Progressive Gifts and Home March/April 2015

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March/April 2015

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This Month March has already turned out to be an incredibly busy month for us at Progressive Gifts & Home, with my phone ringing like mad and my Inbox jammed with the reactions of a myriad of delighted Greats gift retailer awards finalists. No sooner had we announced which wonderful retailers had made the shortlist than people were picking up the phone and writing to tell us how delighted they were!

"Amazing news, thank you so much we are chuffed to bits!" enthused Angela and David Theobalds, owners of Emporium in Cheltenham and Winchcombe. "This is such an incredible honour and an enormous boost for our business," commented Brenda Wallace, owner of Velvet Moon in Glasgow. "We are so thrilled!" exclaimed Elaine Coles, owner of the The Country House Gift Company in Winscombe.

For those who didn't make it to the finals this year, commiserations, but every year the bar really does get set higher and higher as entrants demonstrate how fabulous their shops are.

Putting as much effort into their nominations as they do into their businesses, entries arrived boxed, bagged, wrapped, ribboned and bejwelled, many themed to the shop's name. While some were concise yet packed a punch, others rivalled War and Peace! Among the joys was looking at all the images and press coverage that this year's incredible bunch of finalists achieved in 2014. We were also blown away by the initiatives that saw shops go the extra mile as marketeers in order to drive business into their outlets. Over the coming year, you will be hearing much more about our Greats 2015 finalists as we include their news and views in our articles.

Meanwhile, as part of the gift industry, we would, of course, love you to come along to The Greats Awards themselves where we will be announcing the winners! The lunchtime event takes place on Thursday May 7 at the stunning Savoy in London (overlooking the River Thames), with the great and the good in gifts getting together for the most special day in the industry's calendar. Now in their 13th year, the Awards are a hot ticket - we sold out last year - so if you'd like to be part of the action this year, please contact Clare Davis at Createvents on tel: 01183 340085 or e-mail clare@createvents.co.uk. Meanwhile, please turn to pages 4-5 where we are truly delighted to reveal The Greats finalists 2015!

Also painting a picture of retail in this issue is our 10th PG&H Retail Barometer which looks back at 2014 to see what life was really like on the high street for independent gift retailers. As always, it's a fascinating 'micro' insight, revealing a more positive feeling of the year to come. Naturally there were highs and lows, with the economy, despite a big improvement, still having the greatest impact on business fluctuations last year. But it was social media, more than any other factor, that engaged indies with their customers, with many respondents making good use of Facebook and Twitter to up the ante in communicating with their data base. For the full picture of what the findings reveal, please turn to pages 22-27.

And finally, as the country gets ready to welcome a new Royal prince or princess into our midst next month, we turn the spotlight on Made in Britain. (See pages 49-53). With more and more companies choosing to keep their manufacturing in Britain, businesses reveal why companies around the world can't get enough of products with a British back stamp, definitely more good news for many in the industry!

Above: The Max gang at The Greats last year.

Inside Max Publishing Ltd, United House, North Road, London N7 9DP. Tel: 020 7700 6740 Fax: 020 7607 6411 www.progressivegifts.co.uk www.thegreatsawards.co.uk Publishers

Jacqueline Brown, Warren Lomax and Ian Hyder

4-5

The Greats: 2015 Finalists

43-47 Spotlight On... Stationery

7-19

News

49-53 Spotlight On... Made in Britain

22-27 Retail Barometer 2015

59-61 Spotlight On... Men's Gifts

29

A Global Perspective

70-71 Best Sellers

31

Gift of the Year 2015

75

On The Road: Tanya Barker

75

Last Word: Hope and Greenwood

35-37 Spotlight On... Gifts For Gardeners 40-41 In Profile: Parks London

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Copyright 2008. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of going to press, 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.

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The Greats 2015

Off To The

Tropics!

The Greats Retailer Awards 2015 produced one of the biggest and most fiercely contested entries since the Awards launched 13 years ago.

With London's Savoy hotel beckoning for the Awards ceremony on Thursday May 7, and a tropical theme that's hot, hot, hot - think pink flamingos, pineapples and cocktails! - PG&H is very proud to announce this year's finalists in alphabetical order.

For more about The Greats Awards and how to be part of the most important day on the gift industry's retail calendar, turn to page 7.

(All catagories are listed in alphabetical order)

Retail Employee of the Year 2015 ❐ David Brooks, creative sales assistant,

Bluestone, Glasgow

❐ David Budd, department manager Oxford Street,

John Lewis

❐ Anne Connolly, shop manager, Velvet Moon, Glasgow ❐ Katie Daw, sales assistant, The Stationery & Gift

Boutique, Ampthill

❐ Mandy Elliot, retail supervisor, Giant's Causeway Gift

Shop, National Trust Ireland ❐ Linda Hoskins, till operator, Hawley Garden Centre, Dartford ❐ Gemma Pickervance, buyer, Cliftons, Lytham

Independent Gift Retailer of the Year London (inside the M25) ❐ Charles Farris, Battersea ❐ Gift, Crouch End ❐ Grand Passions, Clapham ❐ The Loft, Teddington ❐ Map Gift Shop, Archway ❐ Tickled Pink, Wandsworth Common and Earlsfield Independent Gift Retailer of the Year Home Counties, South & South East ❐ Feather & Fern, Dorking ❐ Forget Me Not, Stubbington ❐ Maddy Moo's, Totton ❐ Paisley Cat, Farnham ❐ Red Card, Petworth ❐ Something Special, Edenbridge Independent Gift Retailer of the Year East Anglia ❐ Daisy Chain, Histon ❐ Glyph, Hitchin ❐ House and Garden, Snape Maltings ❐ Lottie Mutton, Saffron Walden ❐ Love It, Stamford and Bury St Edmunds ❐ Rapport, Stamford 4

Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

Independent Gift Retailer of the Year Midlands & Wales ❐ The Bottle Kiln, West Hallam ❐ Flint, Groby ❐ Lavender Blue, Market Harborough ❐ Marmalade Meringue, Hinckley ❐ Village Crafts, Bets y Coed ❐ Wonder Stuff, Treorchy Independent Gift Retailer of the Year North and Northern Ireland ❐ Bigwicks, Chesterfield and Barnsley ❐ The Bottom Drawer, Portadown ❐ Mantons, Isle of Man ❐ Retro 36, Scarborough ❐ Saffrons of York and Little Saffron, The Shambles ❐ Utility (3 shops), Liverpool and London Independent Gift Retailer of the Year South West ❐ Bickleigh Mill, Tiverton ❐ Bloomsbury, Bath ❐ Emporium, Cheltenham and Winchombe ❐ Gifts, St Ives ❐ Inside Out, Cheltenham ❐ Sugar Loaf, Cheltenham Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - Scotland ❐ Bijou, Elgin ❐ Bluestone, Glasgow ❐ Brodie Country Fare, Brodie, By Forres ❐ The Granite House, Fort William ❐ The Old School, Beauly ❐ Velvet Moon, Glasgow (Tropical border images kindly supplied by Paperchase.)

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The Greats 2015

Best Newcomer, South & Wales ❐ The Country House Gift Company, Winscombe ❐ The Dinky Dove, Chertsey ❐ The Indigo Tree, Streatham ❐ Mrs Robinson's Store, Worthing ❐ Polkadot Home, Keynsham ❐ WOW, Hythe Best Newcomer, Midlands, North and Scotland ❐ The Brotique, Edinburgh ❐ A Little Mooch, Derby ❐ GiftsMade4u, Northants ❐ Quirky Coo, Dundee ❐ Tilly Mint, Crosby ❐ Rhubarb, Malvern Best Specialist Multiple Retailer of Gifts ❐ Aspire Style (5 stores) ❐ Love Aroma (4 stores) ❐ Sass & Belle (5 stores) ❐ Temptation (7 stores) ❐ Time & Tide (6 stores) ❐ Vinegar Hill (7 stores) Best Department Store Retailer of Gifts Barretts of St Neots Dawsons, Clitheroe and Skipton Debenhams, Oxford Street Housing Units, Failsworth John Lewis Rossiters of Bath and Cardiff

❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐

Best Non-Specialist Retailer of Gifts ❐ About Living, Giffnock ❐ Bay Tree Books and Gifts, Glossop ❐ Dunelm ❐ Loch Leven's Larder Gift Shop, Kinross ❐ Retro 36, Scarborough ❐ Scape Interiors West, Bournemouth Best Lifestyle, Homewares and Gifts ❐ Armstrong Ward Lifestore, Kendal ❐ Homer, Edinburgh and Aberfeldy ❐ JOY (multiple) ❐ Oliver Bonas (multiple) ❐ Orange Tree, Topsham ❐ Sparks Yard, Arundel Best Gift Retailer of Jewellery ❐ Bertie Brown, Perth ❐ Bluestone, Glasgow ❐ Cliftons, Lytham ❐ Metalyka, Stony Stratford and Olney ❐ The Olive Tree, Londonderry ❐ Pippin, Edinburgh Best Garden Centre Retailer of Gifts ❐ Dobbies ❐ Hawley Garden Centre, Dartford ❐ Klondyke

❐ Mains of Drum, Banchory ❐ Smiths Nurseries, New Denham ❐ Whitehall Garden Centre, Bristol and Lacock

Best Museums/Visitor Attraction Gift Shop ❐ The Battle of Bannockburn Gift Shop ❐ Chester Zoo Diamond Jubilee Gift Shop ❐ University of Glasgow Gift Shop ❐ New Forest Museum ❐ Stonehenge Visitor Attraction ❐ V&A Shop Best Retail Display of Gifts ❐ Aspire Style (5 shops) Oxford and the Midlands ❐ Emporium, Cheltenham and Winchcombe ❐ Forget Me Not, Stubbington ❐ Lynn Tait Gallery, Leigh On Sea ❐ Old School Beauly, Beauly ❐ Pippin, Edinburgh Best Online Retailer and/or Mail Order Gift Retailer ❐ The Brilliant Gift Shop ❐ Cliftons Online ❐ Gifts From Handpicked ❐ Inside Man ❐ The Present Finder ❐ Temptation Gifts/Campus Gifts Best Retailer Initiative ❐ The Brotique, Edinburgh - For its Tashe, Trims and Tears fundraiser for Mo'vember. ❐ Loch Levens Larder, Kinross and Perth - For Cinderella's Gone Missing in store promotion. ❐ Manton's, Isle of Man - For its full colour catalogue initiative. ❐ Oliver Bonas - For its 21st anniversary programme of events. ❐ Orange Tree, Topsham - For its Decorate Your Christmas Table workshop. ❐ Retro 36, Scarborough - For its The First Snowfall of Christmas - A Christmas Story by Retro 36.

Best Service To The Independent Retailer (Companies are listed in alphabetical order)

❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐ ❐

East of India Enesco Gisela Graham Heaven Sends History & Heraldry Joe Davies Really Good Widdop Bingham Xpressions 4 U Yankee Candle

Honorary Achievement No finalists are revealed for this special award.

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The only awards that celebrate gift retailing in the uk. .

Lunchtime Thursday May 7 2015 Venue: Savoy Hotel, London I would like………………table(s) of ten at £1550 per table + VAT I would like………………table(s) of twelve at £1860 per place + VAT I would like to book………………place(s) at £155 per place + VAT I enclose a cheque made payable to Max Publishing Debit my Visa/Mastercard (please delete as necessary) Card No...............................................................................................................................

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Address if different to company address....................................................................................................................................................................................... .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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All bookings must be accompanied with payment. We will be unable to refund any cancellations after 1 May. Tickets and invoice will be sent to you once payment has been received.

Please return this booking form with payment to: Createvents Ltd, 450 Brook Drive, Reading, Berkshire RG2 6UU Tel: 01183 340085 or by Mob: 07769905959 Web: www.createvents.co.uk

www.thegreatsawards.co.uk

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Industry News

'Great' Excitement!

Limited Edition Bobble Bottle

Greats 2015 Finalists Revealed

It's been an incredible couple of weeks for gift and home retailers, large and small, following the announcement of the finalists in The Greats gift retailer awards 2015, from across all retail sectors of the industry.

Not wasting a single moment was an exuberant Lisa Wyatt, store manager at Barretts of St. Neots. "Wow! We were completely surprised and very excited! The poster will be going in the window today and we will be shouting about it on social media," she said on hearing the news. "We are very proud to have been nominated, let alone be in the finals!"

Also thrilled with the news were mother and daughter Trudy and Tilley Tebbutt, owners of Marmalade Meringue in Hinckley, who said: "We are in an absolute state of shock at reaching the finals! Thank you so much, we can't stop grinning!"

Sisters Rhonda Jardine and Frances Doran, owners of The Bottom Drawer in Portadown, Co. Armagh, were also overjoyed. "Frances phoned and told me, 'I'm just reading the most exciting e-mail I've read in years!'" Rhonda enthused.

At Velvet Moon in Glasgow, owner Brenda Wallce was ecstatic too: "The news means so much. It feels like our belief and hard work have been worth it!"

Mike Adams, md of Temptation, Temptation Gifts and Campus Gifts, concurred: "We put a lot of time into our submissions - as well as into our business - so it's terrific to know that it has been recognised."

The winners will be announced at the spectacular Greats 2015 Awards, which take place at London's Savoy on Thursday May 7, where the theme will be tropicana.

"It is one of the biggest trends around this year, and we intend to pull out all the stops to make The Greats Awards 2015 a truly memorable day for everyone," confirmed PG&H's editor Sue Marks.

To book tickets to the event, contact event manager Clare Davies at Createvents on 01183 340085 or email Clare at clare@createvents.co.uk.

All retail finalists were arrived at following an industrywide poll of gift suppliers, reps, agents and selfnominations. The full line up of Greats finalists appears on pages 4-5.

For more details, visit www.thegreatsawards.co.uk Top: Guests wining and dining at last year's Greats Awards, the hottest ticket on the gifts calendar.

Above: The coveted Greats trophy standing proud outside the Savoy in London.

Left: Cliftons of Lytham has already hit the headlines.

Greats Sponsors Line Up For 2015

The sponsors of The Greats 2015 include (in alphabetical order): Apple Display/i4 Group; Christmas & Gift Harrogate; Clarion Events/Home & Gift Harrogate; Dansk Smykkekunst; Di Palomo; Gisela Graham; i2i Events/Autumn Fair/Spring Fair; Joe Davies; Kaemingk; London Stationery Show/National Stationery Week; Premier Decorations; Progressive Greetings Live; Really Good/Soul; Ravensden; Roots Candles; The Giftware Association; Wild & Wolf; Yankee Candle.

Lunch At The Savoy The much anticipated 2015 Greats Awards lunch will be taking place at London's stunning Savoy hotel, overlooking the River Thames, on Thursday May 7. For ticket information please contact Clare Davies at Createvents, tel: 01183 340085 or email clare@createvents.co.uk.

Last year's event was over-subscribed and tickets will again sold be on a first come, first served basis.

Left The magnificent Savoy in London.

Oliver Bonas will be offering a new exclusive, limited edition Bobble bottle, in coral reef colours, to tie in with the Natural History Museum's exhibition Coral Reefs: Secret Cities of the Sea. The Bobble bottles - which filter water as people drink will be available from Oliver Bonas stores from Sunday March 22 - World Oceans Day. In addition, in partnership with Oliver Bonas and the Natural History Museum, Bobble is running a competition, courtesy of On The Go Tours, inviting entrants to win a trip to trip to Egypt to see the Coral Reef.

Runners-up prizes include exhibition tickets and limited edition Bobble bottles. Visit www.waterbobble.uk/corals Above: The limited edition Oliver Bonas Bobble bottle.

The Retail Future Is Digital

The great and the good in retail will be getting together at the end of March for a two day Future High Street Summit which is being held in Nottingham. The event will kick-off with a session dedicated to the government's Future High Street Forum focusing on the latest reports and programmes that will push town and city centres into the digital age. Introducing the session will be Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Comments Helen: “More than £150bn of retail sales are influenced by digital, but only half of small businesses have a website, and just 33% of SMEs are currently online. It’s suggested that digital technology could unlock £18.8bn of revenue for SMEs, as well as reducing their costs by up to 20%. It’s clear that there is a real opportunity for all players in our high streets to tap into this potential and secure their place in the future.” ❐ A Digital High Street 2020 report was released by the Digital High Street Board at the beginning of March.

In the Frame

A photo of her daughter Jorja Muir won mum Jillian, owner of Paper Jewels in Falkirk, £50 worth of Colonial Candles from Widdop Bingham.

The photo was Above: Jorja was photographed judged to be the winner with Widdop Bingham's Scottish rep, Paul McAleese. in an Instagram competition held by the company, which invited customers to take a photograph of themselves with a supporting cast and props.

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Fashion meets Function You always find something new at the London Stationery Show.

See thousands of stationery and writing products from over two hundred different suppliers from around the world, all in one place.

To find out who’s exhibiting and register for free entry, go to www.stationeryshow.co.uk For information about National Stationery Week and World Stationery Day, go to www.nationalstationeryweek.com Join the conversations

@StationeryBytes @NatStatWeek

StationeryShow NationalStationeryWeek

Stationery Event of the Year

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Industry News

PG&H Retail Barometer Looking Forward To 2015

Significant growth 4% The word "exciting" vied with "challenging" as 70 Marginal growth 65% independent gift retailers up and down the Remain about the same 26% 60 country responded to PG&H's tenth Retail Slight decline 4% Barometer, which put gift retail in 2014 under Major decline 1% 50 the microscope!

With nine years of data providing comparisons, the findings of the 2014 survey 40 revealed a more positive gift indie sector, with 30 some two thirds of respondents confirming that the uplift in the UK economy had a 20 positive effect on their business last year.

Facebook and Twitter also helped to drive business in the last 12 months, with more and 10 more independents using social media as a 0 way to communicate with their customers.

The findings of the PG&H Retail Barometer also underlined that jewellery, bags Above: How respondents view the year ahead. and related fashion accessories were still out in front on the product side, with greeting cards continuing to be a close runner-up.

In terms of diversification, stationery, garden gifts, toys and even balloons entered the charts this year, as retailers sought to take their overall product mix in new directions.

"The PG&H Retail Barometer really is a yardstick for how independent gift and home retailers are thinking and feeling," commented PG&H's editor Sue Marks. "A real positive this year is that over 90% of respondents confirmed that they are very much looking forward to the year ahead."

For the full findings of PG&H's unique Retail Barometer, please turn to pages 22-27.

Buying Power At Spring Fair Ocado was chosen as the winner of the first Spring Fair Buyers Power List Awards which made their debut this year. The awards, which focused on three categories, were designed to celebrate the best in British buying as well as to recognise influential buying teams across all sectors.

Gillian Leahy, buying manager for Ocado, was named as the Power 30 overall individual winner. The two other winners were John Lewis, which won the Best Multiple Retailer or Department store category, and Temptation Gifts, which won the Best Independent Retailer Buyer or Team category.

The shortlist was compiled and voted for by the industry, with an advisory panel that included The Giftware Association, Bira, Bira Direct and BHETA. Over 63,225 visitors attended Spring Fair in February, where the keynote speaker was Michael Acton Smith OBE, founder of Mind Candy and Firebox.

Above: A delighted Mike Adams, md of Temptation, with his wife Sheena, director, and the company's head of retail Helen Dunham and buyer Christian Adams, at the Buyers Power List Awards.

Right: Designer Katie Alice was the star attraction at the Creative Tops tea party held during Spring Fair.

Left: Style guru Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen visited the Arthur Price stand during Spring Fair to launch his latest cutlery collection for the company, Valentina, a special pattern celebrating 15 years of design partnership.

