Rifle Paper Company Meraki Petra Boase Peartree Heybridge

Cute Giftwrappings

Rosie Made a Thing Two Bad Mice 1973

Keeping in Touch/ Thinking of You

Across the board Classic Range Kew, Hannah Werning and Brie Harrison Across the board Lasercuts Cherished Across the board Across the board Across the board Tottering By Gently; Camilla & Rose Gin & Frolics Anita Jeram Rollwrap

“Much loved by our traditional customers.” “Ever evolving stylish designs.” “A really pretty range” “Cute animals and wildflowers.” “Good sellers.” “Super colourful, bright and sparkly perfect for those little birthdays.” “Bright, loud and fun!” “A card design for everyone.” “They fit in with our botanical theme.” “Lovely designs with co-ordinated Top: A selection from Petra Boase. giftware.” Above: A neon design from Earybird Designs. “Impressive works of art.” “Less is more.” “Sophisticated designs that are so well produced.” “Such a nice touch for a contemporary send.” “Just gorgeous and sell so well.” “These go down well with our traditional garden centre customers.” “Humour for our time.” “Wonderfully charming illustrations.” “The colours chime with our lifestyle feel.”

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Classified Complete 2021.qxp 14/09/2021 14:16 Page 80

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To appear in the Product Directories email Warren Lomax warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Te l : 0 1 6 3 8 5 6 9 0 5 0 w w w . a b a c u s c ard s . c o . u k Em ail: in fo @ ab a c us c a rds .c o.uk

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Warren Lomax

020 7700 6740 or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

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07957 212 062

or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Publishers of quality blank greeting cards Tel: 0115 929 4776 enquiries@bugart.co.uk Order Online

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Warren Lomax

020 7700 6740 To appear in the Product Directories email Warren Lomax warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk 80

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

BEXY BOO bexyboo.co.uk enquiries@bexyboo.co.uk Tel: 01565 830546 @BexyBooLtd

or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

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or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Classified Complete 2021.qxp 14/09/2021 14:17 Page 81

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PRETTY ELEGANT DESIGNS | LONDON

Warren Lomax

020 7700 6740

Available online Wholesale & Licensing

or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud

07957 212 062

or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

hello@emmabryan.co.uk www.emmabryan.co.uk

www.ch w eekyc w. ychoppstrrade.cco o..uk k phone: Da Danielle :07946 056571 email:wholesale@speciall--day yss.co o..uk

SALES AGENTS WANTED

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020 7700 6740

Witty, gritty, switched on humour. Cards and gifts with a real difference. Unit 1, 45 Morrish Road London SW2 4EE Tel: 0208 671 2166 Fax: 0208 678 1119 info@cathtatecards.com

or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

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07957 212 062

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Caspari Ltd Linden House, John Dane Player Court

East Street, Safffrron W Waalden Essex, CB10 1LR Teel: 01799 513010 T Faax: 01799 513101 F Email: inffoo@caspari.co.uk ww ww w.CaspariOnline.com

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Method of Sale: Direct to Retail

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CHARITY GREETING CARDS

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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.

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THE

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frrom the

Including firm favourites and brand new designs

Polissh Po h

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

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• UK Market leaders with humour, art, photographic, contemporary and traditional occasions & relations cards, plus seasonal. • 2΍HULQJ D IXOO SODQQLQJ VHUYLFH with merchandising and retail development opportunities. • Specialists in garden centres and the independent trade.

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020 7700 6740 or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

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07957 212 062 or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

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

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CATHERINE KL C LEELI CARDS

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cards..... worth keeping

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LING DESIGN

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John Faulkner’s artwork probably represents some the mo di i distinc humor image availa today To view: www.johnfaulkner.co.uk which also includes trade information To contact: sales@johnfaulkner.co.uk

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Huge selection with immediate delivery y.. Buy direct or from your wholesalerr.. Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX1 5JN Te T el 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 www.listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk

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B rand N ames a

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All our cards are supplied on consignment, so you only pay for what you sell. We also supply card fixtures and spinners free-on-loan. We replace slow sellers and damaged stock free of charge.

