Blue Eyed Sun

Blue Eyed Sun - gorgeous greetings cards

Card Industry News

  • New Gorgeous Gifts shortlisted for Gift of the Year 2014

    Gorgeous Gifts short listed for Gift of the YearWe are very excited to announce that our new licensed giftware range Gorgeous, developed with Widdop Bingham, has been shortlisted for Gift of the Year 2014. Hopefully we will make the finals held at Spring Fair in a few weeks. Our Gorgeous range of greeting cards has also been first round short listed in the Cards for Design-Led Shops category.
    Products shortlisted for Gift of the Year 2014 will be judged by the following criteria:

    Design innovation and originality Quality of manufacture Sales potential and commercial viability Presentation and packaging Customer appeal and value Retail profit potential Marketing and merchandising support to the trade and the consumer X/WOW factor. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at Spring Fair on Sunday 2nd February and trophies will be presented to the winning companies.
     
    Finalist products will be displayed in the Gift of the Year 2014 show house at Spring Fair at the NEC Birmingham.

    The Gift of the Year 2014 judging panel is:

    Lindsey Adam - Bonkers, Richard Barker - Cilla & Camilla, Ronnie Barnard - Gifts for Gentlemen, Lyndsey Brooks – Lakeland, Tina Botterill - Cool! Cards and Gifts at Handpicked Hall, Peter Burridge - Montpellier Gallery, Hilary Davenport - Scotts and Co, Judith Harris – Notcutts, Jane Hudson - Presents for Men, Mark Jones - Occasions Direct, Coralie Keech - Daisy Chain, Kirsten Linton – Cornucopia, Dick Mawdsley – Utility, Nathaniel Mobbs - National Gallery, Jenny Spivey - Frosts Garden Centres, Simon Woolgrove – Achica, Natalie Yates - Gifts From Handpicked, Zoe York - Squashed Tomato

    Click here to read more about some of the Blue Eyed Sun licensed gift lines from Widdop Bingham.

    To enquire about further licensing opportunities with Blue Eyed Sun cards contact Jeremy at www.blueeyedsun.co.uk

    For more information of Gift of the Year 2014 visit www.giftoftheyear.co.uk

  • Festive Friday 2013 at Blue Eyed Sun's workshop

    Festive Friday 2013 at Blue Eyed Sun

    Today is Festive Friday 2013, the day that kick starts the UK Christmas card sending season and we've been busy.

    The UK Greeting Card Association launched the Festive Friday campaign to encourage card publishers and retailers to send their Christmas cards early to spread the love and to remind everyone to remember to send theirs. There are around 100,000 people working directly and indirectly with the UK card industry. If each of us sends 10 Christmas cards in the first week of December it will have a fantastic ripple effect from those first million gestures.

    At Blue Eyed Sun we decided to get into the Christmas spirit ourselves and held a 'christmas card writing hour' for our team to write and send cards to their loved ones. We sponsored the cards, their time and the postage to support the GCA campaign. All our team had to do was to write as many cards as they wanted to in the hour. We managed 102 Christmas cards between us, which have been winging their way via Royal Mail this week to their lucky recipients.

    As you can see our team had a lot of fun on Festive Friday 2013 with some fantastic Christmas jumpers and Santa hats to get us in the Christmas mood. Even Rachel's new puppy, Bert, got into the spirit of things. It's so heart warming to think about all of the love going out into the world from this short amount of time dedicated to card sending rather than card making and we'd recommend it to all publishers and retailers who read this blog.

    Even if you are not in the card industry, it is a great time of year to connect with your customers, friends and loved ones. Send them a nice Christmas card with a warm message in it expressing your gratitude and wishing them all the best for 2014. Do it this week. Spread that festive cheer around the world.

    There are only a few days left to get cards in the post though, so do get started this week. I've listed the Royal Mail's last posting dates below. Want to print this info out for your customers?

    You can download the last UK posting dates in a PDF by clicking here.

    Find out more about Blue Eyed Sun's Christmas cards for 2013 here. Available at all good card retailers.

    Worried about the cost? Read the truth about

    How Royal Mail's price increases affect your card sending costs here.

    Royal Mail Christmas Sending Dates 2013

  • Alex Polizzi is looking to help a struggling gift shop

    Alex Polizzi - The Fixer

    Twofour Broadcast are looking for family run businesses to take part in the next season of the successful BBC Two series ‘The Fixer’ with Alex Polizzi. If you are a family run business and are happy to share your experiences, including any problems and dilemmas, read on.

