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Leader
On The Cards An intriguingly entitled email dropped into my inbox on the same day I had learned about Grass Roots’ sad demise and had endured another angry debate about the chaos the Brexit situation was causing businesses large and small. I wasn’t feeling happy. ‘Geeks kill clickbait’ was in the subject matter and taking the ‘bait’ I clicked on it to read about how two digital tech experts in the UK have studied human happiness over three years, using 50,000 online positivity diaries. Through the project, known as PostMood, they noticed something extraordinary. The peaks and troughs in national happiness (especially in the UK and USA) seemed to tally with the personality of the regional news surrounding them. Rather than the news reflecting the nation, it was changing the nation. "The media is killing happiness. There is a negative bias in place at editorial level, creating clickbait for financial gain and it directly impacts anxiety at a personal level", they claimed. This so-called 'clickbait' encourages people to read a story through the use of shocking images and headlines. ‘If it bleeds it leads’ is the theory that understands the human bias towards threat. While I do not think we should ignore the news, or that it is right or healthy to hide away from it, this edition of PG contains lots of happy gems! Anyone feeling a bit low or worried should turn to our Viewpoints section (pages 21-23) and immerse yourself in the positive vibes emanating from some of the UK’s leading indies. Above: PG’s Jakki Brown met up with auctioneer Charles Hanson to be presented with the world’s oldest Valentine’s card (see pages 42-43) Below: The countdown begins to PG Live as the team as well as the two couples from lunchroom co-sponsors, Tache and Louise Tiler Designs, met to taste the delights in store for the June show. Right: Steve Wright (centre) with Don Hall, president of Hallmark (right) and PG’s Warren Lomax at the move into Hallmark’s refurbed offices in Bradford in 2017.
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I so love the attitude of Deborah Tingay, owner of Southbourne Cards in Bournemouth, who believes “Being positive is critical to sales’ success. By engaging with our customers we share news, and talk about surprise parties, daughters’ wedding plans, exam successes, new born joy, or the reason for finding a funny card funny. What I have come to realise is that card shops provide a well-earned break for many from the ‘destructive worries’ out there now.” Go Deborah go - say no to ‘clickbait’!
PS... Warren and I were very lucky to have been invited to the recent retirement celebration of Hallmark’s head honcho Steve Wright, who has now left the company after 22 years. When I asked him his mantra for life, without hesitation he responded: “Be positive and try to enjoy every moment as this is not a dress rehearsal.”
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a little too much birthday cake is just about right.
Life is Sweet greeting cards designed by icon order online: www.icon-art.com telephone: 01242 679800 / email: info@icon-art.com
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Contents
What’s Inside? 46
Within This Issue:
FOCUS ON MALE CARDS
35 9-19
35
44-45
News
Up Close And Personal
Jeremy’s Journal
Wright Handed
Blind Spot
Steve Wright, managing director of Hallmark UK, marks his retirement after 22 years with a few parting words.
Jeremy Corner of publisher Blue Eyed Sun talks about glimpsing his business blind spot.
36-37
46-47
Focus On Male Cards - Retro Trend
Face To Face
Rewind & Repeat
All Tea’d Up
Why the 1970s and 80s revival is ‘flaring’ up on male card designs.
Lee Keeper, Woodmansterne’s creative director, ‘pours’ the news about the publisher’s new Emma Bridgewater greeting card collection.
21-23 Viewpoints
Accentuate The Positives Raising a smile, a local hero and bonus business decisions, retailers share some positive news as an antidote to all the negativity.
24-25 Over The Counter
Telling Tales
39-41
David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, discusses clichés surrounding the current retail climate.
New Male Card Launches New male card ranges tailored for men.
Art Source
26-27
42-43
52-53
Cardsharp
In Conversation With… Charles Hanson
What’s Hot?
Swimmers Needed Urgently Cardsharp muses over topical events happening in the industry.
29-33
Innovations
49-51
Suits You Sir!
The Dating Game Auctioneer Charles Hanson reveals his discovery of the world’s oldest Valentine’s card, bought recently by PG’s Jakki Brown.
54-67
Classified Above: A male Panache design from Real & Exciting Designs (Mint).
Subscribe to Progressive Greetings from £60 (UK) to £90 (International). You can organise this quickly and easily online at our secure site: Max-Subscriptions.net For assistance, please email maxsubscriptions@marketingreinforc ements.co.uk or call 0207 700 6740.
Tracey Arnaud
Jakki Brown
Warren Lomax
Gale Astley
Ian Hyder
Editor/Joint Owner
Joint Owner
Deputy Editor
Joint Owner
Sales Manager
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traceya@max-publishing.co.uk
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Copyright© 2019. While every effort has been made to ensure the information in this magazine was correct at the time of publication, the publishers cannot accept legal liability for any errors or omissions, nor can they accept responsibility for the standing of advertisers nor any organisation mentioned in the text. Views of contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.
PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Amanda Fergusson 020 7619 9266 Email: gca@max-publishing.co.uk www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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NEWS Breathing more fire
TOP STORY
Paperchase CVA Approved Trust to be rebuilt with publishers Paperchase has received the approval from its creditors (which includes many card publishers) for its CVA (Creditors Voluntary Arrangement). For the proposal to go through it had to be accepted by at least 75% of its creditors. Timothy Melgund, deputy chairman of Paperchase described the successful outcome of the creditors’ meeting (which took place on Friday March 22) as “very good news”. The meeting was attended by around 50 people, a mix of landlords, trade suppliers and service providers. “I think that most were happy with the result! Phew...” Timothy exclaimed shortly after the meeting was concluded. “That’s that bit over with. Now we have to wait a further 28 days of the Challenge Period during which anyone can challenge the result. Hopefully no one will... not sure on what basis they could launch an effective
challenge really... and then the CVA comes into effect,” he added. The agreement signals a rent reduction for Paperchase on some of its stores, other stores will move to rental costs tied to turnover, while a small number of its shops are to close. Mindful of how unsettling this situation has been for the many card publishers who supply Paperchase, Timothy gave his assurance that with the CVA approved the retailer “can continue paying to terms”. He also said that a top priority was to “start rebuilding trust and trading relationships with our valued partners. They have been very supportive, which is really appreciated, and it makes you realise how lucky we are to have such strong relationships in the trade.” Above: Timothy Melgund, deputy chairman of Paperchase is thankful of the support from card suppliers. Left: A small number of Paperchase stores will close, while many others will see their rental costs reduce.
Carte Blanche restructures sales force For the first time in six years, Carte Blanche has undertaken a complete review of how it serves the independent retail channel. As a result the Sussex-based card and gift company has restructured its independent sales force, while at the same time bolstered its sales support team at its HQ. While the restructure has seen a loss of five jobs ‘on the road’, six roles have been created at Carte Blanche’s Sussex office in sales support and product development areas of the business. In a statement, Alister Marchant, ceo of Carte Blanche stressed that customers’ needs were at the heart of the company’s sales force restructure. “Following a recent review of our independent channel we have restructured our salesforce and increased resources in sales support, product development and brand management, with the aim to improve our customers’ experience, both in terms of the service they receive and the products we offer.” As Grace Elphinstone, marketing manager of Carte Blanche explained that upping the head count of the office-based customer service functions means that the field-based members of the sales force “will have fewer administration tasks, thereby freeing up more of their time to spend with their retail customers”. The review involved an official consultative process with agreements now reached with all those who lost their jobs in the restructure. “We are sorry to have lost some good people in the restructure, but as a business we need to ensure that we are the right shape for the future,” adds Grace.
The success of the recent GCA Speeddating with Dragons 3 lives on as the retailer buyer ‘dragons’ make contact with publishers who were involved. Being a dog fan, Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies in Stevenage, a first-time ‘dragon’, placed an order with Dotty Dog Art at the end of the day. “Among the other publishers who stood out for me was Deckled Edge, who I will definitely be ordering from. I first saw this publisher last year at PG Live and there is now a great choice of product from which to choose. I was also very pleased to meet Laura Sherratt. She had kindly sent us one of her beautiful cards last year when we were nominated for The Retas. Her cards really stood out for me and I will definitely be placing an order with her.”
Experienced ‘dragon’ Andrea Pinder, owner of Unit 7 of Manchester and Birmingham, did not hold back either. She revealed that she had placed an order with Laura Darrington “for her new Halcyon range and I’m pleased to say it’s selling well. I ordered Brainbox Candy’s new celebs range and also Modern Toss, which it has now taken under its umbrella. I have also been in contact with Blue Island Press since the event. Rhian ApGruffyadd, founder of Gruffpawtraits, had some fantastic dog portraits, and I also really liked the new humour from Cheeky Chops Cards who are also now on our ‘new publisher’ list.” Top: One of Jo’s dogs, Orberry, showing his appreciation of the delivery from Dotty Dog Art Cards. Above: Cardies’ Jo Sorrell (right) with Laura Sherratt. Below: Unit 7’s Andrea Pinder with Penmark’s Mark Rees at the GCA’s Speed-dating with Dragons 3 event.
Left: Alister Marchant, ceo of Carte Blanche Group says that the new structure is in line with the business’ needs.
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NEWS TOP STORY
PG Live To Serve Up Tasty Treats Tache and Louise Tiler mark their 5th anniversaries Looking to mark their respective companies’ 5th anniversaries in a major way, card publishers Tache and Louise Tiler Designs are effectively inviting the entire global greeting card industry to lunch two days running in early June and will also be putting on a great evening drinks party to boot! Having both made their trade show debuts at PG Live five years ago they felt it was fitting to mark their shared milestone by joining forces to co-sponsor the lunchroom at Progressive Greetings Live 2019 (which takes place at London’s Business Design Centre on Tuesday June 4 and Wednesday 5 June), as well as the evening drinks party, which will take place on the opening night of the show (Tuesday 4 June). “We first met Frank and Pennie of Tache at PG Live five years ago. We have very different looks to our greeting cards, but it is so good to have friends in the industry that are growing at a similar rate, enabling you to share the journey together,” believes Louise Tiler. Pennie Bryant, who together with Frank Nicholls owns Tache, added: “We’re over the moon to have been asked to co-sponsor the lunchroom this year to celebrate five fabulous years in the industry. Our company mission and
company slogan has always been ‘designed to make you smile’ and we can’t wait to carry this over to the BDC Gallery room”. Both the sumptuous lunch and the drinks party, popular elements of the world’s largest dedicated greeting card show, are open to all PG Live exhibitors and visitors, with all the food and drinks being free of charge. “PG Live 2019 is set to be a wonderful celebration of our fabulous industry with a wealth of publishers of all shapes and sizes all set to create a feast for the eyes with thousands of new designs,” commented Warren Lomax, joint show director of PG Live. Louise Tiler Designs and Tache join a mighty impressive line-up of 230 exhibitors, comprising established publishers, renowned artists and up-andcoming designers from around the globe. To book a free ticket and to receive a copy of the Show Preview register on www.progressivegreetingslive.com or call +44 (0)1635 297070. Above: There will be lots of people looking forward to jumping for joy at PG Live 2019 in June. Left: (Left-right) Tache’s Frank Nicholls and Pennie Bryant with Michael Jellie, the head chef at the Business Design Centre with Louise Tiler Designs’ Louise Tiler and Gavin Nicholas in the kitchen at the home of PG Live.
Royal approval
Linda Duggan joins The Art File Following the retirement of two of its agents, The Art File has appointed Linda Duggan (right) as its first ever full-time employed business development manager. Linda’s past experience includes spending eight years as a buyer for Blue Diamond garden centre group. Commenting on the strengthening of the team, James Mace, The Art File’s sales manager said he was delighted to have Linda on the team bringing her “wealth of experience in both sales and buying” to the company.
Cashing in Cherry Orchard Publishing has given £1,000 away in cash to four of its independent card stockists, winners of its Down Memory Lane Grand Prize Draw. Retail customers who unpacked their deliveries of Down Memory Lane cards from Cherry Orchard Publishing between mid December and early January also found a ticket that went into the Grand Prize Draw. All the tickets were put into a ‘hat’ and four lucky winners’ names were drawn. The lucky winners were: First Prize of £500 was won by Best Wishes in Maldon; Second Prize of £250 went to Newsmarket in Rainham; Third Prize of £150 was won by Gemini Greetings in East Sussex, while Troika in Lincoln won the Fourth Prize of £100. Above: Diane Sutton of Best Wishes, Maldon received her £500 cheque from Cherry Orchard’s area sales manager Keith Taylor. Below: Suzanne and Andy Heasman of Gemini Greetings, East Sussex with their cheque.
Lola Designs has seen its art appear in high places of late - fulfilling an order to supply Buckingham Palace and also being featured on the BBC TV programme ‘Best House In town’ where each episode sees different types of homes compete against each other. “When we first received the call from Buckingham Palace just before Christmas we didn't dare believe it and seriously thought someone was pulling our leg until the order came through on our system,” said Frank Mountain who owns the business with his wife Amanda. Right: A Lola giraffe print in Pandora’s house on the TV programme.
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NEWS TOP STORY
Grass Roots Ceases Trading Goodbye to long-established traditional card publisher Carina Cards, which was better known under its trading name of Grass Roots International, ceased trading last month resulting in a loss of 15 jobs. Co-owned by husband and wife team Rob Brown and Lisa Ardren, Grass Roots had been trading for 24 years. The Liverpool-based publisher, best known for its Write from the Heart brand, is expected to be liquidated on April 8. As PG went to press, Ian Brown and John Fisher of Parkin S Booth were in the process of being appointed as joint liquidators of the business. According to Parkin S Booth’s Robert Rutherford, the
initial contact for all Grass Roots matters during this interim period, Lisa and Rob had been trying to sell the business to avoid the demise, but were not successful. GRASS ROOTS Grass Roots was renowned INTERNATIONAL for its service, especially to the independent trade, always ranking highly in The Henries Best Service To the Independent Retailer award category. Robert told PG that a combination of factors, including “a difficult market, competition and struggles on the high street” as among the reasons for the business’ failure. TM
Left: Grass Roots’ co-owner Rob Brown.
Sad loss of Loxleys’ Craig Zelly Craig Zelly, the well-known and highly popular business development manager of greeting card printer, Loxleys, has sadly passed away, having lost his hard fought battle with cancer, aged 59 years. Paying tribute, Loxleys’ managing director Tony Lorriman, who joined the company on the exactly the same day as Craig, said: “He was so much more than a colleague, he was a great mate to me and so many others. He has to be one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet; he had a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. And as for his role in the business, he was instrumental in so many positive developments with the company. He has left his smiley mark on Loxleys, on the industry and on this world.” Craig was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour two and half years ago and underwent a series of treatment. Such was Craig’s commitment to Loxleys, he continued to work for the company, serving its publisher customers up until four weeks before he died. Craig leaves behind a partner and two grown-up children and a wave of love and respect from colleagues and publishers who had the privilege to know him. Above: Craig Zelly, business development manager of greeting card printer, Loxleys has sadly passed away.
PG Live Jan 2020 shelved The plans to launch a second Progressive Greetings Live show, in January 2020 have been shelved by organisers Max Exhibitions. However the June PG Live shows for 2019, 2020 and all the years afterwards are totally unaffected. Commenting Warren Lomax, director of Max Exhibitions said: “This is not a decision we have taken lightly. Having been very involved in the greeting card sector through Progressive Greetings for almost 30 years, we only want to do what the industry wants and what the economic conditions allow for.” He elaborated that while there had been a great deal of enthusiasm from retailers for the January 2020 show, as well as commitment from many publishers, but “given all the Brexit paralysis, general uncertainty and the subsequent sense of caution we felt we would not be able to meet the expectations that visitors to PG Live have come rely on. The last thing we would ever want to do is not put on a good show for all involved.” As Warren added, “We really do appreciate the support we have received from so many great publishers, over 50 of whom had booked stands for PG Live January 2020, but we wanted to have the whole industry behind it to make it a real success for all.” Underlining a total commitment to PG Live June, which will take place on Tuesday 4 June and Wednesday 5 June at London’s Business Design Centre, Warren said: “We’re here for this industry - and are doubling our efforts to ensure that PG Live 2019, now the largest greeting card exhibition in the world, will be better than ever.”
GBCC’s gifted move GBCC is diversifying from greeting cards and is launching into gifts with the company recruiting a real ‘Golden girl’ to head up the new division. Katy Golden, who has 20 years’ experience in the retail sector in stationery and gifts, latterly as online category manager (stationery and gift) at WHSmith, has joined The Great British Card Company (GBCC), taking up the brand new role of head of gifts. Katy joins bringing with her a wealth of experience and a passion for products. She started in the industry on the WHSmith Graduate Scheme back in 1999. She has worked in various buying and new product development roles within WHSmith stationery team for over 14 years, with the last seven as category manager for stationery and gift for the WHSmith website. Katy has also worked as account manager/product development for Portico Designs and Far East sourcing manager for Parragon Books sourcing gifts. “I love stationery, love gifts, love cards, love the designs that GBCC has produced, so I am now pulling it all together to create some ranges to launch pre-Christmas,” Katy told PG. Commenting on Katy’s appointment, GBCC’s md Chris Wilcox said: “We are absolutely delighted to welcome Katy into our business. She is a true specialist in her field. With her expertise, drive and total commitment, Katy’s appointment marks a new and important development for GBCC as we diversify into other non-card areas, supported by our retailers.” Above: Katy Golden, GBCC’s new head of gifts, with Michael McGunnigle, the company’s national sales manager (right) and Nick Adsett, group product director.
All a flutter Tache has announced Postmark as the winner of the competition to launch its new Lashes brand. The London-based retail group won £1,000 worth of the publisher’s best selling cards. When Postmark’s co-owner Mark Janson-Smith heard the news he said, “We couldn't believe it when we were called to say we had won this wonderful prize. We were absolutely blown away and to have this much Tache stock to play around with is just fantastic.”