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We merchandise regularly, so you don’t have to. THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!

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Send Love e ( all year round )

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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.

LUXURY GIFT PACKAGING

t: 0208 6138 085

Uk publisher of Greetings Cards with an extensive range of quality Birthday, Relations, Occasions and Seasonal product... available from

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

LING DESIGN

paperbirdpublishing.co.uk u

ICONIC LICENCED BRANDS Exquisite Designs Beautiful Cards Key br ands include: Wr ite from the Hear t Ar tisan, Marzipan, Capisco Designer s Guild, Clare Tupperr Lucy Ledger plus man y more

01892 838 574 www.pennykennedy.co.uk

Our Brands: Laughter with Animals, Sporting Fun The Funny Side of Life.

Method of sale: Direct to Retail 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk www.lingdesign.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact Warren Lomax on:

020 7700 6740 or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud on:

07957 212 062 or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Tel:: +44 (0)115 986 0115 Te customer ser vices@paperrose .co.uk www.paperrose .co.uk www.ar tgroupcards.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

Warren Lomax on:

020 7700 6740

or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud on:

07957 212 062

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

To appear in the Product Directories email Warren Lomax warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Classified Complete 2021.qxp 14/09/2021 14:19 Page 85

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

To appear in the Product Directories email Warren Lomax warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact

Warren Lomax on:

020 7700 6740

or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

The UK’s leading publisher of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards. Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available. Talking Pictures Cards Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE

Tracey Arnaud

Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk www.talking-pictures.co.uk

on:

07957 212 062

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

7RPFDW &DUGV

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

www.tomcat.cards info@tomcat.cards

DIRECT TO RETAIL & EXPORT

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

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact Warren Lomax on:

Method of sale:

020 7700 6740

Wholesale Distributors

or email on

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

warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact on:

TEL: 01480 435562 FAX: 01480 450599

07957 212 062

www.tracksltd.com

Tracey Arnaud

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

UNIT 2, 12 BLACKSTONE RD, STUKELEY MEADOWS IND EST, HUNTINGDON, CAMBS, PE29 6EF

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY

l PRODUCT DIRECTORY

WHOLESALE

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact Warren Lomax on:

020 7700 6740 or email on

We offffer a We COMPREHEN

warren@max-publishing.co.uk

range of high

or contact

Greeting Cards f ALL Occasions,

Tracey Arnaud

CHRISTMAS an

on:

Season

07957 212 062

f Sale:

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk mail: inffo o@words-nWeb: www We w..words-n-wishes.co.uk

Tel: 01942 233201

Market Leaders in

Verse

& entimen

an extensive range of superior quality,

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

To appear in the Product Directories simply contact Warren Lomax

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

on:

BESCOT CRESCENT, WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS. WS1 4NG 01922-646666

020 7700 6740

www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk

or email on

MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm

warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact

Tracey Arnaud on:

07957 212 062 Method of Sale: Direct to Retail Orders can be placed on our trader site

www.cbgtrader.co.uk or call our customer services team on

+44(0)1243 792600

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

To appear in the Product Directories email Warren Lomax warren@max-publishing.co.uk or Tracey Arnaud traceya@max-publishing.co.uk

Classified Complete 2021.qxp 14/09/2021 14:19 Page 87

DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALE

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED BAGS

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

BAGS 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

BAGS

GIVE E YOUR

Manuffacturers of high quality fllexible packaging 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE - QUA UALITTY Y SERVICE EXTENSIVE STOCK RANGE - QUICK DE ELIVERY ASSURED

- HEADER BAGS - WA WALLET BAGS - ZIPPER BAGS - FLEXOGRAPHIC, HOTFOIL & THEERMAL PRINTING www.transrappackagin ng.co.uk sales@transrap.co o.uk

