Progressive Greetings Worldwide June 2015

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June

2015

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UK Greetings Ltd. Mill Street East, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF12 9AW England. Tel (01924) 465200 Fax (01924) 431814 For more information please email: getintouch@ukgreetings.co.uk and quote ref: PG-June5

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Leader

On The Cards

I struggle to think of another non-food product which is part of your life right from the moment when you take your first breath through to your very last one, the way greeting cards are. I was reminded of this by a couple of events in the last few weeks. Firstly, it was the heartwarming story of how the media (both old and new - as in Radio Sheffield and social media) rallied in the hope that Winnie Blagden’s 100th birthday would not go unnoticed - 16,000 birthday cards being sent to her from strangers all over the world certainly marked that milestone!

And, 89 years down the age spectrum, PG Live saw plucky 11 year old Mia Lapwood exhibiting at the show with her greeting cards, featuring her own floral photographs, while a few feet away from her stand, three talented undergraduates were presented with their prizes for the On The Cards design competition instigated by Paper Rose/The Art Group in conjunction with G.F. Smith, involving six art colleges and universities. I hope that, having seen the industry in all its glory at the exhibition, that these talented young designers (and their peers) will recognise that creating greeting card designs is a viable and credible channel for their creative outpourings, thereby providing that all important lifeblood for the sector.

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

Above: PG Live was officially opened by a whole host of retailers and overseas distributors.

Certainly, the thousands and thousands of greeting card designs that launched at PG Live, catering for sending situations from the cradle to the grave and everything in between, helped to make this year’s exhibition truly extraordinary. But it was not just on the product front that the show was so memorable, as the passion coming from the retailers (of all shapes and sizes) and overseas distributors (from all over the world) who attended added to its beating heart.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making our seventh PG Live the most special yet – and for those of you who missed out, make sure you’re there next year (May 10 and 11)!

PS… If you are a publisher, don’t forget to enter The Henries greeting card awards (closing date June 23). There is an entry form with this edition, but it can be downloaded from www.thehenriesawards.co.uk THE HOME OF MARKET LEADING TRADE AWARDS

From baby to toddler to starting school

EXHIBITIONS

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

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Contents

What’s Inside

Within This Issue: FOCUS ON CUTE CARDS

44

39 36-37

9-18

Jeremy’s Journal

News

Run Aground

19-23

PG Live 2015

The Magnificent Seventh

The seventh PG Live show captured on camera.

53-54

39

Please Can I Have Some More?

A Seat Of Learning

Debbie shares her latest paper art discoveries.

Viewpoints

Polling Station

What impact the newly elected government could have on greeting card retailers.

28-29

What’s Hot?

Blue Eyed-Sun’s Jeremy Corner finds it’s hard to admit failure.

Debbie Wigglesworth’s Paper Journeys

25-27

50-51

41

Lynn’s Lines

55-66

Classified 67

Cute Overview

Totally Smitten

Appointments

News from the cute cards sector.

54

42-43

Over The Counter

New Cute Range Releases

Deep In Thought

Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, talks about highlighting mental health.

Captivating Cuties

Freshly launched cute card ranges.

44-45

Face To Face: Mary Portas

Pret A Portas

30-31

Cardsharp

‘Budgeting’ For The Future Cardsharp muses over topical events happening in the industry.

PG reports back from The Queen of Shops’ speech at last month’s bira High Street retail conference.

47-49

Art Source

33-35 Innovations

With This issue:

The Retas Awards 2015 Brochure

Progressive Greetings is a monthly business magazine.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: UK subscription: One year £50 Two year £85 Three year £110 Overseas subscription: One year £75 Jakki Brown

Warren Lomax

Gale Astley

jw@max-publishing.co.uk

warren@max-publishing.co.uk

galea@max-publishing.co.uk

Editor

Advertisement Director

Deputy Editor

SUBSCRIPTIONS ENQUIRES: maxsubscriptions@marketingreinforcements.co.uk Tel: 020 8943 9541

PG is the official magazine for the Greeting Card Association GCA: Sharon Little 020 7619 0396 Email: gca@max-publishing.co.uk www.greetingcardassociation.org.uk Use your smartphone app to scan the QR code to visit our website.

Copyright© 2015. 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.

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Expect more…

…more stunning embellishments …more beautiful finishes Expect the perfect card from…

UK Greetin i gs Ltd t Mill Street Ea ast, Dews w bu b ry West Yorkshire WF12 9AW England Tel (01924) 465200 Fax (01924) 431814 www.ukgreetings.co.uk For more information please email: getintouch@ukgreetings.co.uk and quote ref: PGJune15

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NEWS TOP STORY

PG Live-ing Proof The World Of Greetings Gathered The greeting card industry did itself proud at the start of this month with the PG Live exhibition showcasing thousands of the world’s best greeting card designs to the UK’s finest greeting card stockists and the best international greeting card distributors.

With over 260 greeting card publisher exhibitors, from the largest to the smallest, PG Live ‘licked the envelope’ for card retailers right across the spectrum.

“Wow - this has to be the best greeting card exhibition in the world ever,” exclaimed Suzie Abel, buyer of Jarrolds department store, in the early afternoon of the first day. “I have already placed 17 orders and seen loads more that I would love to buy.”

Summing up PG Live, Mark Janson-Smith, owner of Postmark (a trio of shops in London) said: “It’s an absolutely cracking show - in my opinion this year had the best selection of cards and suppliers in the seven years it has been running.”

Antalis Is Quick On The Draw

Asda and Paperchase were among the multiple retailers to also give the show the thumbs up. “We really really enjoyed the show as it gave us an opportunity to speak to a large number of our suppliers in what is a fantastic environment,” said Kate Briggs, card buyer for Asda, while Frances Burkle, head of buying at Paperchase said: “It is still our favourite show as it brings everyone together in such a lovely atmosphere.”

(See pages 19-23 for more photos from the show).

Above: Drummers Delight with some of the Davora team at PG Live.

Left: Sophie Greenwood, senior card buyer for Funky Pigeon and WHSmith Travel, spends her Silver Retas ticket with Rose Hill.

Belly Button Celebrates 21 Years Belly Button certainly made the most of celebrating the company's 21st anniversary at PG Live with its stand at the show featuring a ’21 gun salute’ of prizes and promotions.“We have just had the best day we have ever had at a trade show,” enthused founder Rachel Hare at the end of the first day at PG Live.

The show was the launch platform for its new sub-brand, The Hub, which debuted with its first collection, entitled Denim. Other show launches included a new collection of 18 male birthday cards within the company's Platinum collection. "These were hot off the press from Windles and were presented in a slightly different way to how we normally do it," explained Rachel.

There were 21 birthday 'gifts’ which were given away to customers who placed a carriage paid order at the show. In addition, there was also a ‘birthday bundle’ consisting of 21 birthday designs (six of each) from the company's three main collections, with a show offer price of £100 (compared to £155+).

Right: There was no ‘fluff’ on orders on Belly Button’s stand at PG Live.

UKG Changes Website Tack Up until now, UK Greetings has concentrated its internet and social media activities largely at the consumer, and have been very much focused on its leading brands, especially Boofle.

However, in recognition of an increasing number of its retail stockists becoming much more active on this front, UK Greetings’ new website went 'live' at the end of May. As Lorna Bunnell, PR & digital marketing manager summed up: “The aim of the new site is to engage with retailers, attract new talent and celebrate our product. Creativity, innovation and product Above: The new look website from UKG. are at the heart of everything we do and the new look website reflects this.”

UK Greetings’ most popular content is still there, with the new Studio area offering an insight into the people behind the product.

Paper company Antalis has demonstrated it is ‘quick on the draw’ in more ways than one recently.

Firstly, its stand at PG Live definitely ‘drew’ a crowd, partly thanks to Paul Baker, a talented caricaturist who illustratively captured the essence of many visitors and exhibitors, each leaving with a special keepsake caricature of themselves.

On a more corporate note, Antalis is continuing to grow its business having recently acquired 1st Class Packaging, Donington Packaging Supplies and Parkside Packaging from PaperlinX UK. The companies went into administration on April 1, but have continued to operate as normal.

“We are really pleased to acquire these great businesses as this further reinforces Antalis as a key player in packaging in the UK," says Antalis' managing director David Hunter.

The acquisition will increase the scale of Antalis' UK packaging business to over £80 million annual sales.

Above: Caricaturist Paul Baker was quite a ‘draw’ to the Antalis stand for PG Live visitors and exhibitors as Portfolio Cards’ Natalie Morphet demonstrates!

Snap Decisions Adding some fizz to the company’s 30th birthday celebrations, Leonard Smith invited visitors to PG Live to enter a prize draw, suggesting places they each felt would be suitable locations for him to photograph for future card designs, writing their idea on a photographic slide case. A winner was selected on each day of the show, each of whom won a magnum of champagne.

On the first day PG’s Warren Lomax made the draw and pulled out Hazel Small of RHS Wisley, who suggested Wisley as being ideal! The Wednesday winner, selected by PG’s Gale Astley, was Bricknell's of Cornwall, Bodmin, Wadebridge and Launceston, who picked St Winnow for Len to visit.

Below: PG’s Warren Lomax (centre) making the draw with Leonard and Issy Smith at PG Live on the first day of the show.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Just A Few Secs

Chocs Away Woodmansterne Shows It’s Sweet For Diversification While well-known for ‘thinking outside of the box’ in its approach to products, Woodmansterne surprised retailers visiting its stand a the recent PG Live exhibition with a diversification into upmarket packaged chocolates.

The brand new Choc Therapy range debuted with a range of 12 different designed ‘cardboard caskets’, covering key sending occasions. Inside each is a prepacked box of high quality artisan Belgian chocolates, supplied by respected confectionery company, Natalie Belgian Chocolates that is based in Welwyn Garden City.

As to what elicited this move into confectionery, Paul Woodmansterne, managing director of the company cites three main prompters - a chance mention by his bank manager of one of his other clients; a challenge laid down by PG’s

Not surprisingly, there were a lot of retailers hoping to have won tickets to see new hot band 5 Seconds of Summer play live in the Danilo prize draw that it ran on its stand at PG Live. However, there was only one winner and it was Lisa Ameghino, buyer of Sainsbury’s, who was the lucky one whose business card was selected!

Below: Danilo’s Daniel Prince and Anna Brown making the draw on its stand at PG Live.

Warren Lomax to “do something different at PG Live”, plus its investment in a cutting machine following its acquisition of the Caltime Advent calendar business.

“The connection between greeting cards and chocolates is nothing new. We were thinking of what we could provide for our customers to augment their sales from us and when our bank manager mentioned something about a confectionery company, which was also a customer of the bank, it triggered this idea,” revealed Paul. “It is also significant as it is the first project to have come out of our new own brand studio, headed up by Lee Keeper.”

Above: Paul Woodmansterne with his sister Julia on the stand. While having officially retired as its creative director a few days prior to the show, Julia was keen to see the new products on display.

Left: The Choc Therapy launch on Woodmansterne’s stand at PG Live.

Calendar Girls Rock Having helped to raise a total of £5,309.69 for Macmillan Cancer Support through their involvement with the Instrumental Covers charity calendar last year, Birmingham printers Eight Days A Week and Alltrade Printers was recently delighted to host a cheque 'handing over ceremony' at the company's premises.

The calendar, the brainchild of local women Sarah Burke and Lucy Onions, featured a variety of bands, with Justin Hawkins of The Darkness posing as Mr September.

"Right from the start, we were completely bowled over by Sarah and Lucy's sheer passion and enthusiasm," comments Nigel Green, managing director and owner of Eight Days A Week.

"As Alltrade Printers, we agreed to not only design and produce the calendar for free but pledged to guarantee the target amount that had been set at £5,000."

At the launch gig, attended by the bands appearing on the calendar, a copy signed by Slade's Noddy Holder raised £50, with two signed Justin Hawkins calendars raising £522 at auction.

“We were delighted to be involved in raising money for such a worthwhile cause and, to top it all, we had a lot of fun along the way,” added Nigel.

Putting Up The Hallmark Umbrella In a significant move, Hallmark divided its stand at PG Live, with one half being given over to Hallmark Studio, a brand new ‘umbrella brand’.

Launching under this at PG Live was a totally revitalised Shoebox humour offer and Studio Ink, which is aimed at “generation nexters” according to Hallmark’s PR and social media manager Tamsyn Johnston Hughes.

Hallmark had a right laugh in the run up and during PG Live with 36 stand-up comedians and prominent humorous Tweeters!

Its new Shoebox range, which debuted at the show, includes a collection of designs based on the favourite jokes from 11 of the comedians and Tweeters with whom it has been working.

Really bringing the range alive, retail customers were invited to see four of the comedians perform at the Hen and Chickens theatre on the opening night of the show.

These were Jeremy O’Donnell, Yianni Agisilaou, Steve Allen and Iszi Lawrence.

Above: A Shoebox design from the Hallmark Studio.

Below: Iszi Lawrence performing at the Hen and Chickens theatre.

Above: From left to right: Lucy Onions of Instrumental Covers, Dilu Mukadam, Alltrade Printers, Eloise Davidson, senior fundraising manager from Macmillan Cancer Support, Nigel Green, managing director of Eight Days a Week and Sarah Burke of Instrumental Covers.

Left: The Instrumental Covers calendar showing 'Mr September', Justin Hawkins of The Darkness.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Opportunity Knocks

Call For Cards Answered A Win Win For Winnie's Centenary Reinforcing the very special role greeting cards play in life’s event, the whole world got behind a plea to send birthday cards to one lonely widow.

What started as a Facebook appeal by Radio Sheffield, a delighted Winnie Blagden received 16,000 greeting cards on her 100th birthday on May 31, arriving from all corners of the globe, including the USA, Singapore and Taiwan.

The appeal, which went viral, kicked off when a Radio Sheffield reporter, Kat Harbourne, learnt from one of Winnie's carers, Sue Pinder, that Winnie had no family - her husband George had passed away, and they had had no children - with Sue concerned that Winnie might not have the birthday she deserved.

Radio Sheffield's idea was to try to get 100 cards or letters for Winnie to open on her special day, but thousands of people

Below: The card that Hallmark created specially for Winnie for her birthday.

Among the retailers quick to tap into the Royal birth was Calliope Gifts in Dorking and Alton, which put in a Princess Charlotte window hours after the baby's birth. In addition, the day after the General Election, the shop also ran a Facebook post inviting people to come in and buy their congratulations or commiserations cards!

Below: Calliope Gifts' Facebook post.

responded and so birthday cards arrived by the sackful, as did over 200 gifts and bouquets of flowers.

Both cards and gifts were delivered to Sheffield Town Hall where a surprise champagne reception and lunch had been organised for Winnie in the Lord Mayor's parlour, along with entertainment.

Naturally, Winnie - who, in her younger days worked for a local department store was delighted. "Everything has been lovely, I'm not used to it," she enthused. "I don't know why they're making all this fuss, but I want to thank everyone. It's been beautiful."

Many in the greeting card industry got involved too through sending cards, several specially created for the event. Carte Blanche Greetings also organised social media activity in addition to sending a personalised Tatty Teddy and card to Winnie.

Left: Winnie Bladen celebrated her 100th birthday with a staggering 16,000 cards from well wishers.

Who Is The Fairest Of Them All? Having been announced last month, The Retas finalists are making the most of the publicity and the morale boosting opportunities being in Retas finals offers.

“We are delighted to be in the finals again,” commented Box of Delights’ Michelle Ellingham, “It definitely helped to boost business last time.”

The winners will be revealed at a beautiful event, held in The Dorchester hotel on the afternoon of July 8, attended by 400 retailers and card publishers.

This year's Retas’ official invitations are rather special, thanks to the creativity of the Paper Rose/The Art Group studio.

Echoing the awards' fairytale theme, the tickets feature an actual Above: The fairytale Retas invitation, created by dazzling 'mirror' with the words ‘Mirror mirror on the wall’ that was Paper Rose/The Art Group. immortalised in the Snow White story.

The design for the invitation evolved from a brief that was given to everyone in the publisher’s in-house studio. These were all submitted to the PG team for consideration, with a design co-created by Sarah Tanser and JoJo Norris being chosen.

Commenting, they told PG: “The inspiration for the design was the fairytale Snow White with the theme of ‘Mirror Mirror On The Wall’ and classic bindings on book covers. We wanted the outer pocket of the ticket to maintain a vintage fairytale aesthetic, while featuring a beautifully detailed fluted foil. Mark Jessett from G.F. Smith suggested talking to Twiddleys who etch onto acrylic mirrors, they sent us a sample and the whole studio felt this was the perfect way to go with the ticket! We wanted to make the ticket elegant and beautiful while also pushing the boundaries and use of what is seen as a ‘ticket’ as it will also be handy for checking your lipstick!”

Huge thanks go to Twiddleys, which supplied the laser-cut 'mirror' element engraved with text, to G.F. Smith for supplying the ticket board and to Loxleys for printing the invitations.

For tickets to The Retas contact Clare Davies on clare@createvents.co.uk or 01183 340085

Mantons Wins Bira Award Proving, once again, what an outstanding retailer they are, Mantons Cards in Port Erin, Isle of Man was recently named British Independent Retailer of the Year at the bira retail awards, which took place in May. Mantons, a previous Retas winner and finalist again this year, impressed the panel of judges who commented:“Mantons stood out as having a broad variety of achievements. . . not just working to improve one aspect of their business but many elements at the same time. As the only Manx company to ever reach the final, Mantons has put the Isle of Man firmly on the retail map."