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NEWS TOP STORY
Smart Seal Switch Woodmansterne commits to unwrapped cards ‘For over 30 years, I have been one of the industry’s strongest advocates for keeping a greeting card pristine in a glass-clear, polypropylene bag… however, the world has changed. We cannot continue to pollute our planet as we do. Single-use plastic has become an anathema in today’s world with no satisfactory means of disposal,’ so began a letter that Paul Woodmansterne, managing director of Woodmansterne Publications sent out to the publisher’s customers last month to herald the company’s official switch to supplying all its cards unwrapped, using a specially developed Smart Seal peel-off label to keep the card with the envelope. In his letter, Paul acknowledged the practical advantages of cellowrapped cards – ‘It stops the envelope drifting from the card, it keeps mucky fingers from besmirching the product, it helps to keep retail displays neat and tidy’, as well as the joyous ‘ritual of pealing open a meticulously-wrapped greeting card’. That said, and despite the fact that the company has recently spent almost half a £million on new wrapping machinery, Woody’s head honcho delivers the strong and inclusive message that ‘We
Below: Woodmansterne’s Smart Seal in action. Bottom: Paul Woodmansterne (right) with Seth, his son and codirector celebrating the company’s 65th anniversary last year.
cannot continue to pollute our planet as we do’. As Paul points out, single-use plastic (which includes cello bags for cards) has become ‘an anathema in today’s world with no satisfactory means of disposal. We have learnt that all film (compostable, biodegradable or otherwise) ends up in landfill or incineration, since supposedly ‘good’ film is indistinguishable from ‘bad’.’ Having investigated various options, and by working closely with greeting card printers Windles, the Smart Seal was arrived at, the new product name superceding the working title of ‘Seal-Close’. As demonstrated on its stand at the recent Spring Fair, the Smart Seal is a solution to keep cards and envelopes both clean and tidy without the need for plastic. “All our cards are either gloss-varnished or printed on felted board that is protected from mucky fingers by an invisible coating that repels grease and dirt,” explains Paul, pre-empting retailers’ concerns about product soilage. Woodmansterne is now in full production of using a Smart Seal on its cards.
Come out in the wash The Cinnamon Aitch team’s change in their personal washing habits sparked the publisher’s long-awaited move into gifts, with its inaugural collection of soaps, coasters and tea towels now causing waves. “In reaction to the worldwide plastic problem, all of us in the studio recently made the switch from shower gels to soap and so sought out lovely, natural soaps with no nasty chemicals,” reveals Sara Burford, who together with her business partner Sarah Fitzpatrick founded the company over 20 years ago. This small change to their personal lives has triggered the move into producing their own soaps. “It was important to us that our soaps hit all the relevant criteria for today's environmentally savvy consumer; that they are made with natural ingredients, vegan, have no palm oil, no plastics, no parabens, no SLS and no animal cruelty,” assures Sara. The inaugural collection, the packaging of which is based on Cinnamon Aitch’s Cherry Blossom card range, encompasses 12 everyday soaps all of which are handmade in the UK, all using natural ingredients. The range includes a shaving bar, a facial bar, travel and shampoo soaps, with a specially packaged soap for Father’s Day too. “There has been no stopping us... to add to the story we have plunged into coasters and tea towels and are looking at having mugs ready to launch at PG Live, alongside our gorgeous cards of course!” says Sara. Above: One of the Cinnamon Aitch Cherry Blossom soaps and coasters.
Increased capacity UK Envelope Centre has recently invested in a new envelope converting machine which enables the company to increase capacity and reduce its lead times. The machine is now in production after an in-house team of highly skilled engineers fully recondition it to create an efficient boost to its capacity to in excess of 6 million envelopes per week - an increase of 1.5 million envelopes. Joanne Davis, director and owner of UKE, believes, “We are seeing volumes increase as publishers move their focus onto more UK produced products. Supporting UK manufacturing benefits both the publishers and retailers as lead times can be reduced, offering more flexibility in planning while significantly reducing the environmental footprint.”
#myshoplife19 Instagram Challenge At the start of this month, plucky independent card retailer, Sarah Holmes, owner of Pencil Me In, based in Elgin in Scotland, instigated a month-long Instagram Challenge to foster feelings of camaraderie and solidarity, as well as providing a source of inspiration among fellow indies. #myshoplife19 is open to all retailers, with Sarah having created a planner of prompts for every day. Sarah gained great traction with a similar Instagram challenge last year, prompting 150 fellow independents to share their stories to inspire and motivate their peers. “Staying positive in business is tough, especially in high street retail. It can really get you down.” Sarah created a prompts planner, accessed via Pencil Me In’s Instagram page (www.instagram.com/pencilmeinshop/) to help retailers get prepped in advance. Sarah feels that while the uncertainty over “Brexit has impacted on business owners all over the UK, with worry and anxiety playing on their mind for almost three years”, she says that indies can confront this by realising their strengths. “Consumer confidence has undoubtedly reduced, but we are nimble, we can flex and change at a moment’s notice and be the joy our customers need when shopping or scrolling their social media feeds.” Above: In addition to the Shoplife initiative, Pencil Me In took the ‘Naked Pledge’ last autumn to sell all of its cards unwrapped.
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NEWS Bright spark
TOP STORY
Aldi Ups It On Cards IG Design Group greeting card trial extended to nearly 100 stores Following a trial in 10 Aldi stores, distribution of the specially created greeting card selection and fixtures created by IG Design Group UK (DGUK) is being expanded to include almost 100 stores. This development now encompasses all Aldi stores that are supplied by the retailer’s Cardiff distribution centre, which serves its stores in the South West as well as south Wales. The DGUK roll out, which will be complete by the end of April, comes swiftly after the news that Aldi’s greeting card trial with Card Factory in the north of the UK has also been extended, to all of its 121 stores in that region. Drawing on the results of the greeting card sales in the 10 stores involved in the initial Design Group UK trial, the publishing company’s team has worked with Aldi to tweak the offer and the cards’ presentation. To simplify the
shopping experience for Aldi customers, all cards are to be offered at a single price point of 99p, a new fixture solution has been devised and the card selection has been refreshed. The initial Design Group UK trial involved 105 card designs sold at a number of price points. Now the selection has been trimmed down to 85 designs. Commenting on the roll out, Design Group UK’s channel controller David Jackson told PG: “In line with Aldi’s strategy of offering best quality products at competitive prices, the creatively refreshed Aldi range continues to offer a breadth of styles, catering for all everyday greeting card occasions.” Top: Aldi is now the UK’s fifth largest supermarket. It trades from over 775 stores with over 130 new stores planned over the next two years. Above: By the end of April DGUK will be supplying almost 100 Aldi stores with a bespoke everyday card collection.
Aldi to scrap plastic glitter Aldi is singling out greeting cards as part of its environmental pledge. The UK’s fastest growing grocer has announced that all of its 2019 Christmas cards and giftwrap will be plastic glitter-free. This is all part of the supermarket’s new pledge to remove all non-biodegradable glitter from all products by the end of 2020. “We want to be sure our customers can enjoy key events without compromising on sustainability,” states Fritz Walleczek, managing director of corporate responsibility at Aldi UK and Ireland. Karen Hubbard, ceo of Card Factory confirmed that it was gearing up to ensure that all of its cards that it supplies to Aldi will be free of plastic glitter from November 2019, while Design Group UK, which is also supplying everyday cards in Aldi stores in other parts of the UK will also ensure there is no plastic glitter on its designs by the start of 2020. Aldi is making significant strides to cut plastic in its stores, having committed to using only recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging on its own products by 2022, and on all products by 2025.
Piccadilly’s first ever trade website Piccadilly has just gone live on its brand new B2B website www.piccadillygreetings.co.uk. The state of the art new site, which Chirag Kaneria, director of the Herts-based publishing group says marks a “significant investment” for the company, has been developed very much with its customers in mind. “Given that we have over 3,500 live skus, ordering is now very easy and friendly… and the website is fully integrated into our systems.” The new site has some great functionality “including a ‘Fastlines’ feature which allows customers to quickly upload orders from a Word document or Excel spreadsheet to make it as easy as possible.” Piccadilly is offering its current and new independent customers a special discount of 25% off their first online order. Above: The homepage of Piccadilly’s new trade website.
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Ever since she set up Bright Agency 15 years ago to provide greeting card publishers, book publishers and other product sectors with first class artwork from 500 artists, Above: Bright Agency’s Vicki Willden-Lebrecht founder Vicki WilldenLebrecht. has championed for better treatment for illustrators. The current edition of The Parliamentary Review, which is sent to over 500,000 leading business executives and policy makers, includes an article written by Vicki in which she shares her views on the challenges artists in the illustration industry face and calls for greater recognition for illustrators to be rightfully feted for their creative pre-eminence. Highlighting the prominent role the UK greeting card industry within this as a celebration of this creativity, Vicki makes the point: “It is important that illustration becomes better acknowledged as part of the creative sector - the industry is both thriving and accessible, as shown by the £1.7 billion spent on greeting cards in the UK alone last year.” Vicki says that The Parliamentary Review’s decision to include the article, which is peppered with examples of design work by artists and illustrators that the Bright Agency represents, should be seen as “a pivotal moment for illustration to be acknowledged as part of the creative sector.” This edition of The Parliamentary Review was especially poignant as PM Theresa May wrote the foreword in which she highlighted “our vibrant creative industries” as one of the UK’s great strengths.
Utility opens in Manchester
Above: Utility now in Manchester.
Liverpool-based design-led retailer Utility has opened its first store in Manchester - and cards feature prominently. The new 1,200sqft store is at the centre of Manchester’s bustling University district, meaning Utility now has four shops. Richard Skelton, co-founder of Utility said: “Manchester has long been on our wish list. The store has had a phenomenal start.” The store has a fresh new aesthetic, created by Manchester design company WDC Creative, featuring bespoke plywood fittings.
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NEWS TOP STORY
Save the date
GCA Speaks Out Association adds its voice to the IRC, bira and Bank of England The last few weeks has seen the GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson put the greeting card industry on the map with the Independent Retailers Confederation (IRC), the British Independent Retailer Association (bira) and to the Bank of England (via The Senate of The Genesis Institute). “It makes absolute sense that the GCA adds its voice to other bodies that have the potential to make a real difference to our members’ businesses, whether on the publishing, retailing or trade supply sides,” said Amanda. “The IRC, bira and the Genesis Institute all have access to government and by having an open dialogue with them, we can feed into their lobbying,” added Amanda. “The fact that 94% of greeting cards are still bought in bricks and mortar stores has been of real interest to these
organisations, many of whom are amazed at the size of our industry, both in the amount of revenue it generates £1.7 billion in UK retail alone - as well as the number of people in direct employment - a conservative estimate being 100,000.” The IRC, which represents over 100,000 UK independent retailers, is working on a high street regeneration project and is currently looking to identify ‘beacon towns’ where there are strong local communities who are working well to support local businesses. “I know that within the greeting card sector we have some great indie movers and shakers that have already contributed to making a difference in their respective localities. It would be great to hear from those who would like to put their town forward to become part of this programme,” urged Amanda. (Amanda can be emailed on amandagca@maxpublishing.co.uk). Above: The GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson with Ojay McDonald, ceo of Association of Town and City Management (ATCM), who made a presentation at the recent meeting. Left: The Senate of the Genesis Institute, met at the Bank of England, the GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson attended the meeting.
Cards are a ‘basket case’ Confirming how firmly entrenched greeting cards are in British society, they are one of the products that are used to measure current UK consumer price inflation. Every year the Office of National Statistics (ONS) compiles a “shopping basket” of items (products and services), the costs of which form the basis of measuring inflation. To make sure the measures are up-to-date and representative of how the public live their lives and spend their money, some items are taken out of Above: The ONS still includes greeting cards in its ‘basket’. the baskets and some are brought in. Jumping on the fact that ‘envelopes’ have been removed from the basket, some media coverage intimated that this included greeting cards. This is most definitely not the case. The envelopes in question that are no longer ‘in the basket’ refer to packs of envelopes. An article in the Daily Mail, entitled ‘Now envelopes are delivered to history’, began ‘A note of thanks, a birthday card, a handwritten message from a far flung place - envelopes landing on the doormat have often held a certain excitement. But it seems they have now been delivered to the annals of history’, suggested some ambiguous coverage in the national press. Immediately seeking clarification and to affirm the strength of greeting cards as a consumer product, the GCA’s ceo Amanda Fergusson contacted the ONS. A speedy response from Mike Gibbs of the Retail Prices Index’s team delivered reassurance that there is no cause for concern, with both greeting cards and wrapping paper included in the Books, Newspapers and Stationery ‘basket’. He stated "... greeting cards are still very much a staple of UK expenditure...There are no plans to remove these from the basket anytime soon”. He confirmed that packs of envelopes a standalone item have been removed as “the expenditure has fallen to below the threshold for inclusion.”
Save the date - 17 October 2019 - for the GCA’s AGM, which will mark the association’s 100th anniversary! More details are to be announced shortly, but it will be held in a great London location!
Hallmark’s helps the lonely Loneliness, anxiety, depression, stress, the effects of ill-health and deep feeling of loss are some of the modern day issues that Hallmark has highlighted where a greeting card, if it hits the right tone for the sender and the recipient, can really help. The publisher embarked on a research project to map the nation’s mental and physical well-being before translating these findings into a special greeting card collection, entitled Here for You. Hallmark research highlighted how 30% of the UK population is lonely and one in six of Brits is suffering from a mental health issue. As well as talking to consumer focus groups, Hallmark also reached out to specialist charities and lobbying bodies for their input, which is reflected in 16 emotive greeting card designs. “The statistics highlight just how sadly common issues Above: This Hallmark of loneliness, mental design lends itself for health, anxiety and a deep loss. stress are in the UK,” Below: Hallmark’s said Tamsyn JohnstonTamsyn JohnstonHughes. Hughes, marketing business partner of Hallmark. Among the facts which stood out in this ongoing project are: l 20% of the older population is mildly lonely and another 8-10% is intensely lonely. (Source: Campaign to End Loneliness). l An estimated eight million (35%) of men in the UK feel lonely at least once a week, while for nearly three million (11%) it’s a daily occurrence. More than one in 10 men also say they are lonely, but would not admit it to anyone. (Source: Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness). l In England, one in six people report experiencing a common mental health problem (such as anxiety and depression) in any given week. (Source: Mind). l About 15 million people in England have a long-term health condition. (Source: The King’s Fund). l Young adults spend more than six hours a day ‘stressed out.’ (Source: Youth UK). l One in six young people experience an anxiety condition as the pressure to be 'where you think you should be' at the age of 30 kicks in. (Source: Age and Ageing).
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NEWS Thortful for bereaved mums
TOP STORY
Mum’s The Word Tesco donates £20,000 to Cancer Research Tesco’s Mother’s Day greeting card support brought rewards to worthy causes (through a Cancer Research UK charity card collection with Hallmark) as well as to one lucky shopper who stands to win a £1,000 shopping spree (through a competition with Carte Blanche’s Me to You brand). Tesco is donating £20,000 to Cancer Research UK and support the charity’s Race for Life initiative, as a result of the sale of a special collection of Mother’s Day cards that were sold in 400 stores. Hallmark worked with the supermarket to create these 16 special Mother’s Day cards. The back of the cards tell some very human stories of women, who all work for the supermarket, who have been affected by cancer, which inspired them to take part in the Race for Life. (This is
a series of events raising money for research into all 200 types of cancer, and is open to everyone, including men, women and children). As Hallmark’s Laura Washington pointed out: “Every two minutes someone in the UK is diagnosed with cancer, so we know how important it is to raise both funds and awareness of this disease that affects so many lives.” This is the second year Hallmark supported Cancer Research UK with a Mother’s Day card collection exclusive to Tesco, but the range increased significantly for 2019. Above: Tesco really got behind Mother’s Day on the card front in more ways than one this year. Left: Some of the special charity Mother’s Day cards that Hallmark has devised for Tesco.
Me to You teams up with Tesco For Mother’s Day this year Carte Blanche Greetings’ Me to You brand partnered with Tesco to offer its customers the opportunity to win a £1000 shopping spree in over 400 of its stores. “We were delighted that Tesco has recognised the synergy between the Me to You brand and this special occasion, allowing our product portfolio to own the Mother’s Day space in store, offering customers a one stop solution for their Mother’s Day gifting and the ability to shop across categories for the brand they love,” commented CBG’s marketing manager Grace Elphinstone. The competition, hosted online, was promoted across all of the Me to You Mother’s Day gifting products and all Mother’s Day cards across the Carte Blanche stable of brands which include Wishing Well Studios and Hotchpotch. Special PoS was developed that features on specially designed instore displays which incorporated both cards and gifts. Left: A £1,000 spending spree at Tesco is up for grabs as a result of a Tesco/Carte Blanche competition fronted by the Me to You brand.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: Thortful’s Mother’s Day selection this year also catered for mothers who have lost a child.
Moving trends In addition to all the other thrills of the show, Stationery Show London (which takes place at London’s Business Design Centre on April 30 and May 1) is organising daily trend tours, led by trend forecasting agency Scarlet Opus, which will complement the show’s Trends Hub. Each tour, lasting 40 minutes, will show visitors specific products epitomising one of the four key consumer and design trends that the stationery sector will see developing in 2020. The four global consumer and design trends have been identified as: The Traveller: a key trend for Christmas 2019, reflecting a desire to optimistically look ahead to a calmer, more stable era. The Game Changer: a trend that sees consumer interest in strengthening the connection between sustainability and technology to achieve environmental improvements. Satori: based around next summer’s Olympics in Japan, which will boost worldwide interest in Japanese culture and influences. Satori, or ‘the experience of seeing into one’s true nature’ will be a key part of this. Fellowship: this will be promoting the power of the collective through a global outlook. It will celebrate cultural diversity and placing ethics at the centre of decision-making. Experimental, colourful and joyous, it will showcase a cultural mix of ideas. See page 33 for some products that will be showcased at Stationery Show London.
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Online greeting card operator, Thortful, sensitively introduced a collection of Mother’s Day cards this year to cater for the love of mothers whose babies and children have died. The range of cards, which honour and recognise the forgotten group of mothers who have suffered a miscarriage, whose babies were stillborn or have died in childhood, was the result of a social media conversation with Hannah Pontillo, a mother who lost her first baby Dexy at birth. Hannah has written the words for the new Thortful collection of cards, which were then turned into designs by Thortful creators Rachel Storey, Project Pretty, Joanne Hawker and Lisa Greener. Highlighting how the greeting card industry should play its part in helping to give a voice to this “unspoken” group of parents, Hannah said, “I am a mum. Like all mums, I went through pregnancy. I got an aching back and swollen feet. I gave birth. I have a son - you just can’t see him. I know that it is hard for people because the whole topic of baby loss is still taboo, but 11 babies will be stillborn or die shortly after birth every day. It is about time we celebrated these mums and dads. It is time we broke the silence.” For each Thortful card sold from this collection, 100% of the profits were donated to the Kicks Count charity.