Upping The PR Ante Caroline Gardner recently played host to a group of top consumer journalists at the company's flagship store on London’s Marylebone High Street.

"All our PR activity is aimed at building our brand and driving customer footfall towards our independent retailers who mean so much to us," said the company's sales director Amanda Fergusson. “The day was a great success and, as a result, we have some great pieces in the pipeline with the glossies including fantastic coverage already in Period Living, Woman & Home, Living ETC and the Guardian." ❐ A Caroline Gardner wedding cake design is currently appearing on envelopes having been selected by Royal Mail for its Smilers 2015 First Day Cover Collection stamps. The stamps reflect special occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, births and birthdays.

Above: Caroline Gardner’s 'wedding cake' stamp design.

Staying Ahead Online

As more and more people become eCommerce entrepreneurs, Mette Downer, founder and ceo of The Great Gift Company has written a guide, Staying Ahead Online, to help small online businesses succeed.

"This book is written with the aim of being helpful to anyone who is either about to, or has already started an online business and is now ready for a bit of fine-tuning," states Mette. "This is a shorthand version of a massive subject."

Visit www.stayingaheadonline.com

Tiger Opens In Putney Tiger roared into London's Putney Exchange Shopping Centre earlier this month with the opening of its 43rd UK shop selling homewares, stationery, toys, toiletries and accessories priced between £1 and £60.

"We have signed on five more sites in high profile areas which are all due to open in the first half of the year, with plans for further openings later in 2015," confirms Philip Bier, md of Tiger London & Southeast.

Below: Tiger will be opening more shops this year.

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For more info please email sales@xystos.co.uk or call 0191 499 1570 or order online at our trade website www.xystostrade.co.uk

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Industry News

Wild And Wolf Sold But It's 'Business As Usual'

Brisk Business At NY NOW Below: The Ted Baker Collection from Wild and Wolf.

(See Taking Note on pages 43-47).

A global stage now beckons for gift company Wild and Wolf - which is currently celebrating the company's 10th anniversary - following DC Thomson Consumer Products (DCTC) having recently acquired a majority stake in the company which was founded by Jon Cameron and the late Richard Barson in 2005. The acquisition will see the current management team staying on under the new ownership.

“The business has grown significantly in the last two to three years, particularly export sales which now represent around 40% of our business," explains Wild and Wolf's ceo Jon Cameron. "The deal with DCTCP gives us a solid financial foundation and infrastructure to access more markets around the world and continue our growth. That said, for our core market of boutique independent retailers, it is very much ‘business as usual’, with the management team remaining in place and continuing our focus on those retailers when working on new products. They are at the leading edge of trends in our market, from which all else follows.”

This latest acquisition is a significant step in the planned expansion of DC Thomson’s Consumer Products business, a multi-national company that creates and distributes consumer products for children and adults in the categories of books, stationery, gifts and toys.

Paul Taylor, ceo at DCTCP, said: “I have admired the innovation and beautiful design of Wild and Wolf products for many years and I am excited at the opportunity to help grow the business internationally.

“The acquisition of Wild and Wolf marks a major step in our strategy to diversify and grow our Consumer Products division. DCTCP has enjoyed considerable success over the last decade with its publishing company, Parragon Publishing, also based in Bath, and this investment will add to our portfolio of products and brands within DCTCP, taking our business into new premium retail channels.”

Wild and Wolf designs and manufactures award-winning licensed products spanning fashion brands such as Ted Baker and Orla Kiely to family favourites Scrabble, Mr Men and The Gruffalo.

'Magnificent Seven' For PG Live With greeting cards a major product line for gift retailers, as the PG&H Retail Barometer has confirmed, (see pages 22-27) gift indies will be heading for PG Live on June 2-3, which takes place at the Business Design Centre in London, marking a seven year milestone for the show.

"We've had an incredible response to the show this year," confirmed joint show director Simon Boyd. "In fact, we've negotiated more space so that, once again, we can extend the start up Springboard@PGLive section."

With the PG Live exhibitor line-up already reading like a who’s who of greeting card publishers - from the leading names to brand new companies - retailers have lots of good reasons to visit the show.

Many high profile exhibitors are exclusive to PG Live, making it the only opportunity to see the 2015 lines from Carte Blanche, Emotional Rescue, Paperlink, Gemma, Hallmark, UK Greetings and others.

Adds Simon: "PG Live is the only dedicated trade show for the greeting card industry, and the significant growth we are seeing this year is extremely positive news for the industry as a whole."

All visitors to the show will receive a free two course lunch, free refreshments throughout the show and an invitation to a free drinks party on the first night, June 2.

To register, visit www.progressivegreetingslive.co.uk or phone 01635 297070.

Above: PG Live will be opening its doors at London's Business Design Centre at the beginning of June.

Left: All decked out for dedicated card show PG Live.

Reflecting an upturn in the US economy, the recent NY NOW show was deemed a huge success, say the organisers, with attendance up and some brisk order writing.

“Our attendance this winter increased from winter 2014, and was on par with summer market levels, with buyers from all 50 states and 80+ countries in attendance,” commented Randi Mohr, NY NOW's co-director and vice president.

For the first time, all show sectors came together under one roof at New York City's Javits Center, which will be repeated at the forthcoming NY NOW which takes place from August 15-19. Visit www.nynow.com

Letters Live

Singing the praises of letter writing in the Sunday Times' News Review section, was Benedict Cumberbatch. With a front page headline stating Why We Still Need To Write (And Receive) Letters, the actor explained why, in an article, written by David Mills, he will be appearing from March 31 - April 4 in the return of Letters Live at the Freemasons' Hall in Covent Garden to read a letter written

by Alan Turing to his friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge.

Also appearing with Benedict will be Sherlock Holmes actress Louise Brealey, alongside other well known actors.

Making A Fashion Statement

Showing that walking sticks can combine function with fashion, Classic Canes has appointed Natasha Baker MBE, double Paralympic gold medal winner and walking stick user, as a brand ambassador for the company. Managing partner, Charlotte Gillan, explains: “Natasha shows that using a walking stick can be a glamorous fashion statement, whatever your age or occupation. Her high profile and her talent for co-ordinating her walking sticks with her outfits mean she will show off her wardrobe of Classic Canes sticks to their best possible advantage.”

Natasha, who suffers from transverse myelitis, became one of only 25 British Paralympians to be awarded an MBE by the Queen. For her podium appearances at the Olympics, Natasha chose a Classic Canes’ Union Flag print walking stick. She joins fellow paradressage rider Edward Chanin as a brand ambassador for the company.

Above: Natash Baker MBE with her Classic Canes walking sticks.

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Industry News

GOTY Winners Announced Made In UK Wins Judges' Choice Award

Made In UK was the stand-out category at the Gift of the Year (GOTY) Awards, with My Gift Trade's Hinchliffe and Barber Songbird Grey Ceramics not only the winner of the category, but also the winner of the coveted Judges' Choice Award for the most outstanding product in the competition.

In addition to a GOTY trophy, the company will also receive a free stand at Autumn Fair by i2i Events Group, the competition's headline sponsor.

Also walking away with two trophies was j-me, whose Animal Toothbrush Holders won both the Kids and the Under £10 category. Other winners included Stoneglow Candles whose Modern Apothecary candles won the Home Fragrance category; Lagoon whose SkyDrive powered paper planes won the Gifts for Men category and Turtletech Designs whose Cassini Terrestrial MOVA Globe won the Premium/Luxury category.

Winner of the PG&H sponsored Home Accessories category was Amber Bright Creations, whose Vintage Light Bulb scooped the top prize. Highly commended in the category were Quail Designs' Goat flower vase and Transomina's Woodland Trophy Hooks. (See A Light Bulb Moment on page 31).

Among the other highly commended companies were: Parlane International for Milk Bottle with Straw (Garden & Outdoor Living category); The Lagoon Group for Christmas Origami (Occasions category); House of Marbles for Takes & Adders (Kids category) and Lux-Wrap for Speedy Gift Wrap for awkwardly shaped gifts (Cards and Wrap category).

"The 2015 competition has been a memorable one," commented Isabel Martinson, chief executive of The Giftware Association, which organises the awards. "Once again, we strengthened our team of judges so that it would be representative of retailers of all shapes and sizes, and our suppliers stepped up to the plate again to present a diverse array of innovative and beautifully designed products."

International designer and GOTY ambassador Sebastian Conran again presented the prizes.

See page 31 for the full list of winners. Also turn to pages 49-53 for We're Backing Britain.

SHD Logistics Awards Widdop Bingham has been nominated for a SHD logistics award in the Return on Investment category, following its £250,000 investment in a new warehouse management system. Other finalists in the category include Kellogg's, John Lewis and Morrisons.

“The return on investment for our new warehouse management system was originally forecast to take around three years," explains Chris Illingworth, Widdop Bingham’s IT, finance and logistics director.

"This has now been dramatically reduced to 18 - 24 months. Speed, efficiency, accuracy and transparency are just some of the benefits the new system has delivered. It was no quick fix but the effort has been more than worth it."

Above: Widdop Bingham's Andriy Rutkowskyj, IT manager, with Chris Illingworth (right), IT, finance & logistics director.

Above: My Gift Trade's Hinchliffe and Barber Songbird Grey Ceramics, winner of the GOTY Judges' Choice Award.

Left: PG&H's editor Sue Marks with the team from Amber Bright Creations, winners of the PG&H sponsored Home Accessories category, at the Gift of the Year Awards.

All Change At Pulse Following extensive research, a new buying direction has been announced for Pulse, which takes place at London's Olympia from May 10-12.

Organisers Clarion Events have confirmed that the show will have more exclusive content and educational insight, alongside inspiring trends, curated by a new panel, which will be available via the Pulse website.

The website will also provide all-year-round up-to-the-minute trend forecasts supported by live seminars and features at the show, with trends exclusively curated by the show’s official trend partner, Trend Bible, and fashion trends consultant Claire Foster.“Pulse trends will become a source of inspiration ahead of Pulse in May, revealing unique information on future trends, unseen at any other trade shows,” comments Trend Bible's Ruth Hilton.

Other leading experts involved with Pulse this year will be the Evening Standard's design writer Katie Law, David Nicholls, features director at House and Garden, and curators and retail experts The Indytute.

This year's show will also reveal three new feature areas: Launchpad, Living, Fashion, a Christmas Product Trail and a year-round online New Product Gallery.

Also giving the show a point of difference in May will be Shoptalk at Pulse, which will offer a talk and workshop programme featuring practical business advice. There will be three new seminar content streams: ecommerce, trends and business advice. Speakers include Alice Mayor of We Built This City, who will be talking about how she created a pop-up shop on Carnaby Street to showcase the talents of London designers; Zoe Arch of Craft Candy who will be discussing how to nail Pinterest; Jessica Huie MBE, of JH Public Relations and Colourbline Cards, who will be showing how to achieve PR on a shoestring, and Simon Baird and Alan Rutter of Clever Boxer, who will be addressing mistakes that start-ups make.

In addition, Pulse has launched ShopTalk Blog and ShopTalk on Film featuring quick tips. Visit www.pulse-london.com Right: We Built This City's Alice Mayor will be among the seminar speakers at Pulse in May.

Eastern Promise BIG+BIH, ASEAN’s biggest lifestyle and designer show, will be returning to BITEC, Bangna, Bangkok, with more exhibitors and a new show layout.

Organised by the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) in collaboration with the Thai Lifestyle Products Federation (TLPF), thousands of lifestyle and design products will be showcased.

Grouped into eight sectors, products range from gift and premiums, decorative, handicrafts, home textile and household items to toys, Christmas items, candles, stationery items and green and eco products.

“As the biggest lifestyle show in 10 nation ASEAN countries, BIG+BIH will offer the best opportunities for buyers to source creative products in preparation for the festive season in the third and fourth quarters,” commented a spokesperson for organisers the DITP. Highlights at the show include the Design hall, where hundreds of selected design products will be displayed, Demark 2015 (an exhibition of outstanding design products receiving the Design Excellence Award), and Thailand Trade Mark (TTM).

Visit www.bigandbig.com or www.ditp.go.th.

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Industry News

All Fired Up

Portmeirion Invests £1.5m In A New Kiln

Fair With The Feelgood Factor Below: The Portmeirion factory in Stoke-on-Trent.

The Made in Britain back stamp is driving a rise in production at Portmeirion's factory in Stoke-on-Trent, so much so that Portmeirion Group is investing £1.5 million in a new kiln to grow its capacity by 50% this year.

"The demand for Portmeirion’s Botanic Garden and Spode’s Blue Italian is increasing rapidly, and we expect it to accelerate even further in 2016 when Blue Italian celebrates its 200th anniversary," confirmed Phil Atherton, group sales and marketing director at Portmeirion.

"Spode launched Blue Italian in 1816 and it has been in production ever since," Phil continued. "In 2009, when Portmeirion Group acquired the Spode brand, we made the welcome decision to return the production of most of the range to our factory in Stoke-on-Trent – a decision that has proved to be very successful."

He added: “This is an extremely exciting investment for us and highlights our confidence in the future of the business. The tableware and giftware market is currently booming and we are seeing growth across all markets with a particularly strong demand coming from the Far East. The installation of a new kiln and other equipment will enable us to meet these demands and continue to expand and grow as a business.”

The construction of the kiln will be complete by September. As well as increasing factory capacity by as much as 50%, it is also expected to create up to 100 new jobs over the next three years.

News of this investment follows the announcement that the Group is expecting to report record revenues for 2014 of over £61 million, approximately 5% above last year. This will mark the sixth consecutive year Portmeirion Group has achieved record sales. (See Made In Britain on pages 49-53).

Investors In Young People Award A 'first' for Portmeirion Group, is that it has become the first company in the country to be presented with an Investment in Young People (IiYP) Award.

“The Investors in Young People Award is a wonderful recognition of all the hard work we’ve put into our youth training programmes and will serve as an excellent reminder for the entire team to continue to strive to uphold the important values that the award represents,” commented HR manager Sam Pearce.

During 2014, Portmeirion Group provided seven apprenticeship placements and undertook 15 work experience programmes as part of its commitment to the support of young people in their quest to secure employment. The Group also delivered several employability workshops at schools and colleges locally, and attended careers conventions for young people.

Accepting the award on behalf of the company was Ben Foster who has recently completed his engineering apprenticeship with the Group.

Left: Apprentice Ben Foster with Portmeirion's Alan Varley and David Wright.

Light Show Shines At Autumn Fair The Light Show, which will be making its debut in hall 2 at Autumn Fair (September 6-9), is hoping to attract some 60 dedicated lighting exhibitors.

“We have already seen a major upswing in our Home Interiors & Furniture and Lighting sectors at the 2014 exhibition and this major development will ensure Autumn Fair is an even more essential fixture for the market," comments Nick Davison, Autumn Fair's portfolio director. “I'm very proud we can announce that such a strong contingent of suppliers of lighting manufacturers have already signed up to The Light Show, with many more in the pipeline who will join them when the show opens in September.” Visit www.autumnfair.com

Over 4000 buyers visited Scotland's Trade Show Spring in January, with the organisers confirming that the mood was one of optimism.

The show's Best Product Awards were judged and presented on the opening day. The winners were: Home & Giftware: Highland Cow Hairy Coo for their magnets; Jewellery & Fashion Accessories: Slate and Silver for their necklace; Clothing & Textiles: Green Grove weavers for their blanket, and Launch Gallery: Isle of Skye Arts Studio for their art metal brooch.

On the judging panel were Glasgow Museum’s buyer Annette Potts, Captain’s Cabin owner Katrina Thomson and lifestyle guru Gabriella Bennett.

Below: Winning Highland Cow magnets from Hairy Coo.

A Cautious Shopper Shoppers are still reluctant to splash out, despite British households being better off than they’ve been since 2007, according to figures released in BDO’s monthly High Street Sales Tracker at the beginning of March.

According to BDO's figures, high street sales declined by 0.2% year-on-year in February. However, looking to the coming weeks, Sophie Bevan, head of retail and wholesale at BDO predicts a brighter March.

“Consumers are still reeling from the longest decline in living standards this century, and they only spend when they see something they need," comments Sophie.

"But as the weather improves, people will start looking at Spring fashion lines and thinking about their homes and gardens."

Carte Blanche Joins Blogger Summit Carte Blanche Group, best known for its much loved Me To You Tatty Teddy brand, is off to the FunFest Blogger Summit, taking place on April 25 at Whittlebury Hall, Northampton. The brand will be showcased at FunFest, with Carte Blanche hoping to secure new brand ambassador partnerships with blogger delegates.There will also be costume character appearances from Tatty Teddy as well as creative activities and exclusive giveaways.

"Bloggers have long been a key element of our PR and marketing strategy and we are looking forward to meeting the teen, parenting and lifestyle blogging community to discuss new partnership opportunities," comments Ruth Leonard, Carte Blanche Group's director of marketing and new business development. Visit www.funfestuk.com PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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Industry News

Euro/Dollar Effect How Gift Suppliers Are Reacting

PEOPLE Below: Ken Johnson, md of Enesco Europe.

At the end of February, the pound hit a seven year high against the euro, and also rose against a strong dollar. But while that's seen as great news for holidaymakers, it's not such great news for UK exporters, making products more expensive for their European customers.

"There has been a lot of talk in the media about prices falling at retail but very little in the way of warnings about the impending rises due to the unfavourable exchange rates £ v the US$ and €," comments Ken Johnson, md of Enesco Europe. "The £ has recovered a little against the US$ but is still 1.53 versus 1.66 a year ago, at the time of going to press, and the majority of Asian imports have to be paid in US$ so price increases are almost inevitable. This also means that as the euro stays weak against all currencies, unless companies have taken protection against falling rates their margins will be coming under pressure with the inevitable results."

"The Paris show and European export markets are key to Libra’s growth plans," confirms md Paul McLaughlin. "A weak euro makes operating on the continent marginally less expensive, but does reflect a certain lack of confidence in the Eurozone for the future. The middle to top end of the market that we operate in is definitely less affected than the more competitive lower end."

Continues Paul: "With regard to dollars, we hedge our currency and are covered up until November 2015 after which point we will take a view. Currency movements are something we've dealt with for more than 40 years and I am pleased to say we have the strategies in place to manage them as effectively as possible."

At Wild and Wolf, md Jon Cameron confirms that overall the impact on the business from changes in the £/US$ rate is limited as Wild and Wolf export a significant amount of goods to the US and Canada. "So we pretty much earn as many dollars as we spend on goods. What we might lose on reduced margins on UK sales we make on increased value of US sales. Sales to Europe don’t benefit from this position though, and we have to watch the euro/£ rate more closely. It's tempting to put prices up, but there are some fragile consumers in Europe so we have to bear that in mind as well as hitting those sweet spot prices that retailers like, eg £10 etc. Our European business is growing nicely right now and Maison Object, particularly, is a rewarding show for us. We will therefore keep a watching brief on the currency to see if we need to adjust prices."

At Lesser & Pavey, md Julian Hunt highlights: "From the perspective of our customers, a strong dollar makes goods more expensive and we help where we can, but as a supplier, we have our own issues with the £1 and the dollar. It also has to be remembered that China faces a lot of the same issues that we do.

But because our products are always well priced, hopefully, our customers will be less affected."

Adds Really Good's md Lisa Shoesmith: "From our point of view, the strong dollar isn’t good news as we buy most of our gifts in US$ and if the US$ continues to strengthen, the long-term impact is likely to be rising prices in the UK. Having a currency trading strategy in place can help to mitigate against this in the short-term."