Naturally, Chris Beards, co-owner of Mantons, was delighted to win the award. "This is welldeserved recognition for all the hard work, effort and commitment to excellence and, of course, to helping our customers, which is something all of our team at Mantons takes great pride in."

Before being presented with the bira award, Chris Beards met up with retail guru Mary Portas, the keynote speaker at bira's High Street Conference held on the same day, telling her: “Having previously won awards for our customer service, product selection, marketing and window displays within the greeting card and gift sectors, it’s fantastic to be recognised by the UK's only awards that are open to every independent retailer in the British Isles.”

Below: Chris Beards at Mantons received bira's Best Independent Retailer of the Year Award last month. He is shown with comedian Tony Hawks (left), and Nigel Wright, operations director at Stax Trade Centres, which sponsored the award.

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NEWS TOP STORY

Red Letters Win

Card Factory Worth Over £1 Billion Another Record Performance Card Factory is now estimated to be worth over £1 billion.

Having floated on the Stock Exchange last May, when the company was valued at £766m, Card Factory, which has 783 stores, is now considered to be worth almost £1.16bn.

This was revealed alongside its trading update for the quarter, which ended 30 April 2015. In this period revenue had increased by 7.5% (compared to the same period the previous year), driven by like-for-like sales growth, the opening of 19 new stores and growth in Getting Personal, the company's online business.

“Following on from our record performance last year, we have had a positive start to our new financial year, with consistently strong revenue growth and cash generation," stated Richard Hayes, ceo

Left: A good start to the financial year for Card Factory which revealed upbeat results for the first quarter.

of Card Factory. "Our value retail proposition, built on our long-established vertically integrated model, remains highly differentiated, extremely difficult to replicate and, importantly, very attractive to the customer.”

He also highlighted that the company has further developed its online proposition through the launch of a new Card Factory website, which has enhanced functionality and offers a greater product range than previously.

The company remains on track to open some 50 new stores in the current financial year.

Adding to the excitement on the Clare Maddicott stand at PG Live, retailers placing orders over £250 won a Virgin Red Letter Day voucher.

Among those who could look forward to a great experience was Kim Lewis, card buyer of Longacres garden centre who was presented with her prize by Clare Maddicott's sales manager Nick Carey.

Red Card Artistry Alex Oldham, artist and founder of Paper Carrot greeting card company, became the 'artist in residence' for a day in greeting card shop Red Card in Petworth last month.

"We had a great day as people love being able to connect the card with the artist," enthused Red Card's owner Sally Matson.

Alex, who creates her designs involving bits of torn up magazine as well as pencils and crayons, has a passion for art, animals and anything whimsical. "Paper Carrot has grown out of a happy pastime making cards for my friends," says Alex.

Below: Paper Carrot's Alex Oldham at Red Card in Petworth.

Louise Is Victorious VE Day on May 8, which marked the end of the Second World War in 1945, was certainly a 'victory' for greeting card and gift retailer Louise Heyler-Prydderch, owner of Forget Me Not in Stubbington.

On Saturday May 9, Louise organised a vintage 1940s day with a tea dance and village fete for around 1,000 people. As she told PG. "I had never done any form of event planning before - apart from holding two Frozen promotional days at the end of last year - so this was a real challenge, but I enjoyed every moment. My fellow traders around the village all reported a record day and the community absolutely loved it.”

Louise explained that the idea started when she dressed the windows in '40s style last summer to commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day, which has earned Forget Me Not a place in the finals of The Retas in the Best Retailer Initiative category. "I received amazing feedback from customers. As a result, I'm now starting swing jive classes and have become a huge fan of victory rolls!"

Left: Stubbington locals get into the 'swing' of things at the Forget Me Not organised village fete and tea dance, held to commemorate VE Day.

Paul Goes Potty As if he wasn't busy enough designing greeting cards for Jambo Cat card company, cocreator Paul Cherrill has also illustrated a children's book, Loo In the Zoo, which is being published by Scholastic on the July 2. "It's Above: Loo in the Zoo, cheeky, loads of fun and illustrated by Paul Cherrill of Jambo Cat. involves mixing and matching animals and loos. It’s a perfect gift for potty trainers!" quips Paul.

Hallmark USA Streamlines Penning A New Look No sooner had the doors closed on the last day of the London Stationery Show at the end of April, than organiser Chris Leonard-Morgan was busy unveiling a new look for the 2016. "It's more modern, clean and stylish, and uses a pen nib icon in bright pink in its presentation," he explains.

The 2016 exhibition also sees the introduction of Wrap It!, a new, dedicated area for gift packaging.

"Wrapping paper and tissue, gift boxes, bags, bows and ribbons are all an integral part of many retailers’ stationery offer," highlights Chris.

The 2016 event will take place on April 26 and April 27 at London's Business Design Centre during National Stationery Week. World Stationery Day will take place on Wednesday April 27.

Following a layoffs plan announced in March, Hallmark's parent company, Hallmark Cards Inc. has introduced involuntary layoffs at its HQ in Kansas City due to a lack of participation.

"To cut costs and stay abreast of today's market, Hallmark previously said it would eliminate 200 positions," explained Julie Elliott, Hallmark's public relations director. "However, that number has been reduced to about 165."

The layoffs will take effect in mid June.

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NEWS PEOPLE

TOP STORY

Budging Further South Budget To Open In Dunstable Already a leading force as a greeting card, party and gift wholesale cash & carry group, Budget Greeting Cards (BGC) is set to strengthen its grip nationwide by opening a new branch in Dunstable, Bedfordshire at the beginning of August.

Covering a massive 82,000 sq ft, this new BGC cash & carry warehouse is bound to make its presence felt, especially as it is located only 35 miles from London.

“This exciting addition to our already successful chain of cash & carries will give us the opportunity to supply customers in the south of England for the first time!” commented Paul Lavery, managing director of BGC. With the mantra of ‘Direct to Retail Quality at Wholesale Prices’, Paul claims that it has “enough product to cover 9,000

Below: The BGC flagship branch in Manchester.

metres of greeting card racks. Customers will be spoilt for choice.”

In addition to greeting cards (anchored by ranges from its own brands, including Kingsley, Prelude and Pzazzle), it will also stock gift dressings under its own Xquisite brand, plus a wide range of gifts. “We’ll also be stocking one of the biggest balloon and party ranges in the UK and a complete range of stationery,” states Paul.

The Dunstable branch will be BGC’s eighth branch.

Rupert Magnus Joins Forces With Suman Bros Wholesaler stalwart, Rupert Magnus will shortly be moving out of its current Acton premises and teaming up with Suman Bros in Watford.

A mezzanine floor is being added to Suman Bros’ premises where the Rupert Magnus side of the business will be located, offering cards, wrap, bags, partyware and gifts, while Suman will continue downstairs offering stationery and toys.

As Rupert Magnus’ managing director Rob Newman explained: "The aim is to have a one-stop shop for all the products a card shop, gift shop, stationers or CTN could possibly need, and we are extremely excited about it, as are Sumans. As well as sharing costs, we expect to pick up business from each other's customers and, hopefully, benefit from each other's knowledge and ideas."

l After four years with Riverside as managing director, Carl Birks has set up a supplies business, but says he also wants to help people in the greeting card industry. "I'm extremely passionate about cards and would like to offer my time as a consultant," he explains. "I have strong relationships with commercial printers/packaging companies and can help to cut lead times and save money." Currently, Carl is working with Little Fingy helping the company to bring a new range to market. l Nick Baker (right) has joined the Lesser & Pavey team having previously worked for Salco. He will handle overseas accounts as well as assisting with major key accounts in the UK. Also joining Lesser & Pavey is Jonny Greaves (right) who previously spent seven years working for Sparks gift wholesalers, owned by his parents. Jonny will be assisting on the product development side. l Ken Beilby (right) has become an OPC franchisee for North Yorkshire.

He previously spent 25 years working in the turf production industry. l Iain Martin has recently left Moonpig where he has been managing director for many years. James Sturrock has taken over the role, having joined the company last November.

Creative Challenge On The Cards In a wonderful finale to an ambitious creative challenge, PG Live saw the three talented undergraduate winners of the On The Cards design competition presented with their prizes for their inventive ideas for greeting cards.

The winners were: Victoria Robinson (of Nottingham Trent University) for her Prickly Situations approach to tricky card sends, Danielle Wetton (of De Monfort University) for her innovative ‘selfie’ greeting cards and Lucy Featherstone (also of Nottingham Trent University) for her beautiful stitch kit cards.

Their winning entries were displayed on a specially created unit in the Springboard Lounge (which was co-sponsored by G.F. Smith).

The idea for On The Cards was sparked by a conversation between Reggie Pugh, creative director of The Art Group/Paper Rose and G.F. Smith’s Mark Jessett at last year’s PG Live exhibition about the frustrations of art colleges not realising the potential for their students to work in the card trade; they decided to do something about it.

Harnessing support from The Sherwood Group (who is producing the winning cards) and Paperchase, who is looking to give the winners some exposure instore, this collaborative effort really does put creativity ‘on the cards’.

The entries were judged by representatives from Paperchase, Paper Rose/The Art File, PG, and the GCA, as well as celebrated artist and printmaker Angela Harding, at The House of Illustration in London’s Kings Cross.

Left: G.F. Smith’s Mark Jessett with Paper Rose/The Art Group’s (second left) Reggie Pugh and Jayne Myers (far right) with winners (left-right) Victoria Robinson, Danielle Wetton and Lucy Featherstone in the Springboard Lounge at PG Live.

On The Run For Charity After a 15 year break, greeting card agent Robin Hill will be getting his trainers back on for the Montane Lakeland 50 Ultra Tour of the Lake District, a 24 hour, 50 mile run which takes place over the fells on Saturday July 25.

"The top British runners all compete it in eight hours with the rest of us sure to be quite a few hours behind!", highlights well loved agent Robin. "It all started as something to do for my brother-in-law's 50th birthday year, and then we thought we would try and raise some money for the Air Ambulance as they survive on donations, do a fantastic job and are also there for us motorway users.

"The last 16 miles is likely to be in the dark with head torches as they don't want to make it too easy for us!" quips Robin. Visit: www.justgiving.com/ Robin-Hill6/ Above: Robin Hill (left) will be challenging himself to complete a 50 mile run in 24 hours to raise money for Air Ambulance. He is shown with his brother-in-law Sean Read and his dog, Skippy.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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NEWS TOP STORY

Lasting Memory Giuliano Scamponi The Wrap Maestro While the shock news of the death of giftwrap maestro Giuliano Scamponi was announced briefly in last month’s PG, it did not do justice to someone who had such an impact on this sector. Industry stalwart Bill Hanley, a colleague of Giuliano pays tribute: "Innovation, passion and vision are just a few words which spring to mind when remembering the late Giuliano Scamponi. With his wife Celia, he launched a giftwrap company in 1976.

The mission was to produce an exciting alternative to existing gift packaging offerings. The emphasis was on design, superb printing and paper engineering, thrusting the product into higher price points with Italian wrap. This was ‘bucking the trend’ against 39p giftwraps. The introduction of our polypropylene foils swept across the market place. Thus Italpapers was born.

Giuliano, who went on to form Collage, was fascinated with production.

Launched in 1992, Collage installed a seven colour rotogravure machine, roll conversion mechanisms, and a dedicated art department, and he therefore controlled the route from design to finished product. To be ‘good enough’ was not sufficient. He sought excellence.

Giftwrap retailing at £1.50? This raised a few eyebrows! And Collage’s acquisition

Below: Giuliano Scamponi on The Unique Paper Co stand at the Spring Fair a few years ago.

Cath Kidston At Paperfest

by UKG merely allowed Giuliano to flex his product muscles even more.

His final contribution was The Unique Paper Company, launched in 2010, now spearheaded by Lydia Scamponi, Gary Nokes and my brother Derek Hanley on sales. The company continues to evolve.

Buzz, dedication and determination were infectious attributes Giuliano possessed. It was a privilege to work with him as a colleague and a friend. Giuliano was one of life’s characters, a rare breed in today’s industry. He was extremely generous towards charities.

Regretfully, he leaves behind his wife Celia, daughters Louise, Lydia and Julia, as well as his granddaughters who he adored. This was a remarkable family business story that still continues.

Giuliano will be sorely missed."

Designer and businesswoman Cath Kidston will be the keynote speaker at Paperfest, an annual event organised by Abigail Warner, creative director of her eponymous greeting card company. Speaking exclusively about the journey of a brand, Cath will be sharing her inspirational story which started at her kitchen table and took her to multi-national success. Cath will also be sharing her vision and creative processes, as well as offering advice to companies, and taking questions from the audience.

The event takes place in London (venue to be confirmed) on July 24. "2015 is all about mixing leading national and international industry creative speakers with hands on and interactive creative sessions," says Abigail.

Above: Cath Kidston will be speaking at Paperfest.

Paws For Thought Jo Scott, the creative hand behind Scott and Robson, who specialises in creating card ranges and illustrations inspired by her love of 'all things dog', is currently working with the Helping Paws charity on a project to help raise funds for its animal work rescue work - not just from the UK, but from all over Europe.

"People can commission greeting cards featuring a painted portrait of their dog with all profits going to Helping Paws," explains Jo. "I'm donating my designing time, so it's just about the printing and postage costs."

Left: Bravo, found shot in the head and dumped in a bin covered in wasp stings in Portugal, was rescued by Helping Paws and brought to the UK.

AG’s Mother’s Day Video Wins Top Award Champagne corks were popping at the recent Effie Awards in New York when The World's Toughest Job - a four minute video produced for UK Greetings’ parent company American Greetings to promote Mother’s Day - won the prestigious Grand Effie at the beginning of June.

The award winning video, which has been watched by over 24.5 million viewers on YouTube since it was posted in April 2014, was released just before Mother's Day in the US last year. Recognising that a mother's job revolves around impossible hours and no pay, the video begins with a Skype job interview and evolves into a tribute to mothers.

Its aim was to drive consumers to create their own cards at American Greetings' Cardstore, with orders increasing by 20%.

Above: A scene from the World's Toughest Job Video created by international ad agency Mullen Lowe.

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Stop The Press Event Greeting card printers Taylor Bloxham Group recently stopped production and invited dignitaries, sports celebs and their employees to be part of a celebration to mark its investment in a new Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105.

The new 12 colour press will increase capacity by 30% and facilitate expansion into the packaging market.

To celebrate the launch of the new press, the Group invited the City Mayor, Peter Soulsby, local MP Liz Kendall and Northampton Saints rugby player Phil Dowson to its Stop the Press event.

Above: Taylor Bloxham Group's executive chair, April Moss, cut the ribbon, accompanied by, from left to right: Leicester West MP, Liz Kendall; City Mayor, Peter Soulsby and Taylor Bloxham Group ceo, Chris Bowen. Northampton Saints and England’s Phil Dowson is behind the Aviva Premiership trophy!

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Below: The PG Live meeters and greeters were attired in dresses made from exhibitors’ cards.

The seventh ever PG Live started with a big bang - thanks to the Punjabi Drummers Delight - and the buzzy beat continued for the two days of the largest ever dedicated greeting card exhibition, which took place at the start of June at London’s Business Design Centre.

PG relives some of the flavour of this memorable show.

The Magnificent

Seventh

Far left: Davora made a lot of noise about its 10th anniversary, not least by providing Drummers Delight, the drumming duo to open the show – and founder Raj Arora proved his dancing talents!

Below: The first Retas Golden Ticket of the show was spent by (centre) Sally Matson of Red Card, Petworth with Wendy Jones-Blackett.

Bottom: The lunch room really was a ‘feast for the eyes’ thanks to Paper Salad, who not only dressed the room, but the waiters and waitresses too (with aprons based on one of their designs), with menu cards to take away and massive pink balloons (from Pioneer) weighted down by Paper Salad houses all adding to the publisher’s 10th anniversary celebrations. Founders Karen Wilson (right) and (second left) Claire Williams with Lynn Tait.

Below: Box of Delights’ Michelle Ellingham found lots on ‘delights’ on the Hammond Gower stand and so flashed her Retas Silver Ticket.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Above left: It was all a bit different on the UKG stand this year, with the big reveal of the ‘Whiskey Tango Foxtrot going on with Hanson White?’ humour launch! No wonder this ‘gang of four’ are all smiles.

Above right: Sean Austin of Austin and Co having a shiny moment with Bexy Boo. Right: The card trade relies on appealing to the next generation and 11 year-old Mia Lapwood knows first hand – having launched a greeting card company based on her own photography.

Left: Love It’s Will and (second left) Amanda Oscroft at The Retas Wall of Fame with (left) Love Letters’ Janet Stow and PG’s Gale Astley.

Right: Southbourne Cards’ Debbie Smith produced her Retas Silver Ticket on the Icon stand.

Far right: Paperlink’s founder Louise Tighe (4th left) with some of the creative team on the publisher’s stand, which marked its 30th anniversary.

Below: The Power Rangers added more ‘power’ on the Carte Blanche stand!

Below middle: Fenwick’s of Newcastle’s Zoe York presented her Retas Silver Ticket to Pippi & Me’s Jeanett Stevenson.

Below: PG’s Gale Astley shows her fearless side getting up close to T Rex on the Gemma stand, as part of its Jurassic World launch.