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NEWS TOP STORY
NEWS IN BRIEF
A Budget Buy Ardenton Capital acquires 51% stake In what is a thumbs-up for the greeting card sector, Canadian private equity company Ardenton Capital Corporation has bought a 51% stake in Budget Greeting Cards (BGC) for an undisclosed sum. BGC is the UK’s largest greeting card wholesaler, which also has a sizeable card publishing operation, under Budget Greetings Studios (BGS). The company has certainly come a long way since Belfast-born Paul Lavery and his brother, Martin, borrowed £7,000 from Bank of Ireland to buy a newsagent back in the 1970s. Their attentions escalated to wholesaling greeting cards and their savvy business nous has seen them expand to eight cash-and-carry wholesale operations in Britain and Ireland, with a head office in Manchester. Pivotal to Budget’s growth and continued supply in the wholesale sector was its decision to move into greeting card publishing, acquiring several greeting card brands as well as developing its own. Despite no longer having the majority share, Paul Lavery is to remain with the business under the new set-up, while his brother Martin is exiting the business but will remain involved on a consultancy basis.
Below: Canadian private equity company Ardenton Capital has bought a 51% stake in Budget Greeting Cards.
l ‘Cow’ by charcoal artist Bex Williams on a Wraptious t-shirt was recently spotted being very stylishly worn by radio DJ Sara Cox on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen programme. l With the widespread interest in using digital print methods, Henries awards’ sponsor EBB Paper has added Invercote Digital to its portfolio, a solid paperboard renowned for its high quality print and finishing performance which is suitable for greeting cards.
As Paul summed up: “The business has been trading well for more than 30 years, so it was crucial for us that we found an investor who believed in the long-term growth of the company.” Paul was quoted in the Sunday Times as saying that the deal would lead to Budget expanding into the south of England and “maybe Canada”. In the short-term BGC is to open a new cash and carry outlet in Nottingham and will commence development of an online presence. The existing Budget wholesale operations operate in Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Dublin, Dunstable (soon to relocate to a new premises nearby), Gateshead and Manchester. The company had a turnover of £36 million in its last financial year and employs 180 people.
IC&G’s high ‘hops’ for Hun Bun IC&G is ramping up its presence in the cute sector with the launch of Hun Bun, created by the character maestro David Blake, creator of Boofle for UKG. “Our experience with our Barley Bear range confirmed that there is most definitely still an appetite for strong cute characters that have that ‘ahh factor’,” said Amanda Miles, IC&G’s creative director. “We recognised the potential of having a female-orientated character to sit alongside Barley who has a more unisex appeal.” Having known David and his wife and business partner Sarah for many years, Above: One of the designs in IC&G’s Hun when Amanda was presented with the Bun range. Left: The handwriting is done by David idea for Hun Bun, she and the rest of and Sarah’s youngest daughter Rosey. the IC&G team immediately fell in love Seen here with a prototype 3D Hun Bun. with the cute bunny character. From David and Sarah’s perspective, while they are still massively enjoying developing Boofle, which is now in its 11th year, as Sarah explained: “David has such a great knack of developing characters with an engaging personality. Rosey our youngest daughter has wanted us to get a rabbit for ages, but as we already have a dog, two cats and are looking after a pony, Hun Bun is our new bunny!” To keep it in the family, just as her elder sister Ella, then aged eight, provided the handwriting for Boofle, so 11 year old Rosey Blake has provided the handwriting on Hun Bun. Hun Bun has debuted on 16 designs, but this will expand on the greeting card front as well as in other directions. “We see real potential in establishing the adorable Hun Bun as a commercial character that can be licensed onto other products and become a recognisable brand,” adds Amanda.
Worldy wise Sibling businesses, Loxleys and The Sherwood Group have worked together to tackle their environmental impact and have just published a 2019 Alliance Corporate Social Responsibility report. The report, published for the second year in succession, illustrates the print businesses’ continued commitment to reducing its environmental impact, charitable work and details improvements made throughout the past year. This year’s achievements include environmental alternatives for the greeting card industry (including eco-glitter, bagless bagging and home compostable wrapping), the application of Puracoat in the packaging industry as well as the production of The Retas 2018 eco-invite, made from postconsumer coffee cup waste. Alongside this, it details how it has been another year of 0% waste to landfill for The Sherwood Group and a 21.4% reduction in IPA solvent usage at Loxleys. Anna Fawcett, The Sherwood Group marketing manager, commented: “Loxleys and Sherwood are pleased to be working together on reducing the environmental impact of our operations and products by bringing new, sustainable solutions, particularly in the area of plastic reduction. We can’t stress enough the importance and the need for this collaboration; not only between Loxleys and Sherwood, but across the whole industry, with our suppliers and customers seeking and implementing sustainable production practices and materials.” Top: The group’s 2019 Alliance Corporate Social Responsibility report. Above: (Left) Jeremy Bacon, ceo, and sales colleague Sheldon Francis, on the company’s stand at the recent Packaging Innovations show where it was showing its Puracoat sustainable packaging concept.
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VIEWPOINTS
Accentuate The
Positives
As an antidote to a seemingly never-ending wash of negativity, toxic feelings and destructive worries out there, PG invited some leading indies to share what has put a smile on their face recently, reveal their best business decision of late and fanfare their own local hero.
Penny Bailey owner of Bailey's Cards & Gifts in Ainsdale: Best business decision: “Time will tell if it is the best business decision we have made, but it is certainly the most positive and exciting decision we have taken recently…we have taken the plunge and are on track to open our second card and gift store at the end of April. Business in Ainsdale has been great for us: turnover is up, customer numbers are growing and we are delighted with our very positive customer feedback about our friendly customer service and the love for our range of cards and gifts. We’re hoping we can repeat all that by opening a Bailey’s in Crosby… fingers crossed!” Smile time: “A smile was brought to my face by our most recent Facebook recommendation. Our customers are often complimentary, of which we are so
Above: The original Smiley was introduced as a symbol for newspapers to signify happy news. Left: Penny (second left) and Simon Bailey of Bailey’s Cards and Gifts collecting their Retas award for Best Newcomer North last July from (far right) Jackie Collins, md of Cherry Orchard, sponsor of the category with host Tania Edwards. Below: Bailey’s in Ainsdale is to have a new sibling in Crosby.
grateful, but when someone takes the time to put that into writing and share it with others, it makes it all the more special.” Local hero: “My local hero is Rob from Ainsdale Fine Chocolates. During our busiest week in the run up to Christmas, when Rob was equally as busy, he took the time and thought to bring us one of his magnificent Bruges-style hot chocolates plus a bag of his handmade chocolates. It made our day and kept us going through such a hectic time. We are very lucky to be in a village where the businesses all support each other.”
Deborah Tingay owner of Southbourne Cards, Bournemouth: Best business decision: “The best business decision I have made recently is not a sexy one, but a sales success - to keep in stock of my best sellers. Our current best sellers include cards from Woodmansterne’s Genius range, Ling’s Strawberry Fizz, Desito’s Whimsicals and Pigment’s many humour ranges. Catalogues have helped enormously. It was great to see that Paper Rose was back to producing a catalogue for 2019. Life is just easier and sales positive too with catalogues!” Smile time: “Lots has made me smile today in the shop…I was listening to strangers: a lady in her 20s, pregnant with her first child, due date passed, and a great grandmother telling her how her family has enriched her life and showing such humility to the younger woman. Beautiful.” Local hero: “One of my many local heroes is Pauline, one of our customers, who is a legend! She cooks hundreds of wholesome meals for the homeless every week (in her own kitchen), provides childcare for her grandchildren and pops into my shop with the odd treat from the bakers for the team if we’re very busy. She is always thinking of others. What a sweetheart.”
Above: Paper Rose’s decision to reintroduce catalogues has gone down well with Deborah Tingay. Left: A winning smile from Southbourne Cards’ Deborah Tingay with her trophy at The Retas last July.
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VIEWPOINTS
Stephen McHale co-owner of Bentleys, Stourport and Maddison, Harborne: Best business decision: “I think the best business decision made recently was to revisit some of the trade shows that I had missed out last year. Top Drawer was a super show and we found some great new card publishers. This also gives us the opportunity to see new ranges from suppliers we haven’t seen for a while. It is not possible to see all our suppliers regularly as we have over 150 live suppliers.” Smile time: “As far as smiling, I smile every morning as I do still enjoy this industry even after I’ve been in it for about 150 years! If we are ever short of a smile we all have no end of humour cards that can make us giggle. I do always keep in mind that we are all at work but think that we should all work with a smile on our face. It is so much better to foster a happy working environment with staff, suppliers and customers. I think a happy positive outlook can be contagious which is what sparked the direction we are taking in our marketing.” Local hero: “As far as local heroes go, we are asked on almost a daily basis to donate to local charities and obviously they are all good causes. However there is one lady who comes into our Harborne shop that has been raising money for such a long time to help youngsters in Jamaican hospitals. Erma Lewis (founder of Erma’s Hospital Fund) started raising money back in 1998 and has continued tirelessly despite some tough economic times. Erma’s dedication to people that need some extra care is very admirable.”
Elisa Snaden owner of Soukous, Bristol: Best business decision:”Our recent best business decision was to turn a disaster into something good! We’ve recently had a re-fit, over both floors of our shop, (thanks to students upstairs who managed to flood us). It was pretty bad, but luckily we were fully insured. So now we’re all beautiful again with lots of new shelving and wooden floors! We’ve turned the basement back into a boutique and have lots of gorgeous ladies clothing and accessories!” Smile time: “What has brought a smile to my face? Well that would have to be finding out that that we have reached the finals of The Greats gift retailer awards in two categories Best Independent Gift Retailer South West and Best Window Display.” Local hero: “Our local hero would of course be Banksy.” Top: A flood led to a complete revamp of Soukous. Above: Bristolian Banksy is Elisa Snaden’s local hero as so many flock to
Top: Maddison is the sister shop to the long established Bentley’s. Above: Erma Lewis is one of Stephen McHale’s local heroes.
Sarah Barrington owner of Blue Dog Trading in Clare, Suffolk: Best business decision: “We have always been open six full days a week as I’m firmly of the view that as a small business we need to be open in order to compete. Last summer we decided to try opening on Sundays as a trial and it has been a big success. Not only is it financially worthwhile (even in the quieter months), but I feel that we are contributing to making our little town a destination for weekend visitors – plus it has created a new part time job.” Smile time: “We recently received our first delivery of Ladybird cards from Kissmekwik which arrived yesterday. They are very funny and very topical, and made me smile.” Local hero: “Our UPS delivery driver, Richard. He is super helpful and super cheerful, even while he was seriously ill a couple of years ago. When he had to take some time off for treatment he came on the round with his replacement to introduce him to all his customers and show him the local ropes. Such a good example of how a smile and a few friendly words can go a long way.” Above: Opening Sundays has proved a winner for Blue Dog. Left: One of the new designs in Kissmekwik’s Ladybird range.
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VIEWPOINTS
Nicky Goodman
Denise Laird co-owner of Spirito, Glasgow: Best business decision: “The best decision that I have taken recently is to increase the range and variety of greeting cards that we have on offer. While sales of higher value gifts and jewellery can be affected by external factors, cards are constant sellers and often a customer will come in to buy a card for an occasion and also make an add-on purchase on impulse.” Smile time: “One thing that really brought a smile to my face recently was in the shop when we were all a bit harassed and surrounded by dozens of deliveries arriving from the spring show orders. One of our staff members, who is a bit of a ‘Trekkie’ wanted to remind me that he was heading off to a Star Trek convention and asked, in all seriousness, if I wanted him to bring me back a pair of Spock ears. It just seemed so ridiculous that we all fell about laughing and the day went so much better after that.” Local hero: “My local hero is Corinne Forbes, a sales agent for a number of card companies who supply us. When card sales have been really strong in the run-up to occasions, and stock is running low, Corinne always saves the day and manages to rush top-up orders out to us at very short notice.” Above: Spirito’s Denise Laird would still look lovely with Mr Spock ears! Left: Spirito won Best Gift Shop in Scotland at Scotland’s Business Awards in February, and is a finalist in the Scottish Independent Retailers awards as well as in The Greats gift retailer awards.
owner of Paddock Wood Cards, Paddock Wood: Best business decision: “We have increased our balloon sales over the years and made sure all the staff attend Qualatex balloon courses. But, acting on customers’ requests for personalised balloons and other items, we invested in a Cameo 3 machine and went on a course. This has been a game changer for our shop. We now sell lots of personalised balloons (below left) and what’s great is we have also gone into the corporate market and can now offer companies balloons with their logo on or whatever theme they want.” Smile time: “Our customers bring a smile to our faces! For example, we have a partially blind lady who is a regular customer, but very independent. It was her daughter’s birthday recently so we read out the words on several cards to her and when she had chosen one we wrote it for her. She was so thrilled she brought us flowers. The shop is like family to several people who come in for a chat and a cuppa because they are lonely. We also do deliveries to the elderly who can’t get out anymore too. Community is important and it makes us smile to give a service back.” Local hero: “All my staff members are lovely and help in their own way to bring something to the business. I have one member of staff, Clare Reynolds who has built my website up over the past year and made it look amazing so we get a lot of enquiries through it. She will watch 'Balloon TV' and YouTube for hours just to get new ideas. I'm very lucky to have great staff who also love the customers and this makes a huge difference.” Above right: Nicky Goodman (centre) with some of the Paddock Wood Cards’ team.
Sally Wilde owner of Planet Sal, Honiton in Devon: Best business decision: “I have only been trading as a retailer for just over nine months (having been an agent previously), so I still seem to be making more errors than good business decisions! However, my best decision from the start was to work with a bank that had an actual manager I could talk to and a branch in my town. On the product front, the best recent decision was to act on the suggestion by agent John Wiggins, who represents Kingsley Ryan, my main jewellery company, to consider stocking pierced body jewellery for noses, eyebrows, belly buttons as well as ears! It has worked well, especially for attracting customers in who may not have found out about me otherwise!” Smile time: “I recently had a frail 95 year old gentleman come into the shop. His friend had recommended our shop to him for funny cards. I helped him find two cards that would be suitable for his relatives and he was laughing away at some of the others. I had to help him with his money and he had a canvas bag around his neck, (which he referred to as his ‘nosebag'!) for his purchases, as he needed two sticks to walk. I helped him put the cards in the bag and sorted his sticks out so he was steady. When he got to the door, he turned around and said, “When you go home tonight, you tell your husband that I came into this shop today and met someone wonderful”. I had a little cry when he left! That's what it’s all about.” Local hero: “I have a lot of regular customers now, which is great. One, in particular, comes in often as she is an art teacher at a local school and sometimes buys bits and bobs for her projects. She is so dedicated and great fun. I studied art and am sure she is really inspiring in class. Perhaps some of her students will grow up to be card designers one day!” Above: Deciding to stock body jewellery including nose pins, belly bars and eyebrow rings from Kingsley Ryan has proved a goodie for Planet Sal. Left: Using her experience as an agent has stood Sally Wilde in good stead in becoming a retailer.
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OVER THE COUNTER
Telling Tales Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, highlights some of the clichés and hyberbole surrounding the current retail climate, many phrases finding their origins in Aesop and his fables. As a child I loved to read. I would devour books and comics as quickly as I could get my hands on them, and when I wasn’t reading I was listening to tapes of stories. This in turn led on to me playing with action figures, making up adventures, which again kept me amused. Endless hours spent storytelling (mostly to myself) is where I credit the ability to write and deliver the talks I give around the country. I love to tell a story - to pace it and plan it, and I love to embellish it with detail, usually way too much detail, but that is half the fun. Fun is something that we all need just now. There doesn’t seem that much about. I find it very interesting as I look around the retail sector at the minute. ‘If I am honest with you’ there are of course success stories and there are of course businesses with little or no costs that are thriving and exciting, but it feels like everyone else is finding it ‘really hard work’. If you subscribe to email updates such as Retail Gazette or indeed this magazine’s PGBuzz emailer, the news is more ‘challenging than encouraging’! The fact is we are facing ‘retail headwinds’ that we have perhaps never experienced before. In those last few sentences I have used several of the classic business clichés. In truth, I am beginning to annoy myself with these types of phrases and responses, yet 24
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somehow or another they feel unavoidable as we face ‘unprecedented circumstances’ oops there I go again! So what are these figurative winds that we face? How do we get our ‘ducks in a row’? Rising business rates, falling footfall, weakening of the £pound, consumer debt, an ever-increasing living wage, fuel cost rises and consumer apathy are but a few of the issues that will test and try our businesses over the coming months. This is of course against the reputed lowest unemployment rate for years, a continuing low interest rate and the consumer having more access and choice to everything and anything including disposable income. So if this is true why is it so difficult for us all to get some of that cash into our tills? Well we know that people want less stuff and more experiences but that in itself can’t account for all the fall. So is there something else? We can’t of course touch on retail headwinds without mentioning Brexit. It looms large and ‘in truth I have lost all taste’, time and appetite for that discussion. As I pen this column there is no leadership, no real decisions being made and little or no real co-operation. The country feels rudderless and for the first time I am not sure where we are going. Is this really affecting our day-to-day buying decisions though? Is this stopping you
Above: The Oak and the Reed is one of Aesop's Fables, reminding us to bend with change. Below left: Aesop’s Fables and sayings have lasted the test of time.
and I at present running our business? Somehow I doubt it. Many of the clichés that we use in everyday life and especially in business can be traced back to a great storyteller - Aesop. His tales, as I am sure you can recall, actually gave birth to classic clichés such as ‘Pride comes before a fall’ and ‘A bird in the hand’. These stories date from 620 BC (around the time Mrs May tried to get her deal through first!) and even today they can fit many of the current situations in which we find ourselves. I wanted to explore a few and make a few suggestions to my fellow retailers, and indeed the publishers, in our industry as to how to survive. After all ‘one good turn deserves another’… Everyone says ‘we have to keep changing - we need to be flexible’. In Aesop’s story of the great oak and the reeds the great oak stands up to the winds tall and proud while the reeds move, bend and sway as the wind changes and gusts. Eventually the wind becomes too strong and the great oak is blown over while the reeds continue to bend, change and survive. In our industry we have tried it all - many card retailers have diversified into fashion, party, chocolate, jewellery and just about anything else. Cards pop up literally everywhere, from garages to florists and all points in between. For me though it is ‘quality not quantity’. The pure card shops out there are perhaps fewer and further apart than before and we are getting better at what we do. Card publishers too are innovating with paper engineering, new titles, different finishes and lots and lots of interesting design approaches. Cards are fashion-led. They
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OVER THE COUNTER reflect our times and tastes and there is nowhere in the world that does it better than Britain. I really believe that. The product is of course evolving all the time but I also want to look at how companies are changing their thought processes and ways of working to appeal to the new and existing generations of card buyers. Five Dollar Shake has been at the front of design-led beautiful cards and have flittered and fluttered as a matter of course over the years. Its cards are a favourite of mine and I always like how the company tries to be first with things. This year it has launched biodegradable glitter so that its cards can be recycled along with other product. Watch more follow suit. The great debate about unwrapped cards has been a bit lost on me as our proper card controls have been unwrapped forever. It has always tended to be the more upmarket/handmade product that came cellobagged to protect it and I was always confident someone would come up with a solution for this. Woodmansterne’s managing director, Paul Woodmansterne, summed it up best when he said he was one of the industry’s strongest advocates for keeping a greeting card pristine in a glass-clear poly bag. His reasoning was of course sound - it keeps the whole thing together, it keeps it clean and he shared his love of the feeling of “peeling open a meticulously-wrapped greeting card” in a letter he sent to all retail customers recently. I can identify with all of his thoughts yet after 30 years and a big investment in machinery Paul is willing to change and lead the way with the company’s new Smart Seal approach - helping both Woodmansterne and the public adopt greener credentials. I know that others, notably Windles and Hallmark, have also been experimenting in this area and I am sure before long that ‘Naked Cards’ will be everywhere; just look at how supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, Asda and M&S are embracing this. As a business we have also made steps towards all our food and coffee packaging being compostable and have redesigned our cups to reflect this. The response from customers has been brilliant and the public definitely want to back those products and services with green credentials.