Meanwhile, Steve Davies, md of Joe Davies, believes that the euro has been overvalued for some time. "However, the current situation will make it difficult to buy from the UK and will affect Eire in particular. Fortunately, most of our Eurozone customers are realistic about the costs of doing business and just get on with it. However, the dollar is very strong at the moment which affects everything we buy as well, although the most important thing for us is that we keep our prices steady."

At The Heart Of Art Art Marketing has gone into partnership with licensing industry experts MGL in a unique, strategic alliance to promote the company's in-house artists. Comments Darren Runnette, sales director at Art Marketing: "We have had notable success in ad-hoc licensing deals ourselves over the past few years in the gift and home furnishing markets, but this is not our core business and we are not optimising it. MGL has the contacts, trade show experience and infrastructure to considerably ramp up our licensing revenues and we are very excited with the new venture."

MGL is the creative force behind some of the world's most exciting and popular character concepts and graphic imagery, representing over 100 artists, with a growing archive of over 25,000 images. Through the new partnership, Art Marketing’s collection of artwork will be available via MGL for a large variety of licensed products.

MGL licensing executive Katie Sharp adds: “Art Marketing's focus on creating innovative and prevalent trend lead art is a combination which is already a great success with retailers across the UK and lends itself to a whole roster of new product categories, particularly gift, textiles and stationery which will be our primary focus in the coming months." Contact katie@mgllicensing.com

❐ Warren Gell (right) has been appointed Portmeirion's head of sales, joining from British bakeware manufacturer George Wilkinson. Warren will lead on all sales activities across the Group's portfolio of brands: Portmeirion, Spode, Royal Worcester and Pimpernel. ❐ After more than a decade of happy retailing, Lynn Ashton, owner of Memento Gifts in Newent, took the decision to retire, with the shop closing its doors on Valentine’s Day. "I will sell online for a while and then retire later in the year," Lynn told PG&H. "Over the past 10 years, Memento Gifts developed from a tiny collectables shop into a much larger store selling art and crafts from more than 50 local artists and artisans.

Lots of local people have told me how much they will miss Memento," added Lynn.

Below: Memento has shut up shop.

❐ Also deciding to retire was Rosemary Jones, Carrie Elspeth's Welsh agent for 15 years. "I'd like to express my heartfelt thanks and appreciation for Rosemary's contribution to the business during her 15 years service she will be greatly missed," said Carrie Shapiro, the company's creative director.

Snuffed Out

Kringle Candle Company (Europe) Limited has gone into liquidation. "The USA Candle brand has chosen to open multiple distribution channels across Europe to further expand its market. “My team and I felt that we no longer fitted in and decided to exit," explained former md Richard Walkling.

"Due to outstanding debts, the route taken was to liquidate the company rather than incur further financial costs."

The company was first launched in the UK in 2011 and closed its doors in January.

On Your Bike For Charity A Miffy & Friends Charity Cycle Ride Challenge will be taking place from June 30 - July 3, covering 300 miles over four days - a personal endurance challenge as well as the opportunity to experience the start of the famous Tour de France Grand Depart opening weekend in Utrecht.

The event supports the UK's Light Fund charity and Holland's Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis Children's Hospital Charities. To sign up, email anthony@rainbowdesigns.co.uk or alicia@drilicensing.com PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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T: 01635 32868 W: www.sia-homefashion.com E: salesuk@sia-homefashion.com

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Industry News

Getting It Write

London Stationery Show The Biggest Yet Five years on, the dedicated London Stationery Show has its biggest line up of exhibitors to date, with over 200 stationery brands and suppliers from around the world showcasing products at the Business Design Centre in London's Islington on April 28-29.

For gift buyers, the focus will be on higher end ‘boutique’ lines from suppliers such as ExaClair, Wild and Wolf, Parker, Cross and Sheaffer with the ‘desktop gifts’ category reflected by design-led suppliers such as Mustard, NPW, Luckies of London and Lexon.

Other product categories at the show include writing products, notebooks, diaries, calendars, social stationery, filing and storage, licensed and children’s stationery, leather goods and wrap.

“One in three exhibitors are new to the show and over two thirds are exclusive to it, so they haven’t been seen by buyers anywhere else in the UK this year," says the show's organiser Chris-Leonard-Morgan.

“Stationery is a dynamic market, which reflects and unites many different trends - from new colours, textures and fashion to changes in social habits and etiquette. Combined with the enduring appeal of a handwritten note, and the fact you are much more likely to remember something if you have written it down, it creates a great synergy between consumers’ appetite for new products and those producing them,” concludes Chris.

Visit www.stationeryshow.co.uk and www.nationalstationeryweek.com.

As with previous years, the show’s annual Stationery Awards, which are judged by a panel of leading independent and multiple retailers, will take centre stage as visitors arrive. The awards highlight the year’s stand-out products, helping to give visitors a view of future trends.

Retailers Invited To Get Involved Things are hotting up for retailers taking part in National Stationery Week (April 27-May 3) with POS artwork available to download free of charge.

All retailers, both independents and multiples, are invited to take part, with a retailer POS online pack providing everything a participating retailer needs to be part of the sales period, which will be backed up with a massive consumer push to buy stationery.

"We understand how busy retailers are, and for us to provide a 'one stop solution' means they can get involved at the touch of their fingertips," says Chris Leonard-Morgan, organiser of the London Stationery Show, National Stationery Week and World Stationery Day. "The pack includes a selection of shelf strips, posters, window vinyls, counter top displays and much more."

Participating retailers' logos will appear with a link to their website on the www.nationalstationeryweek.com website, with retailers invited to share their plans and activities.

Visit www.nationalstationeryweek.com and register as a ‘participating retailer’ or email georgina@smallmanmedia.com

Remember Your Protractor?

As part of the National Stationery Week celebrations, Maped Helix is on the hunt for the UK's oldest Oxford maths set - a favoured 'essential' in the company's portfolio - which will be shown on its stand at the London Stationery Show taking place from April 28-29.

The owner of the oldest tin will receive a £50 voucher and £25 worth of Maped Helix stationery.

The company will also be showcasing a collection of its products that have been used for generations as a nod to its past. The Oxford brand was launched in 1935, with the late Princess Diana joining in the celebrations to mark the company's centenary in 1987.

Comments the company's general manager Adrian Ellis: “We often have people commenting to us that they still own stationery they had as a child, and especially that they have held onto their old Oxford tins and have found new uses for them. We thought that looking back into the past would be a lovely way to celebrate as part of National Stationery Week 2015.

“We are now on the lookout for the oldest Oxford Maths Set tin in the country which will be used as part of this wonderful event. We would love anyone who thinks they may own the oldest Above: An old Maped Helix maths set. one to get in touch.”

Write A Letter Competition

To tie-in with National Stationery Week (April 27May 3), Blueprint Collections is encouraging people to put pen to paper. The company has launched a letter writing competition that links back to World War One, when over 12 million letters a week were delivered to soldiers, many of them on the front line.

"We have created a competition to encourage adults and children all over the country to write us a letter," explains Blueprint's marketing and quality manager Rosie Ayres. "It's important that we remember our literacy heritage, and to keep pens, notebooks, pencils and writing alive!"

Would-be entrants of all ages are being asked to imagine that they are in the trenches and are writing to their mother, father, sister, brother, friend or lover back home, or alternatively, sending a letter to a soldier.

The writers of the four best letters will be announced on April 29, World Stationery Day, with the prize a bundle of stationery from Blueprint.

Entries should be sent to: National Stationery Week, Blueprint Collections, Charrington House, 1st Floor North, The Causeway, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire CM23 2ER. The closing date is April 22.

Wordly Wise

Making its debut this year will be World Stationery Day, which takes place on April 29 and is part of National Stationery Week, which runs from April 27-May 3.

“National Stationery Week, and for the first time this year World Stationery Day, encourages people to share what they like about stationery, and, of course, it encourages more people to write by hand and not just text or email," says Chris Leonard-Morgan, organiser of the London Stationery Show, National Stationery Week and World Stationery Day.

I'm A Stationery Addict

A very positive article in praise of stationery, which appeared in The Telegraph, has provided a great kick-start to the PR campaign for the London Stationery Show which takes place on April 28-29 at London's Business Design Centre, and National Stationery Week which takes place from April 27-May 3.

Journalist Cathy Bussey, a self-confessed stationery addict, penned a piece for The Telegraph about her own love of stationery and the stationery fetishes of other women.

"What is it about a new notebook, a beautiful pen, a gorgeous letter-writing set or a cheeky, fun notecard that unleashes such powerful emotions - especially in us women?" wrote Cathy. "The humble notebook and pen have serious credentials as healing tools, with journal writing increasingly linked to improved mental and physical health. You can even take courses in journaling... Clearly there's a lot more going on than just the back-to-school feeling of a satisfying raid on a branch of Paperchase, a brand currently contemplating selling for a cool £100m."

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Pulse is changing.

Exclusive products Cutting edge trends Inspirational insight Curated by experts. All year round.

Be part of the change at pulse-london.com 10–12 May 2015, Olympia London

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A New Direction Exclusive and exciting new products, stand-out design, inspiring insight and all the latest trends: Pulse is taking a new direction in 2015 to bring you a brand new buying experience.

1.

2.

3.

1. Curated By Experts

2. Pulse Trends

Pulse is curated by a new panel of market leading experts whose role is to identify new and exclusive products, highlighting the very latest trends, emerging talent and directional brands for you to buy.

Pulse now provides you with up-to-the-minute trend forecasts and insights all year round at Pulse-London.com, plus live seminars and features at the show. Plus, our Christmas Product Trail is hand-picked to bring you the hottest and coolest products for the festive season ahead.

Joining our expert panel are Katie Law, design writer for the Evening Standard, David Nicholls, Features Director at House and Garden, Claire Foster, fashion trend expert, Trend Bible, interiors and lifestyle trend agency and The Indytute, master curators and retail gurus.

Three exciting new feature areas: Launchpad, Living, and Fashion, plus the new Secret Emporium Fashion Installation and International Design feature.

3. ShopTalk ShopTalk, a smart business insight initiative, has now been expanded to become a year-round knowledge hub. On the Pulse website, educational advice and inspiration will be delivered via videos and blogs, while at the show this will take place across three new seminar content streams: ecommerce, trends and business advice.

Register now for a VIP upgrade We have a limited number of VIP passes available for Gift Focus readers.

You could enjoy: – Fast-track entry to the show – Complimentary refreshments and cloakroom – Access to the VIP Indigo lounge

Get your VIP ticket at Pulse-London.com/progVIP

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Retail Barometer 2015

On The Up With wage increases now ahead of inflation, employment up, the housing market on a high and the economy well and truly recovering, 2014 was a year of growth.

In the industry's only dedicated survey, the tenth PG&H Retail Barometer reveals the true picture of what trade was really like for gift and home independents in 2014. And actually, for many - it proved a pretty OK year.

Floods at the beginning of the year, an Indian summer that went into November and a host of major events, to include a carpet of 888,246 ceramic poppies which filled the moat at the Tower of London, to commemorate the fatalities in the First World War, all helped to determine the face of 2014.

William and Kate announced that there would be a new Royal prince or princess in 2015, the Commonwealth Games took place in Edinburgh, and the Tour de France started in Yorkshire. It was also the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare's birthday!

Overall, it was a positive 12 months for Britain, with an encouraging two thirds of retail barometer respondents confirming

that the uplift in the UK economy had had a positive effect on their business.

Perhaps the biggest change in the findings of the 2014 Retail Barometer however, was one of attitude. Although not everyone was feeling optimistic - far from it! - overall, the 'long face' of pessimism seemed to have been swapped for an approach that saw over 90% of respondents looking forward to business in 2015.

Of course, more upbeat headlines in the run up to a General Election helped to put a positive spin on spending, with Britain's economy back to its pre-recession level, more people in employment than five years ago, a revived housing market (good news for the home and gift industry!), mortgage rates staying the same, petrol prices lower than they've been for a Above: The Tour de France. long time, and the FTSE on a high.

Below: Ceramic poppies at the Of course, not everything happened in Tower of London.

2014, but there was a steady growth, with consumers a little less worried about loosening their purse strings.

For a lot of retailers the Indian summer was cited as having had a positive effect on their business too, with many enjoying extra summer sales until the beginning of November.

However, having a website was credited as having had the most impact on retail sales in 2014 for gift indies. The positive effects of using Facebook and Twitter, in relation to engaging with customers, afforded an important, ongoing promotional platform to keep customers up to date.

Also helping to give retailers a point of difference was personalising products with the shop's name and details, such as candles.

Sadly, the local competition closing down was another major factor in re-directing sales, but the gift retailers still standing benefitted.

How Did Your Business Fare Over The Last Year?

PG&H looks back at seven years of Retail Barometer data

2013 v Better Same Worse

22

2014 53% 24% 23%

2012 v Better Same Worse

2013 46% 26% 28%

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

2012 v 2011 Better 31% Same 29% Worse 40%

2011 v Better Same Worse

2010 11% 21% 44%

2010 v Better Same Worse

2009 42% 9% 49%

2009 v Better Same Worse

2008 50% 23% 27%

2008 v Better Same Worse

2007 23% 18% 59%

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Retail Barometer 2015

Again proving that marketing matters, over 80% of respondents put their marketing spend into promotions and advertising, with instore/money off discount promotions remaining in first and second places respectively.

Compared to 2013, the average customer spend was up in 2014, with over 40% revealing that it had increased, and 31% saying it had remained the same.

Investing in social media was also a key move, with Facebook and Twitter the most popular ways to engage with customers. Over 60% of respondents now have a website, and over 50% confirm its purpose is transactional.

Among the biggest gripes in 2014 was wholesalers selling to more than one shop in the same town and suppliers selling online direct to the public and therefore becoming competitors.

In some good news for the industry, for over three quarters of retail respondents, business in 2014 was the same or better than the previous year, with 23% of indies saying that it was worse, down on last year's findings.

Average Spend Per Customer

Declined 27%

What main factors had a positive effect on your business in 2014?

(Last year's placing is shown in brackets)

70 60 50 40 30 20 10

How Was Business?

Declined significantly 2%

Accentuating The Positive

Increased significantly 7%

Increased slightly 34% Remained the same 30%

What effect did Black Friday and Cyber Monday have on business?

Amazon, M&S, Tesco, Argos and Currys were the retailers that made the most of the Black Friday weekend, which started on November 28, representing Britain’s first mass adoption of the US retailer tradition. Gift retailers too, large and small, e-mailed and tweeted to customers about huge discounts.

Overall however, both events had a negative gain for gift independents, with only 22% of respondents saying that either one had impacted positively, highlighting that it was the major retailers who benefitted the most.

Below: Black Friday had little effect

0

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th

Online/Website Local competition closing down Social media Diversification Shopfit Promotional activity Expansion into greeting cards Upsurge of new customers Staff

65% 56% 52% 44% 40% 34% 33% 23% 17%

(2nd) (6th) (3rd) (7th) (4th) (9th) (1st) (5th) (9th)

Putting A Damper On Business Although the economy was the best it had been for many years, growing 2.6% in 2014, 68% of PG&H’s Retailer Barometer respondents still cited it as having a detrimental effect on business last year, significantly ahead of the expansion of discount/value retailers (34%), competitors’ websites (33%), competition from multiples (33%), expansion of gift and home products in supermarkets (33%) and parking issues (33%).

Negative Factors 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 4th 4th 5th 6th

The UK retail economy Expansion of discount/deep value retailers Competitors websites = Expansion of gift and home products in supermarkets = Competition from multiples = Parking issues Charity shops selling gifts Increase in the minimum wage

Movers And Shakers Jewellery, handbags and fashion accessories were, once again, the movers and shakers in 2014 for gift shops, with greeting cards in second place showing their increasing importance for indies.

Interestingly, four new product sectors made their debut in the Top 10: toys, stationery, gardening products and balloons.

"Among the greatest threats to the high street are ill-judged, uninformed councils, planning issues, out of town shopping, continued rate rebates to charities and parking"

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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Retail Barometer 2015

"We work hard to keep things fresh by re-inventing the shop and organising lots of events and initiatives."

Investment Portfolio With the economy improving, shop makeovers were the No.1 investment for gift retailers last year, focusing on a partial refit and new shop units.

1st Partial refit 2nd New shop units 3rd Computer equipment 4th = Shop extension 4th = Vehicles for the business 5th Full refit

Upping The Marketing Ante In store ‘money off’/discount promotions were again the main way in which two thirds of respondents encouraged footfall, up on last year.

Press advertising was the choice for over 40% of indies, on a par with 2013. Loyalty cards remained in third place, with over a third of gift indies offering them to attract an increased footfall.

Above: Greeting cards leapt three places to second place. Shown are two designs from Caroline Gardner.

Which product areas would you like to further diversify into?

(Last year's positions are shown in brackets)

1st 2nd 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

Jewellery (1st) Greeting cards (5th) Handbags (4th) Fashion accessories (3rd) Home accessories (3rd) Impulse items (2nd) Toys (-) Stationery (-) Gardening products (-) Balloons (-) Giftwrap (8th)

Above: A Ridley’s bouncer from Wild & Wolf. Toys are at no.6.

Top 10 Promotional Tools (Last year's chart position is in brackets)

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 7th 8th 9th 10th

In store money off/discount promotions (1st) Press advertising (2nd) Loyalty cards (3rd) Customer evenings (-) BOGOF (or similar) (8th) Collaboration with other local retailers businesses (4th) = Charity fund raising (6th) = Leaflets (5th) Gift voucher scheme (9th) Free gift promotions (7th) Below: Frozen giftware led Radio advertising (10th) the way last year.

Product Mattters How did the following sectors fare in 2014 compared to 2013? ('Star' performers have been shown in red) Category Bath and body Children’s clothing/accessories Collectables Confectionery/edible gifts Craft products Decorative home accessories Fashion accessories (eg scarves, belts etc) Furniture Garden gifts Gift stationery/journals Greeting cards Giftwrap Home fragrancing Handbags Impulse items Jewellery Plush Seasonal gifts Tableware/kitchen gifts Toys & Games Women’s fashions

24

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

Increased 32% (32%) 10% (29%) 3% (5%) 30% (30%) 17% (27%) 42% (33%) 66% (80%) 19% (11%) 0% (5%) 32% (32%) 66% (53%) 36% (36%) 49% (49%) 44% (50%) 34% (38%) 46% (47%) 16% (16%) 21% (24%) 24% (26%) 26% (26%) 40% (57%)

Stable 49% (59%) 62% (33%) 45% (38%) 61% (44%) 70% (36%) 44% (54%) 24% (14%) 57% (39%) 68% (48%) 49% (36%) 26% (38%) 48% (49%) 29% (44%) 31% (33%) 52% (43%) 38% (30%) 54% (44%) 51% (48%) 48% (51%) 53% (58%) 36% (29%)

Decreased 19% (9%) 29% (38%) 51% (57%) 9% (26%) 13% (36%) 15% (12%) 10% (7%) 24% (50%) 32% (48%) 18% (32%) 7% (9%) 16% (15%) 22% (7%) 25% (18%) 14% (18%) 17% (23%) 30% (40%) 28% (28%) 27% (23%) 21% (16%) 24% (14%)

Best Sellers A myriad of giftware was mentioned by retailers when it came to their best selling products in 2014! Standouts were anything reflecting Frozen, Stubbs' Rather Be mug collection and home fragrancing products from Yankee Candle.

Jewellery, scarves and scarf hangers all got a big thumbs up, as did greeting cards.