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Above: Stunning stilt walkers added to the fun of the Opening Night party that was sponsored by Paperlink as part of its 30th anniversary celebrations.

Below: Pauline and Emma Gillett of Special Occasions (Castle Bromwich) made it a ‘special occasion’ for Bluebell 33 by spending their Silver Ticket with the publisher.

Above: In keeping with a horticultural theme, The Secret Garden chose to spend its Silver Retas Ticket with Cherry Orchard!

Left: The Skylight Media ‘Three Musketeers’ who provided the free WiFi in The Henry Cole Lounge, which was popular with the overseas visitors and retailers looking for some respite!

Below left: The central feature of Springboard Lounge (sponsored by GF Smith and The Imaging Centre) was a display of winners and finalist of the On The Cards design competition (instigated

by The Art Group and GF Smith). Winners (left-right) Victoria Robinson, Danielle Wetton and Lucy Featherstone with their winning entries.

Below: It was more of an ‘inspired hello’ as First Class Greetings plumped to spend its Retas Golden Ticket with Inspired Goodbyes.

Above: Small, but mighty! The Minions (whose appearance was organised by Danilo) created a big stir as they wandered about the show.

Right: Over 40 of the PG Live exhibitors have come through The Ladder Club so it was a good excuse to get together first thing on the second day.

Far right: Marina Brook (founder of Marina B Designs) catches up with House of Cards’ Tracey Hunnisett and Amber Brown.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Left: A Golden moment. Cardzone’s Paul Taylor (left) and David Greaves (right) with Simon Elvin.

Below: Three wise monkeys? Cath Tate didn’t miss the opportunity to celebrate the retirement of long serving agent, (centre) Ray Kay, sharing the moment with the two fellow agent stalwarts, (right) Jack Kessler and Roger Mildren.

Above: From Melbourne to London!

(Second left) John Simson of Simson Cards made the most of his time at PG Live, including spending time on the Nigel Quiney stand.

Right: The Celtic Company’s Ros Jones (centre) presenting her Retas Silver Ticket to Wrendale Designs’ Hannah and Jack Dale.

Below right: Oliver Bonas’ (left) Hannah Tait and (right) Tierney Stockford on a spending spree with Tache Cards.

Below left: (Left-right) Paperchase’s Daisy Enticott and Hazel Walker with Art Press’ Linzi Russell-Watson and Janie Markham.

Right: The force was with Hallmark at the show as it launched its Star Wars collection, with the company’s Tamsyn Johnston-Hughes (right) and Alison Kildunne ditching their marketing responsibilities to become Princess Laya and Guy Bustard agreeing to become Yoda. Steve Wright remains the company’s Storm Trooper!

Left: The GBCC team kept their Avanti cards launch close to their chests before PG Live, but then they were ready to face the fact that the deal was done!

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25_26-27_Grid 05/06/2015 16:00 Page 25

VIEWPOINTS

Now that the UK General Election is over and the political dust is settling, card retailers are among those considering what impact the new Conservative government will have on our industry at a retail and consumer level, both local and national.

PG took a ‘poll’ from the independent card retailer ‘constituency’ and also asked what new laws would they implement if they were 'Minister of Greeting Cards'.

Above: The independent card retailer ‘constituency’ put in their ‘votes’.

Left: ’10 for £1’ card offers would be banned if Aimi Devine of The Card Gallery was Minister Of Greeting Cards.

Below left: The Conservatives have proposed to cut red tape for businesses.

Below: A festive Christmas in summer is Paul Jarman’s great concept.

Aimi Devine owner of The Card Gallery, Ackworth: “If we look at how the result of the UK election is going to impact on us nationally, as retailers in the greeting card industry, we have to look at the policies set out by the Conservatives’ manifesto and take in good faith that they will follow through with their promises!

It appears to me that much of what is proposed is to benefit new start-ups, such as the 'Work for yourself' programmes to support them, and increase the availability of loans and by cutting red tape to curb regulations imposed on new businesses. However, key points for me as an existing business owner are: make small business rate relief automatic, protecting zero hour contracts, maintaining the minimum wage, looking at ways to abolish the legal retirement age, decreasing the amount of National Insurance contributions imposed on employers, accessing Maternity Pay and building pensions to tackle the disadvantages we face being self employed. The 'blurb' goes on and at the moment that's all it is, so, in the meantime, it's 'business as usual’! With luck the Conservatives may at least encourage fresh blood into the greeting card industry, with bright, new and fresh designers offering us exciting new product opportunities.

Looking from a consumer’s point of view I don't think it’s likely that the new government will have any massive impact on spending behaviour. I have heard various reports that there has been an increase in consumer spending, but from what I can see this only extends to spending on entertainment and eating out and I would put this down to the fact that we generally feel we now deserve to treat ourselves after years of watching the pennies rather than an increase in consumer confidence, and who can blame us!”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “If I were the Minister of Greeting Cards I would enforce the law that no retailer/outlet is allowed to sell inferior cards – no '10 for £1 offers'. These cards are so flimsy and lacking in thought and inspiration that they won't even stand up, but merely fall down in shame! But joking aside, I don't think implementing laws will help our industry but 're-educating consumers' as to why we send greeting cards in the first place may help.

Reminding people that the purpose behind sending a card is to convey a message whatever that may be and for whatever reason, whether that is congratulations, commiserations, to make someone

feel valued, loved, better or appreciated. More importantly, a card should show that you have taken a little time to choose the correct one, whether it is filled with someone else's thoughtful words or simply the perfect image for the occasion, but definitely not one thrown on top of the trolley during the weekly dash around the supermarket or at the petrol station.”

Paul Jarman owner of Creased Cards, Brighton: “While not my normal political persuasion, I think the continuity of the Conservative government will help business, although I’m worried about the impact of the Euro referendum – leaving Europe would be a disaster in my view.

Locally, we have now moved in Brighton & Hove from a Green Party controlled council to Labour. This is a great thing, as I’m afraid in the last five years, while I believe their ‘hearts were in the right place’ the Greens have caused much disruption for local businesses - particularly those in the city centre like me.

I’m hoping that the new Labour council will now re-address issues such as: parking charges in the town centre and possibly cancelling it through-out, and proposed bus lane and bike routes - driving out the traffic congestion rather than down and across main routes in and out of the city.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “I’d introduce a second Christmas – sometime around June/July! Turkey on the beach, garden cocktails on Christmas morning… and of course, lots of lovely card sales a second time round!”

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VIEWPOINTS

Stuart Delahoy owner of Set Design, Leicester:

Below: A cute design from talented new publisher Pippi & Me.

“I have to ‘fess up’ and say that I am not a fan of the last, or now next government, but we are stuck with them so it’s time to make the best of it.

They appear to go down well with the business community, so it should lead to stability in the trade.

Confidence is the key for new startups and to encourage investment across the board. New product is the vital ingredient we all crave.

As for the public, I think it’s going to be much the same for the next five years as it has been for the last.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “There should be a law against going into a card shop, taking a picture of the card, you might have bought, on your smartphone and then sending it to your friend instead. And yes, this does happen, every day!

Writing on somebody’s Facebook timeline is not a substitute for a proper card!”

Inset: Uploading images of greeting cards to Facebook instead of buying them should be against the law, says Stuart Delahoy.

Pauline Murray owner of Tippecanoe, Portree, Skye: “I really don’t think the Conservatives being elected will have an impact on us. We won't really be affected by the change in government up here as our market relies heavily on tourism.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “As Minister of Greeting Cards I would recommend a curb on 'boring' cards because they can be SO boring and not worth a place on the shop shelves. Who wants to receive a boring card? What's the point in giving a boring card when there are SO many brilliant card designs out there? I would like to see well-designed cards which bring pleasure, a smile of delight or a laugh from the receiver.

In Tippecanoe we only retail cards that are humorous (Pigment, Holy Mackerel, Cath Tate), quirky (The Art Above: No one could accuse Holy File), designer (Belly Button, Roger le Borde, Mackerel of creating boring cards!

Caroline Gardner), arty (ArtPress, Tartan 2CV and local artists), brilliantly popular (Emma Ball, Alex Clark, Bug Art, Tracks, Icon) and photographic (Andy Gray and local).”

Leona Janson-Smith director of Postmark, three stores in London:

Rohit Patel owner of Paper Art, Finchley: “It would be good if the local government could ease traffic restrictions. We do have free parking on Saturdays, but it would help retailers if it were simpler for people to shop throughout the week.

A tax on internet shopping webs: Charging shopping websites a tax, such as Amazon, who don’t have to pay shop rates and rents, would make retailing an even playing field. At the moment websites pay hardly anything so they can sell products cheaper than bricks and mortar stores. This is even affecting the bigger shops and you can feel the buzz has gone from the high streets. It is having a social impact as well. Even if a store loses 25% of its business to online shopping websites, that amount is enough to close it. Britain was once a nation of shopkeepers, but that is changing.

And although I understand that suppliers selling straight to the public online boosts their business, it’s a bit short-sighted as if shops close because they can’t compete with online sales there will be no stores for the suppliers to sell to: The public usually see the cards they want instore before buying online.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “On a funnier note, as Minister of Greeting Cards I would pass a law to make it that everyone should buy 100 cards a year, tax deductible of course!”

Left: Taxing shopping websites would give high street indies a level playing field.

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

“It is encouraging to see the government moving forward with its commitment to freeze VAT and National Insurance, and plans to cut back on red tape and make it easier to appeal business rate decisions ahead of the planned overhaul in 2017 are good news too. Confidence among our customers also seem to be improving, something we're always happy to see.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “There's nothing nicer than getting a card in the post so I'd take the Thinking Of Above: The Thinking of You Week concept You Week concept a bit further and would be made law if Leona Janson-Smith was seated in parliament. make it law that you had to send at least ten cards - not birthday or occasions related - to people throughout the year, especially older friends and relatives, just to say hello.”

Chris Beards owner of Mantons Cards, Isle of Man: “David Cameron promised to cut red tape for small businesses and I don't think anyone would think that's a bad idea, but I'm not 100% sure that it’s actually going to happen. The promise not to increase tax, NI and VAT should help the economy, but I would like to see the VAT rate reduced for high street retailers with a turnover of £2,000,000 and less.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “If I were Minister of Greeting Cards I would make greeting cards zero rated for VAT.” Right: Many retailers are unsure if the Conservatives’ election manifesto will come to fruition.

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VIEWPOINTS

Steve Simkiss partner of Church Gallery, Kirby Stephen: “The main thing is for councils is to cut down on parking charges, but many won’t bother. It’s the biggest pain for retailers. Who wants to pay £10 for five hours parking? So many shoppers spend the shortest possible time on the high Above: Parking charges are a street and stay as close as they can to where huge bugbear for independent retailers. their cars are parked. They don’t want to Below: Reducing business rates would help bring Britain’s high spend time browsing the shops.

If parking was reduced, or even free, the streets to life. local government would get back the money in VAT from extra sales.

As we are located in a rural area with a small population we receive the government’s rural rate relief, but a reduction in business rates across the nation for start-up retailers in the first few years of business would help the high streets encourage shoppers.

And lastly, charity shops should be given the same business rates as other shops and shouldn’t be allowed to sell any brand new stock.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: “I would ban cupcake illustrations on cards, with two years in prison if you design them!”

Ros Jones owner of Celtic Company at Number Fourteen, Welshpool, Powys: "The Conservatives in government have manifesto pledges to support, encourage and grow businesses - so you would hope that some of this may filter down into the retail sector and more specifically the independents on the local high street. Indicators are that consumer confidence and spending is on the up (although uncertainty over the Euro referendum will probably be unhelpful).

I feel the iniquitous NNDR (national non domestic rate) system is the single most limiting factor to high street businesses thriving, creating jobs and supporting the local economy. Business rates are quite simply a tax on business, whether you are profitable or not, and I hope the current government will act upon reforms. Rates are centralised, inflexible and seem to be out of local government's hands.

I have recently been revalued, having taken on a newlyrefurbished premises. I was horrified to discover that retail use is rated at a higher level than other uses per square metre and also that the higher quality the build, the higher the rate premium. The fact that I have invested in CCTV and aircon mean that my rates are higher… the fact that I am operating card and gift shops rather than estate agents/solicitors etc means that my rates are higher… how naive of me to expect the system to be fair!

I passionately believe that the only credible way to breathe life back into town centres is to equalise the rates with other sectors and other locations - either by subsidy or by reform. It’s not feasible to expect the powers-that-be to accept a reduction in the overall 'take' from businesses, but that take could be allocated in a fairer manner.”

A Seat In The House Of Commons: "Welcome to the Department of Greetings and Meetings. Our Mission: To Spread Smiles Across the Miles.

The 10 Commandments Are: ● thou shalt not just 'pop in while you are in the area' ● thou shalt not cold call ● thou shalt not sell into the nearest competitor ● thou shalt not charge extra for cello-wrapping ● thou shalt build business relationships and support growth (discounts,

Rachael Barnes partner of Dragonfly Cards & Gifts, Knaresborough: "The government have promised to look at lowering income taxes and freezing duty on fuel which should hopefully mean that consumers have a bit more money in their pockets. Greetings cards aren't a luxury.

People will always buy cards for their family and friends but with a bit more money they might choose a slightly higher priced card than usual, or treat themselves in the gift department, all meaning more money through the tills for us retailers.

A much overdue review of business rates has been promised - it doesn't mean that they will change but at least they've agreed Rachael Barnes at to look! If a fairer system was introduced this could Above: Dragonfly Cards & Gifts have the biggest impact on retailers as rates are one would place recycle bins for cards around the country if of our biggest overheads." she entered politics.

A Seat In The House Of Commons: "If I was Minister of Greetings Cards (heaven forbid I end up in politics!), I would make it compulsory to buy cards only from independent retailers! I would make sure that everyone received 50 free postage stamps a year on the proviso that they were used for greeting cards only, and would offer recycling points all over the country for cards, not just at Christmas, but all year to help our industry's green credentials."

Tina Botterill owner of Cool! Cards & Gifts, Skipton:

Below: Instigating a celebration every month would help the sales of greeting cards.

"I do think that this government are looking at new ways to help small businesses. I do not pay business rates now and this helps enormously. I would urge retailers to get involved in their town's activities in conjunction with their local council and set up working groups. Here in Skipton we are very involved and have many joint collaborations with events throughout the year.

As a retailer and consumer my obvious wish would be a reduction in VAT and postal charges, but I very much doubt that will happen."

A Seat In The House Of Commons: "As minister Of Greeting Cards my new laws would be: 1. Ban e-cards.

2. Have a monthly card sending occasion to celebrate throughout the year.

3. Postage would be 25p a card.

4. Make sending birthday cards and Christmas cards compulsory.

5. Supermarkets will not be allowed to sell greeting cards.

Ok, dream on Tina!"

fixtures, flexible payment schemes) ● thou shalt not stay on pro-forma forever ● thou shalt be able to access discount postal rates to enable greeting cards to be 'postage paid' ● thou shalt receive a birthday card with a hand-written message from your incumbent MP (a personal way for the elected representative to make contact and a great boost for the greeting card industry - beats an electoral mailing any day!) ● there shall be no discrimination on the grounds of price (=class/income) or genre (=religion/race). (Cheap and cheerful, topend, sentimental and smutty are all welcome in our 'broad church' of cards) ● thou shalt follow the Progressive Greetings example at all times - be friendly, be approachable, be passionate about your industry, feed and water your customers and even hang their coat up for free!"

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Over The Counter

Deep In Thought Independent card and gift retailer, David Robertson, co-owner of JP Pozzi in Scotland, discusses the serious issue of mental health.

Get sh*t done!

Get sh*t Done!!

GET SH*T DONE!!!

This is not some sort of tantric chant to encourage you, me and everyone else that is in business to really drive on and get things done. ‘Get Sh*t Done!’ is actually the book title of an award winning best seller by author Niall Harbison, and if I am honest I haven’t actually read it all yet.

Niall, who is still only 34, has ticked many of the boxes that we business people (or ‘entrepreneurs’ - why do I dislike that word so much?) will go through or possibly already have. He has had a failed business; he has sourced and borrowed over £500,000; he has run two start-ups: he has sold one brand for a massive profit and he still has global ambitions for his other businesses. In fact, he could be classed as having ‘lived the dream’, with still a long way to go!

Niall Harbison’s book, from what I have read so far, is very interesting and also thought provoking. He wrote a whole chapter on his phone while on the toilet; he rents his house out in Ireland and then takes off somewhere in the world and works from a hotel room for a week to make a profit. He deleted his Facebook page because he found it negative, yet he keeps a document folder with everyone who says anything bad about him or his business in a file called ‘Haters’ and uses it as motivation. In fact, he Tweeted he was going to write a best seller, which, having said he was going to do it, forced him to do it.

Now this type of behavior, while possibly a little odd, is common among serial entrepreneurs - that inner will to win and compete; that slightly left-field thinking and drive to get ‘sh*t’ done.

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Beyond all these obscure facts though the most interesting thing I found about Niall is that he has actually suffered from severe depression throughout his business life. He is still managing it and has been very open about it, or at least he has been since he accepted and realised he had depression.

Depression is not an easy word to say. In fact depression is not an easy thing to describe. Lots of people say they are down and can’t cope, but is this really depression?

Lots of things get dressed up as depression, but the real thing is very different. The dictionary describes it as feelings of severe despondency and dejection and I think that

Top: The motivational book by young entrepreneur Niall Harbison.