Left: Magic, Music and Moonbeams - by Five Dollar Shake. Bottom: No one can count their chickens before they’ve hatched these days ‘Chickens in apple orchard’ from Abacus’ Countryfile range. Below right: Stay positive! - a card design from Life & Lemons.
So Aesop seemed to be able to predict the future. Other clichés he presented such as ‘Out of the frying pan into the fire’ could be very apt as we approach a third vote on Brexit, and all sides see to have ‘Fair weather friends’ who support and then disappear. It would be ‘Easy to kick a man when he is down’ but the Paperchase deal agreed on 22 March secures the future of the chain for now, certainly easing card publishers and its staff worries. There will be 100 Paperchase stores who will see their rent reduced, with 70 of those tied to turnovers and footfall which gives the stationery multiple a fighting chance of survival. This issue though remains the same for this and many of the very large chains. People are changing what and how they do things, and while slashing costs will certainly help, ‘No one can count their chickens’. Let’s face it, some of the locations (size wise) that Paperchase are in are simply too large. Perhaps it’s ego or perhaps it’s a case of being seen to keep up with its competitors. ‘A man is known by the company he keeps’ after all, but I do think that the public is turning towards smaller indie stores, I do hope so anyway. It is a unique USP to be an independent and proud. I think we should shout from the rooftops about the differences between ourselves and the big chains. Difficult I know, but people are getting the idea with craft gin and artisan coffee roasts so why not support more local small businesses and craftsmen.
We as indies have to make sure that everything we do, every range, every decision, is well thought out. ‘We need to be slow and steady to win this race’, but if things do get sticky I strongly suggest the following: ‘Honesty is the best policy’ - If you have a problem with either product or money talk about it be it to family members or your colleagues as most times issues can be dealt with and companies in our sector have been known to be very supportive. Remember ‘pride comes before a fall’ so that chat or disclosure might be all it needs to get things moving in the right direction again. It is easy at this time to rush decisions. We have all been guilty of buying something we were not sure of or trying something we didn’t really want to, especially as things get more difficult we are all trying to find what works. Do we stick with the proven winners, ‘a bird in the hand’ as it were, or do we try something really different? You of course need to consider your options, ‘looking carefully before you leap’.
So how do we end this? Well a bit like every good story… with a happy ending. Cards were, and are still, considered a staple purchase in the average shopping basket. And the industry is blessed to have a huge amount of positive energy. With lots of indies and card publishers still pushing forward every day. Even with sad news of old companies like Grass Roots going under, other ones will rise to take its place, and I believe that many of its designs will live on. ‘Necessity and the need to survive is the mother of invention’, and each day we need to focus on this. As John Lennon (not Aesop) wrote ‘there are no problems, there are only solutions’. Just imagine that! To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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CARDSHARP
Swimmers needed Urgently
Below: Paperchase’s Ilkley store. Bottom: Emotional Rescue’s David Greaves (right) and Brett Smith (left) with Martin Nevin (second left) and Clintons’ Ruth Young.
It never rains, but it pours, reflects Cardsharp. The greeting card industry and retail sector have been under considerable pressure. And if you have not got ownership of a very big umbrella, you are pretty much sure to get wet! Or as the philanthropist businessman Warren Buffett said, “It is only when the tide goes out, you see who is swimming naked”! A wave of unsettling news has come in various shapes and forms. Firstly, the continued speculation over Paperchase has put a blight on many smaller publishers’ moods (and indeed some quite large ones too) for whom the weekly sizeable Paperchase orders and resultant monthly cheque have become a lifeline. Certainly the news that the Creditors Voluntary Agreement (CVA) has, (bar formalities), gone through ensures Paperchase’s future and takes the industry’s blood pressure reading down a tad. All suppliers seem to be being paid to terms, which must be such a relief. But the uncertainty over the last three months has not been good for the trade. Some of the media comments have been
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misleading or just down right wrong. For starters Paperchase is not ‘heavily lossmaking’. Even last year, if its private equity owners had not taken a hefty amount of cash out, it would have made a profit, a small one, but still the right side of the line. It was the greedy hands of its private equity major stakeholders that left Paperchase short of liquidity. Let us hope they don’t make the same mistake again. But with private equity owners you just never know what will happen!
Then there was the sad news that a long-established traditional greeting card publisher, Grass Roots International, had to cease trading and, as PG went to press, was facing liquidation. No one saw that coming! The traditional wordy end of the greeting card market has held up well up to now and the owners and management of Grass Roots were wellrespected for knowing their stuff. True, it was an open secret that the business had been on the market, so the fact that the business went down without a satisfactory exit for the owners put a shudder through the industry. The greeting card industry is awash with rumours of businesses being up for sale, but valuations have dropped substantially, and there seems to be very few potential buyers out there. It is not like in the 1990s when the big two American players, Hallmark and American Greetings (then the sole owners of UKG), were seemingly snapping up every sizeable publisher that moved. In fact Cardsharp struggles to remember the last supply side acquisition of any note, other than the unique example of David Greaves reacquiring Emotional Rescue, earlier this year. Now, with all the under currents in the macro business world, even some of the big
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CARDSHARP publishing players are not immune from current challenges. Many are undergoing painful restricting processes, which again all add to the general uncertain climate. Redundancies are never good news. And if all that was not enough, we as an industry have to contend with the endless challenges brought about by environmental issues. Although trade suppliers, publishers and retailers were kind of ready, the strength of the antiplastic issue has hit the industry like a tidal wave. And just as solutions are being put in place on the cellowrap front, so non-biodegradable glitter or flitter has become a massive issue, with some supermarkets declaring an out of the blue ban. It is very fortunate that due to the ingenuity of the industry’s manufacturers all of these issues are being addressed, thereby avoiding a broadside of negative consumer PR. Cardsharp, like everyone else, wants to protect the flora and fauna, but in such testing times these are additional headaches we could well do without having to prioritise, but needs must.
Cardsharp also notes that uncertainty even permeates into the wholesale side of the market. The Lavery brothers’ decision to sell over half of their long-established cash and carry business Budget Greeting Cards to an outside investor (the Canadian private equity company Ardenton) set tongues wagging, as did the closure of Wembley Greetings, a long-established North London wholesaler. And if this is not enough, reflected Cardsharp, there is the very visible and giant elephant in the room. Brexit! Wherever you stand politically on this emotionally-charged process, and whatever anyone says, Brexit has cast a huge rain cloud, delaying even minor, let alone major, decisions by businesses and the consumer.
Many businesses seem to have got themselves into a negative frame of mind, postponing anything from buying a new coffee machine to investing in a new card range, to opening a shop. Cardsharp thinks it will be interesting to see the GDP (gross domestic product) figures for the first quarter of 2019. Anecdotal opinions from Cardsharp’s many business associates seem to be that whatever official figures come out, the economy is flatlining at present. The greeting card industry, just like any industry, in general needs a settlement and quickly. Yet despite everything, Cardsharp has noted a few contradictions. Far from all doom and gloom, most multiple and independent retailers seem to be reporting that day to day sales are little different to this time last year. Valentine’s Day was a little bit up or a little bit down depending on who you speak to, and as Cardsharp writes this in the week before Mother’s Day, card sales for this event seem to be following a similar projectory to 2018. For Cardsharp’s money, a lot of what is happening now is a delayed reaction to last year. Let’s face it for most of us involved in the retail sector, whether as a supplier or a shopkeeper, 2018 was tough. But many businesses put off unpalatable decisions in the hope that things would pick up significantly in 2019. It was all a bit of a fantasy. The harsh reality is that for the moment the average UK consumer is pretty well ‘max-ed out’ on his or her credit card, with disposable income under real pressure. And online retailing is continuing to have a detrimental effect on shop footfall.
Above: UK industries need a decision on Brexit in order to make business decisions. Below left: Single use plastics are damaging our planet, but a number of card publishers and retailers are helping to turn this around. Below: Keep your Speedos at the ready.
But before Cardsharp goes and his slits his wrists, he considers the upsides. He thinks March and April 2019 is where we hit the bottom. Hopefully, things will start to get better. Brexit has to be sorted pretty soon without a disastrous outcome surely? If nothing else the unsettling headlines will become less and less frequent. Encouragingly, wages are starting to rise above inflation meaning less pressure on the consumer. And the percentage of the UK population in full-time employment has never been higher. The omens are looking better. And, concludes Cardsharp, the UK population will still buy cards in their millions and millions. There may be a further rationalisation of the supply and retailer base, which will be very painful for all those affected, but Cardsharp predicts that greeting cards will still be one of the most buoyant sectors of the bricks and mortar economy. But, just make sure you have a new pair of Speedos or fancy bikini at the ready!
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The home of the finest arts brands
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Animals of India 8 notecards with envelopes 4 each of 2 designs
The Natural History Museum Blank Inside
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Indian Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus)
Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris)
© The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London 2018. All Rights Reserved. Sales of this product support the Natural History Museum
372945 ERE Design © Museums & Galleries Ltd 2019 Email: sales@mgml.co.uk Tel: 01373 462 165 www.museumsgalleries.co.uk
MINI FSC LOGO Designed and made in Britain
Designed and Printed on board from responsible sources made in Britain
8 notecards with envelopes
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Blank Inside
Find us at the Stationery Show London 30th April–1st May: STAND NO. M516 Alternatively contact your local agent, register online or call our sales team for more information about our latest collection. Tel: 01373 462165
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Email: sales@mgml.co.uk
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PG Innovations April 2019.qxp_38-39/40-41 27/03/2019 11:50 Page 29
PG showcases a selection of new product launches
Trees A Crowd Jessica Hogarth’s new Christmas range had some real added value in that each of the 31 designs includes a detachable melamine decoration and ribbon that the recipient can remove and hang on their tree. This is Jessica’s first Christmas range to cover relations such as Mum, Son and Wife, and also from the cat and dog! Each card, which measures 120mm by 170mm is blank inside, comes cellowrapped, and with either a gold or red envelope. Customers can also have the cards personalised for their outlet or location. Jessica Hogarth 07786906648 www.jessicahogarth.com/trade
Tactile Action Seaing Is Believing
Desito is adding a wealth of new designs to its Whimsical range covering both general birthdays and birthday relations. The new designs sees the range’s fuzzy handmade characters now playing football, sewing, baking and getting pampered! The cards are 150mm square, come cellowrapped, and with a high quality white envelope. The cards are printed on FSC and UK manufactured board.
A visit to Anglesey’s Penmon lighthouse was the starting point for Pennychoo’s new Coast range. With the foreground focused on the shapes and patterns of designer Sue Lee’s favourite mid century objects, charming coastal views fill the background, evoking memories of magical childhood British holidays. Pennychoo 07941 645 018 www.pennychoo.com
Desito 01959 534852 www.desito.co.uk
Popping Prettiness Pretty Poppets is the latest new cute range from Bexy Boo. The 24 designs feature delightful illustrations of little girls sharing their life experiences, sending hope, friendship, love and of course birthday wishes. All of the cards are hand-finished with sparkly crystals and brightly cut-out shapes. Bexy Boo 01565 830 546 www.bexyboo.co.uk
Bird In The Hand ArtPress has just launched Lino, a capsule collection of linocut designs by talented Melanie Wickham. Each of designs features quirky little characters, from a tiny Wet Sparrow standing on his own in the rain to a ‘Puffin in a rush’ who is so busy scurrying along that he seems to have three legs! The cards measure 170mm x 120mm, are individually cellowrapped and come with a recycled kraft envelope.
Jingle Bellas
ArtPress Publishing 020 7231 2923 www.art-press.co.uk
Paper Salad 0161 427 0001 www.papersalad.co.uk
Following from Paper Salad’s Henries award-winning Jamboree range, comes Christmas incarnation, Jingle Jamboree. The festive range is full of gorgeous textured patterns, deep embossing and coloured foil. Another new Christmas range from the publisher is Snow Fall, which will also include deep embossing and a touch of lovely champagne flitter.
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(w) M in t -p u b lish in g . co . uk (e) sale s@ m in t -p u b lish in g . c o . u k (t ) 0 11 6 2 3 0 4 1 9 7
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(E) SALES@REALANDEXCITINGDESIGNS.CO.UK (T) 01223 207 080 (F) 01536 401 031
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PG Innovations April 2019.qxp_38-39/40-41 27/03/2019 11:50 Page 31
PG showcases a selection of new product launches
Bless You All of the 47 designs in Laura Sherratt Designs’ Bright Blessings Christmas range are all handmade in the UK and embellished with sparkly gems. The beautiful festive collection is decorated with Laura's signature small scale painted illustrations across a wide range of captions. The cards measure 15cm x 15cm and come cellwrapped with a jolly red envelope. Laura Sherratt Designs 01538 384566 www.laurasherrattdesigns.co.uk
Bright Eyes
Open The Box
Bright neon inks, a die-cut profile, a gorgeous textured board and oodles of gold flitter are just some of the attractions of Cherry On Top, Rachel Ellen Designs’ latest range. The 43 design strong range covers children’s ages 1 to 5 as well as open birthday, relations and occasions. The cards are 178mm x 127mm in size and come cellowrapped with brightly coloured envelopes.
Megan Claire’s new Pandora range consists of 18 contemporary pastel designs finished with a beautiful luxury gold foil typography. The range includes birthdays and occasions with distinctive captions and each card comes with a luxury cream envelope lined with a gold dot patterned liner. Megan Claire 01536 560345 www.meganclaire.co.uk
Rachel Ellen Designs 0115 970 0321 www.rachelellen.co.uk
Beagle Eyed
All Lined Up
A Citrus Note
Hype has brought back everyone’s favourite beagle and his chums. Its new Snoopy range features all the iconic characters, including Charlie Brown, Lucy and Snoopy’s best friend and sidekick Woodstock. The range comprises 36 cards, 12 of which are 165mm square, humorous and in comicstrip style. There are also 24 mini cards to complete the line-up, all supplied cellowrapped with a contrasting brown kraft envelope.
Among a whole raft of new ranges from Paperlink is Axel. There are 12 designs in this everyday range featuring contemporary, graphic designs featuring neon colours blasting out strong bold statements like ‘Man of the moment’, ‘Boom!’ and ‘Main man’. The 155mm square cards are teamed with a kraft envelope.
There are 12 new beautiful, contemporary designs making their way into Clare Maddicott’s popular Lemongrass range. The new designs features an array of vibrant, floral designs capturing a mystical garden full of butterflies, dragonflies, exotic songbirds, flamingos, unicorns and woodland fawns, all illustrated in a loose contemporary style, complemented by intricate foil details. Printed on a textured board, the cards are 140mm square format.
Hype Associates 0151 702 7788 www.hypa.com
Paperlink 020 7582 8244 www.paperlink.co.uk
Clare Maddicott/Abacus Cards 01638 445395 www.maddicott.com
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PG showcases a selection of new product launches
The Feeling’s Nuptial With the wedding season fast approaching Cinnamon Aitch has added some new stunning wedding and anniversary titles to its beautiful Extra Large Piccadilly range. Sensitively drawn, the cards are finished with silver foil and sparkly gems. Cinnamon Aitch 0121 773 6833 www.cinnamonaitch.co.uk
Global Influences It is little wonder that the dozen designs in Lagom’s Helen Dardik range are full of many influences when you learn that Canadian illustrator and pattern-maker Helen was born in the Ukraine, grew up in Siberia, finished art school in Israel and completed a graphic design degree in Canada. Her globetrotting life experiences are reflected in the vibrant designs. The cards measure 109mm x 155mm, come cellowrapped with a Lagom Kendal white envelope, adorned with gold foiled lettering for birthdays, anniversaries and new home.