Companies that received the most mentions for their 'across the board' ranges were, in alphabetical order, Jellycat, Joe Davies, Really Good, Widdop Bingham and Xpressions.

22-23_24-25_26-27_v8_New Grid 13/03/2015 15:27 Page 25

Retail Barometer 2015

'Hero' Product

Cash Will Do Nicely Thank You

With jewellery continuing to be a winner for gift shops, 2014's 'hero' product came from JOMA.

Despite a much healthier economy, almost 70% of respondents confirmed that the majority of their customers are continuing to pay with cash or with a debit card.

Right: JOMA jewellery.

Community Spirit Which local organisations were you involved with last year?

60

Right: Cash is the preferred way to pay.

Made In Britain More and more gift retailers are continuing to source products that have been Made in Britain, especially those that have been designed and manufactured locally, with 84% regarding it as an important or a slightly important 'decider'.

50 40

Not important 16%

30

Very important 33%

20

Slightly important 51%

10 0 1st 2nd 3rd 3rd 4th

Town Centre Retailing Group Charities = Schools = Chamber of Commerce Federation of Small Businesses

56% 48% 34% 34% 33%

Making An Exhibition Of Themselves As with previous years, trade shows have remained the leading way for gift independents to source products, with 94% of respondents attending shows in 2014. Spring Fair led the field as the most visited exhibition.

Your Fave Product Sourcing Route

Making Friends With Facebook Almost three quarters of respondents confirmed that they actively now use social media to promote their shops. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, respondents also regularly used Linkedin, Instagram and Pinterest.

Linkedin 14%

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

Exhibitions Visit from an agent/rep Reading PG&H Looking at other shops Sourcing from the internet Feedback from customers Word of mouth

Below: Visitors flock to Spring Fair.

Facebook 95% Twitter 63%

"I find that more and more is being dumped on the retailer from suppliers. Increasingly, suppliers seem less interested in the smaller independents."

"The government should do more to help high streets nationally. Most small towns are struggling with falling footfall at the same time that edge of town, big box shops and malls are being built."

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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Retail Barometer 2015

"Business rate reductions for small concerns need to continue. Out of town retail developments need to be controlled better and made to introduce parking fees, the profits from which could be re-invested in town centres."

Sourcing New Suppliers With business becoming increasingly more competitive, and retailers striving to differentiate themselves on the high street, more gift indies looked to new suppliers in 2014, with almost a third confirming that they had increased the number of businesses that they dealt with, with just over half staying with the tried and tested.

Service from suppliers was deemed to have been on a par with the previous year, though around a third of respondents said they had experienced an improvement.

Increase in the number of suppliers 31%

Decrease in the number of suppliers 15%

Remained about the same 54%

Print On Demand Respondents seemed less concerned about print on demand cards in 2014. The majority seemed to be taking it in their stride, with fewer indies seeing it as threat or serious threat to their card sales.

How do you view Moonpig, Funky Pigeon and other print on demand operations in relation to greeting card sales in your shop?

Serious threat Threat Neutral Bonus

7% 35% 57% 1%

Supermarket Challenge How do you view the supermarkets’ expansion on the gift and home front?

Serious threat 30% Threat 54% Neutral 15% Bonus 1%

How Does Your Garden Centre Grow?

How do you view garden centre growth in the gift and home sector?

Serious threat 27% Threat 42% Neutral 31% Right: Garden centres’ continuing expansion into gifts remains a concern.

26

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

Online Operators Amazon and online companies per se were cited by 87% of indie respondents as a threat or serious threat to their business. While the figure was about the same as last year, more respondents said they were seeing Amazon as a more serious threat than previously.

How do you view online operators in the gift and home sector (eg Amazon?)

Serious threat 43% Threat 44% Neutral 13%

Direct Selling Some 90% of respondents continue to be concerned about direct selling by gift and home suppliers, slightly up on last year's figures.

How do you view gift and home suppliers selling online direct to the public?

50 40

Serious threat 46% Threat 44% Neutral 10%

30 20 10 0

Top: Amazon continues to be seen as a major competitor.

Exclusively Speaking Do you see geographical exclusivity of supply as an issue?

Yes 62% No 38% "Business rates need to be cut or reduced. The money saved could be used to expand and take on new staff."

22-23_24-25_26-27_v8_New Grid 13/03/2015 15:27 Page 27

Retail Barometer 2015

The Internet Rules Online sales are continuing to be another 'shop' for independents.

Over 60% of respondents now have a website, compared to 50% the previous year, with 53% confirming that the website is transactional, compared to 40% in 2013. Two thirds plan to develop their websites in the coming year, with over 40% of respondents without a website - compared to 25% in 2013 - planning to create a website in 2015.

For those shops with websites, nearly 70% of respondents confirmed that having a website helps to bring customers into their shops, with the sales split seemingly fairly even between bricks and mortar (97%) and online sales (94%).

A Word In Your Ear While, the words 'hard work', 'challenging' and 'competitive' cropped up time and again from respondents, on the flip side, there were as many positive words this year, with 'exciting', 'growing', 'enjoyable' and 'energised' among them!

Looking To The Year Ahead Following a tough seven years, a renewed confidence is returning to the high street, with 94% of respondents confident that business will remain about the same or see growth. Only 5% of indies (compared to 16% last year) predicted that their business would decline.

70

Significant growth Marginal growth Remain about the same Slight decline Major decline

60 50

4% 65% 26% 4% 1%

40 30 20 10 0 How do you view the future of independent gift shops in the next 3-5 years?

(Last year's figures are shown in brackets) Very positive 7% Very weak 3% Positive 44% Weak 26% Neutral 18%

"You have to work really hard, go that extra mile, be kind, thoughtful and treat your customers as friends, listening to their problems and successes. You cannot beat most of the online sellers, but you can make your shop part of your customers' social life."

Celebrity "Yays!" and "Nays!"

The Duchess of Cambridge held on her title as the female most gift shops would like to see walking through their doors in 2015, with the actress Judi Dench in second place.

George Clooney was the most popular male celebrity, followed by Prince Harry and DJ Chris Evans.

Those who would get a less friendly welcome at gift shops up and down the country were Katie Price in the top slot and Katie Hopkins. In the male stakes, politicians Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Tony Blair and Nigel Farage would all have retailers hoping it was closing time!

Magic Wand Time How could life as an independent gift retail be improved?

For those gifts respondents sighing, 'if only I had a magic wand!' here are some of the ways in which they would be looking to improve trading in 2015: stop suppliers selling their goods online and becoming competitors; stop wholesalers selling to more than one outlet in the same town; ban excessive council tax charges; keep supermarkets/garden centre products different to the products small independents stock/can stock; stop retailers feeling the need to discount thereby devaluing brands; ask companies/agents/reps to looks at the bigger picture so that they support small independents as much as they do the big multiples; introduce smaller carriage paid orders and reduced minimum quantities; remind people that if they don't use their independents they will lose them; make suppliers issue credits when they're due; have better credit terms with banks viewing it in a better light; regulate retail pricing of donated new goods in charity shops; let Amazon and e-Bay pay our business rates; make more customers appear!

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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29_New Grid 13/03/2015 10:00 Page 29

A Global Perspective

Internationally Speaking Two of the leading European gift and home exhibitions - HOMI in Milan and Ambiente in Frankfurt - confirmed that international buyers were out in force this Spring, with exhibitors looking to a global stage to showcase their products.

With 'designed and made in China' a growing trend, PG&H reveals what else was trending in Europe this Spring.

HOMI

Putting On The Style Not only is Milan among the world's luxury fashion capitals, defined by the magnificence of its iconic Duomo, it is also the home of exciting lifestyle trade show HOMI, which is getting ready to open its doors at the Javits Centre in New York in May (partnering with NY's International Contemporary Furniture Fair).

PG&H visited the Spring edition of HOMI in Milan to see why well designed, well made Italian style continues to innovate and excite buyers.

Strong, hot summer colours, big 'look at me' jewellery, and 'cuddle me' scents for home fragrances were among the biggest trends at this Spring's HOMI. "International buyers come to the show to see quality Italian design and well made products," commented Roberto Forest, HOMI's director of commercial and international. "HOMI stands for style and quality and that is reflected across the board."

Colours were a big theme, with summer brights - think mustard, pinks, mid blue and orange - making their presence felt across jewellery and fashion accessories, to include small leather items, as well as soft furnishings, furniture, kitchen and dining. "There's a return of warmth which is being reflected throughout the home," confirmed Roberto.

Home fragrance is viewed as a growth sector in the Italian market place, with Yankee Candle, Bolsius and Home & Heart among the exhibitors. "There's an increasing demand for scents that change as people's moods change throughout the day," continued Roberto. "For example, we are seeing 'cuddle' fragrances that are associated with sleep and relaxation, such as the soft scents of talcum powder and the fragrance of clean white sheets."

Foodie fragrances were another strong trend, striking a balance between the smell and taste of food, with holiday nostalgia evoked through travel scents.

Following a successful HOMI held in Russia last Autumn, and with New York to come, plans are currently in the pipeline to roll out more HOMI shows around the world in partnership with other leading international trade shows.

Top: Jumbo sized reed diffusers were a trend at HOMI, as seen on the Millefiori stand in Milan.

Right: Summer brights could be seen on these colurful 'pencil' pouffes.

AMBIENTE

Designed In China

Below: A chair design from Chinese designer Mario Tasi who exhibited at Ambiente.

With Chinese design a growing sector at Ambiente, held in Frankfurt last month, PG&H put the show's Hansjerg MaierAichen, professor for product design at Karlsruhe University for Design (HfG) - and guest lecturer at the China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou - into the hot seat to discover why, softly, softly, Chinese brands are starting to shake up the international design scene.

Not so very long ago, if you asked people to name a Chinese brand they couldn't. But it seems things are changing. "From made in China to designed in China, not only has the Chinese economy grown at a bewildering rate in the last decade, Chinese design, too, has undergone a breathtaking change," confirms Professor Hansjerg Maier-Aichen. “Almost a decade ago, the Chinese government approved design courses for every university in the country and in just a few years, a new generation of Chinese designers have grown up who have struck out in completely new directions in terms of both architecture and design. This is not only evident in the major cities of China, it is also demonstrated in the products that Chinese companies exhibit at international trade fairs such as Ambiente," he states.

Professor Maier-Aichen highlights that design students and design studios are devising projects which have their own stamp on them, and are winning design awards. "Designers are in the process of creating a major shake up on the international design scene. We can definitely speak of sensing that we are at the beginning of something big, with home grown designers in China in demand alongside their European counterparts, and international suppliers too, increasingly employing Chinese designers so that are able to offer the Chinese market products that have been 'designed in China'."

Re-inforcing its position as the world's leading international trade fair for living, dining, tabletop, kitchen and household, Ambiente saw a record level of international exhibitors and visitors in February, with 94 countries exhibiting and 53% of visitors attending from outside Germany.

Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

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Tel: +44 (0)1225 789909 Email: sales@wildandwolf.com

www.wildandwolf.com

31_New Grid 13/03/2015 10:09 Page 31

Gift Of The Year

A Light Bulb Moment When international designer Sebastian Conran presented the Gift of the Year Awards at Spring Fair last month, organised by The Giftware Association, he confided that his personal preference is always for useful presents that put a smile in the mind. "Whenever you use them you remember the occasion when they were given to you, and the person who gave them," he commented.

So which Gift of the Year entries were both useful and memorable this year? PG&H reveals the 2015 Gift of the Year winners and highly commendeds!

As the recent trade shows have revealed, lighting is the 'switched on' trend for interiors at the moment, with a vintage light bulb from Amber Bright Creations winning the PG&H sponsored Home Accessories category.

The company says it can help to change the mood and ambience of a location.

"Vintage light bulbs are a big trend at the moment and are very popular in restaurants, cafes and bars, with people also trying to create the look and feel in their homes," explains director Milan Haria.

Above: PG&H's editor Sue Marks is shown presenting Milan Hari, director of Amber Bright Creations, with a Gift Of The Year trophy as winner of the PG&H sponsored Home Accessories category.

Left: Transomnia's Woodland Trophy Hooks.

Below: Quail Designs' Goat flower vase.

Continues Milan: "Winning the Home Accessories award is giving retailers confidence in these type of bulbs which are user friendly and cover both Edison and bayonet versions."

Highly commended in the PG&H Home Accessories category was Quail Designs' hand painted, humorous Goat flower vase, based on a British Toggenburg goat, and Transomnia's eccentric, quirky Woodland Trophy Hooks featuring a rabbit, stag and fox.

Other Gift Of The Year 2015 Winners ❐ The Judges’ Choice: Winner: Hinchcliffe and Barber Songbird Grey Ceramics (My Gifts Trade)

❐ Gifts for Men: Winner: Battery-powered Paper Planes (The Lagoon Group)

❐ Body, Bath and Spa: Winner: Waggledance Collection (Beefayre)

❐ Home Fragrance: Winner: Modern Apothecary Candles (Stoneglow Candles)

❐ Branded/Character: Winner: Fascinations Star Wars 3D Metal Construction Kits (Professor Puzzle)

❐ Hot Novelty: Winner: Rubik’s Cube Light (Paladone Products)

❐ Card and Wrap: Winner: FORM (The Art File)

❐ Kids: Winner: Animal Toothbrush Holders (j-me)

❐ Commemorative and Collectable Gifts: Winner: Personalised Brass Travellers Compass (Treat Gifts)

❐ Kitchen and Dining: Winner: CrushGrind Optic Mills (T&G Woodware)

❐ Eco-Friendly, sponsored by T H March: Winner: Felt Animal Puppets (Sew Heart Felt) ❐ Fashion Accessories: Winner: Love the Glove (Burgon & Ball)

❐ Made in UK: Winner: Hinchcliffe and Barber Songbird Grey Ceramics (My Gifts Trade) ❐ Occasions: Winner: Photo Booth Prop Range (Ginger Ray)

❐ Fashion Jewellery: Winner: Branch Out (Martick Jewellery)

❐ Premium/Luxury: Winner: Cassini Terrestrial MOVA Globe (Turtletech Design)

❐ Festive and Seasonal: Winner: Skeleton Crew (Talking Tables)

❐ Stationery: Winner: Ted Baker Ladies’ Stationery (Wild & Wolf)

❐ Garden and Outdoor Living: sponsored by GES: Winner: Citronella WoodWick Patio & Picnic Candles (Enigma)

❐ Under £10: Winner: Animal Toothbrush Holders (j-me)

Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

31

32_GH_March_April 2015 12/03/2015 20:01 Page 1

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35-36-37_muk_New Grid 13/03/2015 11:09 Page 35

Spotlight On... Gifts For Gardeners

Your Own

It may be down to the green shoots of economic recovery, or TV's The Big Allotment Challenge, but the bees are a buzzin' on a myriad of giftware with suppliers getting more creative than ever when it comes to gift ideas for gardeners.

From trendy coloured watering cans and gardener's gloves to humorous plaques, hand creams, stationery and storage, there's a huge choice of garden-specific and garden-related gifts with a wide appeal to enthusiastic amateur hobbyists as well as the more serious and professional gardeners.

PG&H got out the garden shears to clip off a few ideas for gift shops looking for impulse as well as more considered purchases.

Gardening has long been one of the most popular British pastimes, with more and more people now choosing to have an allotment in addition to tending window boxes, outdoor tubs and indoor pot plants.

Gardening gifts have blossomed, but as suppliers are quick to point out, products must have functionality.

"Consumers are becoming much more discerning and are not just on the lookout for ‘pretty’ gardening gifts," highlights Nina Best, sales and marketing manager of Burgon and Ball. "They’re after good quality,

Top: Caroline Gardener's Blooming Lovely range.

Above: Sophie Conran for Burgon & Ball, a range of functional garden gifts in trendy colours.

Left: Gisela Graham's Kitchen Garden collection.

practical, stylish branded garden gifts that they feel confident both in giving and receiving, rather than gifts that look lovely, but frustratingly don’t perform in use. Our Sophie Conran for Burgon & Ball range encompasses practical hard working garden tools and accessories with stylish looks, with the range meeting the requirements of both serious and hobby gardeners. The practical tools and gloves sit alongside functional herb pots for the kitchen window, and coloured enamel trays and tea lights for entertaining in the garden."

As Piers Croke, sales director at Gisela Graham highlights: "A lot of gardening is back-breaking work, so the role of gardening gifts is as a reminder to the aching gardener of the rewards to come: flowers and fruit! And bees are definitely in, especially now that they are in the news as an endangered species. Pretty designs, applied to practical useful products such as gloves, aprons, tool bags, knee leer and so on, are the ones that succeed."

At Caroline Gardener, the company has also seen a strong trend for good quality gardening gift items. "Gardeners don’t want plain wooden tools any more," confirms creative director Caroline Gardner. "They want something beautiful, something with personality. Enamelling has become really popular as it allows beautiful patterns to be overlaid onto high quality products such as enamel mugs, seed tins and tools and is also incredibly durable. Recently, we brought out our own Blooming Lovely range of gardening gifts with gifting occasions being a driving force behind the ‘gifts for gardeners’ market place, along with the current trend for ‘home growing’. With approximately a third of UK adults gardening at least once a week, there is a huge appetite out there for good quality gifts for gardeners."

Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

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Spotlight On... Gifts For Gardeners

At the Milford Collection, md David Blower says that the general public are becoming much more discerning when it comes to buying gifts for the garden. "If it’s a product that has no function other than being decorative it needs to be of good quality and excellent design, offering the customer value for money. We have noticed a trend for bigger and bolder products, with keen gardeners looking to make a statement and create an interesting centrepiece. With this in mind, we recently launched a range of large mouth blown glass flowers which have received a great reaction from our customers.”

Retreat Home's garden collection is a natural extension to the company's indoor

Above: The Milford Collection's glass flowers make a statement.

Right: Retreat Home's outdoor range.

ranges. "Our new collection of pretty filigree pots, planters and jugs in white metal have been incredibly popular this year, crossing over from gifts for gardeners to Mother’s Day gifts and weddings," says md Sam Green. "The sector continues to be driven by the current interest in garden makeovers, gardening and grow your own.”

Home Grown Humour

For many suppliers, humour, as well as functionality, is a very important part of the design when it comes to buying gifts for gardeners.

Among those companies with garden gifts to make you smile is Really Good, whose Bright Side range features products with text proclaiming 'Happiness is lunch in the garden’ on a cool bag, and a hip flask inviting you to ‘1. Dig and 2. Swig.' Products range from storage and mugs to flasks, aprons and signs. "We offer items to help gardeners, and these include products that keep you warm, fuelled and to keep your tools in," says sales manager Lisa Marcuccio.

Also adding humour is Parlane's Love to Grow range, with the company's Gardening Against All Odds range for Spring/Summer no exception. "We have stuck to neutrals and colours such as dark grey and pale green to keep the products more commercial while adding interest with humour and surface design," explains md Mike Burgess. "All our garden products are a combination of decorative design and functionality. For example, our apron has an adjustable neck strap and useful pockets for tools as well as an eyelet for twine to be easily dispensed from one of the pockets."

Also looking to humour is Lesser & Pavey whose products range from garden plaques and mugs with humorous sayings to tinware that complements the company's kitchenware ranges. "We have always had garden themed items in our ranges, with our plaques particularly strong," confirms md Julian Hunt.

As Sam Clark, head of design at Container Group Buying (CGB) comments, healthy eating and selfsustainable living ideology have become popular topics over the past few years.

"The trends for gardening inspired gifts have followed suit, offering practical yet fun giftware for ‘grow your own’ fanatics."

Left: The Vegetable Patch, a new range from Container Group Buying.