Above: In 2014 Niall Harbison was a guest speaker at Lawyers’ Business Development Club in Dublin.

even that still leaves it wide open for interpretation. Many describe it as a creeping feeling that slowly engulfs your thought process and day-to-day operations.

Regardless of its meaning, many men still see it as a sign of weakness to admit they may have issues. They see it as an admission that they can’t cope. They don’t realise that often the increased irritability, loss of control, greater risk taking and paranoia have a root problem that is not simply stress, pressure or burnout.

These are the ‘get out of jail’ explanations. “Oh he/ she is stressed at work” - what does that actually mean?

Putting down your feelings to worrying about juggling the new pension regulations or because of the never ending need to balance and justify your cash flow or staff issues is an easy way to justify things in your own mind. In addition, whether card publisher, retailer or supplier there are the work pressures we are all constantly bombarded with and world day-to-day pressures with which we have to deal, from the struggle to conform to the struggle to keep up with the Joneses. Not everyone of course is affected with these, but many are.

The fact is that running a business of any size - whether male or female, young or old - has huge pressures and at some point we are all likely to burst.

Everyone speaks about their issues and acknowledges them but sometimes they are more deep-seated. Sometimes we hide them for years. Sometimes hiding them is the easy part.

Two years ago this month I wrote a column for this magazine that gained the largest response to any I had ever written. It was when I was in the fog of a depression and I couldn’t really shake myself out of it. The column was brutally honest and really quite dark. It even contained phrases about how there were more important things in life than work! I think that was the giveaway as people who know me well or even just through reading the mag knew that my business and its evolution means a huge deal to me... those were words that I just wouldn’t normally say.

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Over The Counter

I attended PG Live at that time as well and I think I only managed to spend an hour there before leaving. I couldn’t understand it. I have been very lucky in life: I was given the opportunity by my parents to build on what they had started with their business. They backed me every step of the way, even when perhaps they felt it was the wrong thing they believed in me. I had a nice house, a nice car, great friends both inside and outside the business and I enjoyed the challenge that running a multi-site business brought.

What happened to me was an accumulation of many, many things that suddenly crashed down on me with a shocking effect. There was a catalyst for me, something personal, and suddenly I couldn’t keep pushing through. I lay on top of my bed sometimes for hours at a time. I had no appetite. I was burning up. I couldn’t concentrate. I stopped my boxing and generally lost interest in everything.

Pals being pals (boys being boys) my friends started with a lot of banter, but as time went on they too realised that it wasn’t me just being dramatic or stupid. I really was struggling. For a long time I had been around people with depression to various degrees and my response was always old school, that you just make up your mind to get on with things, but simply when you really feel like that, you can’t.

Obviously the next step was to confront it and go to see my GP, which I did on the morning after PG Live. Here I was offered the usual tablets and a talk, but to me this was not what I needed. Again I tackled it head on and arranged to see a counsellor.

For someone that didn’t want anyone to know about depression I now speak about it pretty openly. Indeed, I am writing about it here. Why? Well the cold facts are that 1 in 4 people will suffer from some depression at some point in a calendar year. Women are far more likely to seek help professionally as they see the value in this and understand that they need support. Men are far less keen to get help, and unfortunately three times as many men take their own lives compared to women. This number is especially large in mid-life when pressures of work, family and many other things are often at their peak.

These figures, along with rises in childhood and elderly depression, are not the most pleasant to read or indeed think about,

Left: (Left to right): Lynn Tait, PG's Jakki Brown and David Robertson at the recent Greats Awards.

Below: Mental health is an issue that can affect anyone.

but the important thing is we need to get them out there to let people know that they are not alone.

Often my columns provoke an email response of ‘what you said was exactly how I felt’. PG readers tell me that they are experiencing the same pressures with banks/cash flows etc, but does it make it any better? Not really, but it does give reassurance that you are not alone. It also makes you realise that despite our shiny, confident, outward faces, many of us are struggling with our day-to-day business and personal lives.

Depression is still such a taboo subject that it is hard enough to discuss without the bravado and pressure of running a start-up or indeed any business. Nobody wants to be showing weakness for fear that it would affect things again, especially in the early stages. In reality, in my opinion, acknowledging problems is a strength. The fact that you have to disclose these issues on various forms can also lead to discrimination. It means that many will continue to bottle-up feelings for fear of being penalised.

Many people find that a combination of medicine and, most importantly, talking will help them. Personally, I didn’t want tablets as I fear that you can become dependent on them and for me unburdening myself to a third party who purely supported my quest to discover the answers was the best solution.

Whether it’s an independent third party, family or friend, the old adage of ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ is without doubt true.

I am writing this on the 14 May, which just so happens to be in the middle of Mental Health Awareness Week. This week’s focus has an important part to play in breaking down stigmas about mental health.

I am also writing this column shortly after the new branding of the Thinking of You Week, our industry’s own initiative to help stave off the early stages of depression through the sending of greeting cards, through stopping people feel isolated and lonely. Of course sending a card to someone will not solve the serious mental condition that depression is, but it might at least provide a catalyst for them to do something about it which is a pretty potent tool.

While I generally see my role as a PG columnist is to give a card retailer’s perspective, we are all people first who happen to become

retailers, publishers, agents, printers etc. My hope is that if this particular column can energise one person enough to take steps that helps them on the road to making their life easier then this article will be worth it. Today I believe I know myself much better and I probably actually like myself better as well. I am certainly not working any less but I am operating better and my life balance is better for having gone through it.

Quite simply, I am getting even more sh*t done...

What a difference a year makes if you take action as, at this year’s PG Live, I lapped up every second that the show had to offer, and did so with a real smile on my face and a brain and soul that was fully engaged.

To contact David email: jppozzi@btconnect.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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‘Budgeting’ For The Future The imminent opening of a massive 82,000 square foot cash and carry warehouse in Dunstable, Hertfordshire, by wholesale giant Budget Greeting Cards (or BGC) set Cardsharp thinking about the wholesale sector, a part of the market that does not get talked about too often these days, but never the less still plays a significant role in the UK. Cardsharp reflects on the wholesale greetings sector, which has endured a tough couple of decades. Some 25 years ago, unbelievable as it seems now in the reign of the Direct to Retail publisher, over half of greeting cards bought were from wholesale publishers. These were bought by retailers from any of the 300+ greeting card and stationery wholesalers and cash & carries.

Some of these were traders from vans, some had massive cash & carries, some had depots with teams of reps on the road servicing accounts. Independent newsagents, sub post-offices, market traders and even specialist card shops were the eager customers who lapped up their offerings. Many wholesalers made a lot of money in those days, helped by the generous credit terms from wholesale publishers and their other suppliers.

And the major publishers servicing these accounts were indeed huge at that time. Fine Art Developments was the largest back then, with a turnover that Cardsharp recalls topping £40 million.

Where are they now? The now defunct Kingsley Cards (although still a Budget

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Greeting Cards brand) boasted over a £20+ million turnover and enough profit to make its founder and creative genius, Jeff Bottomley a tax exile in Monaco. Regent Greeting Cards, which went into administration a few months ago, had, at its peak, a turnover that was well into double digit £millions.

And added to these, there are long gone forgotten publishers, like Second Generation and Beaucards, who achieved annual sales that many present established direct to retail publishers would envy.

Going back further still, there were other once giant brands too, like Giesen and Wolff and W.N Sharpe, though Cardsharp accepts that the majority of readers would not remember these once so important companies and brands.

Above: A different type of Budget?

Below: Budget’s website.

Of course, there is still Simon Elvin, which unlike the rest, is still proud and around and trailblazing for what is left of the wholesale sector with his eponymous company. But then Simon has shrewdly augmented his core wholesale business with an impressive publishing empire of direct to retail and own brand publishing companies.

As Cardsharp reflects, everything changes. The rise of the multiple card shops coupled with the march of supermarkets stocking cards, hurt the wholesalers’ retail customer base, and resulted in the number of independents dropping dramatically.

Hungry (and good) direct to retail publishing companies started targeting the smaller accounts that hitherto had been the wholesalers’ preserve. Arguably, the wholesale publishers were a tad too slow to adapt their styles to more modern tastes and had little to fight back with. And this was not helped by the instinctively conservative approach of many wholesalers (now no longer with us) who refused to accept attempts by publishers to be more contemporary.

But, recalls Cardsharp, what turned a gradual decline into a rout was the savvy approach of one wholesaler – a certain Dean Hoyle – which founded the specialist multiple value card chain Card Factory. Card Factory’s vertical integration model, where the retailer designed, printed and sold its own cards, changed the face of the market. This enabled it to sell greeting cards to the public in an attractive environment at a price retailers couldn’t even buy from wholesalers. And the Card Factory effect spread

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CARDSHARP “The last set of BGC’s published accounts that Cardsharp perused, showed a very healthy annual £30+ million turnover, but what struck him the most was its excellent profit figure.” from region to region and town to town as the group grew from its northern heartlands towards the whole of the UK. This struck a death knell for many market traders who could just not compete.

Added to this, many small shopkeepers were also hit badly by the rise of multiple convenience stores in secondary and tertiary locations and the decline in newspaper sales. And then, after 2009, at a macro level, the recession started to take a toll even on independent retailers who had hitherto weathered the storm.

So from 300 or so a generation ago, the number of remaining serious card wholesalers is down in Cardsharp’s estimate to around 60 or 70 businesses. Some wellknown wholesaler names have gone forever.

Macsel Greetings, which at one stage was the nearest thing to a national chain, was one of the first to fail, but over the years this has been followed by a string of other demises - from Magsons of York to Crown Cards of South London. Some of the shrewder operators have admittedly expanded successfully into retail operations and Cardsharp reflects that specialist greeting card chains, such as Angel Cards, Card Land and of course, even Card Factory, have grown out of wholesale operations at least to some extent.

But as the market shrunk there still has been one major success story - Budget Greeting Cards (BGC). Budget originally came over to the UK mainland in the 1980s after having enjoyed success in wholesaling in Belfast and Dublin. Over the subsequent years the company also established cash & carries in places such as Bradford, Bristol,

Birmingham and Gateshead, though all of these are rather over shadowed by its huge 200,000 sq ft Manchester flagship cash & carry operation. Even in this city, which is very much the ‘home of wholesaling’, known for a huge range of consumer goods sold via the wholesale method, from the rag trade to hardware goods, Budget is a ‘celebrity’ in the stationery and greeting cards enclave. While to this day wholesaling generally is still much stronger in the north than in the more affluent London and Home Counties, Budget has always had southern expansion on its ‘wishlist’.

Cardsharp knows the Budget operation is slick and very smooth and because of its size the buying power is huge. However, it is not just wholesaling that has made BGC so successful. By stealth and opportunity BGC has become a huge force in greeting card publishing.

Just over a decade ago, BGC established its own studio in Manchester to publish its own cards, running this concurrently with its buying from other wholesale publishers. As its publishing arm grew, it also benefitted hugely from the demise of publisher, Kingsley Cards, whose name and assets it acquired after Kingsley’s collapse. This has contributed to BGC becoming a major publisher, with a solid reputation for design, even supplying other wholesalers outside its regional catchment areas. In many ways, pondered Cardsharp, its

vertical business model is the wholesale equivalent of Card Factory.

And this is reflected in its financial results. The last set of BGC’s published accounts that Cardsharp perused, showed a very healthy annual £30+ million turnover, but what struck him the most was its excellent profit figure. A figure that Cardsharp felt could never be achieved by just wholesaling other companies’ products alone. BGC has found that the most successful way to ride the decline in the sector is to both publish and wholesale.

Now with all systems go for Budget to open a mega cash & carry in Dunstable in a few months time, London and the south east will no doubt experience the impact of Budget. Ironically, this comes at a time when many of the remaining wholesalers around London and the Home Counties are, for varying reasons, in the throws of relocation or amalgamation.

Cardsharp hesitates to use the phrase “Where there is muck there’s brass!” about the wholesale sector. This unfairly tarnishes a strata of the market that has had to become increasingly professional in order to survive.

Indeed Budget’s motto is ‘Direct to Retail quality at Wholesale Prices’. But Cardsharp reflects that Budget’s success in wholesale and publishing and Card Factory’s in retailing shows that great profits can still be made from piling it high and selling it cheap!

Inset: BCG is revered even in the heartland of cash & carries in Manchester.

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 PG Showcases A Collection Of New Product Launches

Taking A Shine Better known its humorous food puns, Stormy Knight is taking a new direction with the launch of its brand new Copper Foil typographic range.

This range features shimmering copper wording foil blocked onto gorgeous recycled board. The cards are sized A6 and come with 100% recycled white envelopes.

Stormy Knight 07875 027551 www.stormyknight.co.uk

XO Extra Originally launched by Sabivo as a small capsule collection of 12 cards, the XO range has quickly grown to over 40 designs. Fusing hand-written typography and neon colours, the latest additions cover everyday, occasions, relations and milestone birthdays. All the cards are sized 145mm square and sold wrapped with ribbed kraft envelopes.

Sabivo Design 0116 2258255 www.sabivo.co.uk

Location, Location, Location!

Tattoo Fantasy Classically styled with a vintage twist, Overboard is an inspired collection of 14 cards from Really Good, with designs for friends, family and loved ones. Modish and trendy, these contemporary designs reflect the current hipster trend as well as being influenced by the golden age of tattoos. Transfers not included!

Really Good 01235 537888 www.reallygood.uk.com

Every card in Dog’s Paw’s latest range Up Your Street is localised to your very own town, city, village or any location you wish, and not with naff overprinting but with fun typography boldly incorporated in the title and hidden in the artwork. The Dog’s Paw studio has pulled out all the stops - not only are the cards localised but the range includes all regional relations titles such as Granny, Nanna, Bampi, and Mam. This striking range of over 60 cards are printed with full colour inside, sized 155mm x 222mm and sold wrapped with envelopes.

Dog’s Paw 01938 500 740 www.dogspaw.co.uk

Classic Creatures Paper Bird Publishing is adding ten new creatures to its 100 strong Fauna range. Full of quirky designs and classic illustration, the new Fauna designs comprise birthdays, blanks and messages across two sizes, 150mm square and 125mm x 175mm, all sold wrapped with white envelopes.

Paper Bird Publishing 07766 164807 www.paperbirdpublishing.co.uk

Urban Jungle Urban Animals is a debut capsule range of six humorous cards from new publisher MDArtist, designed by photographer Matthew Dunn.

Brightly coloured wild animals, such as lions, giraffes and elephants, are seen in iconic urban locations across the world. The cards are sized 5” x 7” and are sold wrapped with white envelopes.

MDArtist Greeting Cards 01843 448291 www.mdartist.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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 PG Showcases A Collection Of New Product Launches

First Service Created just for tennis lovers, and Wimbledon fans in particular, the Tennis Anyone? range of nine cards from Philip Ratchford Photography features tennis ball characters Oddball and Goofball having some fun with puns! Each card is printed with a gloss laminate finish and comes wrapped with a crisp white envelope.

Philip Ratchford Photography 07981 787 049 www.philipratchford.com

Say It With Flowers Stephanie Dyment is launching 12 new Colour Me Happy designs, all featuring gorgeous metallic finish, bringing the stunning colours to life. These summery watercolour florals are all sized 160mm square and supplied wrapped with ivory textured envelopes. The Fairytale range is also expanding with 14 new designs.

Stephanie Dyment 01494 581775 www.stephaniedyment.com

Hooked On You

From Little Seeds…

A collection of fun and slightly silly birthday cards is being launched by Julia Hook Designs, with quirky and delightful illustrations combining her use of paint and patterns. This blank range of eight cards is printed on 150mm square textured board, sold wrapped with crisp white envelopes.

Julia Hook Designs 07903 535295 www.juliahookdesigns.co.uk

Seedlings Cards & Gifts is introducing Wildflower, a beautiful range lovingly handprinted onto thick cream textured board. There are eight A6 designs, with no two cards exactly alike, and each card contains a sachet of wildflower seeds, enhancing their rustic appeal.

All the designs are also available personalised for that extra special touch.

Seedlings Cards & Gifts 01684 491275 www.seedlingscards.com

Up Up And Away!

Pioneer and Walt Disney have collaborated on a range of Qualatex Disney latex balloons, featuring the most popular Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Disney Princess and Frozen. These are available in 5" and 11" rounds as well as 12" Quick Link Balloons™, widening the possibilities for large balloon decor such as arches, garlands, and walls.

Qualatex 01279 501 090 www.QualatexEurope.com

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Miles Of Smiles Milestones is a new occasions range from Happy Nut Creations, all beautifully handillustrated by Eva Huang, using bold brushstrokes and delicate details. There are 12 designs in this range printed on textured board, sized 150mm square and supplied wrapped with kraft envelopes.

Happy Nut Creations 07735 271566 www.happynut.co.uk

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 PG Showcases A Collection Of New Product Launches

Sporting Chance

Walk The Penguin Walk

Sports Fanatic is a new male range from Lucy Ledger. Featuring stamped effect lettering against a distressed wood backgrounds, these designs have a feel for the nostalgic grass roots and lifelong love of sport. There are 18 150mm square everyday and occasion cards including football, golf, cycling and cricket, all sold wrapped with 100% recycled envelopes.

Lucy Ledger 0114 438 7569 Www.lucyledger.com

Penguin Parade is an exciting eponymous range of unique, quirky designs featuring comical penguins dressed up in different guises and poses, all by Scottish artist Ruth Mutch. There are over 40 cards covering birthdays, ages and most occasions, including some with a Scottish theme. The cards are sized 105mm x 148mm and come wrapped with white envelopes.