Heart Of The Matter Lucilla Lavender’s new range, Mild at Heart, features 12 designs of charmingly drawn animals with brilliantly daft birthday-themed editorial aimed at raising a smile. Artist Becky Mayhew’s words and pictures are set against strong, block coloured backgrounds, giving the cards great stand-out on the shelf. Lucilla Lavender 0203 405 1410 www.lucillalavender.com
Lagom 0333 1230101 www.lagomdesign.co.uk
The Velvet Touch Jonny Javelin is releasing a further 36 Velvet Moments titles making it a total of 128 designs in the range. The new additions are all in a slim 9”x 5” format, covering the main relations, milestone ages and female open birthday. The cards are foiled, flittered, embossed, die-cut and come with a short 4-line verse on the leaf insert. The Jonny Javelin Card Co 01423 563740 jonnyjavelin.co.uk
Winging It Bird Life is Roger la Borde’s elegant new everyday collection, featuring jewel-toned watercolour artwork of birds and botanicals by Jennifer Orkin Lewis (aka August Wren). The collection spans intricate laser-cut greeting cards, correspondence cards, sticky notes, magnetic to-do pad, a luxe letter writing set, a luxe illustrated journal, an A5 hardback journal, gift bags and double-sided giftwrap – set off beautifully by teal-coloured belly bands. Roger la Borde 0207 328 0491 www.rogerlaborde.com
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In The Navy After the success of its Think of Me navy balloon gift bags, Glick has extended the range to include a more sizes of navy bags plus vibrant pink versions. There are also matching flat wraps, rollwraps and tissue papers to create eye-catching displays with vibrant accessories to match. Glick 01274 655980 www.glick.co.uk
PG Stationery Show.qxp_38-39/40-41 27/03/2019 11:34 Page 33
A selection of products launching at Stationery Show London Business Design Centre, London (30 April-1 May 2019)
Paw Party Elvira van Vredenburgh Designs will be launching its new 'Woof' collection of illustrated dog print notebooks, notecards and cards at the 2019 Stationery show. Visitors to the show will also be able to view the company’s collections on Bird, Tropical and Abstract themes in lots of wonderful colour. ExaClair 01553 696600 www.exaclairlimited.com Stand M501
Small Is Beautiful ExaClair, the UK supplier of Clairefontaine, has released a new 0.35m giftwrap range appropriately called Tiny Rolls. Theses are conveniently sized for smaller presents to reduce waste and for ease of transporting and storing. The Tiny Rolls 100% recycled 90gsm postal paper range is available in three stylish colour collections - trendy pastels; vividly colourful fluorescent shades and Christmas colours – and six bright, contemporary designs including wallpaper-inspired mosaic and geometric motifs.
Heavens Above Lifestyle brand of fashion stationery and accessories, A Gift From The Gods continues what has been a frenetic schedule of trade show appearances. Launching at London Stationery Show are new products from the company, including metallic hardback notebooks, ring-bound planners and sets of two A5 notebooks. A Gift From The Gods +442079873844 www.agiftfromthegods.com Stand M610
ExaClair 01553 696600 www.exaclairlimited.com Stand M501
Paper Love Laura Stoddart is launching two new card ranges at this year’s Stationery Show London – Cakes and Wild Flowers. The company is also expanding its existing ranges with new products - greeting cards, A4 folders, hardback notebooks, flat notes, giftwrap and paper napkins. Laura Stoddart 07780 993 223 www.laurastoddart.com Stand M635
Flaming Frida Flametree Publishing will be showcasing its 2020 calendars and diaries including 2020 calendars, diaries and social stationery based on a new licensing agreement with The Frida Kahlo Corporation. Additionally, it has signed a new agreement with Historic Royal Palaces and will be publishing two wall calendars and a mini wall calendar for 2020 featuring Hampton Court Palace Gardens and Queen Victoria, whose 200th birthday is in 2019. Flame Tree Publishing 020 7751 9650 www.flametreepublishing.com Stand M531
A Portrait Gallery Museums & Galleries will be showcasing its major new greeting card and gift stationery licence: TATE. Other new products include a range of bamboo travel mugs (pictured) as well as pencil sets and sketch books featuring licensed imagery from the V&A, Lowry, Natural History Museum, Cressida Bell, Hokusai and The British Library. Museums & Galleries 01373 462165 www.museumsgalleries.co.uk Stand M516
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Up Close And Personal
Wright handed “Prior to joining Hallmark, the longest I had spent working for a company was three years. However, having spent the last 22 and half years with the company, I can honestly say I have had an amazing time - the business, the people, the industry, there’s no better,” said Steve Wright, who recently retired from his dual roles of managing director of Hallmark UK and co-ceo of Hallmark International. Steve fast tracks through his two decades in the trade at the helm of one of the largest global players. feel like the time is right for me to leave the business and I’ll take with me very fond memories of the journey Hallmark has been on,” said Steve Wright last September when he announced his plans to retire from Hallmark at the end of March. Fittingly, for someone who has given his all for the last two decades - driving the UK company through a major change of structure, seen it win some key accounts, and also share the responsibility for the brand’s presence elsewhere in the globe - Steve received a great ‘retirement do’ send off. Testament to his character, as well as his business achievements, the retirement event was not just attended by colleagues and customers, but also by a host of former colleagues who hold Steve in high regard and who paid tribute to his leadership qualities. (These included Jo Bennett, now studio director of Card Factory, and Geoff Sanderson, creative director of Moonpig). Steve came into the card trade in 1996 when he joined Fine Art Developments (which went on to become known as Creative Publishing that was acquired by Hallmark in 1998). Prior to becoming responsible for running the whole of Hallmark’s UK operations, as well as a great part of the group’s overseas trading relationships, Steve headed up Tigerprint, a separate division dedicated to supplying M&S with cards and other products. (This team’s function is now integrated into Hallmark’s main business). As to the major industry changes he has clocked during his tenure, he highlighted “the
“I
Above and top: Steve Wright has handed the Hallmark UK md baton to Amanda Del Prete (left) who was among the colleagues, former colleagues and friends (including PG’s Jakki Brown, picture right) who attended Steve’s official leaving ‘do’.
rise of the grocers in the card category, drawing on impressive shopper footfall.” As an adjunct to this, he took a personal pleasure in how Hallmark’s relationship with Marks and Spencer grew substantially. “When I joined, our sales with M&S were £6million. Ten years later, these had soared
to £60 million. It remains a very successful partnership and one that I will always feel privileged to have been a part of building.” He also highlighted that the march of Card Factory as a major disruptor in the field cannot be ignored. “Card Factory has a great business model that it has worked to its advantage. No one could have anticipated the impact it has made, but that is the thing about business and industries, they need to keep evolving,” Steve pointed out. “Who knows what the next stage in this industry’s journey will be. Amazon has not yet reached its potential on cards that’s for sure, but the over-arching key in all of this, for everyone involved in this industry, is to ensure that the consumer continues to engage with greeting cards. I will continue to do my bit and make sure I send plenty. After al, I’ll have more time to do that now that I’ve retired!”
Personal Revelations l What is your mantra for life? “Be positive and try to enjoy every moment as this is
not a dress rehearsal.” l What are you most looking forward to in retirement? “Having more time to do the
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things I like doing - more time with my granddaughter, longer skiing holidays and getting better at golf.” How would you like to be remembered by those of us in the industry? “1. My role in helping to create a unique supply model of differentiated product into M&S. 2. The person who led a full turnaround of Hallmark UK. 3. Leading the largest competitive takeover of a UK customer account (Tesco).” Who have been the key mentors in your life and what key lessons have they taught you? “My father, who taught me many guiding principles in life and business. My mother, who helped me believe that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve whatever you set your sights on. Don Hall [president of Hallmark], on upholding the beliefs and values of a corporation.” What trait do you admire the most in people? “Honesty and integrity.” What trait do you least like? “Dishonesty.” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Focus On Male Cards - Retro Trend
Rewind & Repeat
With the reboot and revival of vinyl records, Soda Stream (recently bought by Pepsi), the Polaroid camera, shell and boiler suits (rebranded as ‘utility’) and break dancing, proposed as an Olympic sport in Paris 2024, the current haze of 1970s and 80s nostalgia is thicker than the moody mist in Prince’s Purple Rain video. As we reach for a safe, wistful rock in turbulent times, it may be time to don a Tom Selleck moustache, kipper tie and woolly tank top, although, so far, these fashion styles haven’t quite reached the current male card designs that are sporting the retro trend. Some ‘Time Bandits’ publishers reveal why they feel 70s/80s icons are ‘flaring’ up on male card designs.
Showcasing British menswear, London Fashion Week Men’s catwalk in January, strutting Autumn/Winter 2019 collections, had a flavour of 70s, 80s and even 90s revival. Not to be outdone by women’s bellbottom flares, hippy midi dresses and cord skirts, for men there was a distinct 80s tailoring with over-size coats in checks, plaids and tartans and smart suits - think Michael Douglas in the 1987 film Wall Street. And also ‘brokering’ this visual and emotive market of retro icons are male card designs. "I think nostalgia has a huge part to play when it comes to us blokes. Most of us have fond memories relating to the 70s/80s/90s, ranging from video games through to mix tapes. You just have to think of the vinyl revival and the retro Above left: An old skool beat box from Lola Design’s Rocky range. Right: Think of Me’s Zephyr male range has lots of retro gadget designs. Left: Vinyl revival – a new addition to Rosanna Rossi Debonair range.
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Right: The purple popstar, Prince, on a Tango Rose Designs’ Icons card. Below: New from Molly Mae in the ‘It Rocks’ range are designs for male birthdays.
arcade games you see when you visit a Brew Dog pub or Urban Outfitters,” believes Frank Mountain, operations director for Lola Design, adding, “We decided to take a slightly retro direction with some of our Rocky male cards based on what we think is cool, because not all blokes are into golf and fishing. Our beat box design is a bit of a homage to the old skool, think Beastie Boys, and who doesn't love a good mix tape?" So rewinding to those heady days of beat box breaks and Walkman music mobility, BMX bunny hops, Raleigh racer cool and Chopper cruising, and not forgetting Subbuteo goal triumphs, rainy caravan holidays in Wales and VW Campervans, there’s a vintage valley of childhood memories to tap into for male orientated iconography on cards. “I think essentially the retro 70s and 80s trend is about taking us back to our childhood. Birthdays, and birthday cards, are all about marking the passing of time, so retro imagery lends itself well. It’s also true that guys love their gadgets, so retro tech, such as cassette tapes and Polaroid cameras, seemed like a good fit for some of the designs in our new male range Zephyr,” says Dan Kane, managing director of Think of Me Designs. Splurging our pocket money on the cherry eating boom of 80s computer and arcade games, such as Donkey Kong, PacMan, Track & Field and Pole Position, just as the video games themselves, life seemed much simpler then, and although it’s probably not true, it’s fun, even poignant, to reflect on joint childhood experiences. “With technology advancing so rapidly, and with the popularity of such things as music-streaming services and digital photography, it’s fun to be reminded of what went before, and how we physically interacted with it in a way that just isn’t possible with today’s technology,” says Dan.
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Focus On Male Cards - Retro Trend
As a kid Dan remembers rewinding a cassette tape with a pencil and frantically waving a Polaroid photo in the air waiting for the picture to show through. “Retro imagery is a strong reminder of our past and the people and objects it contained, and that’s kind of the point of a greeting card – to keep us connected to people we know from a previous point in our lives.” And, as women are the chief buyers of greeting cards, not to mention quite a few of the cards’ designers, these nostalgic kick-backs on male cards have to be familiar with female audiences too. “Well, we were kids in the seventies, so we can reminisce for hours about coming in from playing on your space hopper to a tea of Findus Crispy Pancakes and Arctic Roll, rewinding cassette tapes with a pencil in the sprockets and playing Klackers in the playground (ask your mum - they were banned!),” explains Katie Meeke, co-director for Holy Mackerel. “And the recipes! Just have a look at 70s Dinner Party on Twitter to remember the hideous green mousses, the aspic, and the tinned ham!” And Katie suggest some of the best bits of the seventies are coming back, such as “eco initiatives bringing back memories of milk bottles on doorsteps (usually pre-opened for you by the blue tits) and taking your lemonade bottles back to the newsagent to claim the deposit. The Great British Sewing Bee did 70s week, conjuring up school sewing lessons and the agony of learning to sew in a zip. Vinyl’s back, and we’re even seeing some music coming out on the dreaded audio cassette. The 70s are being discovered and rediscovered, and from flares to bondage trousers they’ve got something for everyone!” Star Wars, Back to the Future and Indiana Jones, Ziggy Stardust, Prince and Top left: Remaining popular throughout the generations, Star Wars and little hero R2D2 – on a UKG design. Above left: The x-axis range (from Holy Mackerel) by Beth Hopkins features collage designs on retro graph paper backgrounds. Above right: Laura Darrington Design’s has recently added new male designs to its Halcyon Collection, including this sleek 80s racer bike design. Left: A Nigel Quiney Subbuteo design.
Right: Laura Sherratt has recently added new designs to its Wooden Pops range, now with 20 titles for male birthdays. All the cards feature a wooden plaque which is engraved with text. Below: Cherry Orchard’s Memory Lane range includes the years from the 70s and 80s. Bottom right: Belly Button’s typeface designs have a 70s and 80s twist.
Queen, the 70s and 80s were amazing decades of film and music, so much so that apart from being classic viewing or sound tracks to many of our lives, these retro stars are having a renewed renaissance, appealing to younger generations on male (and female) cards. Publisher Tango Rose Design’s Icons range pays tribute to some of the cultural legends that resonate emotionally from these eras. “Artists such as Freddie Mercury, David Bowie and Prince, may have created some of their most notable work during the 70s/80s, but are still very much a part of our everyday culture – appealing both to nostalgic fans and younger fans that have recently discovered the magic of ‘retro’ music,” affirms Rachel Fuller, illustrator and owner of the company. “The playful simplicity of our Icons range’s illustrations signifies the iconic nature of these musical artists. By focusing on distinguishing features we aim to capture the essence of these musical legends - and make the men in our lives feel like they are our personal rock stars,” she adds. And its not just retro imagery that’s strutting onto male cards, 70s and 80s typography is having a resurgence too. For Belly Button Designs, disco-inspired fonts have created caption-driven male designs, with birthdays celebrated up in lights, infusing print techniques to create the glow effect of neon lighting, popular in the 80s. “Past fashions always make a resurgence, a gentle nod to what’s gone before is a continuous process of development. Rather than look to the usual, at Belly Button Designs we looked to typographic trends of the era for design inspiration,” reveals Rachel Hare, founder and creative director of the company. So as present male cards rewind to the past, using the proverbial pencil, there’s a masculine mix tape of 70s and 80s retro designs to play out for all tastes... even Tom Selleck’s! PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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New Male Launches
Suits You Sir! If, as the Mark Twain saying goes, ‘Clothes make the man’, Focus on Male Cards buttons up and dons some new ranges tailored for men. u Understanding the modern man's style is key to creating easy pick up designs, believes Belly Button. Men are highly aware of health, lifestyle, fashion, relaxation and luxury travel, so Belly Button was keen to develop suitable icons that reflect these details, looking to bold graphic patterns to elude to the bigger picture. Cards are size 130mm square with metallic finishes, printed with vegetable based inks on FSC certified board. u The new male designs in Cherry Orchard’s Spring 2019 Collection feature a mix of styles, price codes and sizes. Contemporary square text-based designs, at Code 55, are presented with bold geometric backgrounds, male relations captions with cold foil and embossed finishes. Alongside these are cards at Code 150, and a selection of code 60 cards with male captions and artwork featuring boats, coffee and some favourite tipples. u Cinnamon Aitch’s latest additions to its fabulous men’s Cobalt range celebrates the best of both worlds, the adventure of the great outdoors along with a large dollop of well-deserved rest and relaxation. Designed by the talented Emily Hauck, using rich, warm colour, collaged texture and copper foiled details, these B6 cards are paired with a distinctive custom printed concrete texture envelope. u Eastern Print Studio launched in 2018, bringing a stylish collection of Eastern inspired cards to the market. The range boasts vibrant palettes and patterns reflective of Eastern cultures and celebrations. The collection also includes a celebratory range of male cards captioned in a mix of Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic and English (pictured: translated: Happy Birthday Dad in Urdu).
u The Grumble Boys are excited to debut their new collection at PG Live in June, called PaperWorld. They have now introduced people characters and have a fantastic range of male occasions cards. The Grumble & Co. collection has a totally different feel to the boys’ other styles, but their trademark pug illustrations will be making an appearance in each design! See the boys and this cool new collection at PG Live stand 126.
u Summer Breeze is one of three great new open ranges from Kingfisher Cards. Using ink on foil technique and great pattern based design, this range really stands out in any display and are particularly good for the male market with its universal appeal. Summer Breeze launched along with the open birthday additions to the popular Aura and Avante Garde ranges, retailing at only £1.59 u King Street is a trend-inspired male range by Ling Design, available in open birthday and now new adult ages for the first time. Each card features a unique animal-themed illustration, set against a stylish and simple colour palette, accentuated by touches of gold foil. Ages range from 18 - 90 and the theme of each design links to a celebratory, pun-based caption. With a competitive price point, this makes this the perfect send for men of all ages. u Megan Claire’s Oxford range has been a big hit since launching in January. This contemporary range features 18 designs covering birthday, ages and relations just for the men. With its contemporary colour palette complementing the classic typographic style, this simple yet strong range is perfect to fill that tricky gap in the market for a male range. Megan Claire’s Black Jack range has also recently had a refresh with the inclusion of new relations and ages. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Famous for its great energy, artistic vibe and friendly atmosphere, PG Live 2019 is your chance to explore new designs and exclusive show offers from more than 230 publishers, artists and designers.
THE GREATEST COLLECTION OF GREETING CARDS IN THE WORLD “I really enjoy attending PG Live as it’s a great space to catch up with all our current suppliers. It’s one of my favourite shows as it’s so easy to navigate and you’re guaranteed to always bump into a friendly face!”