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Above: A flask aimed at gardeners from Really Good's Bright Side range.

Far left: Parlane's Gardening Against All Odds range.

Left: A fun garden sign from Lesser & Pavey.

Below: A range of preseeded, biodegradable growing mats from BeeMat containing wild flowers for bees, birds and butterflies.

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Spotlight On... Gifts For Gardeners

Bringing The Outside In

On the textile front, companies such as Ulster Weavers offer a range of aprons and tea towels that are garden themed and practical too. "To tie in with the increasing number of gardeners using our products, we have released our new Workwear range," confirms retail manager Owen McErlain. "The aprons have no ties, so they are much less restrictive while doing manual work in the garden, having been designed to wrap around the wearer to offer additional protection."

From fashion colours and pretty designs to humour and practicality, it's clear that the garden gifts market place is blooming. And whether the sun's shining or not, there's certainly plenty of choice for retailers to dig into.

Of course, fragranced giftware with a garden/foodie theme is always a popular choice for gifts. "The ever popular pastime of gardening has seen the growth in floral, herb, and fruit fragranced candles bringing the walls down for a truly outdoor experience," highlights Root Candles' md Steve Senior.

"Root Candles' Kitchen Herbal range fills the kitchen with the sensory experience of fresh herbs pulled directly from the garden. These all natural candles, fragranced with pure essential oils and coloured with vegetable dyes, really help to bring the senses alive."

Also bringing the outside in is Ashleigh & Burwood. Marketing manager Deborah Bettinson highlights the company's new lamp fragrance Vine Tomato. "It's fresh and green, offering an authentic interpretation of this familiar garden scent, with striking imagery featuring sprawling green tomato vines."

At Bolsius, UK sales manager John Barthrope says that gardeners want to reap the rewards of their efforts and enjoy the outdoor spaces they create, with the company seeing an increase in the use of decorative candles and an increased demand for citronella. “Outdoor dining has become a way of life, with dressing a table outside every bit as important as inside.

It's this that has driven our Lounge range for example, and has also prompted us to develop Citronella Garden, with the scent of herbs and the use of bright colours added to the more traditional citronella yellow to offer something more sophisticated.”

John says that the demand for outdoor decorative products as gifts is so strong that the company’s new jutelook filled jars and tea-light holders have been designed especially to co-ordinate with outdoor furniture. “It’s a key market for us," John states.

In the bath and body sector, hand creams and soothers are a must. "Gardeners work hard and enjoy seeing the benefits, so anything that helps or adds value to those tasks, be it a protective barrier cream, something to soothe the hands, muscles or joints, or even practical accessories to assist with the job, are welcomed by those tending to gardens or allotments or even indoor pot plants," says Heathcote & Ivory's Amanda Pullen, marketing, PR & business development manager. "The most appreciated are practical gifts that are designed specifically with a real understanding of the needs of a gardener."

Top right: Root Candles.

Top left: Ulster Weavers' new Workwear apron.

Above left: The new Vine Tomato lamp fragrance from Ashleigh & Burwood.

Right: Heathcote & Ivory's Gardeners Recovery SOS kit.

Left: Bolsius' Citronella garden table.

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The Walking Stick Specialists Walking sticks, folding canes, seat sticks and umbrellas for ladies and gentlemen Simply the best way to help our pollinators by using our prere seeded wild flower grow mats. x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Contain annual, biennial and perennial wild flowers Are a great source of nectar and pollen Biodegradable Inhibits weeds Easy to use Lay y, mulch with sand or compost Water and en njoy Good for pots, tubs and borders 200 x 50cm Min 2 year shelff life Lay in Spring, Summer and Autumn Free merchandiser with orders off 36 mats

Visit us at : The Museum & Heritage Show 29and 30th April 2015 Olympia, London Stand S5

Tel : 01476 530374 Mob : 07798 815832 E : nigel@beemat.biz www.beemat.com

Please contact us for a trade catalogue: Warren House, Hinton St George, Somerset TA17 8TQ Tel 0044 (0)1460 75686 www.classiccanes.co.uk

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the latest gardening gift products to be showcased this month.

Help Our Pollinators BeeMat produce a range of pre-seeded, biodegradable growing mats that contain carefully selected ranges of wild flowers for Bees, Birds and Butterflies. All of our mats are produced in the UK using our patented weed control technology to encourage high germination without the need to use pesticides.

BeeMat Tel: 01476 530374 Email: nigel@beemat.com www.beemat.com Museum & Heritage Show 29/30th April Olympia, London Stand S5

Jazzy Junk Funky and fun, the new Jazzy Junk range from Joe Davies makes a vibrant addition to any garden. Constructed in metal and elegantly decorated in exotic tropical colours, the collection includes cool birds, owls and frogs to make a truly eye catching display! The Jazzy Junk selection, like all 8500 + items in the Joe Davies collection, is easy to buy with minimum orders of just £100 and free delivery nationwide.

Joe Davies Tel: 0161 975 6300 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk www.joedavies.co.uk

Baroque Crates Each piece of T&G’s Baroque rustic acacia collection is completely unique. These beautiful rustic boards and kitchen accessories vary widely in their appearance, making every one extra special and individual. New for Spring 2015 is a new crate, plain and simple! The collection of popular vintage crates are perfect for keeping your condiments, utensils, eggs and fruit and veg tidy! Whether it’s for decorative, everyday use or special occasions this range of T&G crates makes the perfect gift for gardeners everywhere!

T&G Woodware Tel: +44 (0) 1275 841841 www.tg-woodware.com

Jute-look Candles Chef And Sue The charming cartoon strip Chef & Sue is now available for licensing. Created

by Ann Edwards, Chef & Sue appear every week in the Waitrose newspaper.

Chef & Sue provide an amusing and witty look at life. Subjects include food, drink, gardening, friends and family. A great opportunity for food gifting, ceramics, garden gifts and greetings cards. Contact: Ian Downes at Start Licensing.

Start Licensing Tel: 0208 337-7958 Email: ian@startlicensing.co.uk

Citronella Garden in its yellow, lime, orange and fuchsia colourways, has a new partner for 2015 in Jute. The new Jute-look filled jars and outdoor tealight holders have been created from clay, imprinted with the pattern of jute material, to create a realistic finish that complements outdoor furniture.

There are three colour/fragrance options: citronella/basil, citronella/rosemary and citronella/lemongrass. Each retails at around £7. The Outdoor Tealight Holder has a jute-look base around a globe clear glass and retails at £7.50.

Bolsius Tel: 0800 169 5126 / 0870 442 0731 Email: sales@uk.bolsius.com www.bolsius.com

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In Profile: Parks London

A Point f Difference

With a global customer base that includes supplying reed diffusers to the monks in the temples of Korea, and a who's who of corporate clients that features candles for Downing Street, home fragrancing company Parks London currently celebrating its 21st anniversary - is putting the spotlight on customising product for independent retailers this year.

As founder and md Sidney Symons explains, own label is a key marketing tool to help gift and home shops to not only differentiate their candles and reed diffusers from their competitors, but also, to ensure that their customers keep coming back for more.

With personalisation the name of the game, and more and more people looking to individualise everything from their clothes and jewellery to their homes, so retailers, both large and small, are looking to personalise what they are selling to their customers, especially when it comes to candles.

"We are very happy to offer smaller independents 100 pieces," confirms Sidney Symons, founder and md of Parks London which manufacturers all of its products at its state-of-the-art factory in the Midlands.

"Retailers can choose their own fragrance and customise the candles - which are100% natural wax and beautifully packaged - with a bespoke label featuring the name of their shop. The margins are left to them."

As he points out, "for retailers not selling own label, there is always someone selling the brands they've got cheaper somewhere else. But if a retailer chooses to go down the own brand route, and the candle is quality

and burns beautifully - ours have a 99.9% burn - then he or she will keep that customer forever and maximise on their margins."

The company's distinctive quality fragrances - there are 120 to choose from are something that Sidney is very proud of.

"The majority of our fragrances come from France where we have a huge market for our candles and reed diffusers," he explains.

"It's our opinion that French perfumiers are

Massage Candles A diversification for Parks over the past year has been a collection of six massage candles, which all carry European special occasion licences to prove that they are safe to use on the body.

"They've been very successful for us and are continuing to be very popular with spas around the world," Sidney confirms. "These licenses cost ÂŁ2,000 per fragrance, which is very expensive, to ensure that they are successful worldwide."

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Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

Above left: Sidney Symons, founder and md of Parks London.

Above: Among the new pastel coloured collection of reed diffusers for Spring.

Below: A bespoke candle product produced for an independent retailer.

the best in the world but that the French don't necessarily produce the best candles in the world. We put 10-15% fragrance into all our candles, and 25-30% fragrance into our reed diffusers, all of which are 100% natural glycerine, with the finest essential oils selected from specialist regions around the world. What we offer our French retail customers is not only the finest fragrances but quality too."

No stranger to retail - Sidney was in jewellery retail for over 40 years, owning 100 shops up and down the country - he definitely knows a thing or two about the retail trade. In fact, the business was launched when his wife's gift shop, Parks in North London, was visited by a buyer from high end tableware company Thomas Goode who liked the scented candles she was selling. The buyer asked for 500 pieces, which Parks supplied in silver containers, with other orders subsequently following from the likes of Selfridges, Harrods, Debenhams and Saks on Fifth Avenue, New York.

Although the company was sub-contracting at that time, it convinced Sidney that there was a niche market for 100% natural wax.

"It was what people wanted but they couldn't burn the candles successfully. We persevered however," he continues. "It took us nearly two years until we felt we had the formula right and we then began

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In Profile: Parks London

“In the past 12 months, a six figure investment in the company's 25,000 sq ft factory in Hartlebury, near Kidderminster, has seen efficiency stepped up.”

exhibiting at trade shows in the UK, Europe, America, Japan and Singapore.

Now we export to 61 countries with the expertise to formulate the wax for the hottest and the coldest climates."

Own label followed, with Sidney proud to reveal that the company has made candles for over 2,000 corporate clients to include leading department stores, airlines, banks, hotels and international companies, as well as for corporate events and private functions to include weddings, a growing market. (An example was Piers Brosnan's wedding in LA). Because of confidentiality agreements, he can't reveal too many of the names, but he is able to discreetly mention HRH The Prince of Wales, Downing Street, Bruce Oldfield, Alexander McQueen, the Royal Opera House, the British Museum and the Football Association alongside many other major brands.

In the past 12 months, a six figure investment in the company's 25,000 sq ft factory in Hartlebury, near Kidderminster, has seen efficiency stepped up. A new stock control system has been put in place, with a mezzanine floor added, and a production capacity that allows the company, which manufactures over 40 different varieties of wicks, to be able to produce 35,000 candles in a week. In November, at the busiest time of the year, the company received an order from France for 38,000 individual pieces, which took up to 46 pallets and required two 40 ft containers. "They were packed and loaded in three days with goods in Paris 48 hours later. We believe that there is no other company in the UK who can deliver the quantity and turn around that we can offer."

A wick making machine has also been installed in house - the company manufactures over 40 different varieties of wicks - and an automatic pallet racking machine means that one can be wrapped every three minutes.

Above: Downing Street and the Royal Opera House are among the company's thousands of corporate clients.

Bottom: The new 10 wick candle which is helping to take the company upmarket.

Also recently installed is specially designed and commissioned air conditioning above the automated conveyor belts.

"Instead of having to wait 24-36 hours before we can send our candles out, we are packing off candles that have been poured in the morning and boxed in the afternoon," Sidney continues. Other examples of how efficiency has been increased include two automatic labelling machines, and a wax cleaning machine that makes the floor so spotless that you can eat off it! "Our investment over the past 12 months has been in quality and machinery," he highlights.

The company has also invested in people, recently recruiting and head hunting eight new members of staff working in the laboratory, engineering, IT and delivery sections. He regards himself as a good boss, sending handwritten letters to staff at

Christmas, and handwritten 'thank you' notes throughout the year. He also gives factory staff a paid day off on their birthdays.

With 21 years in the home fragrancing market, what does Sidney believe is the secret of the company's success? "Determination, faith in our product and perseverance," he states.

"Plus, you have to know what your niche market is."

Looking to the next 12 months, he feels confident that Parks will see another 15-20% growth, with the company upping the ante by manufacturing high end candles costing from £200 to £400. Parks has already produced a10 wick candle costing £350, which is poured into a glass container with a silver rim, and Sidney feels confident that these new candles will sell well despite the hefty price tag. "We've already taken substantial orders," he reveals. "We are also continuing to go more upmarket by producing candles in silver plated containers, something we offered at the start, but this time around, the containers are made from non-tarnishable silver."

Experience has shown the company that this year, there will be a move away from home fragrancing products with a 'Chinese' look. "The trend is for a Western look across the board, especially when it comes to reeds," he states. "They will be luxurious, featuring ribbons, silver plated covers and black or coloured sticks. Also, containers will be smaller with the biggest seller 100ml."

He says what he loves most about being in the home fragrancing market place is getting letters from people from all over the world saying that they have bought the company's candles and love them. "They are testimonials," he states. "There is a lot of pride in trying to make the perfect article, a quality product, and that includes the box as well as the fragrance and the filling. I honestly believe that once someone has bought a Parks candle they are a customer for life."

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Spotlight On... Stationery

TAKING

Not e

Receiving a card, note or letter that has been handwritten using stunning stationery, remains one of life's joys, and if National Stationery Week and the London Stationery Show - taking place at the Business Design Centre on April 28-29 have got anything to do with it, then the only way is up!

With a renewed penchant for pens, and a love of journals and paper to the fore, PG&H highlights the trends for Spring/Summer.

Few would disagree that stationery, once so prosaic, has become firmly established as a fashion statement - in line with being seen to be dressed in the right fashion labels, or wearing the right jewellery. It has leapt from the confines of a fusty stationer's shop to be seen dressed to the nines on the shelves of the trendiest retailers, with fashion trends, colours and adornments as important as any you might see on a catwalk.

GO Stationery for example, has added gold foiling to the company's ranges in the form of Shimmer. "We were being asked for glitzy fashion products aimed at the busy mum as well as the business woman," sales director John Sutton explains, "and these products can co-ordinate with outfits and handbags," he points out. "We have also been asked for storage and filing solutions that complement our ranges and add theatre to a retailer's stationery area. In response, we have added Different by Design lever arch ring binders, magazine files and gift bags which co-ordinate with our floral collections."

Top: New for 2015 from Caroline Gardner.

Above and above right: Among the stationery items from Blueprint Collections' Tokidoki collection.

Left: GO stationery's new Shimmer collection.

John highlights that the current trends in the stationery market place are for Kraft board, both perfect bound and wiro bound, which the company has added to its Essentials range for the first time. "This follows on from the huge success of our Woodland Trust range, which continues to perform so well that we have added Silhouettes which have a textured feel to them," he states.

"The majority of people need and use stationery on a daily basis and consumers want these essentials to be both practical and beautiful rather than one or the other," says Caroline Gardner, creative director of her eponymous company. She says that bold colours and colourful florals, mixed with typography, have emerged as a particular trends. "We have used these themes in both of our main stationery ranges for 2015, and have also found that adding quirky life sayings to designs really adds a bit of personality to products and gives them added appeal."

Continues Caroline: "In gift stationery, people are looking for something different, something unique, and we have had great fun designing our new stationery for 2015.

There's so much scope with gift stationery to create new products and idea concepts to keep things fresh and that’s what’s really important in this market.

For instance, we’ve introduced diestamping to our notebooks and clear foiling finishes and quirky new products, such as our Snail Mail Correspondence set, which add a point of difference for customers."

At Blueprint Collections, marketing and quality manager Rosie Ayres highlights the company's new licensed ranges, which include Tokidoki, House of Holland, Minnie, Mickey, Peanuts, Coca-Cola, Emma Bridgewater, Age of Ultron and The National Trust.

"Our new Tokidoki stationery and bag collection incorporates many characters from the Tokidoki universe, with the collection perfect for the fashion conscious tween as it mixes practicality with novelty," she comments. (Included are notebooks, novelty pens and pencils, stickers, push pins and a keyring as well as a character shaped novelty bag, purse and pencil case).

"Meanwhile, our new House of Holland Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

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at

LONDON ON STA STATIOnery TATIOner ry SH SHow o ow

Tel: +44 (0)1225 789909 Email: sales@wildandwolf.com

© Disney

London Stationery Show 28th-29th April 2015 Stand G208 Contact: export32@prangroup.com T: 0088-01924609741 www.goodluckbd.com ™ & © Uni

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Spotlight On... Stationery

London Stationery Show: The Lowdown ❐ London Stationery Show takes place from April 28-29, 2015, at the Business Design Centre, London.

Visit www.stationeryshow.co.uk ❐ National Stationery Week takes place from April 27-May 3, 2015.

Sponsors are Sheaffer, Maped Helix, Dodo-Pad, Kokuyo, Zebra Pen and Nu: Notebooks. Visit www.nationalstationeryweek.com

stationery range includes two distinct design looks. One is a classic design which features cool, edgy slogans combined with Henry’s classic spot applied to both fabric and paper covered items, highlighted with bright neon print colours. A second, more 70’s floral style capsule range, follows Henry’s Spring/Summer ‘15 collection."

Rosie says that 'being organised' is still the big trend this year, with the company's ranges incorporating products that make organisation fun, trendy and colourful. "Novelty stationery accessories are also popular at the moment and we are including items such as push pins, clips and sticky notes into our ranges," Rosie highlights.

Letting the designs do the talking are Alphabooks from That Company Called IF, high quality letter-shaped books that can be used as stationery or for decoration. "Each lettershaped book is finished just like a real book with plain

cream pages inside," explains Sarah Tyson, product PR and research.

"They are a must for people who like books and/or the current trend towards accessorising the home with words or initials.

They are also a novel way of personalising stationery while spelling out a word or someone’s initials, making them a commemorative gift," she adds.

For some companies in gifts, although not specifically led by stationery, stationery is an intrinsic part of a collection. At Lesser & Pavey for example, md Julian Hunt says that the company is proud of its stationery ranges which have a wide appeal. "They can be found in our Milly and Summer Daisy ranges, and include notebooks, organisers and gift sets along with pads and pencils," he highlights.

Of course, stationery is not always about the

written word - be it pen or paper - but about related products. At Really Good for example, marketing manager Lisa Marcuccio highlights the company's range of pencil cases. "Everyone needs one, from kids at school and mums at home to dad's too, which is why we have included a black pencil case aimed at men." (Other themes include vintage and floral as well as a spaceman). " They are a continued strength for the company and an area that our retailers have really bought into," adds Lisa.

While a lot of stationery is bought as a gift, Chris LeonardMorgan - founder and organiser of the London Stationery Show, National Stationery Week, World Stationery Day and Get Britain Writing - is quick to point out that it is also bought as a self treat too.

"It's wonderful to hear and read what real people say about stationery on social media and happily, the world is full of people who love it!" he enthuses.

Continued page 47

World Stationery Day

The second day of the London Stationery Show, April 29 - and day three of National Stationery Week - has been designated World Stationery Day. It will have its own identity and website, and will be promoted to the consumer and trade media worldwide as well as on social media.

Top left: That Company Called IF's Alphabooks come in patterns embellished with gold detail.

Left: Mustard's Totem highlighters.

Far left: Lesser & Pavey’s Summer Daisy.

Below: A pencil case with men in mind from Really Good.