Penguin Parade 0131 552 5334 www.penguinparade.co.uk

One For The Boys So Macho is a new contemporary male range from Hotchpotch. Taking inspiration from typography, packaging, male fashion prints and advertising, this range incorporates strong male icons with illustration and hand-drawn lettering.

There are 12 silver foil finished cards in the range, sized 154mm square and supplied wrapped with grey envelopes.

Hotchpotch Publishing 020 89410126 www.hotchpotchpublishing.com

Doggy Days Some people in our world make the day seem a tad brighter and the clouds look a little fluffier and our smile feel a bit bigger and you may not quite know it but you are most definitely one of those so here is a card to celebrate the very loveliness of you.

An irresistible range of cards called Today I will be... is being launched by Scott & Robson. Jo Scott’s richly comic and uncanny illustrations capture those moments of animal mischief that pet owners will recognise and adore. With captions including, ‘Today, I will be a weapon of mass destruction’ and ‘Today, I will be hiding my bone under your pillow’, there are 20 150mm square blank designs, sold wrapped with colourful envelopes.

Scott & Robson 07506 630 626 www.scottandrobson.com

Straight To The Heart The Right Lines is expanding its Sentiments range with 12 new designs, bringing the range up to 48 cards. These extra wordy cards are designed to humorously express all sorts of caring occasions and situations and also perfect for sending a card ‘just because’. All the cards are sized 5” x 7”, printed in a gorgeous palette of colours and sold wrapped with white envelopes.

The Right Lines 07989 414567 www.therightlines.co.uk

Candles In The Wind The Who's Counting? range from Purpose & Worth etc is a simple, fresh take on the milestone birthdays in life. Covering ages 1, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70, the range features beautiful copper foiled candles on lovely textured 100% recycled grey board. The cards are sized 120mm x 170mm and sold wrapped with complementing envelopes.

Purpose & Worth etc 07779 657 477 www.purposeandworthetc.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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JEREMY ’S JOURNA L Business blogging by publisher Jeremy Corner of Blue Eyed Sun.

Run

Aground Jeremy Corner, owner of greeting card publisher Blue Eyed Sun, considers failure.

Last month, as several political leaders failed to lead their parties to victory in the UK’s general election, I shared a little of what they were feeling. Failure is a bitter pill to swallow, particularly when one has worked so hard to succeed.

Blue Eyed Sun has had another record breaking year in greeting card sales but, as the election results came in, so did the poor financials for our wedding stationery business, Ivy Ellen.

This division has not done as well and has struggled to make profits after nearly six years of hard work.

Ivy Ellen has won awards, been cited as a social media success story in books and has a wonderful selection of beautiful wedding stationery for brides and grooms to choose from. It also has a lovely website, competitive pricing and outstanding customer service. Despite all of this we failed to meet the expectations we had set for ourselves, and the business has been failing as a result.

With hindsight this is how I think this has happened:

Expectations Before Ivy Ellen’s launch we spent a year reviewing the market and planning. We saw the wedding stationery market as largely fragmented with lots of one woman startups, many of whom were short-lived and would often struggle to service customers well when busy.

As we already had a production team to outsource to at Blue Eyed Sun, we knew we could be strong on service, consistency and operational efficiencies. With our unique designs we also knew where we would fit in, how we would be different and were well 36

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Above: Several political party leaders recently failed in the UK's general election.

Left: The beautiful Ivy Ellen website.

Below: Unlike greeting card trade fairs brides tend not to order at wedding shows.

financed for growth. We felt experienced enough to set ourselves sales targets of £50K in year one, £100k in year 2, £150K in year three and £250k by year four.

Market Differences Trade shows have always been good for us in the card market so we booked up stands at all of the major wedding fairs and went for it.

The first wedding show was a huge learning experience. Unlike greeting card trade shows, brides tend not to order at the event so the stand costs were slow to recoup. This meant a heavy outlay with results that could take 12-24 months to come good - if at all.

We also learned that brides all wanted something unique or different. For example, they wanted our designs, but in different

colours. We created a system of bespoke options for brides to tailor their wedding stationery to suit them and avoided offering a costly bespoke design service. While clever and unique, our colour swatch system has been complicated to implement and difficult to sell.

Marketing Differences The other thing that quickly became apparent was that the dress, venue, catering, photography, flowers all came ahead of stationery in a bride’s budgets. Also, brides would often turn to Google when they were ready to order, rather than just select stationers at shows, so the marketing costs quickly piled up.

It doesn’t matter whether you pay for Google ad listings or spend time on getting to the top of organic searches (the non-paid for listings) it all costs a lot of money, time and effort. The goal posts constantly move if you work on SEO (organic search engine optimisation) because Google regularly changes its algorithms. Even Google ads can cost you more if you don’t know what you are doing when creating them. This is all in addition to the huge costs involved in setting up a good online store.

The other thing about the wedding market is that there is no established distribution network for product. In the card market we have networks of sales agents, distributors, brokers and large chains of shops that mean ongoing sales. Wedding planners and wedding venues have limited

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JEREMY ’S JOURNA L

Why Did We Fail?

interest in stationers as they have more important things to focus on.

Repeat custom from happy customers is also limited. Once couples are married they don’t need more wedding stationery (well at least hopefully not!). When you take on a new customer in the card market they can stay with you for years and keep on buying.

Changing Market Since launching Ivy Ellen in 2009 the market has changed considerably. The recession hit and wedding budgets were slashed. Key large company players like Mandalay Invitations were acquired, others went under and others, like Hello Lucky, moved away from weddings to focus on products like greeting cards. These were all warning signs.

The market was consolidating, but not in the way that we had expected.

The market did not need another large competitor, but one that could consolidate

all of the smaller stationers. In 2010 we were approached by online business Not On The High Street (NOTHS) and others which offered such a solution. As Ivy Ellen was so heavily invested in marketing at shows, on Google and so forth, and with NOTHS commission costs of 25%, we declined. By the time we realised our mistake, they no longer wanted us.

Not On The High Street now dominates key wedding stationery search terms, as do similar set ups like Zazzle and Etsy. Their marketing spend on Google and advertising is impossible for a small business like ours to compete with.

Interestingly, what brides essentially need hasn’t changed. They want to feel unique and special and for their wedding details to reflect this. They need lots and lots of small wedding stationers to cater for this.

NOTHS and Etsy now allow them to access this easily and at competitive prices. These marketplaces have made it easier for customers and suppliers.

Above: A Life Is Sweet card from Icon.

Left: A stunning Ivy Ellen wedding stationery design.

Below: Bill Gates failed before he succeeded.

Famous Failures ● Abe Lincoln Failed in business three times and failed campaigning seven times before becoming US President. ● Warren Buffet Berkshire Hathaway was originally a failed textiles business and his biggest mistake. ● Bill Gates First business, Traf-O-Data, was a failure before Microsoft. ● Michael Acton-Smith Failed with Perplex City before launching Moshi Monsters. ● Henry Ford Three of his businesses failed before he succeeded at Ford Motor Company. ● Thomas Edison Famously failed over ten thousand times before creating the lightbulb. ● Lego, Marvel and Apple are all companies that have risen from the edge of failure to great heights.

Some things were outside of our control, like the recession, the changing marketplace, lead time to convert customers, a declining market and the lack of a suitable system for distribution. The latter of which we did look into ideas for, but the online marketplaces are way ahead on this.

Other reasons were within our control.

We should have been tighter on spending, only releasing more marketing funds as sales grew. We committed too much budget to SEO companies and wedding fairs without having faster results. Our spending also focused on turnover targets rather than the reality of the revenue coming in.

What To Do Next?

It can be difficult to know when to concede that one’s efforts have failed and how best to act. Does one give up and move on, keep persisting despite the evidence or adapt and change in order to keep trying? Only you will know the answer to this if your business is failing.

I’d never let go without doing everything within my power to succeed.

You have to adapt and keep listening to your customers. Take on that feedback no matter how tough it may seem and use it to help improve things. With Ivy Ellen we have spent the last six years constantly adapting as best we could to meet our customers’ needs. Every year we invested more and worked harder to improve what we did, but it has not been enough. This year we have cut back, let staff go and are operating as lean as can be.

This feels like failure to me and it has been difficult to admit. Taking tough action is the right thing to do. We’ve learnt a lot through trying and we haven’t completely given up all hope. For now though, we have to accept that we have failed to meet our goals.

Thankfully Blue Eyed Sun continues to grow well and I am very excited about some of the new products we have coming through in the next 12 months. I also still have my health, my family and I’m proud of us having had a go rather than staying safe and not going for it because of a fear of failure.

Let me know why you think we have failed by visiting www.ivyellen.com and emailing jeremy@ivyellen.com.

Read more about business on Jeremy’s blog at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk/blog PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Debbie Wigglesworth’s Paper Journeys

I am loving the ways that paper companies are getting involved in helping to inspire and perpetuate creativity. In the last month alone, we have seen the On The Cards initiative (spearheaded by The Art Group/Paper Rose and G.F. Smith, with support from The Sherwood Group and Paperchase) come to fruition as well as the Fedrigoni-backed YCN Student awards.

As part of my own personal ‘paper journey’ I was down in London (from my home city of Manchester) to help judge the Fedrigoni YCN Student Awards.

The You Can Now (YCN) initiative operates in the UK, Europe and North America. Established in 2001, YCN is a creative network that helps people and organisations around the world to make rich and relevant creative connections daily. YCN believes that 'creativity is priceless', a mantra with which I wholeheartedly agree with. Forming part of this are the YCN awards, which operate in each territory, each being responses to specially curated creative briefs. The awards programme, which is now supported by collaborations with many high profile companies, including Gap, Interflora, ITV2, Whistles, Santander, Save The Children, J2O, L'Oreal, Fedrigoni and many more, centres on students responding to design briefs.

So, as a judge for the UK YCN Student Fedrigoni Awards, I found myself in Fedrigoni's Imaginative Papers Clerkenwell studio that was bursting with creative solutions to its Sirio Ultra Black promotion brief that had been submitted by students from right across the UK. With over 100 entries from which to select judging was particularly difficult as the standard was so incredibly high. Winning entries will be announced shortly, culminating in a lavish ceremony at the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel later in the year.

Above: The YCN building in London’s Rivington St. Left: Students and tutors enjoying a YCN briefing.

Below: The Origami workshop in full fold.

Into The Fold Clerkenwell Design Week, in central London, included a wonderful Origami workshop, led by paper artist Sam Tsang, which invited members of the design and business community, as well as the general public, to learn the ancient art of paper folding. As Sam revealed at the workshop that took place in paper company Fedrigoni’s Clerkenwell studio: “I first got into Origami like everyone else, folding paper aeroplanes at school.” For those apprehensive of Origami, Sam's advice is: “There is nothing to be afraid of - it's only paper.”

Learning And Launches

Below: G.F. Smith has launched a new Collection.

An astonishing 1,800 creatives, including brand owners, designers, publishers and printers, attended six simultaneous G.F. Smith events, held across the UK, to fanfare the launch of its stunning new paper collection.

For me it was not only a delight to receive the new collection, but also to catch up with some of my old colleagues at G.F. Smith. While delighted by the response the collection was receiving, John Haslam, joint managing director of G.F. Smith, also expressed his concern and sadness at two significant events in the paper industry the demise of both major paper merchant Paperlinx and UK paper manufacturer Tullis Russell, both of which supplied the greeting card trade. As John poignantly said: “Although we are celebrating what we do, our minds are also with everyone at Paperlinx and Tullis Russell.”

About Tullis Russell specifically, he added: ''We would love it if someone could get hold of the mill and keep making beautiful paper in Scotland. It is one of the finest papermakers in the UK.''

I Can, I Canine This month I became the proud owner of an extraordinary special limited edition book, entitled 'Gerald’, created by Liam Hopkins of design group Lazerian. The book is the culmination of many years work by Liam and his collaborative partners, for whom a seed of an idea grew into something larger than Liam could ever have imagined.

Working in collaboration with paper artist Richard Sweeney, the duo created Gerald - a paper dog. Initially part of the Lazerian rebrand, the project quickly began to grow after being launched at the 100% Design event as flat-packed kits. Liam, an accomplished designer himself, wanted to pay tribute to the many designers that inspire him. He ended up sending 101 of his ‘inspirers’ each a blank paper dog kit and invited them to create their own design on ‘their Gerald’, thus giving the dog a new coat. This resulted in all 101 dogs being returned ‘home’ to Liam, each with their own stamp!

Then, together with distinguished paper manufacturer James Cropper Paper, a grand scheme evolved for an exhibition, which debuted in New York and led to the publication of the very special book. Working in collaboration with typographer Daren Newman, this hardback masterpiece encompassing beautiful papers, special inks, superb print finishes is housed in a plywood 'kennel' and comes complete with a DVD copy of a ‘Gerald in New York’ film, created by the Pantling Studio. There are just 101 of these special books in existence featuring all of the artists’ work - and I feel very lucky indeed to have one!

Above: The beautiful Gerald book.

Left: One of the Geralds.

If you are interested in any of the features in Paper Journeys contact Debbie Wigglesworth email deborahwigglesworth@gmail.com or call Debbie on 07718619521.

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Home&Gift, Harrogate 19.7-22.7.2015, hall DP, 91-45 www.artebene.com

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Cute Overview

  Pancake the office duckling is the latest team member to a Didsbury business after he was found orphaned. Watched by cooing millions when he winged his way onto BBC Breakfast, he melted our hearts with his ‘quackers’ workplace antics.

And irresistibly cute characters continue to make a huge splash on cards too.

PG takes a look at the current sweet and captivating news and range releases.

Boofle Bonanza For Retailers Independent retail customers of both card publisher UKG and giftware specialist Xpressions4U are being invited to sign up and create fun packed Boofle event days in their stores this summer to boost their sales.

Each retailer will receive a pack, which includes a detailed guide of how to host the perfect Boofle-icious event, and all the tools POS and a promotion kit - for making it a spectacular occasion.

Activities include an in store prize draw to win a giant Boofle, plus fantastic free giveaways for customers. And, as an added bonus, stores can also have the use of a Boofle costume for the day (book soon to secure a costume).

Tony Roberts, UK Greetings’ independent sales director, says: “Boofle is a fantastic character with a huge fan base so the event days are sure to generate plenty of excitement and attention. We have been working with Xpressions4U to create the perfect package for retailers, so they can attract shoppers and encourage extra spend in store,“ adding, “We hope to create really fun filled days throughout the summer. I will definitely be attending my local event day… Not sure I will fit into one of the Boofle Above left: Boofle Days for UKG's and Xpressions4U's independent customers will be attracting fans and suits though!”

To apply for your kit, costume and guide customers this summer.

Below: Tired Ted and his friend Stanley the duck on a please contact your local UKG or Xpressions4U Cherry Orchard card. sales executive.

Tired Ted ‘Bears’ His Heart When designer Innis Stiles came up with an idea for a canny, philosophical old bear, he set out to develop a character who would capture the hearts and minds of many.

Tired Ted has a true loyal friend in Stanley, a wooden Victorian duck, who listens but never answers back. The two are always together, musing over deep thoughts and sharing heartfelt sentiments. But Stanley isn’t the only one listening to Ted; his wise words are now being shared by huge followings of people through social media sites on Facebook and Twitter.

“Every day, the caring thoughts that Ted comes up with are liked and shared by more and more of his Facebook followers,” says Innis. “So many people have taken the loveable old bear to their hearts and share his kind thoughts with people who are close and special to them.”

Tired Ted and Stanley are captured on greeting cards by Cherry Orchard, and retailers stocking the range are seeing the benefits of the social media posts.

“Tired Ted is very popular with our customers. We share his posts on our Facebook page so that our customers get to see them, which will hopefully help build the brand,” says Alison Allen of Conway Cards and Gifts in Garstang, Preston.

Other Tired Ted products are also available, including wall art, pyjamas, mugs and coasters, which have been licensed through Bulldog-licensing.

For your chance to win some fantastic Tired Ted prizes, ‘like’ and follow Tired Ted’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Tired-Ted

Moomin Mania ‘Moomins on the Riviera’ feature film launched in the UK last month, and sees the the Moomin family leave Moomin Valley and off to holiday in the Med. Based on Tove Jansson's original comic series, the film is full of warmth, thought provoking and explores some very important family values: The Moomin family motto is ‘Live in peace, plant potatoes and dream’!

Top: Pancake the duckling Also caught in the lime-light this tapping in an email.

Above: The Moomin family will summer will be the UK premiere of Miffy be hitting the Med this summer the Movie in Leicester Square on 21 June. in the movie Moomins on the For fans of these globally-loved Riviera. Cards are available characters, cards are available from Hype. from Hype.

Bebunni Burrowings Bebunni, the shy little rabbit with a big heart illustrated by Simon Taylor-Kielty and on cards from The Great British Card Company, has been ‘hopping’ into new adventures through licensing tie-ups with Widdop Bingham, Moonpig’s personalised cards and The World of Cross Stitching magazine.

And from his humble origins, in the first two years of his life Bebunni has raised £76,850 for Cancer Research.

Above right: The Great British Card Company are giving its Bebunni designs a refresh.