Natalia KostersKa, assistaNt buyer home aNd gift, oliver boNas
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PG Live 2019 Tuesday 4 - Wednesday 5 June Business Design Centre, London +44 (0) 1635 297070 www.progressivegreetingslive.com @PGLiveLondon
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New Male Launches
u New from Molly Mae in the It Rocks range are designs for male birthdays - a selection of sporty themes covering rugby, football, running and golf. A bit of a change in direction for the designers Jude and Stacey, these are ‘wordy’ cards with patterned backgrounds and wooden embellishments. There are 66 titles in the range, size 155mm square designs. u Following the success of Capisco, Paper Rose’s Noir by Capisco collection has 14 striking open designs in black, white and greys, beautifully finished with sculpted and embossed gold or copper foil and available in a wide selection of male relations and occasions. u Redback’s ever-popular Cloud Nine range continues to make a statement with its striking colours and contemporary foiled words. Having launched 30 new designs this year, Cloud Nine has plenty to offer for male relations, friends and partners. The designs measure 150mm square, are printed on luxury board and come with a premium white envelope. u Stop the Clock Design has recently launched its new Scribble range, which is perfect for male card sends. The range consists of 56 A6 designs covering ages, relations, birthday and occasions. With a strong, modern, masculine colour palette and a quirky, mixed media illustrative style, there are quirky animals, sport, beer, hobbies and birthday balloons… the range has something for everyone. u Real & Exciting’s Panache range is the go-to for male cards, featuring on-trend designing in a choice of different styles. The new Panache Matrix is inspired by technology and the digital world, with its abstract imagery, bold colours and sophisticated typography. The collection features 16 birthday and male relation titles, finished with embossing and an on-trend holographic foil, wrapped with a grey envelope.
u The Art File’s True Blue collection is a brand new collection of 12 super-duper cards designed especially for the male market. Each card is finished with gold foil and detailed debossed lines. These stylish cards also come with vivid blue envelopes to make them stand out instore even more. Remember, it’s not grey hair, it’s experience! u The Hand Crafted Card Company’s exclusively male collection Manifold is a smart and contemporary range for men with rustic copper foiling combined with urban textures. Designed and printed in the UK, these cards are 15cm square and come with a grey 15.5cm square envelope. u UKG has presented its latest refresh within its male relations line. There’s an injected of fun into this collection, with some bright, contemporary new looks, featuring editorial that ranges from simple wishes for the day through to a gentle twist of humour - perfect for the masculine recipient. UKG has also developed some more contemporary updates of some of its classic ranges with fresh new looks complemented by lovely, heartfelt editorial. u Rosanna Rossi has released new additions to its popular Debonair collection, a masculine range mixing bold, strong designs for both birthday and occasions titles. The latest additions explore geometric pattern fused with multi-coloured foil and emboss elements to suit a broad age range. u Jonny Javelin has launched new releases into its male Graffix range. The range has 12 new open birthday titles and 13 new age relation titles. The cards have a foiling and virko finish, which gives the front of the card a kind of rubber-like feel when touched. For those 'black-fountain-pen’ users out there who will send this card, leaving the odd ink 'splodge’ will only add to the effect!
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In Conversation With... Charles Hanson
The Dating Game “If the objects would talk, just what would they tell us?” is something that has maintained Charles Hanson’s overflowing passion as an auctioneer, seeing himself as something of a conduit custodian of living history. Charles has certainly safeguarded a significant piece of greeting card history recently, discovering and then bringing to auction the world’s oldest Valentine’s card. With this special treasure now owned by PG’s Jakki Brown, it was time for Charles Hanson to be the object that talked. “My heart missed a beat as soon as I saw the Valentine’s as I knew that it was something very special,” says Charles Hanson, founder of Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall and Teddington, on his first sighting of what he has come to believe is the world’s oldest Valentine card. “I could tell immediately, by the details on the artwork, from the neoclassic swags and paterae of the stylised bellflower foliage so typical in 1790, to the style of the watercolour painting and handscripted message that this was a love token that was created in the time of Nelson, Jane Austen, the French Revolution, and during Mad King George III’s reign,” Charles explained. “I love history and I love romance and both elements are truly celebrated in this one piece of decorated paper Above: The Valentine, that dates back to 1790-1810, is a piece of folded paper the front of which features a drawing of hearts and a dove carrying a sealed envelope. Above right: Charles Hanson, the celebrated auctioneer and TV personality with the historic Valentine’s card that was bought by PG’s Jakki Brown for £7,192. Right: Charles’ colleague Rick Alexander was the auctioneer for the significant card. This is him in the midst of the bidding. There was a round of applause after the hammer went down.
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containing a heartfelt message, sent to ‘Ann’ at Hartwell House in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire more than two centuries ago.” The historic card was among a collection of around 200 mainly Victorian and Georgian greeting cards, which had belonged to Lawrence Randle, a keen card collector philatelist. His son brought his late father’s collection to Hansons to be auctioned. Charles admits that had he not decided to take home the box containing the cards to have a more considered look this very special piece of greeting card history could well have gone unnoticed.
“We had been planning to sell the collection as one lot in one of our April auctions, but something told me to have a closer look - and I am so glad I did,” says Charles. “To honour everlasting love, I decided that we would have to auction the card on its own on February 14, Valentine’s Day.” With little time in hand to publicise the late entry into its auction schedule, a modest estimate of £200-£300 was put on its likely selling price. The 230-year-old card went for 36 times that, attracting bidders from all over the world.
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In Conversation With... Charles Hanson
The fast paced four minute flurry of bids built to an exciting crescendo in Hansons’ Etwall auction house with Progressive Greetings’ editor and co-owner Jakki Brown being the successful bidder, paying a total of £7.192 to fulfill her mission to safeguard this delicate piece of greeting card history within the industry. “I’m so happy. I was convinced I would be outbid. I was so nervous about the sale, I hardly slept the night before,” said Jakki talking to the media after the sale. “I’ve bought this because I really believe in the art of card sending and to buy this on Valentine’s Day makes it extra special. I will use it to promote the art of sending greeting cards. The fact this year is also the 100th anniversary of the Greeting Card Association makes it all the more poignant. For me, this Valentine is a wonderful example of an enduring British tradition. I will never sell it.” Was Charles surprised, not only in the bidders’ interest in the item, but also the media coverage after the hammer came down - resulting in over 100 different
Above: Some of the other cards that came to Hansons in the same collection.
newspapers, leading news sites, radio stations, all over the world picking up on the news? “When it comes to love, there is no price too high,” says Charles showing his romantic nature. “In this world of ecommerce and immediate transitory messaging, greeting cards are still an important form of social communication - full credit to those in the industry for safeguarding that by providing designs that suit today’s needs. To me the sending of a card, is the sign of good etiquette and caring - and long may that continue as part of the next generations’ living history.”
Don’t know what to write?
Anyone at a loss of what to write in a modern day card can seek solace and inspiration from those of yesteryear. The handwritten declaration of love in the 1790 Valentine’s love token has stood the test of time. In keeping with the types of messages sent during the Jane Austen era, the front of the card’s message reads: “Farewell you sweet and turtle dove. On you alone, I fixed my love. And if you never can be mine. I never can no comfort find!” Inside, a handwritten verse reads: ‘Life they say is but a span Let’s be happy while we can Life is short then don’t decline Therefore make your choice today Let me pray thee to be mine Oh my dear sweet Valentine You are not sure my dearest dear Above: The love token with the long hand-scripted message was sent to ‘Ann’, at Hartwell House in Aylesbury, Of a Valentine next year Buckinghamshire. More delving needs to be done to find out Pray thee answer by a line who she was and indeed who sent the card. Below: A busy scene in Hansons’ Etwall auction house. If you will be my Valentine.’
Charles’ history notes Discovering and then selling the world’s oldest Valentine’s card in his Derbyshire auction house recently has “most definitely been a highlight” for Charles Hanson, joining a very long list of his ‘claims to fame’. Something of a celebrity in his own right, a stalwart on TV’s Antiques Road Trip, Bargain Hunt, Flog It! and For What It’s Worth, as well as a popular choice to undertake high profile charity auctions, Charles has had some pretty impressive items, as well as the quirky, pass through his hands. When put on the spot to name a few, they spill out in an enthusiastic torrent: “I sold a pair of Queen Victoria’s knickers, they went for £5,500. I also sold a piece of toast that was served to Prince Charles on the day of his wedding to Princess Diana, which went for £700 - crumbs eh!” quipped Charles. “At the top end of the scale, we sold a Qianlong period Chinese porcelain vase, which had been bought at a car boot sale for £50 and was used by the seller as a doorstop for 36 years, finishing at £650,000. I never cease to be surprised as to what is going to be brought to us - I am auctioning George Formby’s ukuleles this week!” he added, clearly relishing the thought. Charles’ outgoing, effervescent persona is a far cry from the shy boy with a stammer who lacked confidence. It all started to change when he was given a metal detector. “The most important thing in my life had been Derby County football team, until aged 10, using my metal detector I discovered a Charles I silver shilling in the earth. It ignited a passion that has never left me to inspire others to appreciate history, treasure memories and breathe new life into beautiful items with heritage.” Having started as a valuer in the European ceramics and glass department of Christie's in 1999, he went on to work for antique houses in Cheshire and Staffordshire before founding Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers in Etwall, Derbyshire in August 2005, followed recently by the opening of a second branch in Teddington. Looking to the future, admittedly unusual for someone who’s life is based on the past, Charles would love to come up with a new word for ‘antiques’ as he feels this descriptor is off-putting to new collectors, as well as find a way of making everyone, especially children, appreciate the heritage around them so that they safeguard them for future generations. “You can buy handful of Roman coins for a tenner. How lovely to be able to put one of those into a little hand and tell them it may well have belonged to a gladiator. We are all custodians of our heritage. Put a note under the vase your gran gave you saying where it came from - and of course, keep the greeting cards you have been given, they are part of your history!” PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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JEREMY’S JOURNAL Business blogging by publisher Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun.
Blind Spot Jeremy Corner, owner of greeting card publisher Blue Eyed Sun and distributor of BambooCup, takes a glimpse at his blind spot.
I recently met up with an experienced retailer friend of mine. I love seeing him as we both enjoy shooting the breeze about business and life. I also value his good honest feedback about our products and business. We were discussing the blind spot in the Johari Window - a technique created by psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in 1955 that helps people better understand their relationship with themselves and others, used primarily in self-help groups and as an exercise in corporate situations - when he said something to me that shook me to my core: “You are not a greeting card publisher, Jeremy. You are just a guy who has helped his talented partner along their way.” I flinched when he said it. It came out of the blue and I recoiled as if to avoid it, while at the same time knowing, on some
level, that there was truth in what he said. It amuses me to think that Blue Eyed Sun has come so far without me being a greeting card publisher, but that’s probably the truth. If it’s the truth for me, it could also be the truth for a huge number of others in our industry. That’s not just for publishers by the way, but retailers too. Another industry friend regularly points out that there are a huge number of amateurs in retail. If you don’t know what your best sellers are and which products generate your biggest profits then you may well be one of them.
What to do It’s easy to hear something like this and feel defensive or angry. I believe that feelings are like metal detectors for gold. If you feel a reaction then there is work for you to do around those feelings and treasure to be liberated from the muck. Blue Eyed Sun has been reliant on the talent of one remarkable design talent for many years. Part of the reason I knew that my friend was right is the fact that I have repeatedly tried and failed to create ranges with other designers. They have all bombed. It’s not like the business is complete 44
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Top: Take a glimpse at your blind spot to have a clear understanding of your business. Above: The Biscuit range designed by Jo Corner is one of the new ranges from Blue Eyed Sun. Left: The Johari Window is a technique to help people better understand themselves.
rubbish either though. We have built something quite remarkable with our blood, sweat and countless tears. The first thing I decided to do was to take stock of the value within our business. These are other truths that can keep one from jumping off a cliff, when the rug is seemingly pulled out from under your feet by the reality of your blind spot that you have previously denied yourself from seeing.
Our value Blue Eyed Sun has built a widely established brand presence within the trade marketplace, painstakingly forged over nearly two decades. We are well-known within the industry, with years of coverage in hundreds of magazine articles, many award
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JEREMY’S JOURNAL nominations (even some wins), a well-read industry blog and a solid presence at the UK’s leading trade shows. We have excellent distribution across the UK having built and maintained good relationships with the majority of the leading greeting card retailers. Our wonderful team of experienced sales agents across the UK are well-regarded and active in their territories. We’ve also gathered years of experience working with most of the brokers who tap into areas of the market not normally accessed by smaller publishers. We have excellent international distribution in over 20 countries. In 2016 we won the Queen’s Award for International Trade on the back of our successful expansion abroad with a fantastic network of top distributors around the world. We also own a well-run manufacturing and distribution centre in Sussex, which has the capacity to hand-finish and distribute millions of greeting cards a year giving us control over quality and efficiency. Last, but by no means least, we have an awesome in-house team that operate this facility. They are a loyal, hard working, customer-focused group of individuals who have produced and delivered millions of handmade cards over the years.
was grown with me working part-time since 2004). I’m creative, adaptable, forward thinking and empathetic. I also love greeting cards. I’m weaker on the details. I hate forms and bureaucracy. I’m bored by the mundane and repetitiveness. I’m best kept away from running things like this or I can disrupt them to make them more interesting (the opposite of what’s needed). I have also been a people pleaser in the past. Something which gets in the way of developing great product. You need to feedback the truth if product is to be developed into anything good. I believe that people are most valuable when playing to their strengths. That’s what I’ve always tried to do within our team. It’s more efficient, less arduous and most likely to result in mastery. Focusing on fixing weaknesses, on the other hand, is a constant uphill battle. It can feel demoralising and is most likely doomed to failure in the long run anyway. The big question is whether or not me ‘not really being a greeting card publisher’ is a weakness that is going to be difficult or impossible to fix or whether it’s something I can remedy by where I focus my attention.
Holding back
My value While Blue Eyed Sun is a pretty good business, it appears to have one major weakness from a greeting card publishing point of view: me. Again, it’s not like I’m complete rubbish either. I am strong on bringing people together. I have a sense of humour. I’m good with people. I can lead. I am a great storyteller. I can write. I can develop and grow brands. I am a strong marketeer. I am good at seeing the bigger picture and creating effective systems (the business
One of the things that has been both Blue Eyed Sun’s strength and weakness over the years has been our reliance on one designer. I always saw this as a bottleneck within the business that prevented us from growing further. This was further exacerbated by a classic conundrum within most small businesses: You need to grow, but you are way too busy to hire and delegate to anyone else. Plus, there’s the added risk that trying to do so and failing will waste more time that could have been spent doing the thing you do that adds most value to the business. What if I’m the bottleneck within our business though? If I‘ve never shown up within our business as a greeting card publisher then that is a bigger issue than our designer not training and delegating to others. And how on earth did this happen? The legacy of this issue is rooted in the way I always saw my role, as one of support
Above: Are you denying seeing your blind spot? Below: Jeremy Corner (left) with Ged Mace of The Art File at the recent GCA Dragons event.
and encouragement. It’s a safe place to be. The one behind the talent. You never have to expose yourself to criticism and failure (two difficult pills for people pleasers to swallow). The downside is you never fully explore your own talents, because you are always focused on those of the other.
Moving forward This past year I have been experimenting with different business models and partnerships. I know that we have everything we need in terms of infrastructure to take great product to market. The sensational success of BambooCup is evidence of this as we’ve seen double-digit growth at Blue Eyed Sun in the last 12 months. So, we have solid operational foundations from which to launch new products and projects. My next step is to find people who are weak in these areas and strong in areas where I am weaker. I am on the hunt for more talented designers and more awesome product on which we can work our marketing and distribution magic. I’m interested in licensing, partnerships, distribution deals and working together with businesses with fantastic potential for growth that struggle to cope with things that we do with ease. I am not interested in any weak product (cards or gifts that don’t sell because the designs don’t work or they’re overpriced). There’s got to be love in the product. I may not be a greeting card publisher yet, but I do know business. Both myself and Blue Eyed Sun are valuable assets for any team and we’re looking for other solid players to build even stronger teams. Drop me a line if you have something exciting that you’d like to discuss with us. Watch this space for interesting new projects over the coming months. Let’s see if I can grow into a real greeting card publisher one day. Read more on Jeremy’s blog at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk/blog PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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Face To Face
All Tea-d Up The new Emma Bridgewater greeting card collection from Woodmansterne, based on a licensing agreement with the well-respected pottery brand, is published proof that riches are often hidden at the bottom of a pile of paraphernalia on your desk. Lee Keeper, Woodmansterne’s creative director poured out the story of how the collaboration came about and reveals it was very nearly a wonderful opportunity that was missed.
“My desk is typical of many ‘creatives’, peppered with ‘to do’ piles of possible product ideas,” admitted Lee Keeper, creative director of Woodmansterne. “Feeling inspired to have a tidy up I cleared the deck - and at the very bottom of a pile I discovered a business card, which made it all worthwhile.” The item in question belonged to Eleanor West, licensing manager of Emma Bridgewater. “Eleanor had come onto our stand at PG Live last June and had left her card for me, but it was inadvertently mixed up with other information so I had not seen it,” said Lee, who said it was something of a ‘eureka moment’ when he held the business card in his hand of “this iconic British brand”. “It was immediately apparent to me that Emma Bridgewater would be such a great ‘brand fit’ with Woodmansterne as there are so many shared values of product quality, commitment to UK manufacturing and
Above: Woodmansterne’s creative director Lee Keeper (right) with designer Hope Glass and the giant teapot Emma Bridgewater gave to the publisher to christen the licensing relationship. Left: The Woodmansterne cards feature well-known Emma Bridgewater designs with some specially created messages, all bearing Matthew Rice’s hand-created lettering. Below: The Emma Bridgewater brand sits so well with Woodmansterne’s artistic and company values. Bottom left: Being a British brand, that produces all its products in The Potteries, Emma Bridgewater is a great fit with Woodmansterne.
distinctive design. Within a week a meeting had been arranged,” reveals Lee. A visit to Emma Bridgewater’s factory in Stoke-on-Trent to see the company in action, as well as delve into its extensive design archive, served to further reinforce the potential of a greeting card collection based on the brand and a licensing agreement was signed soon afterwards. “It is not just the wealth of distinctive Emma Bridgewater patterns available to us that makes this a great greeting card partnership, but also how the quirky tone of 46
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
voice and hand lettering style (created by Matthew Rice, Emma’s husband) lends itself so well to cards,” Lee points out, citing the example of ‘Time for a drink’ as a caption that was created specifically for Woodmansterne, but is very much in keeping with the essence of the Emma Bridgewater brand. Woodmansterne’s initial Emma Bridgewater collection of 20 designs comprising eight everyday designs as well as 12 occasions and relations cards were launched to great acclaim at Spring Fair. Meanwhile this month (April) sees an additional 20 age cards being introduced into the portfolio with an extensive 2020 spring collection already underway. Concerned that this was very nearly an opportunity missed, Lee says he is already planning a foolproof method of safeguarding business cards and contacts from this year’s PG Live, but says he cannot commit to adhering to a completely tidy desk policy!