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www.artlinestix.co.uk .artlinestix.co.uk

UK Launch on Stand 721

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Spotlight On... Stationery

Making Stationery Fun In the battle against boredom, as Mustard's md Reuben Utudjian puts it, the company is Right: j-me's Rewind desk tidy. among those offering fun, quirky stationery items. "Over the years, we have seen offices Below left: ‘Posing’ post-it notes from go from bland and uniform to becoming an extension of our homes, a place for Boxer Gifts. self-expression," enthuses Reuben. ‘When you live to work, you need to have some fun doing it, and we want products around us that express our individuality and our humour. We want work to be like play as we spend more time at work than in our homes. Mustard encourages this renaissance of self-expressionism."

Explains Reuben: "It's one of the driving forces behind our 'live happy' philosophy. We make things that people love to give to each other and love to have around them.

Why does a highlighter need to look like a highlighter when it can look like lipstick or look and smell like Valencia oranges? Why not make the same stack of pens we have all grown up with look like a Totem pole? We look for inspiration all around us."

At j-me, director Jamie Antoniades says that stationery gifting should be about elevating everyday tasks to an emotive level of fun. Examples are the company's rewind desk tidy, Bic pen lid and rock desk butler. "These are all examples of holding everyday pens, pencils and small storage, but they all do it distinctly differently, but with very high emotive value,” Jamie points out.

Also taking a sideways, fun loving look at stationery is Boxer Gifts. "An unusual pen, or a notebook decorated with a favourite design or slogan, shows work colleagues, school friends and fellow students that we are individuals," says sales director Thomas O'Brien. "People love stationery because it’s a way for them to show their personalities and tastes through a relatively inexpensive but very useful medium."

“Why does a highlighter need to look like a highlighter when it can look like lipstick or look and smell like Valencia oranges?”

Putting Pen To Paper

Above: Zebra’s new Z-Grip Funky Brights retractable ballpoint pens.

Right: Widdop Bingham's Amore Bride and Groom pen set.

Pens are a growing sector of the stationery market places, with many men in particular regarding a beautiful pen as a piece of jewellery, with women seeing them as an important fashion accessory.

According to Zebra Pens' Joanne Cramp, sales and marketing administrative assistant, a pen, a new notebook, a writing set or a new piece of stationery unleashes creative potential because our mind is encouraged to be imaginative. "People want beautiful hand written cards from their loved ones that can be kept as written records of our lives, and the effort is appreciated knowing that something unique was created just for you."

Also highlighting the importance of pens is Sue Grant, marketing manager at Widdop Bingham, who adds: "stationery, particularly pens, are often used for specific occasions eg a milestone birthday, a retirement or for the signing of the wedding register."

"The message is the same wherever you are - writing by hand is important and really does matter," Chris LeonardMorgan states. "It is forever, and the aim of National Stationery Week and World Stationery Day is to get people around the world talking about stationery with Twitter and Facebook bringing them together."

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Spotlight On... Made In Britain

We're Backing

Britain

Below: Stoneglow's award winning Modern Apothecary range.

Below left: Town & Country, newly launched

by The Country Candle Company.

Inset: Wax Lyrical's Colony features a Made in Britain stamp.

As the findings of the latest PG&H Retail Barometer confirm, more and more retailers of all shapes and sizes - to include John Lewis are looking for products that have been Made in Britain, with many independent gift retailers proud to make it their point of difference.

As PG&H discovered, from home fragrancing and ceramics to glassware, jewellery, greeting cards, gifts and baby giftware, there are a myriad of suppliers who wouldn't manufacture anywhere else but on UK turf because the benefits far outweigh any cost savings.

For many companies, having a ‘Made in Britain’ back stamp or similar is the golden ticket to increasing the export side of the their business, with overseas buyers looking to buy into the quality, design, reliability and flexibility that British made products can offer.

"For some time now, the trend has been moving back towards British made goods, as opposed to products made in the Far East, which has meant that UK companies can invest more into development, keeping the flow of new and innovative products moving

forward," concurs Hazel Simmons, head of design and product development at Stoneglow. "The Made in the UK stamp is one of our biggest selling points. Not only are we able to offer a reliable, year round service - we were still producing and despatching orders until a few days before Christmas - we also set ourselves a challenge to develop the best waxes and fragrances so that our products give the best possible performance and fragrance release, whether the product is to sell at £10 or £30. Our new Modern Apothecary range is a good example," she continues. "It was designed and developed in house and won Gift of the Year award earlier this year. Our recent growth is testament to all of this. We have seen year on year growth for the last five years, and are now in the process of moving to new premises which will double our capacity."

Joanne Barber, md at Wax Lyrical, agrees that British brands are definitely a

decision criteria in store. "While value for money and quality are strong drivers, our consumer research shows the growing value that a British manufactured product can have, especially with our export customers.

The Made in Britain stamp is featured on many of our collections, including Colony, to reinforce this."

Joanne adds that UK gift retailers are aware that, by using companies they can trust in the UK, they will receive excellent customer service with stock reaching them quickly and efficiently. "Gift retailers reinforce the message to their customers that products are British manufactured, great quality and benefit locals by providing employment, as well as our economy by using British suppliers."

At The Country Candle Company, director Hamish Smith says that a British back

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LILLIPUT LANE

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS

Handmade and hand painted

in Great Britain ensuring the highest quality and craftsmanship.

BORDER FINE ARTS CLASSIC

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we’ve got giftware all wrapped up

49_51_53_New Grid 13/03/2015 12:19 Page 51

Spotlight On... Made In Britain

stamp is regularly the first point that retailers make when approaching the brand. "More and more UK gift retailers are becoming interested in products that have been made locally, which is also influenced by the large retailers, such as JLP, who are backing British, possibly at the expense of margin."

He adds that products Made in the UK open doors on the worldwide stage. "Again, this is something that is regularly mentioned with overseas distributors and retailers."

At Best Kept Secrets, director Alan Edwards says that Made in Britain is an essential part of the company's marketing and a considerable USP for the business.

"We use the logo whenever and wherever we can," he confirms. "Our experience has been that the further you are prepared to go in sourcing local produce, and demonstrating that products are handmade and hand finished in the UK, the better. Many of our customers take an interest in the specific ingredients we use, so having a product that contains British produced ingredients, as well as manufacturing, can make a big difference. While consumers may not automatically look for products that are Made in Britain, the mark does improve the chance of purchase."

On the ceramics front, the kilns at Stoke on Trent are busier than ever keeping up with demand from countries around the world to include the Far East - who covet a Made in Stoke on Trent, Made In Britain back stamp.

Top: Best Kept Secrets' Bath Bursts hamper.

Right: Dunoon's Henley Cluckers.

Below: Spode’s Blue Italian.

"A Made in Britain back stamp is an important element of a large proportion of the ranges that we sell, particularly the collections with an abundance of heritage such as Portmeirion’s Botanic Garden, which is still one of our top selling ranges, and Spode’s Blue Italian," emphasises group sales and marketing director Phil Atherton.

"To avid Portmeirion and Spode collectors, the Made in Britain back stamp is the main selling point and it is very important that we know and understand these customers as there are particular groups of customers who would only entertain buying products if they were made in Britain. The Made in Britain back stamp is becoming increasingly desired in our export markets across the globe,

"The gravitas that comes with a Made in Britain label or back stamp has never been more potent and therefore more important," says Helen Smith, director of Hudson and Middleton. "Not only does it assure a product is made with the utmost care, attention and high quality materials, it also affirms the trust between manufacturer and consumer that will contribute towards a priceless legacy of British made goods. The application of a Made in England back stamp to every Hudson and Middleton mug establishes a sense of pride, as well as a profound feeling of satisfaction in the product, making it well worth buying British."

Caroline Rose, md of Rose & Co., also sees the Made in Britain stamp as essential for the company. "It underpins everything that we do as a brand, so much so that you’ll start to see our ‘Made with love in the UK’ stamp appearing on the front of our packaging. I'm also very keen on supporting British businesses by using

Above: Quintessentially English, Hudson and Middleton's Arabella design.

Right: Dartington’s Gourd Mood Ink vases.

particularly the Far East where it imbues a product with prestige and quality." From a UK retailer's perspective, Phil says adds that the UK made stamp of authenticity is a great selling point and marketing tool that retailers are using to their advantage. "Not only does it encourage sales but it can also mean quicker response times too."

"As a British manufacturer, we have been aware for some time on how important the ‘Made in England/Made in Great Britain’ is to our customers and members of the public," says Peter Smith, sales director at Dunoon. "Many of our export customers insist on British made products and the association with quality, tradition and great design. We are now seeing this in the UK as customers/consumers react against goods being made in the Far East, not only because of quality issues, but because they are increasingly aware that our tradition as a manufacturing nation is being lost as we have become a service economy. Consequently, the ‘Dunoon Made in England’ back stamp gives us an additional point of difference on top quality and designs," Peter highlights.

home-grown suppliers and manufacturers. In fact, many of our products are also handmade in the UK. It’s an added selling point in-store, with consumers becoming more and more interested in products that are locally made."

Down in Torrington, Dartington's marketing and design director Richard Halliday says that company is passionate about having Made in Britain products as a major element of its brand. "It is something that we highlight on our marketing and on the items we make here in Devon. We know our customers like to buy 'British made' if possible, but we also recognise that price and affordability are still important. We have always enjoyed good support for out own products in the South West region and reflect this sentiment when we can in our sourcing of products that we sell in our own factory shops. Making in the UK still requires Continued page 53

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Spotlight On... Made In Britain a close understanding of the market needs to ensure that we make products that will sell. The control and flexibility of our UK production means that our factory offers Dartington the lowest minimum order quantity (MOQ), best lead time plus reliable service and quality every time."

Carrie Shapiro, creative director of Carrie Elspeth, points out that since establishing her own jewellery business in Wales 16 years ago, she has become very aware of how greatly customers value the company's Welsh heritage and commitment to the local community. "This has been demonstrated more and more over the years by customers’ continued loyalty, positive feedback and support of the brand.

"Consumers are becoming more and more concerned about the ethical footprint of the goods they are purchasing, and UK gift retailers are responding to these demands.

These days it is a great seal of approval if goods are made locally, as it ensures the product has been made in an ethical way with very little associated mileage.

Customers are voting for these aspects with their wallets," Carrie underlines.

At La de da! Living With Vintage, founders Rita Danazo and Dominique

Above: Bracelets made in Wales by Carrie Elspeth.

Below: Clare Davis.

Fracasso-Stroud believe it's more important that it is simply 'Made in Britain' as it is that aspect that a lot of retailers and consumers buy into. "It's not possible for all gifts to have a back stamp that’s evident but even some literature, on a swing tag, or some lovely point of sale for the collection really helps.

As a wholesale gift company offering UK collections we are certainly seeing an

increase in retailers wanting to offer British made/sourced gifts. This is because the consumer is wanting better quality, longer lasting products and are willing to spend a little more in achieving this. We believe it's so important to have a 'hands on' approach when producing gifts in this industry. If we cannot get our products made here in the UK, where possible, we design them ourselves and, where appropriate, have our designs illustrated by British artists. We love supporting British talent and always will."

Artist Clare Davis, who creates handmade painted glitter glassware, glitter cards and giftware under the Davis and Brown brand, agrees. "There has been a major shift in public opinion and, indeed, the perception of Britain around the world’” comments Clare. “It seems to have shifted with consumer confidence and the up trend of the economic markets with Made in Britain a back stamp people trust. If you have a little extra money to spend on items then people seem to want to spend them on GB products. We have excellent quality, design and production in this country and nobody beats it, continues Clare. “I think gift retailers are becoming more interested in UK products simply because their customers can now afford them again. Educating the British public and, indeed, the world about how great Britain really is does take time, but it will be well worth the effort. After all, we are not called Great Britain for nothing!"

Royal Baby Raises ‘Made In Britain’ Profile

The arrival of a new prince or princess next month is guaranteed to encourage a new wave of patriotism, pushing not only sales of baby goods, but also promoting giftware across the board that has been made in the UK. "The new prince or princess will again raise the profile for Britain and British made products," says Joanne Barber, md, Wax Lyrical. "The consumer desire for quality and good value from brands they can trust will drive the demand for British manufacturing," she predicts.

"We all want to celebrate the birth of Great Britain's new prince or princess and buy limited edition gifts made here in the UK," say Rita Danazo and Dominique Fracasso-Stroud, founders of La de da! Living With Vintage.

"Our vintage hand stamped spoons were a hit when Prince George was born, and we noticed a huge rise in our personalised collection with mums-to-be who were due at the same time. Gifts that can be personalised with a baby name and date of birth seems to be bang on trend."

At the Flower Stork, creative director Tania James Price says that it's an exciting, historical time for everyone in Britain, especially other new parents expecting their own new arrival at the same time. "As the nation gears up for the arrival of the second baby to a future monarch, a big focus for new baby gifts in 2015 will be modern, classic and traditional gifts in neutral colour ways with an emphasis on crisp whites and soft creams," she predicts.

Hamish Smith, director at The Country Candle Company, beIieves that the birth of the Royal baby in April will not only spotlight British made goods but also revive the Britishness in us all. "We've had a great series of events over the last few years that has revived British design and manufacturing," he points out.

"A new Royal prince or princess is fantastic for Britain as a whole, not just for its ability to put the spotlight on British made goods," says Helen Smith, director at Hudson and Middleton. "It’s a wonderful opportunity, once again, to do what Britain does best - commemorate a momentous event with elegant, high quality pieces. We look forward to revealing our own contribution to the celebrations when the time comes!"

Above: Her Royal Highness and His Royal Highness spoons from La de da!

Living With Vintage.

Left: The Flower Stork's Country Garden in neutral white.

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scented candles natural soaps fragranced gifts Just relax and see the Seriously Scented ranges from Best Kept Secrets.

T. +44 (0)1670 512222 E. sales@bestkeptsecrets.co.uk Best Kept Secrets, Coopies Field, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 6JT, UK www.bestkeptsecrets.co.uk

HANDM

IN THE ADE UK

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the latest British made gift products to be showcased this month.

Show Them You Care Handmade and hand painted in Great Britain, four of the new pieces from Lilliput Lane include two lovely new cottages - Lucky in Love and No Place Like Mum’s Birthday Cake, a cottage from Hemingford Abbots, and The Brace, a former gamekeeper’s cottage built for the Burderop Estate. And, remember, every Lilliput Lane Cottage comes in attractive gift packaging.

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk

Summer Collection Launching at the beginning of April, Carrie Elspeth’s exclusive Summer Collection is a feast of delicious bright colours and cool pastels. Keeping pace with current trends, these gorgeous designs maintain a classical versatility. Look out for the bubbly Happy range and luscious glow of Jelly Rocks. Carrie’s jewellery is still beautifully hand-made in Wales: boost your sales with this stunning Made-in-the-UK collection!

Carrie Elspeth Tel: 01446 771271 Email: sales@carrieelspeth.com www.carrieelspeth.com

Colony Collection Wax Lyrical’s best selling Colony collection has expanded for 2015 with three new fragrances: Strawberries and Cream, Jasmine and Sandalwood and Seashore. Each fragrance captures our best selling scent categories fruity, floral and fresh, ensuring there is a new fragrance to suit every taste. The collection is available in a variety of product formats including candles jars, candle tins, reed diffusers and reed diffuser refills. Each is highly giftable and perfect for fragrancing every room of the home.

Wax Lyrical Tel: 01229 461100 Email customerservice@wax-lyrical.com. www.waxlyricaltrade.com

Fragrant Escapes A new collection for 2015 is Wax Lyrical’s Fragrant Escapes, a captivating collection of sophisticated, evocative fragrances.

Consumers continue to be fascinated by the unique cultures, foods and ageold traditions of different countries around the world. Inspired by some of the most memorable travel destinations we have encapsulated their essence in this luxurious new range of candles, reed diffuser and reed diffusers refills.

With so many places to explore this trend is set to stay.

Wax Lyrical Tel: 01229 461100 Email customerservice@waxlyrical.com www.waxlyricaltrade.com

Contemporary Classics Border Fine Arts is proud to announce the launch of two striking new pieces in its Contemporary Classics collection. In the magnificent Spanish Bull (pictured) the emphasis on movement over realism is captured to stunning effect. Each study is entirely handmade in the company’s Scottish Studios in Langholm and hand painted by highly skilled artists. Border Fine Arts has been working on an alternative finish too, and the bull will be available in a new Bronzed colourway as well as in a translucent black enamel paint effect.

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk

New Arrivals Border Fine Arts Classic figurines represent all aspects of country life, from nostalgic farming scenes to magnificent wildlife studies, as these two new figurines, selected from the January 2015 launch demonstrate. Red Alert, a spectacular study of a red kite, celebrates the successful resurgence of this beautiful bird in recent years, while Winter Wheat, depicts another job on the farm that is made easier with the use of a tractor - sowing the ‘winter wheat’.

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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Print coats of arms and surname histories to order DISTINCTIVE • POPULAR • PROFITABLE

CALL

TO FIND

OUT MORE

01984 632120

www.hallofnames.org.uk

A YEAR TO CELEBRATE: Commemorative mugs from JHDesignpoint Jane Austen’s

Sterling Silver Jewellery

Emma bicentenary Witty quotes to amuse, from Emma & Sense and Sensibility

Magna Carta’s 800th anniversary

Mugs and vases from our other collections

Honey Bee Yourself!

Call us for our latest catalogue

www.jhdesignpoint.net enquiries@jhdesignpoint.net tel/fax 0141 339 4927

www.kitheathretailer.com Tel 01271 329123 Email sales@kitheath.com

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the latest British made gift products to be showcased this month.

Hand Painted Days in the Country is a brand new range launched

by Clare Davis featuring cute hand painted woodland creatures. Working with a ceramic artist, Clare has managed to capture movement in her designs and transfer them to cermaics. Initially available in mugs, this range is currently being extended to teapots, jugs and coasters.

Davis & Brown Tel: 01494 883097 Email: sales@davisandbrown.co.uk www.davisandbrown.co.uk

Sweet New Baby Gifts Celebrate Spring's new arrivals with a sweet selection of baby gifts from The Flower Stork. The award winning range of baby clothes bouquets combine the beauty of flowers, with essential items of baby clothes. Bouquets are handcrafted in the UK and contain 100% cotton baby clothes. New to the range for Spring are Babyccino and New Brew with Babyccino shortlisted for the Gift of the Year 2015.

Contact the team for full details and receive 10% off your first order.

The Flower Stork Tel 01495 303030 www.theflowerstork.com wholesale@theflowerstork.com

Display & POS Manufacturers and suppliers of acrylic displays and point of sale equipment with a huge range available from stock, low minimum order and fast delivery! Order on-line at www.3ddisplays.co.uk or call 01795 532947 for a copy of our mail order catalogue.

3D Displays Tel: 01795 532947 Email: info@3ddisplays.co.uk www.3ddisplays.co.uk

Winning Fragrance The classic simplicity of this stylish range has proved to be a winner in store. White Tea & Bamboo adds another winning fragrance to the collection: refreshing white tea with zesty notes of bergamot and mandarin.

A floral heart of neroli and geranium sits on a lush green base. Candles and reed diffusers are available in three different options and nine fragrances.

Stoneglow Candles Tel: 0208 595 8878 Email: sales@stoneglowcandles.co.uk www.stoneglowcandles.co.uk

No More Secrets All Best Kept Secrets products are hand made and hand finished in Morpeth, Northumberland, with the business is reaping the rewards of being a Made in Britain specialist gift manufacturer. Alan Edwards from Best Kept Secrets commented: "Every year our customer base grows and independent retailers understand the reputation and quality benefits of products Made in Britain."