CALL US TODA AY

01773 5378 810

V VIP

TREA AT A TMENT HIGH CLARITY L TY Y BA AGS FOR R GREETING G ET T NG CARD DS, CALEND EN N ARS ARS AND AND D ARTW TWORK WORK ŏ ŏđŏ ŏ FOIL LB BLOCKING NG G EXTE XTENSIVE NSIV VE RANG V R RA ANGE OF S ST TOCK SIZES SIZ ZES AND BES AND BE ESPO OKE KE MANUF KE MANU UF FACTU TUR TURE T U E AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA

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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

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Classified Complete 2021.qxp 14/09/2021 14:19 Page 88

CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED

PRINTERS

ENVELOPES

FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED

PAPER

100% Recycled Paper Available Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request

ORDER ON LINE AT:

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

01 90 83 78 86 6

www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com

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 TARY RY YOUR COMPLIMENTA ENVELOPE OR NOTEBOOK WATCH PA PACK SWA

SPECIALISTS IN SHORT RUN MULTI IMAGE PRINT s Foiling Services without the need for dies s Wiro bound notebooks, no minimum quantity s In House Fulfilmment Services

T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk www.hellocards.co.uk

The simplest way to order your greetings cards

FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS

ABL Foil Ltd Unit 1, Industrial Estate East Hanningfield Chelmsford Essex, CM3 8AB 88

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

Contact DAVID JIGGINS Tel: 01245 400104 Email: david@abl-ltd.co.uk

Unit 8, Archers Park, Branbridges Road, East Peckham, Kent TN12 5HP www.theimagingcentre.co.uk Email: info@theimagingcentre.co.uk Tel: 01622 871449

we print

we ﬁnish

we pack

we deliver

Classified Complete 2021.qxp 14/09/2021 14:20 Page 89

l CLASSIFIED PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

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

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Your saf ep ai

CLASSIFIED

Outstanding, cost effective and efficient production of Greeting cards, Packaging and Social stationery, ideal for intricate and hand finished products. • Over 15 years experience providing high-quality printed products direct from the Far East • Trusted and financially stable, UK owned by The Sherwood Group • Socially responsible manufacturing: SMETA, ISO9001, ISO14001, FSC certification • Full product prototyping in the UK for competitive speed to market requirements

To find out how we can benefit your business, contact Derek Lam +00 (852) 3527 3471 / derek@sherwood-press.com or The Sherwood Group Head Office Hong Kong Office: 13/F, Kam Chung Commercial Building, 19-21 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

www w..sherwoodgroupuk.com

000510

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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CLASSIFIED

l CLASSIFIED PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

l CLASSIFIED

l PRINTERS

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Social Sta tationerry Printer of the Year

Award winning U UK & Global specialist manufacturer ffor the greeting card industry fo or over 40 years To discuss how we can worrk together, contact Richard Bacon: Tel 0115 928 7766 Email ric chard.bacon@sherwoodgroupuk.com

www.sherrwoodgroupuk.com Hadden Court, Glaisdale e Parkway, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottin ngham NG8 4GP

WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION

Same day order turna around Accurate fulfilment Value added only as you sell the product

THE SPECIALIST GREE ETINGS CARD PRINTE ER

Exclusively Greeting Cards Dedicated Account Managers

Litho Print

Die-cutting

Digital Print

Flittering

Foiling

Packing

Embossing

Distribution

With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of yourr team bringing QYGL QSVI XLER JYPǻPQIRX 4YV GSWXMRK WXVYGXYVI MW WMQTPI ERH XVERWTEVIRX ;I ; I GEVV] SYX EPP EWTIGXW SJ LERH ǻRMWLMRK ERH EWWIQFP] ERH TVSZMHI [LEXIZIV EHHMXMSREP WIVZMGIW ]SY RIIH 4YV WIPIGX XIEQ SJ SYX[SVOIVW GEVIJYPP] LERH [VET ER] WM^I SV JSVQEX SJ GEVHW YVKIRXP] 4ZIVRMKLX ;I ; I GEVI EFSYX ]SYV TVSHYGX EW QYGL EW ]SY HS &XXIRXMSR XS HIXEMP 6( .WWYIW

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

www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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