News In Brief ● Dubbed Britain’s youngest entrepreneur, 11 year-old Henry Patterson launched his company Not Before Tea in 2014, based on Henry’s first story book The Adventures of Sherb and Pip, beautifully illustrated by artist Becky Down. Vera Vole, Sherb the Owl and Billy the Cat are just a few of the book’s adorable characters that are now available on a range of FSC accredited greeting cards. ● Hannah Dale, director and artist of multi-Henries Award winning Wrendale Designs, is currently working on a new book titled ‘Flying the Nest’ featuring beautiful baby animal illustrations (right) due to be launched soon.

Above: Mr Fox features in Not Before Tea's card.

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New Cute Range Releases

Captivating

Cuties There’s a whole bunch of new sweet and adorable personalities on greeting cards ready to tug at our heartstrings.

PG highlights some of these lovable range launches. ● Gypsy, a beautifully bohemian collection of 16 new designs from Cinnamon Aitch, is a mixture of birthdays and occasions, each gorgeously die-cut with unique edges and apertures.

Ornate and gaily decorated birds and flowers stand out against a crisp white textured board, and foiling and embossing accentuate the exquisite detail. ● Olive & Belle is pleased to launch its

brand new range, Peppercorn Press, a delightfully fresh and quirky range featuring bird, animal and floral illustrations by Clare Roberts. The range comprises 18 120mm x 170mm designs, including key captions.

● Miko Greetings is launching its new card company by introducing its tuneful, humorous, fun, happy, positive, perky, My Fine Feathered Friends range.

The range is blank, the colourful bird songs featured being appropriate to any occasion and message. The cards are 150mm square and are printed on glossy FSC certified board and come with a white envelope in protective cellowrap. Larger high quality art prints are also available. ● If you want cute, meet Ripples! You

will fall in love with this heartwarming and humorous collection, which is new for 2015 from Allihopa, featuring friendly sea life, frolicking among the waves in the ocean and along the coast. The bold illustrations and quirky font style is printed on quality board. Each 15cm x 15cm card is supplied with a kraft envelope and wrapped individually in cello bags. ● New from Paper Salad is Candy, a range of 170mm x 138mm cards printed with special super bright raised inks on FSC board and finished with lots of sparkly flitter! Each design is blank inside and individually cellowrapped with a bespoke patterned envelope.

● Colin the Dog from UKG is ● Mirjami Design produces very cute

photographic greeting cards featuring little animal characters all of which are designed and handmade by artist Laura Mirjami who draws inspiration from her native land of Finland and from greats like Beatrix Potter. All the cards (size 5”x7”) are printed in the UK on FSC certified board and come with envelopes and cello sleeves. ● 'Woodland Tales' is Riverside’s cute, contemporary range. These 12 designs, in collaboration with illustrator Anne Bollman, offer a quirky alternative cute to the traditional bear. These fun characters are adorned with flitter and carry a polkadot theme throughout. The cards are fully wrapped and RRP at £1.59.

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a pooch with an honest heart! He rarely speaks and when he does it's usually a few mumbled words. Colin spends most of his time causing mayhem… and the rest of the time trying to charm Mimi the cat. Colin is a grown up cute character available in standalone and integrated designs, codes 50 and 60. ● Hedgehogs provide your daily dose of adorable cutes! Alice Palace's hedgehog is part of its new British mammals range and he has lots of other friends including more hedgehogs, badgers, deer, a hare, rabbits, foxes, otters, a mouse, squirrels and beavers. There are 16 new cards in total, covering lots of occasions including sorry, mum to be, retiring, Mother's Day, Valentine’s Day, good luck and congratulations.

New Cute Range Releases

● Looking like the cat that got the cream, eight new Vicky Mount designs were launched at PG Live this month by Tomcat Cards. All featuring adorable felines, the range additions includes a design called 'Missing the Boat' where a man is asleep in the foreground with a big dog and a cat on his chest. But wait a minute, in the background coming through the door is a female in her underwear wearing a pink feather bower. Yes, but it's all done in the best possible taste! ● Love from Lemonade is dizzy

with excitement at the launch of its brand new Head in the Clouds range. Full of cuteness with LFL’s signature fun, cute and quirky illustrations, these designs are set to reach new heights with bright splashes of colour and embellished with real wood hearts and stars. All printed on a good quality FSC board and wrapped in a cello with a white recycled envelope. ● Well-known among book retailers

and possibly the most successful, widely read French book ever, Hype now has the licence for The Little Prince for greeting cards. There are 18 cards in the range, five of which are age-badge cards (ages 1 to 5) and the other 13 cards are a mix of birthdays, simple messages and blanks. All the cards are 170mm x 120mm and feature The Little Prince’s beautiful artwork.

● Rosie Made A Thing’s Doodle card range is made up of 12 black and white ink drawings for all occasions. Printed on a high quality textured card and blank inside, they feature simple images and quirky messages, portraying Let’s hold hands and have an adventure feelings in an honest and humorous way. These 14.5cm square cards come wrapped with gunpowder grey envelopes. ● Ho, ho, ho! Stripey Cats Cards has

revealed a different take on some of its popular Christmas designs. The new-look eye-catching magnified images that feature die-cut rounded corners and huge wobbly eyes are sure to prove a seasonal favourite. The range, which features Rosie Robin, Poppy the Penguin, Christmas Pud and Nigel Nutcracker among others, provides a stylish alternative to much-loved festive traditions. ● Paper Rose is proud to introduce its new Tiddly Pom Poms range, featuring beautifully hand-crafted woodland critters. The designs are all hand-stitched and feature exquisite detail - from their paws to their fabric ears, these sweet creatures all are lovingly handmade. ● Hallmark has an extra cute gem within its

broad range of intergalactic everyday Star Wars cards. These come in the form of adorable pooches masquerading as classic Star Wars characters. With die-cut features and charming, general captions there isn’t a single fan that could say no to these adorable faces.

● Hotchpotch’s Party Animals range is a cute, fun character Birthday range. Suitable for all ages, the cute and quirky characters with humorous wording have a wide appeal. They are finished with small areas of silver flitter, bringing that extra sparkle to the party!

There are nine 154mm square designs in the range.

to its Fudge & Friends cute range. Not released quite yet, some of the cards will be young age designs, but others will include various relations and occasions captions and some open birthday too. The company is hoping to have an extension of around 24 titles in bright colours and with plenty of aahh!

● Colcards’ new Quirky Pets range by Jill Latter is adorable!

There are 22 square cards measuring 140mm in the range and include six Christmas designs, six collective images, four dogs and six occasion cards. The designs are illustrated in a watercolour style on textured board and come with complementary coloured envelopes developed by Enveco and individually wrapped.

● Oh Sew Cute from K2 Greetings will be hitting the shops in early June and has had a fantastic response thus far. The concept is centred around the sewing box with a whole host of quality, crocheted cute characters coming together to create a whole world of aahh! The range of 60 designs includes open birthday and occasions and relations titles.

● Jonny Javelin is working on a line extension

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Face To Face: Mary Portas

Pret A Portas "The high street is the heartbeat of the community and that is what people are fighting for," stated Mary Portas at last month’s bira High Street retail conference.

While she may have her detractors, Mary, dubbed ‘The Queen of Shops’, still makes the most of every opportunity to show how passionate she is about the future of our high streets.

PG was in the front row to hear Mary’s keynote speech at the recent bira event in which she pulled no punches with her views on what central government and local councils should be doing to help small retailers. etail guru Mary Portas is, in the flesh, exactly like the Mary Portas you see on TV. Tall, immaculately groomed, she is a presence - passionate, forthright, straightforward and strident.

As the presenter of TV's Mary Queen of Shops, the show - which first aired in May 2007 helped to make her a household name. In the ensuing years, spin-offs have included an eponymous fashion brand concession in House of Fraser stores and her best-selling autobiography, Shop Girl.

She is also founder and creative director of creative communications agency Portas.

However, four years ago, what really propelled the name Mary Portas onto the front pages was The Portas Review - her government commissioned recommendations on how to turn Britain's flailing and failing high streets around.

Although ‘Mary's report’ was heavily criticised, she feels it did achieve a lot of important things. "It put local high streets and small businesses onto the public agenda," she points out. She also claims it helped to generate a civic pride, and cut through some of the red tape, which remains a source of frustration for many card retailers.

While she claims that the report aimed to give back an infrastructure to communities, she admits if she were to do it again, she would have taken a different approach. “I would have done it as a cross party review and I would not have put my name to it. I feel that the politicians shielded themselves. With hindsight, I would have made sure the government signed off the recommendations before they embarked on their PR campaign because there was a lot of bad press."

Misgivings aside, she is keen to point out that, historically, dating back to Gregorian times, retail has a habit of redefining itself every 50 years, demonstrating that it understands what is happening in people's lives. "In this instance, we have seen a shift because of the recession and because of the internet, an everyday way to shop. But people are now realising the importance of the high street in terms of how they live. They are fighting for regeneration, and I for one believe in the power of the people."

Despite predictions that the future of retail would be online, coupled with the ("devastating") growth of big out-of-town supermarkets, Mary says Above: Mary Portas was the this viewpoint has now changed. "The new type of customer is buying less, keynote speaker at the recent bira High Street conference. but shopping on the high street more, with supermarkets actually coming Inset: Queen of Shops. back to high streets with small 'local' outlets."

She says that over the years she has discovered that it all comes down to where councils work with communities and where they don't. "The real problem is that it's the councils that have the pot of money," she continues.

"They need to understand what regeneration really means, because, in the past,

R

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Face To Face: Mary Portas

Mary's Advice To Independents

high streets have tended to look after themselves. Landlords didn't mind who took the shops as long as they could pay, so we ended up with clone towns."

She is therefore adamant that there is a vital need for town teams to work effectively with councils. “The most important thing we can do is to put all the Portas Pilots’ and town teams’ learnings online, showing what has worked and what hasn’t. That way the

Above: Through her Queen of Shops series as well as coverage of the Portas Review, Mary Portas has visited retailers of all disciplines all over the country, such as this one in Margate.

Below right: PM David Cameron being put on the spot on retailing issues

by Mary Portas.

Below left: Mary Portas is interviewed on stage by bira conference host Alexis Conran from the BBC TV’s The Real Hustle.

information would be accessible to everyone who has a stake in their high streets."

To support her theory, she cites Rotherham as an example, highlighting that there was a massive uplift in town footfall when the council lifted its Saturday morning parking fees, which resulted in bringing 50,000 additional cars into the town. "Imagine if that was copied across other towns?" she questions.

Her dream is to see high streets turned into 'destinations'.

"People need the high street to be the heartbeat of local communities. It's about stopping to chat to someone. I'm optimistic that local councils will see that towns need to be set

Charity Shop Quota As the findings of the PG/Cardgains Retail Barometer highlights, charity shops remain a bugbear for independent card retailers.

Mary has an interesting take on this. Despite the fact that she has recently opened 18 Living and Giving charity boutiques for Save the Children, Mary Portas suggests that there should be a quota of charity shops on every high street, three for example, rather than, say, five as is the norm in so many cases.

"After the [charity shop] quota is filled, initially, the same rateable level should be given to two other businesses that are important for the high street, with those shop owners eventually paying higher rates as their businesses grow. It's a win/win situation for the council – as it results in the same amount of money in the pot. That is how you can really look at regeneration."

Continues Mary: "Plus, if anchor stores are important, then, again, they should initially pay the same rate. It's how shopping malls are built up. As the high street starts to pick up, the councils could then put in the businesses that they need to grow it. Slowly, but surely they could then pay the same rates as the other shops on the high street. It should be the same for businesses who need support, the shops on the high street that people need. Councils should be thinking, ‘we want that shop, you're finding it tough, so we will charge you the same rates we give to the charity shops’. I don't want to take anything away from charity shops, but I do think there are other ways for sharing the pot of money that councils have."

Revealing another idea which could help independent card and gift retailers, Mary also believes that there should be a successful strategy of councils buying up property that’s for sale. "They could then rent these units at discounted rents to community-building independents," she suggests.

Wearing her Queen of Shops hat, Mary highlighted some of the reasons why independents fail - aside from struggling with cash flow problems and lack of support from their councils.

“Everyone thinks it’s about the business, but it’s not, it’s about the people,” she emphasised, highlighting that many independent retailers feel very alone.

She also points to a symbiotic relationship between staff and product.

“When you walk into a shop, you instantly see if it's tired and unloved. You can smell it.

You know what's right or wrong. I want to go into shops on the high street that feel confident, but a lot of shops forget that they need to inspire." (She cites Apple’s continued investment in its stores as proof that, despite online sales, there will always be a place for an in-store experience and knowledgeable staff ).

"If a retailer is not connected, and not making the people who come into their shop happy, then they are missing out," she emphasises. "Plus, independents need to know their competitors. Those that don't are the ones that fail," she states. "But if the footfall isn't there then that really is a tough one, and that’s why I'm fighting so hard for the high street."

up ‘to the power of the people’, especially if we get business rates right."

Her vision is that it will involve people crafting and developing high streets in a way that we haven't seen before. "Personal connections need to be forged by retailers and consumers so that going out shopping is not merely a means to an end. It also should be a social experience that makes people feel happy."

She says that creativity will be at the heart of this because we can no longer survive off nostalgia. "High streets need shops, meeting places, crèches and recycling outlets, places that people really need - spaces that are intrinsic and valuable to local communities.

And the most important thing is, we all need to work together to achieve this."

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ARTSOURCE

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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

Kate Bent I am a freelance surface pattern designer with a passion for all things creative. I love to work with fabric, watercolour and free-hand machine embroidery, and have designed a number of bestselling cards, stationery, textile prints and soft toys within Marks and Spencer, many of which can be seen in its stores today.

I would describe my style as warm, naïve and fun with a sophisticated feel, which reflects my love of flowers, fabric and colour. I love to paint with watercolour and traditional inks. My designs are always drawn by hand before painting or adding layers of fabric and then incorporating Photoshop to edit the composition or text.

I have always loved drawing and creating since I can remember, which was recognised and encouraged from an early age by my artistic parents. I pursued art at school and college before graduating from the Winchester School of Art with a First Class BA Honors in Textiles/Fashion in 1999. After exhibiting at London’s New Designers show, I gained commissioned work from Tigerprint, Lego Skala, Vanessa Calver Designs and The Bed Company, as well as a few other textile companies.

I have been freelancing for 15 years now and have gained invaluable experience within the greeting card, gift and stationery industries. I have been fortunate to have a number of best-selling cards within Marks and Spencer, one of which won a Henries award for ‘Best Spring Seasons range’ for my Mother’s Day design. I really wish to carry on designing within these industries, without forgetting my love of designing textile prints.

I have a thirst for creativity that appears to apply to every aspect of my life; whether it be playing the piano, singing, going to art and craft fairs or just having fun with the kids. I love to feel the sun on my face and get out and about whenever I can with my energetic six and three year-old children for an outdoor adventure!

If I’m not creating I’m always thinking about my next project; it truly is a part of who I am. ● ●

WANT TO BE FEATURED?

Email: cookie67@hotmail.com Web: cookie678.wix.com/katebent1

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 Dorothea Saul I first started doodling in university lectures while training to be a primary school teacher. This got me into lots of trouble, mainly because I kept getting caught drawing unflattering images of the lecturers themselves. Now a teacher by day, I get to doodle my heart out to an audience who are easily pleased. Born in Wales in the middle of nowhere, I have now been teaching, mostly in Liverpool, for 11 years which has educated my funny bone to the max and given me the opportunity to meet lots of arty types and witness lots of inspiring crafty coolness.

Living and teaching in the South of France for four years has given my work a slight French edge. My style has been described by others as 'off the wall', 'naive' and 'jolly'. I hope it is mainly giggle inducing with a large dollop of cake, custard and sausage rolls on the side. I have no formal art training but have spent many a staff meeting perfecting my skills which are ever evolving.

I now have a small baby of my own and am therefore turning my attentions to design as my primary focus in life (that, and changing nappies). This has also given me a new topic that I can design around with my newly learnt voice of experience (expect the 'pregnant', 'new baby' and 'oh god, I'm a mother' range soon). Currently, my work is still small scale, craft fairs, selling paintings in cafes etc, but obviously my goal is to take over the world by this time next year and become Edward Monkton. ●

Email: dorotheathegreat@hotmail.com

Roland Dingle I have been working as a freelance illustrator since 1990. During this time, I worked 40 hours a week as a sound technician for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. This daytime job, which I started in 1976, was purely technical. I liked adding various sounds and effects to radio features and editing script to make nice audio packages but they were not my ideas. I needed my own creations.

I started taking art courses and ended up doing book illustrations and covers for various editors. I also started publishing a comic strip in an underground fanzine. Finally, in 1995, I got my own showing at a local art gallery from which I won a bursary to study comics for a semester in l’Academie des Beaux Arts de Tournai in Belgium and a book illustration contract with a local editing company.

This success prompted my employer to move me from the audio department in radio, to the graphics department in television. A promotion I was proud of, but I was still catering to the creators.

Finally, in 1999, this frustration prompted me to quit my daytime job and begin full-time studies in illustration at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. At the end of the first year, I won the Jack Salt award for my work. I continued doing good work and was allowed to do my third year at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I graduated with honours in 2003 and started comic work for a bigger fanzine.

I am now working on my own comic story and have an editor that plans to meet me this spring to discuss a possible publication. I can finally create on my own. This new freedom has opened doors and creating artwork for greeting cards is just part of that creative freedom I have been striving for. ●

Email: rolanddaigle@hotmail.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PG asked a selection of this year’s Retas finalists for their ‘hot’ card sellers.