Best Kept Secrets Tel: 01670 512222 Email: sales@bestkeptsecrets.co.uk www.bestkeptsecrets.co.uk

Own Label Parks is the premier manufacturer of the highest quality 100% natural wax candles and has seen massive growth in the demand for own label products, both from individual shops who can buy as little as 150pcs to major corporations who buy 50,000pcs. Parks create high quality bespoke candles and diffusers, customised to individual requirements, with the shop's name and logo on the glass and box, providing a full start to finish service.

Why sell a brand that is available in hundreds of shops? You too can have your own exclusive product promoting your business whilst at the same time building customer loyalty. Your customers will return to your shop to purchase your unique and exclusive creation.

Customised products developed by Parks also allow retailers to set prices, increase margins and improve their brand awareness.

Parks (London) Tel: 0208 830 6300 Email: Info@parkscandles.com www.parkscandles.com PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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Because Dads love beer!

www.lolitadesigns.co.uk Call: +44 (0) 20 8998 1781 Email: sales@gaeltag.com

VISIT US AT

Harrogate Home & Gift 19-22 July 2015 DP4-5

NEC Autumn Fair 6-9 September 2015 Hall 3 Stand 3Y O4

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Spotlight On... Men’s Gifts

With Women In Mind “What can I buy for dad?” - whether for Father's Day, Christmas, a birthday or an anniversary - is a perennial cry from female friends and loved ones, with men's gifts still ranked as the hardest sector to buy for.

And of course, it's not just about dad.

There are husbands, boyfriends, fiances, sons, brothers, brothers-in-law, uncles, grandpas and male friends too, all at different ages and stages of their lives, with their own hobbies and likes and dislikes that can make gift buying something of a nightmare!

So what's trending this year?

If one message is coming over loud and clear this year, it is that, when buying a gift for a man, the biggest trend/'must have' is functionality; and if the gift is fun and makes them smile then so much the better!

"When it comes to gifts, men are demanding," agrees Really Good's marketing director Nicola Hall. "Not satisfied with something pretty, perfumed or precious, they want practical, premium and perfect! The current market demonstrates men's desires for high quality and high functioning gifts, while retaining the

aesthetic quality that women - often the buyer of men's gifts - are attracted to."

She says that this season's most popular gifts are innovative and individual, with design-led character and charm. "Our newest collection, Workshop, features illustrations from old parts manuals, taken from various retro cars that have been restored. We’ve deliberately left the odd grubby blemish on the artwork for an authentic feel!" she adds.

As Piers Croke, sales director at Gisela Graham points out: "Men are often cast in the role of being 'practical' in the household - even if this is sometimes polite wifely fiction! The gifts we offer that fit the role are successful, such as unflashy home office products." Adds Piers: "Men also like products that make reference to manly pursuits such as bicycles and motorbikes: the latent boy- racer in every man!"

Offering a wide range of men's gifts, Wild and Wolf's licensing co-ordinator Sarah Plenty says that within the men’s gift ranges, the best sellers are the ‘hardware’ items. "They're the functional yet stylish, quality tools a man needs, such as a shoe shine kit, manicure set and credit card tool - practical and useful items with a vintage aesthetic."

At Lesser & Pavey, mugs continue to be the largest men's gifts sector for the company. New for this year is Man's Life licensed from McNeill. "Extremely popular are gardening, football, rugby, fishing and cycling themes, along with our own inhouse designs," confirms md Julian Hunt.

"We're also doing some lovely jumbo sized mugs - like the old builder's mugs - with tankards to match."

Above: The All About Him collection from Gisela Graham.

Above right: Wild & Wolf's Buff and Shine Men's Shoe Care kit.

Left: Really Good's new gift collection: Workshop.

Right: A new jumbo sized mug from Lesser & Pavey.

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Spotlight On... Men’s Gifts

Left: The award winning SkyDrive powered paper planes from Lagoon.

Below: A selection of the latest sock designs from The Music Gifts Company.

Bottom right: A stag themed decanter and shot glasses from Orchid Designs.

Also seeing an increased popularity in functional gifts this year is Half Moon Bay. "For example, our range of rucksacks, duffle bags and retro bags can be used in the recipient's day to day life," confirms marketing manager Ben Craddock. "I think people want to see their gifts being put to good use whether it be a mug for someone’s coffee or a wash bag, tool kit or tin storage." Ben adds that 2015 is also a big year for Star Wars related gifting with parents introducing their children to the genre for the first time. "We have a great range of gifts that make perfect presents for both dads and Star Wars fans," highlights Ben. At Enesco, director of marketing Helen Shields says Above: Autumn will see the launch of a limited collection of Barber Shop men's candles by Yankee Candle, inspired by the current trend for men’s grooming.

Right: A men's gift for a coffee loving Star Wars fan, from Half Moon Bay. Below: A globe from Enesco's Globe Collection.

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Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

that the company has found that men's gifts are mainly driven by hobbies and pastimes, or, by a product that also has a practical use.

"We have seen great success with our globes," she confirms. "The collection sporting a high-gloss finish - was initially launched in black and silver and now also includes a striking gold colour scheme. In addition, the Our Name Is Mud Collection, characterised by bold colours and sentiments, appeals to men of all ages because it's both a fun and a functional gift."

For men who like a conundrum or some bloke-y fun, gifts that involve using a bit of grey matter are always a good bet.

"Since Lagoon was set up 27 years ago, with the specific aim of supplying games and puzzles as gifts for men, there’s always been a demand for men’s gifts as there’s so much more 'pink' than 'blue' in the marketplace," says director Heather Watherstone. "The difference is that 20 years ago, people were excited to buy one of our drinking games for their other halves, fathers, brothers or colleagues. Now people want something that’s new on the market, that people haven’t seen before and that are a little more tricky, such as our SkyDrive planes which won the Men’s category at the 2015 Gift of the Year Awards. Developed by our Loncraine Broxton division, which focuses on designing and manufacturing executive gifts and puzzles for men, they are easy to make, great fun to fly, look really contemporary and are something you can't get anywhere else.

They look like you’ve really shopped around to get something special.”

Of course, ties, socks and cufflinks have always been the obvious gifts for men, but David Gee, md of The Music Gifts Company, says he is seeing a trend away from ties, with a strong move towards cufflinks and socks.

"For cufflinks, the trend on the high street is more towards better value (around

£10 rrp), but for mail order and online, customers prefer the higher price-points.

Socks, on the other hand, are going from strength to strength." Adds David: "We have seen a 25-30% growth this year on the back of record sales for socks last year."

At Gaeltag, md Frank Emmel looks to the world of fashion when it comes to buying a gift for a man. "For men it seems that the 50’s in particular never go out of fashion – is it all down to Mad Men? I’ve noticed a real nostalgia for the obsessions of my baby boomer childhood and adolescence coming through," he continues. "For example, vinyl has made a huge comeback - whether it’s the original records or images which are already coming through in giftware. Those other favourite retro cues - Vespas, Minis and the VW campers, for example - continue to be popular, while the trend for vintage is also being clearly reflected in classic

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Spotlight On... Men’s Gifts watches and cufflinks which are hugely popular, as is classic styling from this period in accessories and luggage."

Meanwhile, for the man of the house that likes to do a bit of DIY, about to hit the shelves in May is a clever '20 items in one' gadget from True Utility that offers a revelation in multi-tools for under £15.

Called the FIXR, it contains everything from a medium Phillips screwdriver and a wire stripper to a bicycle spoke wrench and a box opener. "The concept of our ranges is that the items are as small and as useful as possible," says founder and creative director Lee Berman. "They're reasonably priced and well displayed. FIXR is

Left: Among the new men's gifts from Gaeltag.

Below left: True Utility's FIXR which is new to the market this summer.

Below right: Per Lui from Di Palomo.

probably the best thing that I have ever invented," adds Lee. "There is definitely a growing trend in men's gifts for utility and accessories for the urban warrior to arm himself with!"

At the other end of the male spectrum, men's gifts also encompass 'smellies', with Rob Tyler, sales director at Di Palomo, pointing out that customers need to feel that the gift they are giving will be seen as original and different by the recipient, while being backed up with premium quality formula and fragrance.

"Following the successful launch of our Per Lui men’s range last year, and the fantastic take up on

Christmas gift sets, we're planning new gift offers for Father’s Day," Rob confirms, "with feedback from retailers telling us that the men’s gift purchases made mainly by women for men are resulting in repeat purchases of the stand alone products - once the guys have realised how much they like it!"

He says that in the gift sector, men's fragrance needs to stand out from everyday brands. "This can be achieved in part with original packaging design, although getting the fragrance right can be a difficult balance between achieving a wide enough appeal while still offering an original fragrance and not playing too safe."

Clearly, depending on the man and his style, it's a man's world when it comes to gift choices this year. From macho man to 'm-andles man', there's plenty of choice at either end of the market place and in between - to make gift buying an ever expanding sector for gift retailers.

A Focus On Humour

“Men’s gifts are continually evolving into new categories as men’s tastes evolve,” confirms David Cree, sales manager at Joe Davies. “We're seeing a trend towards items with humorous content that have a practical twist,” he explains. “An example is our collection of Headlines bottle openers, which mix great messages with an important purpose. Price is also key, and with a retail price of £7.99 these really hit the mark."

Thomas O' Brien, sales director at Boxer Gifts says: “We all know that men are difficult to buy for.

Men don’t wait for special occasions - they just buy what they need, when they need it. It’s clear that the need to find something for ‘the man who has everything’ is driving gift buyers to find fun, novelty items that will make men smile. From our army man bottle opener and the ‘man cooking’ apron, through to belly button brushes, our range goes to show that you can still buy gifts that will make men smile.”

Sam Clark, CGB's head designer, points to the Moustache trend having had a big impact on the gift trade. "The vintage style of men’s facial fashion has yet to pass," she comments. "We’ve noticed a definite trend in retro themed men’s giftware, whether it sport and past time, travel or military inspired. A practical offering is definitely important, as well as quality packing with a touch of humour."

At Widdop Bingham, marketing manager Sue Grant highlights themed collections, humour and gifts with a function. "For retailers, themed gifts, such Top: Functional and fun, Joe Davies' as our Ministry of Chaps range, offer a great Headlines bottle opportunity for cross-selling and, when openers. displayed well in store, look spectacular," Above: Boxer Gifts' Army Man bottle she points out. "We are also seeing more opener. gifts for men that have a useful purpose Above left: Container Group Buying's Dapper Chap range. eg wash bags, pens and key rings."

Meanwhile, making its debut for the company Far left: Reflecting male humour, Widdop Bingham's themed this year will be a Movember themed range of Steam Railway collection.

Left: Classic Canes folding Derby, gents gifts. "10% of sales are being donated to among the practical ideas for a the Movember charity," confirms Sue. male gift.

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the latest Men’s gift products to be showcased this month.

Premium Men's Jewellery International Collection is delighted to present the Inspirit range, containing a premium collection of men's jewellery.

Inspirit is comprised of stainless steel jewellery which has been enhanced by the introduction of both rubber and leather pieces. In addition, a new range of titanium rings has been added, providing an even greater selection.

International Collection Freephone: 0800 834 984 Tel: 01273 689582 Web: www.intercollection.com

Colour Block Puzzles Iron Man Figurine Border Fine Arts is proud to announce the launch of their first Marvel figurine, Iron Man, inspired by the Marvel comic book artwork, and sculpted by Peter Mook alongside the Border Fine Arts design team. It is made entirely by hand in the Border Fine Arts studios in Langholm in an individually numbered worldwide edition of 500 pieces, with each piece having its own individually numbered certificate. A ‘must have’ for all serious Marvel fans.

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk

A GOTY 2015 winner, and recognised as the World’s No1 puzzle company, Professor Puzzle offers a wide variety of puzzles and brainteasers suitable for all gift markets. New additions for 2015 include Puzzle Club, aimed at younger puzzlers, and Puzzle Academy, for that premium gift solution. To cater for the pocket money purchases, retailing at £3.50 per puzzle, the Colour Block Puzzle CDU is ideal.

Professor Puzzle Tel. 01932 230992 Email. abigail@professorpuzzle.com www.professorpuzzle.com

StickR TrackR The StickR TrackR is a coin-sized device that attaches to valuable items. It can be stuck on using the self-adhesive label provided, or attached to anything using the 2 inch lanyard lace supplied, ideal for keys rings, bag handles or straps. The device wirelessly connects to a mobile through an App called ‘TrackR’ which is free and downloadable from either the App Store for Apple devices or Play Store for use with Android devices. Two way tracking enables users to ring from the device to the mobile or from the mobile to the device.

The TrackR-UK Tel: 0208 502 2910 Email: enquiries@thetrackr-uk.co.uk www.thetrackr-uk.co.uk

Men In Mind WoodWick Reserve Candles have been carefully based on fragrance notes which have men in mind. They feature a substantial piece of glass with stylish architectural detailing and a front label made of stamped leather. Xystos has added new candle scents Royal and Midnight, as well as 12 reed diffuser fragrances including Driftwood, Canyon and Humidor.

Xystos Tel: 0191 499 1570 Email sales@xystos.co.uk www.xystostrade.co.uk

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the latest Men’s gift products to be showcased this month.

Best Daddy Carrying on from the hugely successful glitter glass range come these unique hand decorated beer glasses. Written in Clare's unique style the titles range from Best Dad, Best Man and Groom. Glitter colours available are Cobalt Blue, Gloss Black and Mahogony Brown. Please call the studio for further details.

Davis & Brown Tel: 01494 883097 Email: sales@davisandbrown.co.uk www.davisandbrown.co.uk

Guaranteed To Impress The SECRID credit card wallet is an amazing little product that has won many awards, including the prestigious Red Dot Design Award. With one simple movement, your cards slide out of the Cardprotector in overlapping sequence. Without opening your wallet you will find the card you are looking for at a single glance. SECRID wallets block RFID card scanners and skimmers and prevents card clashing, protecting your cards.

RRP £25-£75.

Brand Agility Ltd Tel: 0131 554 5555 Email: sales@brandagility.co.uk

Go Retro Retro theming is the way to go for men’s gifts, Gaeltag MD Frank Emmel comments: "I’ve noticed nostalgia for the obsessions of my ‘baby boomer’ adolescence coming through. So vinyl has made a huge come back in every form, and vintage styling is strong in personal adornment, like classic watches. Maybe it’s a reaction to the hi-tech gizmos that we all love too!"

Gaeltag Keltika Tel: 020 8998 1781 Email: gaeltag@btinternet.com www.lolitadesigns.co.uk www.cowparade.eu

Printed To Order Hall of Names coats of arms and surname histories are printed to order on quality parchment and create a real buzz in our nationwide outlets. You’ll enjoy a profit of £13 per print, and there is no need to order stock that might not sell - simply print the history from our database of over a million names, including many foreign ones. The system has been coined by one retailer as a ‘golden egg’. Join our successful retailer network and start reaping the rewards.

Hall of Names Tel: 01984 632120 Email: info@hallofnames.org.uk www.hallofnames.org.uk

Gifts For Men Joe Davies, the Manchester based importer and distributor of the Shudehill giftware collection, report tremendous sales of their Cartography collection. The collection is aimed squarely at the male market with letter openers, magnifying glasses and pill boxes amongst the items in the range. All items are elegantly boxed and, with retail prices starting at just £2.99, the selection is a real answer to the perennial male gift problem!

Joe Davies Tel: 0161 975 6300 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk www.joedavies.co.uk

Feats of Endurance Half Moon Bay have even more additions to their giftware offering and this year are proud to introduce their new, exclusive Feats of Endurance range inspired by Shackleton’s first expedition to the Antarctic. The Male Grooming Holder features original photography with a tweed design, similar to that worn by the crew themselves. With individual compartments and a handy toggle fastening, it’s perfect for a busy man on the go.

Half Moon Bay Tel: 01225 473873 Email: sales@halfmoonbay.co.uk www.halfmoonbay.co.uk

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Be the first to find best-selling products for your busiest season and beyond

Time to get ahead

Time to get together

Time for Harrogate

For your free pass to giftware’s favourite buying event and new conference feature, register now at homeandgift.co.uk GIFT | HOME | SPOTLIGHT – NEW DESIGNERS | JEWELLERY & FASHION | GREETINGS & STATIONERY

65_52-53/55 13/03/2015 13:29 Page 65

What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the gift products which were showcased at Spring Fair, NEC Birminham 2015.

Enchanting Disney Mouth-watering Fragrance Ashleigh & Burwood has just launched the Watermelon & Cucumber scent for the fragrance lamp. Fresh, juicy watermelon permeates the core of this fragrance, complemented by a soft floral heart of rose and ylang ylang resting on a warm sandalwood base. Top notes of citrus and cucumber complete this mouth-wateringly delicious scent.

Available in 250ml and 500ml.

Ashleigh & Burwood Tel: 01932 267060 Email: info@ashleigh-burwood.co.uk www.ashleigh-burwood-trade.co.uk

Large size statement figurines, water balls and money banks, portraying some of the most loveable Disney characters, have joined Enesco’s Enchanting Disney collection. The impressive statement figurines bring the personality of Disney characters to life from Bambi and Thumper to the Seven Dwarfs. Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Tinker Bell, Dumbo, Bambi and Disney Princesses Cinderella, Snow White and Aurora - feature in the extended water ball collection.

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk

Fall In Love Ashleigh & Burwood has launched a new brand and product format with their Amora Scent Hubs. The product uses highly advanced ultrasonic technology, and delivers a multisensory experience. Ambience can be altered at the touch of the button in three ways: fragrance diffusion, mood lighting and music. (Two two models offer the music function, which can be controlled via blue tooth from a photo or tablet). There are six distinct styles available.

Ashleigh & Burwood Tel: 01932 267060 Email: info@ashleigh-burwood.co.uk www.ashleigh-burwood-trade.co.uk

New Tinware A new tinware range from Lesser & Pavey was launched, encompassing a full selection of kitchenware accessories as well as fine china and fabric elements in the form of mugs, melamine trays and oven gloves. Shown here are tea, coffee, sugar and bread containers, each one of excellent quality, illustration under license from Jennifer Rose, and gift packaged for presentation and display purposes. This is just one of the new ranges launched at Spring Fair by Lesser & Pavey for the homeware market.

Lesser & Pavey Tel: 01322 279225. www.leonardo.co.uk

Philippine Handicrafts From our factory in the Philippines, we offer the largest range of Philippine handicrafts in the UK. Exclusive designs of craft jewellery, Capiz lighting, windchimes, coconut carvings, resincraft, seashells, shellcraft, recycled goods, basketware and bamboo furniture and bar/restaurant decor. Also, if you are a small retailer with a good idea and want something different, or a manufacturer of an expanding range who doesn’t want to take on more production commitments, please talk to us.

Large or small volumes we will always consider your products. Email or call for a pdf catalogue.

Philippine Village Imports Tel: 01233 226466 Email: sales@philimports.com www.philimports.com

Peanuts Collection Colourful, droll and endlessly lovable! - it’s the new Peanuts by Jim Shore Collection from Enesco.

Take Snoopy and one of his endearing witticisms, add in a friend from the Peanut Gang and mix with award winning artist Jim Shore’s folk-art inspired decorations, and ‘Good Grief’, as Charlie Brown might say, the result is a figurine gift collection of imagination and panache!

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the gift products which were showcased at Spring Fair, NEC Birminham 2015.

Leopard Print Cane Walking stick specialists Classic Canes have launched this upmarket leopard print cane which is ideal for a smart lady’s gift. The tasteful leopard fabric is encased in an acrylic handle and mounted on an elegant beech wood shaft. It is an ideal accessory for a chic spring or summer outfit, with a suggested retail price of £35.