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Face To Face
Mum’s the word Not only is Emma Bridgewater a real living person, but someone who has remained steadfast in her beliefs to remain true to the essence of the brand that she created almost 30 years ago. And she has her mum to thank for it all! It was back in 1985, when Emma was searching for a pretty cup and saucer for her mother’s birthday that was to lead to what has become the globally renowned British tableware brand which bears her name. It was only because during what ended up as a fruitless search for the perfect gift for her mum that the young Emma, deciding that everything the shops was either delicate and formal, or heavy and clunky, that she realised there was lack of pottery that was both beautiful and practical, and that reflected the relaxed, colourful, mismatched home she’d grown up in in Oxford. Not only that, but she had the gumption to fill that market gap by starting her own company.
Above: Emma Bridgewater, the namesake and owner of the brand. Left: All of Emma Bridgewater’s pottery is still made in Stoke-on-Trent.
A degree in English followed by a job with a small knitwear company might not have been the most appropriate background with which to take on the established British tableware market, but that didn’t stop her. Emma sketched out a mug, bowl and jug, and then searched out a pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, the home of British pottery, to make them. She then set about decorating her designed shapes using cutout sponges, resurrecting a traditional technique that was to become her signature style. It was an immediate success as the resultant creations were eagerly snapped up by retailers such as Liberty and Harrods, and so Emma Bridgewater the company was born.
It was while exhibiting at Top Drawer soon after the business started (in 1987) that Emma met and later married, Matthew Rice, who was a furniture designer at the time. By 1989, they had joined forces professionally as well as romantically, and since then Matthew has created some of Emma Bridgewater’s best-loved designs and still sets the style for the lettering on all the products, including the Woodmansterne cards. As the company grew, Emma was determined to keep production of the pottery in Stoke-on-Trent, and so in 1996, bought a Victorian factory there. The company is now one of the largest employers of potters in the area. Right: Having debuted with an initial collection of everyday as well as relations and occasions designs at Spring Fair, more are in the pipeline.
Fittingly, in recognition of her work championing manufacturing in Stoke-onTrent, Emma has honorary degrees from both the University of Staffordshire and Keele University, and has been awarded a CBE for Services to Industry. In 2016 Emma was appointed President of Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) which campaigns to preserve the English countryside, to direct planning pressure away from greenfield sites and guard against the despoliation of Britain. The company’s turnover has soared over the years to £16m swelled by a global distribution. Through licensing tie-ups, such as Woodmansterne for greeting cards, Penny Kennedy for giftwrap and Blueprint for stationery, its designs have seamlessly been translated onto other products by like-minded companies. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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ART SOURCE
TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE
ARTSOURCE SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051
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Art Source PG helps to paint a pretty picture of freelance artists, designers, verse writers and photographers’ worlds in order to promote their talents to publishers and, conversely, make it easier for publishers seeking artists.
ARTIST IN FOCUS
Suzanne Washington I have been working as an illustrator and surface pattern designer since graduating from Loughborough University in 2004 with a BA in Printed Textile Design. I began working as a print designer for nightwear, swimwear and lingerie for a high-street brand, but since going freelance I have designed and sold artwork globally for fashion, home and kids’ products, including several commissions for Harrods and vintage style fashion brand Lindy Bop. I do love producing complex vector surface designs with hand-drawn motifs, as well as mixed media artwork combining watercolour elements with line art. I specialise in highly detailed decorative designs and retro inspired conversational prints
inspired by nature, vintage collections and eclectic treasures - my work has a quirky narrative quality and a magical sense of nostalgia. I equally love painting florals as much as drawing cute fun novelty designs. As a trained surface pattern designer, I have researched and developed trend presentations so now I often look to the latest trends and catwalks to inspire new artwork - however I also love a good rummage in a vintage store or used bookshop to look for retro references. I have been represented by The Bright Agency for the last few years and have enjoyed some lovely projects for book jackets and educational publications. I am focusing a lot more on my illustration and licensing work now, but I still have a big passion for printed product. I am open for commission and anyone interested in working with me can get in touch via my website. l Email: suzyspellboundx@hotmail.com l Web: www.suzyspellbound.com
WANT TO BE FEATURED?
If you are an artist, photographer or verse writer and would like to be considered to appear in Art Source, please contact PG’s Emma Cain on emmac@max-publishing.co.uk. This is an editorial feature and as such is free of charge. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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ART SOURCE
TO APPEAR REGULARLY IN THE
ARTSOURCE SECTION OF PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS CONTACT TRACEY ARNAUD ON 01234 740 051
01924 950500 The perfect solution for all of your Greeting Card Software requirements Enquiry Hotline
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Art Source
Emma Bryan Drawing was my constant companion in a childhood full of moving house/school/country - one of my earliest memories is a sixweek emigration by sea to New Zealand when I would create my own travel brochures to pass the time. My dad taught me to draw, and although I won a few competitions and had ‘A’ grades for art at school, I didn’t pursue it and went on to a career in graphic design, continuing to travel and work in Vienna, until settling near London when I had my family, and then I returned to creating art and learning printmaking, illustration and surface pattern design. I now have a studio cabin in my garden and I’m thrilled to go there every day - it never feels like work. I’m surrounded by birdsong and garden flowers, which I love to draw, particularly my favourite peony, which I look forward to blooming each May - but I enjoy creating exotic flora and fauna too, which is going to be a big trend for 2020. I have a love of clean lines and soft feminine colour palettes, sometimes with a whimsical vintage feel and a touch of imagination. I work with traditional art materials, gouache, printmaking textures - and I have learned to combine these elements digitally, but the iPad Pro is changing the way I work too. My portfolio contains decorative designs suitable for stationery and homeware as well as patterns and people too. I have a collection of vintage items collected over the years that I’ve started to use as the basis for illustrations. I love the idea of a greeting card as a small canvas, and the message you can convey with it. If you’d like more information or to have a chat about my designs, please get in touch. l Tel: 07889 598606 l Email: hello@emmabryan.co.uk
Valerie Greeley I am a miniature painter and a member of the Royal Miniature Society; I also exhibit with the Hilliard Society and have won awards for my paintings with both organisations. I absolutely adore painting on a small scale and have had a long fascination with the Elizabethan artists who created jewel like portrait paintings small enough to hold in the hand. My background in textile design has encouraged an interest in the decorative arts and I like to incorporate decorative elements to my work to enhance the narrative. I began painting professionally in 1975 after graduating from Manchester School of Art and Design. The art education that I received at Manchester was strongly influenced by the teachings of Walter Crane who established a commitment to drawing from life and observing nature. I grew up in Bury, Lancashire, but have lived and worked for most of my working life in the Staffordshire/Cheshire borders, an area of natural beauty and industrial heritage. My inspiration comes primarily from nature, in particular the flora and fauna found in the hedgerows and woodlands that surround my home. I have always enjoyed painting in detail; the tiny markings on a butterfly’s wing, the effect of sunlight on fur, dew droplets on a spider’s web are never ending source of fascination and delight. I enjoy learning new skills and have taken part in many craft based workshops. I feel it is important to carry on learning throughout life and have taken classes in wood engraving, etching, calligraphy, bookbinding and Persian Miniature painting, gilding and illumination; gradually these elements worked their way into my paintings. Painting with watercolour is my preferred medium, listening to music in my studio and drinking endless cups of tea! Over the years my work has appeared on many products: books, calendars, greeting cards, ceramics and tableware. I am represented by Yellow House Art Licensing. l Email: sue@yellowhouseartlicensing.com l Web: www.yellowhouseartlicensing.com/valeriegreeley PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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PG asked a selection of card retailers for their ‘hot’ card sellers. Sarah Halsall, owner of Hand Picked by Henrietta, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Poynton A small shop in a small town with a varied and loyal locals customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Katie Phythian
Little Star
Humour
Pigment Rosie Made a Thing
General Gin & Frolics
Photography
Abacus
Countryfile
Handmade/ HandFinished
Counting Stars
Like I Give A Frock
Wendy Jones-Blackett
Hey Fresco
Paperlink
Hopscotch
Designed and hand-finished in Cheshire. Our customers love this local element, but the publisher deserves to be in our top choices as the designs are lovely. Both publishers are on trend - Cheeky humour that never fails to cause lots of giggles in our shop! Printed on quality card with eye-catching designs, there are always new designs too. These cards are always popular with our customers. Beautiful photography of British scenes, these cards are blank inside making them ideal for many occasions. These cards have caused quite a stir in our shops. Customers love their vibrant, unique designs and comment on how unusual they are. They are simply stunning cards. These quality cards are popular for their simple, eye-catching bright illustrations and foil finish: Always a popular publisher across all its ranges. Concertina folds give these striking cards a 3D effect making them stand out to our customers.
Right: A sweet Little Star design from Katie Phythian.
Children’s
Amy Fuller, owner of My Flair Lady Floral Designs & Gift Shops, White Roding, Essex A large florist, gift and card shop in a village with a varied and destination shoppers customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Janie Wilson
Copper Leaf
Humour
Redback Cards
Across The Board
Woodmansterne
Genius
Photography
Woodmansterne
General
Art
Heartbreak Publishing
Jack Vettriano
Contemporary
Rosie Made a Thing
Gin & Frolics
Traditional Handmade/ HandFinished Children’s
Jonny Javelin The Handcrafted Card Company Sensations
Velvet Everlasting
High quality cards, with lovely finishes, that look very special. Some of the cards out there I find are quite rude. I like to find a happy balance of cheeky but not offensive. Reflecting the funny things kids say to exam questions, the cards are designed with child-like handwriting and witty answers. Because they are blank cards the sending occasion is versatile. There’s also a good variety of themes and new designs are always being added to the range. Again versatile sends for weddings or anniversaries because of the artworks’ couples in romantic settings. The modern humour and style of the illustrations are really simple but clever. They’re amazing! Christmas and everyday, we sell these all year around. The publisher’s sympathy card range is the best I’ve ever seen!
Ancillary
Powder
A-Z Ankle Socks
Powder
Elephant Print Beach Bags
Right: Pretty A-Z Ankle Socks by Powder. Below right: The Handcrafted Card Company’s Everlasting has beautiful sentiments with illustrations topped with a single crystal.
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Candy Club
These fly out! Glittery badge cards with big numbers at a good price point. The socks have been really good sellers for me. There’s a design selection featuring a letter from A to Z. Really lovely beach bags that shimmer in baby blue or pale pink with a gold elephant repeat print.
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Bee Painton, co-owner of Serendip, Lyme Regis, West Dorset A medium book, stationery and gift shop in a town with a tourists and destination shoppers customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
Green Pebble
Across The Board
Cute
Tracks
Fluff and Lenticular 3D
Humour
Poet & Painter
General
Paper House (GBCC) and Woodmansterne
General General
Canns Down Press
Across The Board
Furzedown Gallery
Small Cards
Cross Dog
Liz Somerville
Rachel Ellen
General
Alljoy
Message In A Bottle
Gemma
Mr. Men and Little Miss, Thomas The Tank, Natural History Museum General
Many customers exclaim, “these are nice or unusual”, and for us the cards tend not to be in the big stores’ offering. Wacky and cute, the designs work across the age ranges, from tweens to young adults. It's the word play that people like; appealing to the generation that are our customers. The designs are sufficiently cheeky to raise a giggle but not too rude to question who would you send them to. There’s artwork from dead artists to popular artists, and the cards’ quality are exceptional. Also some of the scenes are from the West Country, which visitors recognise and buy as a souvenir. A little anything card - simple, small blank cards featuring watercolours that get sent for many different occasions. A local printmaker who creates Dorset landscapes in woodcut and linocut with a traditional Gunning press. Bright and modern occasions designs and children’s ranges, such as Jigsaw. 3D pop-up designs in different shapes. They’re lovely and at a good price. The classic characters still remain popular. Whist, because of our location, anything to do with dinosaurs or fossils does well.
Art Above: A Cross Dog design created by Liz Somerville: Chesil Beach and the Fleet on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, with St Catherine’s Chapel in the foreground and the Isle of Portland in the background. Right: A stunning Message In A Bottle design from Alljoy.
Contemporary
Children’s
Kali Stileman
Quirky and stylish, the designs allow us to offer something different.
Georgina Black, owner of Pretty Shiny Shop, Stroud Green, London A small shop in city suburb with a varied and loyal locals customer base. Category
Name of Publisher
Product/Name Range
Comments
Everyday
The DM Collection
Across The Board
Cute
Alljoy Designs
Wobbly Head Cards
Humour
Ohh Deer
Technically Ron
Quite Good Cards
General
Photography Art
Ohh Deer DMC Illustrations
Say Cheese General
Contemporary
LinoKing Cards
General
Children’s
Louise Mulgrew
General
Ancillary
The DM Collection
Coasters, tea-towels and notebooks
Always beautiful cards that can be given for any occasion. Cute, fun and a bit different. They will stand out amongst the other cards at the party! Hilarious. Customers are laughing out loud. These cards are pun-tastic in a way no one else’s are. The Hedgehog card may be the happiest card I have ever seen. I love this publisher’s animal combinations. They always make customers smile. The illustrator puts a lot of work into her designs really studying how the animals move, and that time and talent really shows through. The details that designer, Ash puts into his cards is amazing. One of the few sets of cards where the negative space is just as impressive! I consider Louise’s cards to work for both children and adults, but realised that they are a fantastic option for older kids that are a bit more mature but still want a fun card. Beautiful coaster, tea towels and notebooks that are affordable and beautiful.
Right: Is this the happiest hedgehog ever?! A Say Cheese design from Ohh Deer.
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PRODUCT DIRECTORY
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Abacus Cards Limited t: 01638 569050 e: info@abacuscards.co.uk w: www.abacuscards.co.uk
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01565 830 546 | bexyboo.co.uk @BexyBooLtd
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PRODUCT DIRECTORY
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Warren Lomax on:
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or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact
Tracey Arnaud on:
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or email on traceya@max-publishing.co.uk
Publishers of quality blank greeting cards
One of the UK’s leading suppliers of Greeting Cards since 19995 Products: High quality greetin ng cards with superb finishes. All maajjor and minor titles, covering traditio onaall to the latest in innovative design, n both Everydaayy and Seasonal. Providing an all NEW selection of Muggs and Notebooks. k
Tel: 0115 929 4776 enquiries@bugart.co.uk Order Online
www.bugart.co.uk
Brands Include: Down Memory Lane, W Wo ot A Mug and T Tw wist & Shout Methods of Sale: Direct to retail Desiggners welcome contact beverley@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk
Unit 10 Duddage Business Park Brockeridge Rd Twyning Tewkesbury GL20 6BY 01684 295500 info@cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk www.cherryorchardpublishing.co.uk
Caspari Ltd Linden House, John Dane Player Court
East Street, Safffrron W Waalden Essex, CB10 1LR Teel: 01799 513010 T Faax: 01799 513101 F Email: inffoo@caspari.co.uk ww ww w.CaspariOnline.com
Products: Everyday cards - birthday,
www.cathtatecards.com
blank & occasions, charity Christmas cards, gifftt wrap, bags, tissue, ribbon, hankies, napkins, paper plate, candles, placemats, crackers,invitations, placecards, notecards,diaries, address books, journals, advent calendars and bridge gifftts.
Method of Sale: Direct to Retail
Quote CUTE50 for 50% discount at info@idrewthis.co.uk
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Witty, gritty, switched on humour. Cards and gifts with a real difference. Unit 1, 45 Morrish Road London SW2 4EE Tel: 0208 671 2166 Fax: 0208 678 1119 info@cathtatecards.com
020 7700 6740 or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact
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Tracey Arnaud
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Beautiful greeting cards from contemporary British artwork
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LIFE
01892 838 574
sales@thecuriousinksmith.co.uk
or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact
www.dryredpress.com
on:
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T +44 (0) 1273 241210 E info@dryredpress.com
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Te T el: 0161 1 64 641 0 06 655 Email: m sales@da sales@d avora.co.uk av 135 Hea 13 135 eaton Moorr Rd | Stockp ock kpo port ort SK4 4HY 4 4H HY
High Quality Greeting Cards, Gift Bags, Gift Wrap & Ta Tags for every occasion.
*GCF 1HĆ‚EG +353 (0)404 20528 Email info@garlanna.com www.garlanna.com
Welsh and English cards
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GRASS ROOTS
INTERNATIONAL
G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL
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agents wanted
A U.K owned Greeting Cards Publisher. Our everyday ranges for all occasions and relations include traditional, contemporary, cute, humour and photographic designs. We also have a full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons. All products are designed and printed in the U.K on the finest quality board.
BRANDS “Write from the Heart� brand includes; Corsage, Sentiments, Champagne, Celebrations and Jelly Beans.
M ETHOD OF SALE Direct to Retail
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Innovative high quality gift wrap, gift bags, tissue paper and accesssories galore for all seasons and occasions.
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Glick, Unit 1 Allenby House, European Ind. Park, Knowles Lane, Bradford BD4 9AB
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from the
or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact
Tracey Arnaud
56
Units 4 - 4A Valentines Buildin g Ra cec our se Bus in ess Par k Aintr ee, Liver poo l, L9 5 AL Tel: 0151 52 3 9600 Fax : 015 1 523 494 9 e-m ail: s ales@ writefr om th ehear t.co.uk
@glickgiftwrap
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• UK Market leaders with humour, art, photographic, contemporary and traditional occasions & relations cards, plus seasonal. • 2HULQJ D IXOO SODQQLQJ VHUYLFH with merchandising and retail development opportunities. • Specialists in garden centres and the independent trade.