Retas Awards finalist 2015 - Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - South West Chris Maskell, owner of Saltash Cards, Saltash, Cornwall A small shop in a market town with a loyal locals customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

Carlton (UKG)

Boofle

Humour

Paper House (GBCC)

Eric The Penguin

Photography

Abacus

Rapture

Contemporary

Cardmix

Just Josh

Traditional

IC&G

General

Handmade/ Hand-Finished Children’s

Talking Pictures (Ling)

Stardust

Avanti (GBCC)

General

A lovely puppy character with a sweet background story and there is a wide variety of card designs with good captions.

Non-offensive jokes that appeal to everyone.

A cracking range with wonderful scenes, a good selection and at a great price point. A favourite with everyone in the shop.

It’s quite difficult to find male card designs but this is a good range of male themed activities.

New in the shop, but they have been very popular. The designs and words are lovely - there are just the right amount.

The cards are a bit more special and they stand out on the racks with their bling.

I always find the kids come in the shop and crowd around the Avanti spinner, laughing at their favourite designs.

Above right: Some breath-taking scenes feature in Abacus' Rapture range.

Right: A large size, die-cut Avanti design.

Retas Awards finalist 2015 - Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer or New Branch - North Vivienne Stephen, partner of Quirky Coo, Dundee A small gift and card shop in a bustling city centre with a varied customer base Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

Love From Lemonade

Molly & Max

Humour

Urban Graphic

Four Eyes and Toasted

Cockadoodle Design

Little Bigs

Contemporary

Hiya Pal

Scots Translation

Art

QueenieBrowne

Scottish Wildlife

Ancillary

Just Slate Co Stephen O’Neil

Slate trays Art prints

Clean and simple, this range is as cute as a button!

If someone is standing giggling at our card display, nine times out of 10 it’s at a card from this range. Very popular, and if our customer has a ‘card drawer’ this range is more than likely to be in it!

Our best selling range, handmade in Dundee. From cute to outrageously cheeky, these cards have a broad appeal to anyone who likes a giggle!

Beautifully handmade outside Edinburgh, these are a new addition to our card range. The feedback has been great and our customers are loving them!

Another new addition to our shelves from this uber talented Glasgow graduate. Beautifully hand-drawn cards of Scottish wildlife which are proving popular.

A fantastic range of tableware that everyone would love in their home.

Stephen creates a super stylish range of prints from in and around Scotland. Plus, every house needs a Vintage Irn Bru print!

Right: QueenieBrowne's wildlife illustrations are fresh and striking.

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE



Retas Awards finalist 2015 - Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer or New Branch - North Lucy Sticka and Heidi Richardson, partners of Little Paperie, Ashbourne, Derbyshire A medium shop in a historic market town with a tourists and loyal locals customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

GracieGirl Designs

Origami Cards

Pulp Cards

PaperJOY

Imogen Owen

General

Emily McDowell Studio

General

Art

Sooshichacha

Across The Board

Contemporary

Stop The Clock

Across The Board

Rifle Paper Co (distributed by North Light) Cockadoodle Design

General

All handmade, the designs look totally different to anything else.

The extra selling point is the 3D honeycomb element to the designs. And the company supplies a little stand to clip onto the card racks so that retailers can display the open design.

Cards using modern calligraphy that are a little bit rude but funny.

Word-based designs that are funny and cheeky - ie ‘I Love Your Stupid Face’.

Quirky and bright designs with an arty brushstroke style.

We have a good selection of the company’s cards as they sell very well. The artwork is simple and the dog designs are really popular.

Luxurious stationery that’s a bit more unusual and the US brand is quite well-known and recognisable.

Abigail Warner

Giftbags

Right: Pulp's PaperJOY designs have a beautiful 3D paper honeycomb element.

Below: Gorgeous leopard print giftbags from Abigail Warner.

Humour

Handmade/ Hand-Finished Giftwrappings

Little Big

All the designs are based around the same concept of a cut-out round paper body and big wide-eyes with a cheeky caption.

Strong and contemporary, the gold leopard skin prints and geometric patterns look modern and fresh.

Retas Awards finalist 2015 - Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Wales and the Midlands Neil and Allison Allum, partners of Something Special, Prestatyn and Mold Two small shop in small market towns with a tourists and loyal locals customer base.

Category

Name of Publisher

Product/Name Range

Comments

Cute

UK Greetings

Disney Junior

Carlton (UKG)

Boofle

Humour

Hanson White (UKG)

Giggles

Photography

Tripod Cards

General

Art

Berni Parker

Ladies Who Love Life

Traditional

Grass Roots International Gibson (UKG)

Opulence

We have a spinner of these kids’ favourites. Smaller than usual, we sell the cards for 99p and they are flying out!

A perennial favourite, Boofle appeals to both youngsters and older teenage girls, and the designs look striking altogether on the racks.

Not too rude and with a good variety of designs, this range suits our more mature customers.

Lovely square card images of dogs, flowers, elephants, owls etc. The pull for us is that the photographer is an independent company.

We’ve just placed another order. The gently humorous designs appeal to our customer base.

Glamorous 1920s ladies on Art Deco designs full of flitter and foiling.

Splosh Gifts

Life’s A Hoot

Right: Having a lazy day - a card from Tripod Cards.

Ancillary

Sunny Skies

Fairly new to us, but doing well. It’s a very wordy range of inspirational sentiments in nice pastel colours with more unusual captions, such as ‘How Can I Help?’

Wooden plaques and picture frames for the home in off-white with a little owl and a poem for family or friends. Prices start at £5.99.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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LYNN’S LINES

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On the ball comments by retailer and publisher Lynn Tait of The Lynn Tait Gallery.

Please Can I Have Some More?

There has been a lot of discussion recently in the greeting card press and my Ladder Club Facebook group about why card retailers are hesitant to reorder greeting cards, even when they agree the cards have been selling through well. This is incredibly frustrating and rather bemusing for publishers. As I am one of those guilty retailers who are responsible for this, I thought I would try and throw some light on it so that publishers don't feel so down-hearted.

It is quite a complex issue and I think worthy of an explanation.

Throughout the year, I buy from websites, I do a lot of my buying at PG Live and also at Harrogate Home & Gift and see one or two agents. The latter has not been a choice of mine recently as I have definitely seen a decline in the number and quality of agents in the past two years. Why is it that people are not seeing becoming an agent as an attractive and lucrative career to go into? The dearth of good agents is definitely holding back new and aspiring publishers who have great product.

However, I believe the core of the problem with retailers similar to me of not reordering a range that has been successful is all down to the amount charged for carriage paid orders. So here is the scenario for me as I begin my buying campaign pre-PG Live.

I would normally buy from about nine card publishers at the fair, depending on time.

As I am exhibiting at the show as well I have to spend a lot of time researching companies before I go and do a stock take of what I need so that I use my time wisely.

Then there is an issue of budget. I will hope to be buying from about three new

publishers, three regulars and some lapsed ones. I will be very focused.

So, I find a new company that fits in with my shop’s image, I take a punt on them and buy what I think gels well as a range. I then ask what is the carriage paid amount? £150 is the response... grrhh! How much do I want these cards? Some 50% of the time I would pass because historically I know what will happen.

There will be about £100 and at most £125 worth of cards that will be suitable for my shop, but usually there will not be enough choice of cards from a new company. I may

Above: Carriage paid orders could be hindering card publishers' orders.

Below: Gift goodies from Half Moon Bay displayed in Lynn's shop. Many gift companies are aware that independent retailers like to order little and often.

love the company’s wedding cards, but may not need them, or it may not be the season or I may be tight on space. These are some of the reasons that I will be scratching around to find designs that may not sell in my shop to get to the carriage paid amount.

I know that if the initial order has to be £150 the chances of a reorder is highly unlikely, because hey presto! I will be left with the niggly cards that I didn't think would cut the mustard initially.

Psychologically it really annoys me that I have had to buy cards I knew wouldn't sell and they will be there staring out from the shelf as a constant reminder. You tend to forget the cards that sold out in the first couple of weeks, it is the poor sellers that hang around that taint the perception of the others.

So the original cards that I fell in love with have sold really well and I could do with a top up but I don't because I am back to the original problem of a £150 carriage paid order and I have proved that there aren't enough cards in the range that will sell, plus I still have the added problem of the slow sellers that I already have.

Had I have been able to order £100 worth of cards and not wait till the poor sellers sold I would have possibly been on a third order!

I must stress these are new companies with say 100 designs.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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LYNN’S LINES Left: In the buying zone, a visitor at the recent Spring Fair.

Below right: Lynn’s busiest time is when the weather is good in Leigh on Sea. Bottom: Not many card retailers want all their Easter stock from just one company.

The number of cards on offer and the amount that is carriage paid is directly related. I feel if you are a publisher you have to give your retailer customer a choice. Existing card publishers which have a known track record with me I could spend several hundreds of pounds with, and with a couple of companies that I only see once a year, and don't see the agent, it will be well in excess of this.

But whatever stock I choose to buy I don't like being dictated to how much I spend, the amount just evolves from what I need, but a ‘carriage paid amount’ is definitely a barrier.

The trend in retail now is ‘little and often’ and most of the big giftware companies have very low carriage paid orders, even if they have thousands of products, because they know that once you get ordering you are ‘in the zone’ and they can offer the choice of stock that will woo you.

Another reason card retailers may not be reordering is because we want our shop to look different so we offer fresh new ranges.

I have a huge stock of cards and in season (I am in a tourist area) I am very busy.

So my first rule is that I don’t order from all the publishers all of the time. So even if a range is selling well I may not keep stocking it regularly.

Not reordering the range is not the fault of the publisher. We have a very large selection of cards and like to offer a big choice for each occasion. The point is I want to be able to offer say 25 different Get Well cards, 20 different Son designs, 10 Friend cards, but a lot of publishers would only do say two New Home cards or two Thinking of You, so for me to offer a wide choice of captions to our customers I might have to order from at least six different companies to get the selection of cards I need.

So if I just need ‘a card top up’ of say six different occasions that might mean that 54

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

if I order from five different companies that would be £750 worth of greeting cards if the carriage paid was £150 for each company, just to make sure I had the selection for a few occasions that I was getting low on.

Then you have the Spring Seasons - Valentine’s Day, Easter, Mother's Day and Father’s Day. I would normally order these at Harrogate Home & Gift because it is the last fair in the year that I visit, and then I know I don't have to worry about the seasons in January. As a card retailer you have a dilemma - do you want £150 worth of Spring Seasons cards from one company?

Ordering that far in advance you don't know what else you might need or see later in the year, plus the order will arrive in January for Valentine’s Day and then it may be April before you can recoup your initial cash outlay, which then gives you a cash flow problem.

So to encourage the buying of Spring Seasons cards, especially Father's Day designs, I suggest to card publishers to maybe introduce a £75 carriage paid order.

Apart from the actual order the other advantage of course is that it will earn you lots of ‘brownie points’ in goodwill and the relationship between agent, publisher and retailer is a long-term partnership and anything that can be done to enhance the relationship should be encouraged. This may mean extended credit terms, relaxed carriage paid terms, cards sold in threes if they are very unusual titles or the offer to replace slow selling lines. As a publisher we always offer to

replace slow sellers, and in my 26 years in business I can only recall our retailer customers doing this twice. The fact that they are given the option means they are not in effect taking a risk, which is a massive advantage if they are not confident buyers.

Probably one of my biggest pet hates when I am buying cards or gifts is when I have clearly bought what I want and the company representative says “you have £2.50 to go to carriage paid order”… grrhh!! Similarly I love it when I'm near the amount of carriage paid and struggling to reach the amount and they say “that's fine”. I am sure that experienced sales people are now flexible with carriage paid. They will want to keep their customer and it’s much better to have a ‘nearly’ carriage paid than no order at all.

Another reason why I might not reorder regularly successful card ranges is that I can go from 0 to 60 from January to April.

My first priority, when my shop comes into its own with good weather and lots of tourists being around, is to buy in gifts which are at a higher price point. I am well stocked on everything else and there is money coming into the till to pay for cards, which take a bit longer to sell than gifts.

If I have not reordered your cards for a while it probably won't be due to the cards not selling, it is just down to my strategy I have to use when reordering. So take heart and I'll be back soon to order. Just because I have lapsed as a buyer, it does not mean your cards aren't excellent. And although publishers love getting new companies on board I think keeping your existing ones is very important and commendable.

And a big thank you loyal retailers who have supported me for so long by buying my cards and thank you lovely publishers whose cards have adorned my shop over the years.

55-61_PG_June 2015_V2_PRODUCT DIRECTORIES 05/06/2015 13:39 Page 55

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INTERNATIONAL

www.dipingodesign.co.uk

G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL 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

G RASS R OOTS INTERNATIONAL 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

from the

www.greatbritishcards.co.uk WATERWELLS DRIVE, GLOUCESTER GL2 2PH UK TEL: 01452 888999

Beautiful greeting cards from contemporary British artwork

www.dryredpress.com T +44 (0) 1273 241210 E info@dryredpress.com

Get involved!

www.gca.cards

Prizes for Best Window Display! Go to

www.gca.cards PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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CHARITY GREETING CARDS 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

LING DESIGN The UK’s leading privately owned publisher of Greetings Cards and Stationery.

icg ic cg

...The home for

&

and

INTERNATIONAL CARDS & GIFTS

Quality

! dep d end on e you can and Servic

Get Ready! Download free POS at

www.gca.cards

ICG are are specialists in quality greeting greeting car cards ds at fantastic prices!

One of very few publishers who design, manufacture manufacture and despatch all fr from om their Head Office in Dorset.

...and the UK home for

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 Fax: 01892 838676 Email: enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk Website: www.lingdesign.co.uk

New products products launched every four weeks! weeks!

Also a specialist in cards. everyday rreligious eligious / Christmas car ds.

METHOD OF SALE Dir Direct ect and Expor Export

Greetings cards designed to make people smile. We have a card for every occasion plus a few extra ones we made up.

Contact: Sarah Britton on 07833 089 098 or email info@lovefromlemonade.co.uk

150mm x 150mm and packed in 6s

Made in the UK

BRANDS Pintura Ne Pintura New w cr creation eation Fun the moment Fun House House Treasure Treasure the Jazzy J azzy Fizzle Fizzl e Compassion Compassion International Car Cards ds & Gifts ltd Unit 4 Haviland Road, Ferndown Industrial Estate Wimborne, W imborne, Dorset, BH21 7RF

Tel: T e el: +44 (0) 1202 897 494 Email: sales@icgcar sales@icgcards.com ds.com

Web: Web: www www.icgcards.com .icgcards.com

Greetings cards designed to make people smile. We have a card for every occasion plus a few extra ones we made up.

Contact: Sarah Britton on 07833 089 098 or email info@lovefromlemonade.co.uk

www.lovefromlemonade.co.uk

150mm x 150mm and packed in 6s

Made in the UK

www.lovefromlemonade.co.uk

environmentally friendly contemporary & vibrant paper products. greeting cards, notebooks paper pens, boxed notes

..Gorgeous, fun & cheeky Greeting Cards, Keyrings, Mirrors, Chocolates, Tattoos, Badges, Mugs, Mints, Luxury Soap & Smashing Stationery!

0844 586 7477 sales@juicylucydesigns.com

60 years

Yo our N Number b O One S Supplier li off Numerals, Name, Relation & Age Labels for Greetings Cards.

Huge selection with immediate deliveryy. Buy direct or from your wholesalerr.

t. 01243 780501 e. info@jonesy.ca

jonesy.ca agents wanted

Listan Labels 3 Isis Court, Wyndyke Furlong, Abingdon Business Park, Oxfordshire Abingdon, Oxfor dshire OX1 5JN T el e 01235 465489 Fax 01235 532118 Tel www.listanpublications.co.uk www .listanpublications.co.uk sales@listanpublications.co.uk

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originalposter.com

All our cards are supplied on consignment, so you only pay for what you sell.

We also supply card fixtures and spinners free-on-loan.

We replace slow sellers and damaged stock free of charge.

We merchandise regularly, so you don’t have to.

THAT’S WHY WE’RE ORIGINAL!

01932 267 300

Cards made with love...

Three great publishers, all under one roof, contemporary, graphic, humour, cute and photographic ranges with a fantastic range of occasions and relations cards.

Key brands: V&A, Portobello, Spirit, Daisy Patch, Sugar Pips, Marzipan Toybox, Born to Stitch, Idols, Life, Sweet Tooth, Brights.

Method of sale: Direct to retail, Export and Licensing.

Sendingg Smiles across the h miles il

Riverside House, Centurion Way, Riverside Business Park, Nottingham NG2 1RW Tel: 0115 986 0115 Fax: 0115 986 0116 Email: sales@paperrose.co.uk Web: www.paperrose.co.uk www.artgroupcards.co.uk

To get involved this September go to

www.gca.cards www.gca.cards

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, Say the Word, Carousel, Meadow Sweet, R&R for Men, What a Picture!

Cloudesley House • Shire Hill Saffron Walden • CB11 3FB T: 01799 520200 F: 01799 520100 www.nigelquiney.com

Get involved!

www.gca.cards 59

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

paperlink... pap erlink... the home of fa fabulous bulous cards!

