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In Conversation with…Paper Salad
Autumn Fair will be the first official outing for Paper Salad since Karen Wilson became the company’s sole owner, having bought out co-founder Claire Williams back in July in an amicable agreement. PG caught up with the publisher’s ‘big cheese’, who is also to become president of the GCA at the end of September, to find out more about the plans for the show and how the company’s new operations director, Karen’s son Jack Wilson is settling into the role. There was some surprise when it was announced a couple of months ago that Karen Wilson had bought out her longstanding business partner and close friend, Claire Williams. These two ‘Paper Saladies’ have been a prominent duo in the industry for almost 20 years, living embodiments of the business they started a short while after graduating from Stockport College in surface pattern design. Revered for creating their trailblazing super brightly coloured and highly-finished greeting card collections that are also the basis of an uber successful ongoing licensing partnership with Glick on giftwrappings, Karen and Claire have long been familiar faces at trade shows, awards events and networking gatherings. So, when it was announced that changes were afoot with this winning partnership, not surprisingly there were some concerns aired, but these were quickly quashed upon learning that the friendship remains intact, and how the decision was completely based on Claire wanting to have more time to spend with her young son and on her home’s renovation. Moreover, with Claire remaining very much part the company’s design team, working three days a week for the business the creative continuity is also assured. “This was not an overnight decision,” explained Karen. “It’s something that Claire and I have been working on for over a year. It had to be right for us and the business. I’m delighted that Claire now has the life balance she wanted, but that she is continuing as part of the design team, as well as a close friend.” Now having the main office to herself, Karen accepts it will be a bit quieter: “Claire and I used to listen to Radio Five Live and 78 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
SALAD CREAM then spend a lot of time ranting at what was being said on the radio. I will miss that, as ranting by yourself is not quite the same!” Supporting Karen, who now heads up the Above: Karen Wilson working on some of the new designs that will be on show at Autumn Fair. Below: One of the designs in the brand new Alchemy range, which lives up to Paper Salad’s trademark of bright colours, textures and finishes. Right: As part of Paper Salad’s ongoing licensing programme, these crackers are being produced under licence by Penny Kennedy, with more stationery planned with its sister company, GBCC.
running of the business, as well as being the main creative driver, is someone she knows very well. Her son Jack was appointed operations director to coincide with Claire’s stepping back, while Karen’s daughter-in-law