Classic Canes Tel 01460 75686 www.classiccanes.co.uk

Star Fantasy Stars and stripes, ribbons and spots in anthracite, white, silver and red are the hallmarks of Bolsius’ winter candle range.

Rustic metallic pillar candles in three sizes co-ordinate with large, rustic, 5-wick circular candles. Star-patterned glass tealight holders match tapered candles in boxes of 12, and fragrance filled glasses in graphic designs of a bow and ribbons and geometrically patterned stars, comprising stripes and spots. For further details or to become a stockist, contact our UK sales team.

Bolsius Tel: 0800 169 5126 / 0870 442 0731 Email: sales@uk.bolsius.com www.bolsius.com

Folk Art The latest offering from the square card company is a set of 10 new (rectangular!) folk art occasions cards printed on fab water colour paper all birdy, hearty, flowery and gorgeous! And for all our Welsh shops, a comprehensive collection of Welsh language cards for all occasions.

The Square Card Company Tel: 01305 848899 Email: enquiries@thesquarecardcompany.com www.thesquarecardcompany.com

Trendle Products is pleased to announce that their collection of Klima miniature porcelain animals has once again expanded. The new pieces are available this month and are beautifully hand painted. There are now over 2000 designs in the range including domestic, farm, wild animals and birds.

Trendle Tel: 01984 618 311 Email: mail@trendle.co.uk www.trendle-co.com

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

The GiftScribes range of traditional piggy banks and contemporary money boxes make perfect gifts for young savers. They come in a wide choice of sizes and styles for girls and boys and new designs are now available in an expanding product range.

GiftScribes Tel: 01584 811 190 Email sales@giftscribes.co.uk www.giftscribes.co.uk

A Love Story

Porcelain Animals

66

Pocket Money Gifts

Contemporary appeal, elegant design and pure unadulterated romance - love, whether it’s a first kiss, Valentine’s Day, a wedding, or an anniversary, is always to be celebrated and what better way is there to celebrate than with a glass of bubbly or lovely bunch of flowers? Such special occasions demand an extra special glass or vase and this alovestory collection offers the perfect choice! All glass items are finished with a gold rim and come with their own branded box packaging.

Enesco Tel: 01228 404022 Email: uksales@enesco.co.uk www.enesco.co.uk

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the gift products which were showcased at Spring Fair, NEC Birminham 2015.

'Desire' Tea Cup & Saucer The candle shown is Chamomile scented with others in the range offering Earl Grey, Peppermint, Green Tea, Herbal and Americana scents. Each one is beautifully gift boxed in transparent packaging. The candle burn and smell of quality scents are just part of the extensive range of candles offered by Lesser & Pavey as well as fragrance reed diffusers.

Lesser & Pavey Tel: 01322 279225 Email: sales@leonardo.co.uk www.leonardo.co.uk

Woodwicks 'Wow' Factor The two new WoodWick collections unveiled by Xystos at Spring Fair were both well received. The Bedroom Collection, in medium and large sizes – features Terrace Breeze (pictured), Lasting Love, Quiet Bliss, Sultry Spice, Satin Sheets and Warm Slumber, while the Macaron Collection debuts with Pistachio, Lavender, Tiramisu, Pineapple, Coconut and Berry. New scents in WoodWick’s core range are Cherry Bark, Ginger Macaron, Cedar, Seaside Mimosa and Soft Chambray, which are also available as wax melts. Beachfront Cottage joins the Trilogy range.

Xystos Tel 0191 499 1570 Email sales@xystos.co.uk www.xystostrade.co.uk

HearthWick’s repeat business Retailers are placing repeat orders for the HearthWick range, which has been flying off the shelves. It was a best seller for Xystos at Spring Fair where the stylish vessels, stunning fragrances, different coloured waxes and unique wicks made it a firm favourite with buyers.

Twelve new scents have been added, including Fireside (pictured), Baby Powder, Island Coconut, Jasmina, Dew Drops and Marionberry.

Xystos Tel 0191 499 1570 Email sales@xystos.co.uk www.xystostrade.co.uk

Stylish Zen Spa Because candles are now a bathroom favourite, Xystos has responded by adding the stylish Sienna Gold Zen Spa home lighter to its portfolio. With an RRP of £29.99, it is available in four colours - blue, purple, green and yellow. Says Xystos general manager Tom Sykes: “For 130 years, people have been lighting candles with matches. This has meant burnt fingers, dripping wax and broken matches. Our partnership with Sienna Gold puts an end to that pain and frustration.”

Xystos Tel 0191 499 1570 Email sales@xystos.co.uk www.xystostrade.co.uk

Optic Mills A great show saw T&G celebrate its 40 years with a Gift of the Year award in the Kitchen & Dining category for the CrushGrind Optic Mills (featured). It is the design, function and quality of the CrushGrind® Optic mills which have ensured its place on the list of most exciting gifts for 2015. The Gift of the Year Award is an excellent indicator of what’s going to be hot this Christmas and T&G are absolutely delighted to be winners!

T&G Woodware Tel: +44 (0) 1275 841841 www.tg-woodware.com

Fine China Mugs Lesser & Pavey launched many new ranges of fine china mugs in Hall 5 at the Spring Fair to add to their already extensive ranges of varying designs and sizes of mugs. All are beautifully presented in gift boxing, fine china and expertly finished. Lesser & Pavey also offer bespoke for customers that wish to take their business branding or historic hotel a step further.

Lesser & Pavey Tel: 01322 279225 Email: sales@leonardo.co.uk www.leonardo.co.uk

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What’s New Progressive Gifts & Home highlights some of the gift products which were showcased at Spring Fair, NEC Birminham 2015.

Fragranced Giftware

Build & Draw

A record number of new customers placed first orders with Best Kept Secrets at this year's Spring Fair. With new products including Fusion Melts, new packaging and design for their soap bars, and a whole extended line in fragranced gifts, it meant that this was a bumper start to the year for the Morpeth based manufacturer of seriously scented products.

Best Kept Secrets Tel: 01670 512222 Email: sales@bestkeptsecrets.co.uk www.bestkeptsecrets.co.uk

STIX is Shachihata Europe’s sensational new product!

It is the number '1' pen in Australia, and now we are delighted to be launching it here in the UK and across Europe at the Stationery Show. With the benefit of the associated connectors, characters and building ability, STIX is designed to inspire and excite children to ‘Build & Draw’ in their day to day activities.

Shachihata Europe Tel: 01928 790 844 Email: sales@shachihata.eu www.artline-xstamper.com

Glitter & Pearl Clare Davis is well known for her glitter writing and these cards are all about that! Printed on 300 gsm pearlised board, with raised glitter writing and finished off with a hand tied satin ribbon, it make these cards all about the shimmer. All cards are cello wrapped with a pearlised envelope and are 150 mm sq.

Davis & Brown Tel: 01494 883097 Email: sales@davisandbrown.co.uk www.davisandbrown.co.uk

Art Collection New, fresh, vibrant green glassware is the perfect new colour introduction to this popular range for Spring, fragranced with a gorgeous citrus accord of lime, litsea cubea, grapefruit and mandarin. This zesty fragrance is calmed with herbal notes of lavender and basil, leading to a heart of orange blossom and fresh green patchouli.

Stoneglow Candles Tel: 0208 595 8878 Email: sales@stoneglowcandles.co.uk www.stoneglowcandles.co.uk

Smash Hit

Scottish Souvenirs Scottish Souvenirs is a new range of pins, hangers, notepads and mirrors from Willow Greetings. which sold really well at Scotland's Trade Fair Spring and Spring Fair. Adorabelle is a newly created brand which comes in a range of gifts, pins, glitter and mirrors which have been really popular with our Fairy/Pixie fans and children. Moji necklaces are a new tiny charm jewellery. The bright vibrant cards, with contemporary designs matched with teenie tiny charm necklaces, are the perfect gift for someone special.

Willow and Company Greetings Tel: 0131 665 6677 Email: enquiries@willowgreetings.co.uk www.willowgreetings.co.uk New Online Catalogue http://bit.ly/1DzX41w

Spring Fair is the perfect show piece for Joe Davies to introduce over 2000 brand new gift items for Spring and Summer. Once again, the stand was incredibly busy with many highlights to include the debut of the company's brand new Mudpie range which caught the eye of visitors. The distinctive, design led ‘Circa’ style ceramics, frames and table top items made a massive impression on customers and are set to become a smash hit this year.

Joe Davies Tel: 0161 975 6300 Email: sales@joedavies.co.uk www.joedavies.co.uk

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Best Sellers Progressive Gifts & Home asked a selection of retailers about the products which have been flying off their shelves this month.

Jenny Morrison, owner, Top Drawer, St Andrews A small gift shop on a high street.

CATEGORY

SUPPLIERS/RANGES

COMMENT

Decorative Home Accessories

Olivia Earl: clocks;

Stunning handmade wall and mantel clocks with Swarovski details. Customers love them!

The Mr Right and Mrs Always Right mugs are a best seller.

Widdop Bingham: across the board Fragranced Giftware

McKelvie Candles: candles and diffusers;

Stoneglow Candles: botanical gel tumblers

Quality Scottish candles and diffusers in decorative packaging.

Fragrances are amazing and long lasting.

The botanical gel tumblers do well for all age groups. The fragrances are fresh, and the tumblers are very ornate.

Jewellery

Clara Smith Jewellery: handcrafted; Crafted Glass Jewellery: handmade stained glass

Hand crafted silver jewellery, with hints of copper and gold, all handmade in Perthshire. The earrings are especially popular.

Handmade in North Lanarkshire, the brooches and pendants sell very well.

Greeting Cards

Wendy Jones-Blackett/ White Cotton Cards

Design-led greeting cards which are beautifully designed and handfinished. Our customers often buy several in one go!

Giftwrap

Glick

Gorgeous giftwrap and gift bags.

Other Hot Hits

Crafty Clara: humorous signs; Salsbury Ceramic: clay tile tags

These practical handmade signs sell all year round. A top seller.

The special age, wedding and baby ranges do particularly well.

Above: Top Drawer, St Andrews.

Hazel Newson, co-owner, Dandelion, Royal Wooton Bassett A small gift shop on a high street.

CATEGORY

SUPPLIERS/RANGES

COMMENT

Decorative Home Accessories

Canova: Julie Dodsworth Grow Your Own flower pots; Blue Poppy Art: Frith Sculptures

Very pretty pot designs and inexpensive gifts.

Hares and chickens are our best sellers. They're proper collectors' items.

Fragranced Giftware

Ashleigh & Burwood: Earth Secrets diffusers;

Excellent fragrances and a good price point. Customers love them.

These are extremely popular.

There are a wide variety of fragrances.

Aargee: Stamford fragrance oils Greeting cards

Peartree Heybridge; Gardeners’ Weekly range

Really funny humour without being rude.

Giftwrap

Glick: giftwrap and tissue paper

Beautiful designs; excellent quality.

Other Hot Hits

Stationery: Jean Barrington Premiere Picture collection; The Puppet Company: monkey range

Ever changing collections with lovely designs.

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PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

Above: Dandelion, Royal Wooton Bassett.

Bright, colourful hand puppets loved by young and old.

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Paul Beal, owner, Horizon Gifts, Hunstanton.

A small to medium gift shop situated just off the main high street.

CATEGORY

SUPPLIERS/RANGES

COMMENT

Decorative Home Accessories

Shoeless Joe: seaside themed accessories;

Quirky seaside themed home accessories that sell well as mementoes and for holiday homes.

A good range.

Customers like the shabby chic look. The items are not what you find on the high street.

Heaven Sends: across the board

Jewellery

Tianguis Jackson: copper and silver; Sea Gems: Pure Origins

Sells well to all ages. The jewellery’s a bit different and at a good price point.

Simple, quality, well priced silver necklaces and earrings that come in a wide range of designs.

Above: Horizon Gifts, Hunstanton.

Fashion Accessories

Lichfield Leather: Yoshi; London Scarves: across the board

Good quality genuine leather handbags at good prices. There’s a wide range which is well presented.

These are a top seller for us all year round. They are brilliant value and come in a huge range of colours and styles.

Greeting Cards

Paperlink: Lacie

Lovely contemporary cards for all occasion. They're a bit different.

Giftwrap

Glick

A good selection of bags and wrapping paper.

Other Hot Hits

Jellycat: across the board; Art Marketing: Artwork and Thomas Kent clocks

A well-known, loved brand that's popular with adults and children.

High quality clocks that make a lovely display and sell well.

Heather Lacey, owner, Treasures, South Norwood, London A small gift shop on a secondary site.

CATEGORY

SUPPLIERS/RANGES

COMMENT

Decorative Home Accessories

London Ornamentals: bird feeders;

The rustic metal bird feeders make great male or female gifts.

Affordable glass and mirror 'age' photo frames with a wide range available.

Widdop Bingham: photo frames

Home Fragrancing

Regent House: simmering granules;

Pintail Candle: tins

Our customers love these as they are easy and safe to use in burners. There's a good range of scents too.

We do best with the Occasions tin scented candles.

They're wonderful for a quick, token present.

Above: Treasures, South Norwood.

Jewellery

CME: silver; Make A Statement: handmade

A fantastic range of silver chains and earrings.

Unusual, ethically sourced jewellery made by a local designer. A favourite has been the vegetable ivory tague nut in bold colours.

Fashion Accessories

Lichfield Leather: small leather accessories; Cadogan Gifts: music themed cufflinks

Beautiful quality wallets and card holders, to include colourful Oyster card holders which really stand out in handbags.

These are great sellers. The range is vast and we are always adding new designs to the collection.

Greeting Cards

Wendy Jones-Blackett: Fresco

Tactile, stunning designs.

Giftwrap

Ewool Productions

Wonderful African Kente cloth prints. Customers are attracted to the vibrant colours of these unique wraps.

Other Hot Hits

Teal Press

Christian based merchandise. Popular items are the Daily Reads and Journal.

PROGRESSIVE GIFTS & HOME WORLDWIDE

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Best Sellers

What better testimonial for products than those of your fellow retailers. Here's all the information you need to get in touch and start stocking!

ART MARKETING LTD T: 01582 794541 E: customerservices@artmarketing.co.uk W: www.artmarketing.co.uk

ASHLEIGH & BURWOOD T: 01932 267060 E: info@ashleigh-burwood.co.uk W: www.ashleigh-burwood-trade.co.uk

CRAFTED GLASS T: 07952 247778 E: sales@craftedglass.co.uk W: www.craftedglass.co.uk

FRITH SCULPTURE T: 01666 577110 E: sales@frithsculpture.co.uk W: www.frithsculpture.co.uk

JEAN BARRINGTON T: 01751 430081 E: sales@jeanbarrington.co.uk W: www.jeanbarrington.co.uk

PEARTREE HEYBRIDGE T: 01523 876311 E: sales@peartreeheybridge.co.uk W: www.pearteeheybridge.co.uk

PINTAIL CANDLES LTD T: 015395 59007 E: sales@pintailcandles.com W: www.pintailcandes.com

STONEGLOW CANDLES T: 0208 595 8878 E: sales@stoneglowcandles.co.uk W: www.stoneglowcandles.co.uk

WENDY JONES-BLACKETT T: 0113 2888468 E: info@wendyjonesblackett.co.uk W: wendyjonesblackett.co.uk Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

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It costs as little as £250 per annum to advertise in the Product Directory.

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We are a long established, family orientated company who are looking for a self motivated, ambitious, person with strong Sales and Marketing abilities, preferably in the Gift Industry, who has a desire for something different to the normal, ‘run of the mill’ job.

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Apply in writing with a copy of your CV to: Bill Caddick Mele & Co. Sanatorium Road, Cardiff, CF11 8PN. ALTERNATIVELY CALL ON OUR STAND AT SPRING INT FAIR NEC FEB 1st - 5th HALL 5 K23 74

75_New Grid 13/03/2015 15:11 Page 75

On The Road Having spent 20 years in the gift industry, Midlands agent Tanya Barker has spent the past six years on the road. With more of a feelgood factor around this year, based on a much stronger economy, Tanya, whose current principals are Ashleigh & Burwood and Joma Jewellery, reveals a very encouraging start to the year.

"The first quarter of 2015 has been very positive," confirms Tanya. "Sales were up at Christmas which gave retailers a positive start to the year, with everyone looking out for the new product launches. Customers seem much more upbeat, and, unusually for early March, I have already seen repeat orders, with our figures definitely up on this time last year. Valentine's Day was good, with retailers looking for products based around hearts and anything 'love' related, which could also take them forward into the wedding season."

She believes that the feelgood factor is down to the fact that there is more disposable income around, based on good news stories about the economy, and the fact that fuel - and food - prices have been dropping. "It's definitely put a few more pounds in people's pockets, and they are starting to treat themselves to little

luxuries, such as jewellery, or a home fragrance product, without feeling guilty," Tanya comments. "Shoppers have definitely felt able to loosen their purse strings a little bit."

She says that new housing developments too, have been helping to boost sales for gift and home retailers Tanya Barker. in the Midlands. "With more consumers looking to buy lifestyle/interior items, such as cushions, home accessories and home fragrancing products, the improvement in the housing market is certainly having a positive effect. In terms of trends, personalised and sentiment gifts remain very strong, with images of countryside animals a growing sector."

As for Mother's Day, Tanya predicts that, at the time of going to press, it is on course to be a good one. "It's always a big occasion for gift shops, and seems to herald the start of Spring, with customers buying specific gift lines to boost sales. Easter too, gives retailers the opportunity to theme and decorate their shops, again buying products that tie in."

Predicts Tanya, "I think this year will be really good. There's definitely an air of confidence around."

Last Word It's 10 years since Miss Hope and Mr Greenwood aka designer Kitty Hope and antiques entrepreneur Mark Greenwood - decided to take a leap of faith to open a sweet shop, Hope & Greenwood, in Dulwich, SW London. Today, the couple have a shop in Covent Garden and hundreds of stockists around the world, with Kitty dreaming up the company's traditional sweetie recipes that all have a twist.

With a BBC 2 TV series and a book to their credit - Sweets Made Simple - the charismatic husband and wife team also have a 2015 calendar and a new stationery range out, both by Portico. ❐ Three words that best describe you?" Fizz, bang, wallop." ❐ A quirky fact that we don’t know about you? "I worked on The Gruffalo with writer Julia Donaldson and illustrator Axel Scheffler." ❐ Your role model? "My Auntie Mary. She was smart and glamorous and I modelled myself on her. She had 26 hair salons." ❐ The best advice that you would give to someone else?

"You have to make it happen. If your boat is to come in, jump in and swim out to meet it. However, it does help if you have someone to egg you on!"

Tanya Barker

Hope & Greenwood

Right: Miss Hope and Mr Greenwood.

❐ What made you switch careers?

"How do you follow The Gruffalo? Mr Greenwood and I gave up two very well paid jobs to leap into the abyss. The first sweet shop came about following an after dinner conversation where we said, there aren't any sweet shops any more." ❐ Your favourite TV programme? "The Sopranos." ❐ Your favourite film? "Brief Encounter." ❐ Your favourite holiday or place to visit? "Our home on the beach in Romney." ❐ How do you start and end your day? "Sitting up in bed reading the newspapers." ❐ What do you love most about your job? "Cooking and experimenting with unusual ingredients." ❐ What was the best gift you have ever given to someone else? "Sweets." ❐ Which of your sweets is your favourite? "The English almond butter toffee - the George Clooney of toffees!" ❐ Which one item would you take to a desert island?

"Mr. Greenwood."

Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide

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