356 56 Kennington Rd London SE11 4LD T 020 7582 8244 info@paperlink.co.uk @paperlink.co.uk www.paperlink.co.uk

Suppliers of humorous & contemporary Birthday, Christmas, Spring Seasons, Occasions & Relations cards Brands include: Bottomline, Bestie, Wrinklies, Hat Trick, Route 69, Bangers & Flash, Humdingers, Lacie, Sassy, Stay Wonky, Patisserie, Tinklers, Made With Love, and many many more!

Method of Sale: Direct

To appear in the Product Directory please contact Warren Lomax on 020 7700 6740

Paperlinkcards Paperlinkcards @paperlinkcards @ paperlinkcards PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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PRODUCT DIRECTORY ADVENT CALENDARS

TM

Prizes for Best Window Display! Go to

www.gca.cards

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

LING DESIGN

Mr Figgis, when we say parents invited, we usually mean to sit and watch!

Greeting Cards that are unique & special with creative wit.

Looking for top-notch agents to join our expanding team.

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

Dad - I thought you said I could be the, one to tell him you re out

rosierobins.com 01992 536461

RICHARD SELLMER VERLAG Freepost RRZH-KLSL-HYBY Richard Sellmer Verlag KG Stourbridge Tel/Fax: 01384877755 Email: uksales@sellmer-verlag.de Products: Richard Sellmer Verlag is producing Advent Calendars for more than 60 years.

Me th od of sa le : Direct to Retail 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent TN12 6BE Tel: 01892 838574 Fax: 01892 838676 Email: enquiries@lingdesign.co.uk Website: www.lingdesign.co.uk

Sensations International Ltd

Design-led Stationery, Gifts, Calendars, Diaries and Cards Brands Laura Ashley, Roald Dahl, Lily & Val, Vintage Ladybird, Caroline Gardner, Monsoon, Born to Shop, Flash Gordon, Boofle and many more.

Sendingg Smiles across the h miles il To get involved this September go to

www.gca.cards www.gca.cards

Unit 6, Quad Road,East Lane Business Park,East lane, Wembley,MIDDLESEX HA9 7NE Tel. 0208 3854470 Fax: 0208 385 4471 Email: sales@sensationsinternational.com PRODUCTS: World’s leading publisher of high quality plastic greeting cards. Also an extensive range of quality greeting cards covering Everyday, Occasions, Christmas and Spring seasons.

BRANDS: Cherished Thoughts, Sweet Sentiments, Buddies Always, Symphony, Thinking of You, Style, Special Wishes, Special Times, Young Editions, Groove Sensations, Forever Blessed, Grey Skies, Classics.

METHOD OF SALE: Direct to retail.

Our In-house design studio and established supply chain enables us to offer bespoke services. tel: +44 (0) 1225 329494 email: sales@porticodesigns.com website: www.porticodesigns.com

The Playful Indian cards are a unique fusion of the east and west. Simple and quirky, they have made many people smile...so what are you waiting forr, put a smile on someone’s face today!

holy y cow! it’ss your birthd it hda ay y

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w: www.tomcatcards.co.uk www.tomcatcards.co.uk e: tomcat@tomcatcards.co.uk t: 01243 837300

The UK’s leading publishers of highest quality handmade Greetings Cards.

Products: Greetings cards for all occasions, Christmas and Spring Seasons. Spinners and other retail displays available.

01923 200600 | www.woodmansterne.co.uk

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Top-notch British Greeting Cards for Thoughts that Count

PRODUCT DIRECTORY

Talking Pictures Cards 14-20 Eldon Way, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6BE

Tel: 0845 450 1815 Fax: 0845 450 1816 Email: enquiries@talkingpics.co.uk Website: www.talking-pictures.co.uk

DIRECT TO RETAIL & EXPORT

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

Get involved!

www.gca.cards

Brands: Designer Collection, Feelings, Impressions, Inspirations, In Touch, Isabel’s Garden, Paper Wishes, Planet Happy.

Method of sale: Wholesale Distributors

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

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PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

To appear in the Product Directories

TEL: 01480 435562 FAX: 01480 450599 www.tracksltd.com UNIT 2, 12 BLACKSTONE RD, STUKELEY MEADOWS IND EST, HUNTINGDON, CAMBS, PE29 6EF

simply contact Warren Lomax on: 020 7700 6740 or email on warren@max-publishing.co.uk or contact Tracey Arnaud on: 07957 212 062 or email on tarnaud@btinternet.com PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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Directory of wholesalers Directory of wholesalers DIRECTORY OF WHOLESALERS l

ESSEX

LONDON & THE SOUTH

WALES

CROMWELL CARD COMPANY Greeting Card Distributors

Greetings cards, Stationery, & Party lines Cash and Carry Unit C Coppen Road, Dagenham Essex RM8 1HJ Mon-Fri 9.30-5.00 Thurs 9.30-9.00 Sun 10.00-2.00 Tel 0208 592 2764

NATIONWIDE

MERSEYSIDE

R J’s Greeting Cards Ltd Merseyside Greeting Cards Ltd

Merseyside’s Largest Greeting Card Distributor Due to our massive buyer power, we are able to offer you the best prices and also take a pride in our friendly service.

Greeting Cards from 5p Contact R J Walkden on 0753- 9679-700

WEST MIDLANDS

Greeting cards * Gift ranges * Pocket money toys * Balloons * Badges * Banners * Soft toys * Stationery * Collectables , including dolls * Photo frames

magnus

Always something different Check us out now!!!

RUPERT

Mon-Fri 9.30 to 5.30 Sunday 10 to 1 Late night Thursday till 8pm Freephone 0800 0279072770 Fax: 0151 207 1564 Unit 7 & 8 Devon Street, Liverpool, L3 8HA

TRADING

Greetings Cards for all occasions

LONDON’S NO 1 GREETING CARDS STATIONERY TOYS CASH & CARRY

HERTS & LONDON

SUMAN BROS

OPEN MON, WED, THURS 9.00 - 8.00pm TUES, FRI 9.00 - 5.30pm CLOSED SAT SUN 10.00 - 4.00 UNIT 2, CHAILEY INDUSTRIAL ESTATE, PUMP LANE, HAYES, MIDDLESEX, UB3 3NB, ENGLAND TEL: 020 8573 2975 / 1768 FAX: 020 8 561 2349 Email: info@abbeycards.com

Stationery and greeting card wholesaler

Crown House Otterspool Way Watford WD25 8HL T: 01923 200 900 F: 01923 200 909 Great deals Great location Plentiful parking Just off the M1 Junction 5 62

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

NORTH WEST

C A P S Card & Party Store Ltd

Mon/Wed/Fri: 8.00 - 5.00 Tues/Thurs: 8.00 - 8.30 Sat: 8.00 - 12.00 Sun: 8.00 - 2.00

The North West s Largest Supplier to the Independent Specialist Card & Gift Shop

Massive range of Cards, Partyware, Gifts, Gift Bags, Gift Boxes & Gift Dressings

574 Manchester Road, Bury, BL9 9SW

0161 796 7353

Order online at www.card-party.co.uk

To appear in the Wholesale Directory simply call Warren Lomax on 020 77006740 PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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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

ENVELOPES

GIVE Y YOUR OUR

FOR FOR ALL A LL Y YOUR OU R E ENVELOPE N V ELOPE N NEEDS! EEDS! Largest L argest rrange ange of iin-stock n- stock ccolours olours Over 400 Bespoke Envelope Sizes 8 Sizes Permanently in Stock RECYCLED

100% Recycled Paper A vailable v Available

PAPER

Stock & Bespoke Cello Bags

VIP

TREATMENT TREA ATMENT T

Peel & Stick Envelopes Bespoke Service on Request

ORDER ON LINE AT: AT: www.regentenvelopes.com www.regentenvelopes.com 01274 583000 sales@regentenvelopes.com sales@regentenvelopes.com

HIGH CLARITY BAGS FOR GREETING CARDS, CALENDARS AND ARTWORK ŏ ŏđŏ ŏ ŏ ŏ ŏ ŏ FOIL BLOCKING EXTENSIVE RANGE OF STOCK SIZES AND BESPOKE MANUFACTURE WRAPPING SERVICE AUTOMA AT TED WRA PPING SER VICE NEW AUTOMATED

CALL US TODAY

01228 560526 www.fulcrumfilms.co.uk

Quality Bespoke Envelopes!

From 5,000 quantity to many millions we can produce excellent quality envelopes for you.

Plain, printed, coloured & textured finish.

100% recycled & FSC available.

We’ve We’ve been producing bags of high clarity and high quality for over 30 years.

01274 220 220 www w.wrapid.co.uk www.wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk sales@wrapid.co.uk

Please call us on 0843 5066684 with your enquiry or visit our website

www.ukenvelopecentre.co.uk We will be delighted to help!

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FLITTERING

DISPLAY

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

EXPORT

specialist greeting card printer We print using the UK’s ďŹ rst Carbon Neutral Heidelberg press and offer a wide range of specialist ďŹ nishes all in-house, including: Flittering, Flittering, F Foiling, oiling, UV V Varnishing, arnishing, Embos Embossing, sing, Debos Debossing, sing, Die cutting, T Tippin ippin Inserting, A Automated utomated individual c cello ello bagging, A Automated utomated labelling and wr wrapping apping in units.

Full packing and distribution services.

Waterwells Drive Waterwells Business Park Quedgeley Gloucester GL2 2AA T 01452 887000 E sales@alphacolour.com W alphacolour r.c . om By buying prroduc o ts with the FSC label you o arre supporting the grrow o th of re esponsible forest management worldwide.

Pro roduct ct pririnte ted on a Carbon Neutra ral Press www.heidelberg rg.co com/CO2 . 210504

TT T--C COC-002429

BMT-PEFC-0401

Š 1996 FSC A.C.

License No.155071

print green with us

EXCESS STOCK

O F F S E T PRODUCTIONS

EXCESS STOCKS TO CLEAR?

Printing Greeting Cards

Op

for over 30 years • Litho printing • Digital printing

We specialise in purchasing excess inventory in GREETING CARDS, GIFT-WRAP and allied products.

• Embossing

Small or large quantities considered.

• Foiling

All restrictions honoured.

For an immediate DQG FRQĂ€GHQWLDO response please send samples and information to:

• Die-cutting • Flittering • Folding • Packing • ISO 9001 & 14001

N.E WHOLESALE 92 Station Road, Willingham, Cambridge, CB24 5HG T: 01954 260728 E: cardworkstrading@btconnect.com 64

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

PRODUCTIONS

t 01622 710 759

www.offsetproductions.co.uk

188 Forstal Road, Aylesford, Kent ME20 7DB

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(London) The Capitals only Greetings card printer

at PJ Print we pride ourselves on great customer care,

Specialist UK and Global manufacturer for the greeting card industry

and the greeting cards we make

To discuss how we could work with you contact Simon King

are pretty smart too.

For Award winning Print look no further than

PJ - PRINT

Tel: 0115 928 7766 Email: sales@sherwoodgroupuk.com

www.sherwoodgroupuk.com

E-mail: sales@pj-print.co.uk The Print Works Colville Road, Acton London W3 8BL tel 020 8993 5160 fax 020 8992 8421 www.pj-print.co.uk

Hadden Court, Glaisdale Parkway, Glaisdale Drive West, Nottingham, NG8 4GP

The home of greeting cards t ependen ding ind a le r ’s e r K u The U n ufa c t card ma greeting Y j_ed

Do you find you need to quickly top up your popular stock lines, or would like to trial a few designs before committing to longer runs? Then the Windles Group FlexiSheet is perfect for you. With a turnaround time of just 5 days and 1,000 cards at litho rates, the Windles Group once again delivers useful solutions to you.

In order to support our other production methods, we are also now offering the FlexiSheet with our integrated ColdFoil, allowing you to develop a highly creative range of greetings cards.

hZ fheZk [j_d] YW ki ed ]h[ Y \e b _W Y [i If[ i[ i[hl_Y \ _d#^ek e [ ] d W h <kbb [Z ]kWhWdj[ GkWb_jo [i Y h_ f j_j_l[ 9ecf[ h[b_WXb[ Z d W _edWb Fhe\[ii Wbb [h jee ic Y j_ed$ De ehZ ij fheZk h W Z < ;W d W A K 8ej^ services, ur unique 1150 ation on o rm 14 fo in 01 250 For more s team on le sa e th ntact please co eys.co.uk sales@loxl or email:

PEFC / 16-33-794

Benb[oi" A_bd Ijh[[j" I^[\Å[bZ I. &OI

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The Specialist Greetings Card Printer

Digital Di it l Print P i tS Specialist i li t for the greeting card industry

Litho Print

What we offer:

Digital Print Foiling

• Greeting cards • Artworking and design • Short-run print

Embossing

• Pick, pack and distribution

Die-cutting Flittering Packing Distribution

• Promotional items • Bespoke gifts • Marketing literature

Tel: 01274 531828 Email: chriss@herbertwalkers.co.uk

• Exhibition graphics • Stationery • Brochures • and more...

www.herbertwalkers.co.uk

TM

Packaging

BRC

07974 133735 paul.watson@sherwoodgroupuk.com

Certificated

HW

YOUR MANUFACTURING PARTNER FOR VALUE ADDED PRODUCTS English speaking production team, prices quoted in sterling... and only 3 days delivery to THE UK...

Really... and there s no VAT to pay or customs procedures either...that's a great deal!

• 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

Herbert Walkers Ltd The one stop shop for publishers large and small

WAREHOUSING & DISTRIBUTION

The Professional and Caring Approach..

... to 3rd Party Warehouse, Distribution and Hand Finishing needs.

With over 25 years experience in the Greeting Card and Gift Industry, we specialise in providing a very fast yet efficient and friendly service to all of our customers.

Our close links to the port of Felixstowe allowing excellent access for both UK and overseas business.

For production enquiries, estimates etc., please contact our UK Agent:

Rob Pearson 07710 132 232 rob@solutions-polska.com FSC accredited (BV-COC-002485). Audited member of SMETA. Printing to ISO12674-2 standard.

We would be happy to talk to you and provide further information please contact either: James Smithies on 01449 778360 e: james@setinhand.com Tracy Davies on 01449 778363 e: tracy@setinhand.com Please visit our website at www.setinhand.com for further information.

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LB Warehousing (Women in Transport & Logistics Finalist)

S AME DAY order turnaround A CCURATE fulfilment and same day turn round V ALUE ADDED only as you sell the product E XCLUSIVELY Greeting Cards D EDICATED Account Managers With an excellent reputation we work as an integral part of your TEAM bringing much more than fulfilment.

Our costing structure is SIMPLE and TRANSPARENT. We carry out ALL aspects of hand finishing and assembly and provide whatever ADDITIONAL services YOU need Our select team of outworkers carefully hand wrap any size or format of cards urgently, OVERNIGHT! We CARE about your product as much as you do. Attention to detail, QC Issues and IT supported by a comprehensive paper trail for all stock movements are our hallmarks.

Our CAN DO approach means that WE solve your problems.

Outsourcing your warehousing operation releases your time to CREATE/MARKET/SELL/ MANAGE/GROW THE BUSINESS YOUR BUSINESS IS OUR BUSINESS, please visit our web site and see what OUR customers say, then to find out more call Lynda Raymond and perhaps we can arrange to meet and discuss your needs I am sure that we can help.

LB Warehousing, Units 1, 2 &3 Wayside Warehouses, Toseland, Near St. Neots, Cambridgeshire. PE19 6RX Tel 01480 880800 Fax 01480880900 Mobile 07889 399341 lynda@lb-warehousing.co.uk

WIRE SPINNERS

Designer Paper Dove Company is a leading greetings card design company based in the Northumberland, developing products for many of the largest charities in the UK and Europe.

We are currently looking for a full-time designer to join our in house greetings card design team. The UROH UHTXLUHV VRPHRQH ZKR FDQ ZRUN VSHFLÀFDOO\ with a range of painterly and traditional techniques around Christmas and everyday themes. Basic computer skills such as photoshop are useful but not necessary.

Candidates need to be able to show inspiration and creativity in their portfolio and samples of work that may be relevant to the cards market.

The selected candidate would be expected to be involved in customer meetings and represent the company in a professional manner.

We offer excellent working conditions as well as other EHQHÀWV 6DODU\ ZLOO EH GHSHQGHQW RQ H[SHULHQFH For more information on our company and examples of the kind of work we are looking for visit: http://www.paperdove.co.uk/#!work/czzb Please email a current CV and samples of your work to lucy@paperdove.co.uk

Tel: 01929 550085 Email: sales@westminsterwire.com Web: www.westminsterwire.com

Home of the Wire Spinner Stand

Agents Required Halligan Raby has been a leading supplier of personalised gift & card ranges to the retail trade for over 30 years.

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.

We are looking for established sales agents who have good To appear in Progressive Greetings simply call Warren Lomax on: 0207 700 6740 or alternatively email him on warren@max-publishing.co.uk

connections with gift shops, garden centres and tourist outlets. Experience in dealing with personalised ranges would be an advantage.

Contact us on 0121 453 1741 email: sales@halliganraby.co.uk PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE

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iiss Aro AAround und the t he ccorner o rner bbrand rand ne neww designs designs and ranges ranges available available to to order ordeer from the the end of june

and do donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fo forg rgeett ouurr new ew rele leas asee of bu bunnttiinng! ( 10 amaazziinng designs )

CContact ontact your RRep/Agent, ep/Agent,, call us or go online: online

www.secondnature.co.uk w w w.se condnature.co .uk E : hello@secondnature.co.uk hello@secondnature.co.uk T : +44(0)1983 209 590