25_Henries Judging.qxp_Grid 17/08/2025 18:13 Page 1
The Henries 2025 Judging Process
MAMMA MIA! The Henries awards are the ultimate accolades in greeting card design, attracting 2,190 entries from 274 different greeting card publishers across the 20 product categories. Here, we explain the two-stage judging process, involving over 100 retailers, to arrive at the finalists and winners of The Henries 2025. “Publishers’ engagement with The Henries 2025 was incredible with entries from almost 300 companies, from established leading brands to brand new start-ups, collectively showcasing our industry’s abundant creativity,” commented Jakki Brown, managing director of Max Publishing, which owns and organises The Henries. “The two-stage judging process meant that we had retail buyers from right across the retailing landscape casting their votes, both online and in person to arrive at this year’s finalists and winners,” she added. As ever, The Henries were free to enter, making them accessible to all publishers. The first round of judging took place entirely online, which saw a judging panel made up of almost 100 retail buyers cast votes to arrive at a shortlist. There were 18 shortlisted ranges in the vast majority of the product categories. These shortlisted ranges as well as all of the submissions for The Lynn Tait Most Promising Young Designer or Artist category featured at a physical judging event (which was held on 30 July at London’s Business Design Centre) with a judging panel comprising over 40 retail buyers, considering the actual greeting cards and giftwrappings and casting their votes to arrive at the finalists and winners for The Henries 2025.
THE HENRIES 2025 LIVE JUDGING PANEL l Priya Aurora-Crowe, buyer/co-owner of Lark London, 24 stores l Anne Barber, owner of In Heaven at Home, Market Harborough l John Barratt, director of Card Centre, Felixstowe l Georgina Black, owner of Pretty Shiny Shop, Finsbury Park and Oval l Chris and Tracey Bryant, co-owners of The Card Shop, Portishead; Cats Whiskers, Bishops Cleeve; Expressions, Swindon and Polkadot, Keynsham l Louise Cambridge, product category lead for greeting cards at UOE, soon to be 40 stores l Deb and Jess Came, proprietor and manager of Paperweight, Cardiff l Laura Clarke, buyer of Scribbler, 38 stores l Tahnee Depraetere, assistant buyer of stationery, Christmas and home entertainment of Fortnum & Mason, five stores l Megan Douglas, card and giftwrap buyer, Waterstones, 300+ stores l Sophie Edwards, co-owner of More Than A Gift, Narborough Hall l Sharon Fox, buying manager of TG Jones, 450+ stores l Shannon Fisher, buyer of Postmark, 15 shops in London, and Glasgow l Tim Gould, co-owner of Objectables, Folkestone l Julie Grainger, range planning manager of Cardzone/Clintons, 275 stores l Tori Heath-Smith, buying manager of Scribbler, 38 stores l Mark Janson-Smith, co-founder of Postmark, 15 shops in London and Glasgow l Sarah Laker, chief stationery geek of Stationery Supplies, Marple and Wilmslow l Aga Marsden, owner of The Highworth Emporium, Highworth l Sally Matson, owner of Red Card and Little Red, Petworth l Nilou Noorbakhsh, owner of Jumping Bean, 25 stores l Gabbie Peters, buyer of M&S, 500+ stores l Andrea Pinder, owner of Presentation, Barrowford l Caroline Ranwell, owner of Hugs & Kisses, Tettenhall l Andrew Reid, manager of Card Centre, Felixstowe l Olivia and Peter Reilly, co-owners of Little Boat Gifts, Brightlingsea l Tim Reynolds, retail manager of Medici Gallery, Kensington l Nicola Roberts-Eagle, buyer of Tesco, 2000+ stores l Hazel Small, buyer of RHS, five centres l Jo Sorrell, owner of Cardies, Stevenage l Amy Stephenson, buyer of WHSmith Travel, 100+ stores l Sally Swift, owner of Cards & Moor, Yelverton l Emma and Kaye Thurgood, manager and owner of Sincerely Yours, Hornchurch and Shenfield l Hazel Walker, buying manager of Waterstones, 300+ stores l Nigel Williamson, partner of House of Cards, seven shops in the Home Counties l Sally Wyles, PA of Cardzone/Clintons, 275 stores l Ruth Young, retired buyer of Clintons
Above: Judging in full flow with (left-right) Hugs & Kisses’ Caroline Ranwell, Cards & Moor’s Sally Swift and More Than Just A Gift’s Sophie Edwards in the foreground. Left: WHSmith Travel buyer Amy Stephenson enjoyed her first Henries judging experience. Right: Cheers from the judging panel and PG team at The Henries 2025 physical judging event.
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS 25