Find The Great British Card Company on:
PHOTOGRAPHY SUPPLIER
www.greatbritishcards.co.uk Waterwells Drive, Gloucester GL2 2PH Tel: 01452 888970
glebecottage.co.uk 01626 369269 Estaab blished 1993
)
CHARITY GREETING CARDS
.6-5*3"$*"- and -(#5 (3&&5*/( $"3%4
AR RT TISTS CARDS glebecottage.co.uk 01626 369269 Esta ab blished 1993
Hue tribe
www.huetribe.com t: +44(0) 7943416562 e: info@huetribe.com facebook: www.facebook.com/huetribedesign
One of the UK’s leading publishers of Charity Greeting Cards. Impress offers a wide collection of images, including fine art, graphic, photographic and cute. We also offer a bespoke design service for bulk orders and/or mail order fulfilment. Impress Publishing Appledown House Barton Business Park New Dover Road Canterbury, Kent CT1 3TE Tel: 01227 811 611 Fax: 01227 811 618 email: info@impresspublishing.co.uk
CPNF TFF PVS OFX JMMVTUSBUJPOT PO 45"/% 41 BU 1( -*7& % OFF ALL SHOW ORDERS
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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60 years
Your Number One Supplier of Numerals, Name, Relation & Age Labels for Greetings Cards.
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WIDE RANGE OF PRODUCTS “Art that tells a story…”
Huge selection with immediate delivery y.. Buy direct or from your wholesalerr..
LING DESIGN
Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon Business Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX1 5JN Te T el 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 www.listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk
Love Country by Sarah Reilly
Tel: 07735 918118
www.lingdesign.co.uk
01892 838 574
information@lingdesign.co.uk
sarah@lovecountryuk.co.uk www.lovecountryuk.co.uk
Silk Screened Retro, Pop & Classic Cards Inspired by Music and 1960’s American Advertising.For all Vinyl & Rock n’Roll lovers
L E T U S TA K E YOU BAC K
For further details please get in touch.
info@vincentmcevoy.com
+44 (0)7779 578340
LING DESIGN The UK’s leading privately owned publisher of Greetings Cards and Stationery. ...The home for and
WWW.LOTTIE-MURPHY.COM LOTTIE@LOTTIE-MURPHY.COM INSTAGRAM @LOTTIEMURPHYDESIGNS
AGENTS WANTED PG LIVE 19 SPRINGBOARD 766
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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons cards, gift wrap and bags, charity cards, social stationery. Bespoke service for charities and other fundraisers. Ling Design Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk www.lingdesign.co.uk
Products An exciting and innovative range of quality Birthday, Relations, Special Occasions, Art and Humorous greeting cards. Full range of Christmas and Spring Seasons merchandise. Comprehensive collection of handmade cards. Pizazz Gifts.
Brand Names Pizazz, Pizazz Gallery, Pizazz Jewell, Pizazz for Men, What a Picture, Time Out, Bon Bon, Marshmallow Cloudesley House • Shire Hill • Saffron Walden • CB11 3FB T: 01799 520200 F: 01799 520100 www.nigelquiney.com
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Design-led Stationery, Gifts, Calendars, Diaries and Cards
originalposter.com
Brands Laura Ashley, Roald Dahl, Lily & Val, Vintage Ladybird, Caroline Gardner, Monsoon, Born to Shop, Flash Gordon, Boofle and many more.
All our cards are supplied on consignment, so you only pay for what you sell.
Our In-house design studio and established supply chain enables us to offer bespoke services.
We also supply card fixtures and spinners free-on-loan.
tel: +44 (0) 1225 329494 email: sales@porticodesigns.com website: www.porticodesigns.com
We replace slow sellers and damaged stock free of charge. We merchandise regularly, so you don’t have to. THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!
01932 267 300
Exquisite Design, Beautiful Cardss Key brands include Marzipan, Portobello, Mosaic, Daisy Patch, Aquarupella and Designers Guild, plus many more. Tel: +44 (0)115 986 0115 Email: info@paperrose.co.uk www.paperrose.co.uk www.artgroupcards.co.uk PaperRoseCards TheArtGroupCards The_Art_Group
AG E N T S WA N T E D : Æ« Æ«Ä‘Æ« Æ« Æ«Ä‘Æ« Æ« Æ«Ä‘Æ« Æ«Ä‘Æ«
p p paperlink... the home of fabulous cards!
LUXURY GIFT PACKAGING
To appear in the Product Directories contact
Warren Lomax
020 7700 6740
TRADE WEBSITE: Ä‹ Ä® Ä‹ 01780 763 368
356 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD T 020 7582 8244 info@paperlink.co.uk k www.paperlink.co.uk Paperlinkcards
@ @paperlinkcards
or email warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact
Tracey Arnaud
ICONIC LICENCED BRANDS
01892 838 574 www.pennykennedy.co.uk
07957 212 062
or email traceya@max-publishing.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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l PRODUCT DIRECTORY Products: Greetings Cards, Gift Wrap, Gift Bags, Social Stationery, Mugs and Glasses, Partyware
Brands: Card Essentials Designer Collection Greetings Impressions Inspirations In Touch ,VDEHO·V *DUGHQ Planet Happy With You In Mind
Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors greeting cards & contempoRary gifts www.redbackcards.com e: info@redbackcards.com t: 01803 712793
Simon Elvin Limited Wooburn Industrial Park, Wooburn Green, Bucks HP10 0PE Tel: 01628 526711 Fax: 01628 531483 www.simonelvin.com mail@simonelvin.com
Uk publisher of Greetings Cards with an extensive range of quality Birthday, Relations, Occasions and Seasonal product... available from
LING DESIGN
Our Brands: Laughter with Animals, Sporting Fun The Funny Side of Life.
Method of sale: Direct to Retail 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk www.lingdesign.co.uk
2@= 29KL= M<K Just food and their friends....
6 Heron Trading Estate Alliance Road, Park Royal, London W3 0RA T: 0208 385 4474 F: 0208 385 4471 E: info@Xpressyourselfcards.co.uk WWW.XXPRESSYOURSELFCARDS.CO.UK
PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons.
raspber r yblossom.com hello@raspberryblossom.com 020 3723 5405
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BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics. METHOD OF SALE: SENSATIONS – Direct to retail XPRESS YOURSELF – Now one of the leading wholesale publisher suppliers in the UK
5= N= ?GF= ?J==F All greeting cards printed with vegetable inks on recycled boards/envelopes, including biodegradable packaging...
www.the-taste-buds.co.uk info@the-taste-buds.co.uk 07906 367 663
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The UK’s leading publisher of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards. Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available. Talking Pictures Cards Ltd 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE
Tel: 01892 838574 enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk www.talking-pictures.co.uk
Market Leaders in
www.tomcat.cards info@tomcat.cards
Verse
view by rufus designed in thames ditton
see full range of british superheroes
0
& entimen
an extensive range of superior quality,
design-led Greeting Cards
DIRECT TO RETAIL & EXPORT
for all occasions, Spring Seasons & Christmas.
Art Cards eA Botanical Fine
7RPFDW &DUGV
Vibrant and nd elegant gree greeting cards A freshly fr modern perspective on nature
Call Now 075 7700 1145 www.zaquarella.co.uk info@ zaquarella.com
iron man topdog@view by rufus.com 020 8972 9706
viewbyrufus.com register fo for a trade account: www w..viewbyrufus i b f .com/b2b /b2b
Method of Sale: Direct to Retail Orders can be placed on our trader site
www.cbgtrader.co.uk or call our customer services team on
+44(0)1243 792600
TEL: 01480 435562 FAX: 01480 450599 www.tracksltd.com UNIT 2, 12 BLACKSTONE RD, STUKELEY MEADOWS IND EST, HUNTINGDON, CAMBS, PE29 6EF
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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BAGS Polypropylene & biodegradable bag specialists
GREETING CARD
Over 40 years quality service to the trade Hotfoiling also available
T 01206 396209 E sales@badgerconverters.co.uk www.badgerconverters.co.uk
GIVE E YOUR
EUROPE’S LEADING GREETINGS CARDS, PARTY PRODUCTS, GIFTS, CANDLES, TOYS, STATIONERY AND FLORIST SUNDRIES DISTRIBUTION CENTRE 75000 SQ FT
V VIP
TREA AT A TMENT
BESCOT CRESCENT, WALSALL, WEST MIDLANDS. WS1 4NG 01922-646666 www.greetingshouse.co.uk info@greetingshouse.co.uk MON,WED,FRI 8.00am-4.45pm TUES,THURS 8.00am-7.45pm SAT,SUN 8.00am-1.45pm
HIGH CLARITY L TY Y BA AGS FOR R GREETING G ET T NG CARD DS, CALEND EN N ARS ARS AND AND D ARTW TWORK WORK ŏ ŏđŏ ŏ FOIL L BL B OCKING NG G EXTE XTENSIVE NSIV VE R V RANG RA ANGE OF S ST TOCK SIZES SIZ ZES AND BES AND BES E PO OKE KE MANUF KE MANU UF FACTU TUR TURE T U E AT TED D WRAPPING SERVICE NEW AUTOMA
CALL CA CAL C LL US ST TO ODAY OD
0122 1228 228 2 28 8 56 5605 60 052 26 6 www.fful ulcrumfilms. ulcrrum mfillm ms s co.uk uk
We’ve been producing p bags of high clarity and high quality q for over 30 years.
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01274 220 220 www w.wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk
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ENVELOPES
BAGS
BAGS
Manuffacturers of high quality fllexible packaging 30 YEARS EXPERIENCE - QUA UALITTY Y SERVICE EXTENSIVE STOCK RANGE - QUICK DE ELIVERY ASSURED
- HEADER BAGS - WA WALLET BAGS - ZIPPER BAGS - FLEXOGRAPHIC, HOTFOIL & THEERMAL PRINTING www.transrappackagin ng.co.uk sales@transrap.co o.uk
CALL US TODA AY
01773 5378 810
FLITTERING FOR ALL YOUR FLITTER REQUIREMENTS
ABL Foil Ltd Unit 1, Industrial Estate East Hanningfield Chelmsford Essex, CM3 8AB
Contact DAVID JIGGINS Tel: 01245 400104 Email: david@abl-ltd.co.uk
PRINTERS
ENVELOPES
AND NOW FO OR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT... . FOR ALL YOUR ENVELOPE NEEDS! Largest range of in-stock colours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED
100% Recycled Paper Av Available
PAPER A
Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags Peel & Stick Envelopes p Bespoke Service on Request
ORDER ON LINE AT: www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com
Our innovative greeting gs card finishes include: Thermography Foil Intense Glitter Snowraise Liquid q M Metal Blended Glitter Embossing Textured Foil Laser Cutting
ask about our ‘Mrr Abbot’ sample pack
To discuss your nextt greetings card range call us on 01797 223355 www.abbotprint.co.uk bb i k sales@abbotprint.co.uk l bb i k PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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SPECIALISTS IN SHORT RUN MULTI IMAGE PRINT s Foiling Services without the need for dies s Wiro bound notebooks, no minimum quantity s In House Fulfilmment Services
T 01274 305832 E info@hellocards.co.uk www.hellocards.co.uk
PJ PRINT LONDON The Capitals Only Specialist Greeting Card Printer All Industry Finishes Available In-House Including Laser Cutting
The simplest way to order your greetings cards
The Print Works Colville Road, Acton, London, W3 8BL
Powered by
Unit 8, Archers Park, Branbridges Road, East Peckham, Kent TN12 5HP www.theimagingcentre.co.uk Email: info@theimagingcentre.co.uk Tel: 01622 871449
we print 64
we ďŹ nish
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
we pack
we deliver
E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk Tel: 020 8993 5160 www.pj-print.co.uk
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Your saf ep ai
YOUR MANUFACTURING PARTNER FOR VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS
cturing ufa an m
ds for Far E as han f t ro
English speaking production team, prices quoted in sterling... and only 3 days delivery to THE UK...
Outstanding, cost effective and efficient production of Greeting cards, Packaging and Social stationery, ideal for intricate and hand finished products. • Over 15 years experience providing high-quality printed products direct from the Far East • Trusted and financially stable, UK owned by The Sherwood Group • Socially responsible manufacturing: SMETA, ISO9001, ISO14001, FSC certification • Full product prototyping in the UK for competitive speed to market requirements
• Hand made and hand finished greeting cards • Boxed sets and acetate packs of cards / envelopes • Giftwrap and tag packs • Individually open and closed wrapped cards • 'Pop up' and cardboard engineered products • Notelets and social stationery • Specialised printing on plastics & lenticular For production enquiries, estimates etc., please contact our UK Agent:
To find out how we can benefit your business, contact Derek Lam +00 (852) 3527 3471 / derek@sherwood-press.com or The Sherwood Group Head Office
Rob Pearson 07710 132 232 rob@solutions-polska.com FSC accredited (BV-COC-002485). Audited member of SMETA. Printing to ISO12674-2 standard.
Hong Kong Office: 13/F, Kam Chung Commercial Building, 19-21 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
www w..sherwoodgroupuk.com
Really... and there s no VAT to pay or customs procedures either...that's a great deal!
000510
THE RIGH HT PARTNER
FOR ALL YOUR MANUFACTURING REQUIREMENTS
Social Sta tationerry Printer of the Year
Award winning U UK & Global specialist manufacturer ffor the greeting card industry fo or over 40 years To discuss how we can work together, contact Simon King: Tel 0115 928 7766 Email ssimon.king@sherwoodgroupuk.com
Glitt i Glittering
** ** ** **
Offset ff t Printing P i ti
Sh Show Room R
Facto ory Outlook
Established in 1997, headquarters in Hong Kong 600,000 Sq.fftt of modern production facility ouse production Ensure complete co ontrol from start to finish with our full in-ho Continually investin t planet ng in people, equipment, technology and the
www.sherwoodgroupuk.com Hadden Court, Glaisdale e Parkway, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottin ngham NG8 4GP
TERRY JOHNSO ON PO Box 1600 Hemel Hempstead, HP1 9SR Mobile: 07773 389784 Email: terryjohnson@ve eb.com.hk Website: www.veb.com m.hk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION
THE SPECIALIST GREE ETINGS CARD PRINTE ER Litho Print
Die-cutting
Digital Print
Flittering
Foiling
Packing
Embossing
Distribution
Tel:0127 e 4 4531828 Email: info@herbertw o alkers.co.uk
www.herbertwalkers.co.u uk
Same day order turna around Accurate fulfilment Value added only as you sell the product Exclusively Greeting Cards Dedicated Account Managers With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of yourr team bringing QYGL QSVI XLER JYPǻPQIRX 4YV GSWXMRK WXVYGXYVI MW WMQTPI ERH XVERWTEVIRX ;I ; I GEVV] SYX EPP EWTIGXW SJ LERH ǻRMWLMRK ERH EWWIQFP] ERH TVSZMHI [LEXIZIV EHHMXMSREP WIVZMGIW ]SY RIIH 4YV WIPIGX XIEQ SJ SYX[SVOIVW GEVIJYPP] LERH [VET ER] WM^I SV JSVQEX SJ GEVHW YVKIRXP] 4ZIVRMKLX ;I GEVI EFSYX ]SYV TVSHYGX EW QYGL EW ]SY HS &XXIRXMSR XS HIXEMP 6( .WWYIW ;I ERH .8 WYTTSVXIH F] E GSQTVILIRWMZI TETIV XVEMP JS T JSV EPP WXSGO QSZIQIRXW EVI SYV LEPPQEVOW 4YV GER HS ETTVSEGL QIERWW [I EVI LETT] XS WSPZI ]SYV TVSFPIQW 4YXWSYVGMRK ]SYV [EVILSYWMRK STIVEXMSR VIPIEWIW ]SYV XMQI XS CREA AT TE/MARKET/SELL/ MANAGE/ /GROW THE BUSINESS =SYV FYWMRIWW MW SYV FYWMRIWW T =S TPIEWI ZMWMX Z SYV [IF WMXI ERH WII [LEX SYV GYWXSQIVW WE] XLIR XS ǻRH SYX S QSVI GEPP Ly Lynda Raymond ERH TIVLETW [I GER EVVERKI XS QIIX ERH HMWGYWW ]SYV RIIHW . EQ WYVI XLEX [I GER G LIPT
LB Warehousing 9RMXW Ȧ ȶ ȴ ;E]WMHI ;EVILSYWIW 8 8S S W I P E R H 3IEV X 3ISXW (EQFVMHKIWLMVI 5*Ȧȟ Ȱ7< Tel ȉȦȏȁȉ ȁȁȉȁȉȉ Fax ȉȦȏȁȉ ȁȁȉȟȉȉ Mobile ȉȮȁȁȟ ȴȟȟȴȏȦ P]RHE%PF [EVILSYWMRK GS YO
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DISPLAY AND SPINNERS
APPOINTMENTS
Tel: 01929 550085 Email: sales@westminsterwire.com Web: www.westminsterwire.com
Home of the Wire Spinner Stand
The Wire Spinner is proven to be the most cost effective method to display and enhance products. We also offer sheet metal, wood, acrylic and cardboard solutions or a combination of materials. To appear in the Classified pages simply contact
Warren Lomax 020 7700 6740 or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk
APPOINTMENTS
Card works
CONVERT Y EXCESS ST OUR OCKS TO CASH TODA Y!
EXCESS GREETING CARD STOCKS? WE OFFER A PROFESSIONAL CLEARANCE SERVICE FOR EXCESS & REDUNDANT STOCKS OF GREETING CARDS, WRAPPING PAPER, GIFTS & ALLIED PRODUCTS O GUARANTEED OFFER WITHIN 24 HOURS O WE COLLECT O PROMPT PAYMENT O UNFINISHED PRODUCTION CONSIDERED O MOST TRANSACTIONS COMPLETED WITHIN 7 DAYS O FULLY CONFIDENTIAL O 40 YEARS EXPERIENCE
SEND SAM PLES AND STOC K QUANTITIE S TODAY!
CARDWORKS CLEARANCE SERVICES
92 Station Road, Willingham, Cambridge CB24 5HG
Email: cardworkstrading@btconnect.com Tel: 01954 260728 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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