    There are over three million family run businesses in the UK but only 30% make it to the second generation of family ownership. The reality is that 30,000 family businesses are at risk of disappearing. With the help of leading business expert Alex Polizzi, the third series of this popular programme will include a special episode focused on a gift shop.

    The purpose of the show is to guide and advise family businesses through some of the trials and tribulations a family run company can face – whether it’s how best to plan for the future and preserve the legacy of previous generations, or looking at ways to improve profitability and diversification while developing the business to make sure it’s a success for years to come. I am a big fan of this program and know two businesses that have benefited from being on the show.

    The programme producers have spoken to all of the businesses that took part in the last series and all have reported rises in profits and customers. This may have resulted from the increased exposure received. Alex Polizzi is a wonderful expert that really adds value to any business she works with on the show. She recently spoke at Autumn Fair International to a packed crowd of retailers.

    Twofour want to hear from struggling family businesses who are finding it tough in the current economic climate and who are uncertain about the future of their business. To find out more please contact Naomi at Twofour on 0207 438 1812 or email familybusinesses@twofour.co.uk by no later than the end of November 2013.

    Click here to read business tips for retailers

    Watch the trailer with Alex Polizzi as The Fixer on BBC2:

  • The Ladder Club Seminar 2013

    Ladder Club 2013 GCA Speakers

    The Ladder Club is an annual seminar to support new and aspiring greeting card publishers to climb the ladder up the card industry. It's organised by Lynn Tait and has been a fantastic support to many publishers for over a decade, helping them to avoid the pitfalls that can cost time, money and a whole lot of heartache.

    I have been the keynote speaker at the event for the past nine years of it's fourteen year history and have had the privilege of meeting and helping many fantastic new businesses during that time. Often the seminar has been regarded by attendees as a success even when they have decided not to become a publishers. For £48 and a day of their time some artists and photographers have realised that their passion is creating beautiful things and they choose to find other ways of generating income including licensing their work, partnering with businesses or simply selling their work in other mediums instead of on cards.

    We had a fantastic turn out for the first day of the seminar this year which is all about helping the delegates to take their first step onto the Ladder. Jakki Brown, the co-founder of the Ladder Club, compered the day in the absence of Lynn Tait who organises it with the help of her two stars Trudy and Pauline. The day started with an introduction to the Greeting Card Association with CEO Sharon Little. Warren Lomax from Max Publishing spoke about PG Live, the Henries Awards and how to make the most of Progressive Greetings magazine's free editorial section.

     

    Ladder Club 2013 Greeting Card Printers

    Simon King and Nicky Marshall from Sherwood Litho Press showed everyone how to prepare for and print litho on B1 presses and the technical issues involved with doing so.

    Bob Short from The Imaging Centre took us all through the Digital Printing process which most card publishers these days use for short runs to test the market with their products. Both printers ran through the costs of getting started and the Ladder Club delegates were given some useful information packs.

    Ladder Club Car Industry Suppliers 2013

    Everyone got to learn about the different substrates and boards they could print on in an entertaining talk from Mark at paper merchants GF Smith. Julie from Enveco Envelopes Plus talked about how envelopes are made, what prices they start at and how to save money by using standard off-the-shelf sizes for your first greeting card ranges. Simon Boyd from Progressive Greetings Live talked us through the important things to consider when exhibiting at trade shows for the first time and how to get the most out of your trade shows.

    Ladder Club Card Publishing Speakers 2013One of my favourite talks was from Ian Bradley, a Midlands greeting card agent, who helped everyone to gain an insight into how working with freelance sales agents can benefit their greeting card business. Karen and Claire from

    Paper Salad spoke about their adventures in greeting card publishing and the things that new publishers must keep an eye out for before rushing into big deals with large multiple card retailers. Retail expert Henri Davis spoke on the second day about how to approach large retailers in a very informative talk drawing on her experience of buying at large chains like the National Trust and WH Smiths. I found it incredibly useful

    to gain an understanding of what buyers of large multiples need and want from publishers. I also had a few things to so say about my experience in the card business running Blue Eyed Sun.

    It seems that everyone had a great time and all of those attending found the Ladder Club extremely useful and well worth their time. Thanks to the Ladder Club delegates and sponsors I have raised almost £500 towards my £1000 goal for the Anthony Nolan Trust, who I am running the Berlin Marthon for next year. I was inspired to do this by Lynn Tait, the organiser and founder of the Ladder Club, who was in hospital undergoing a stem cell transplant on the same day.

    Click here to help me raise £1,000 for the Anthony Nolan Trust.

    Click here to join the Ladder Club Facebook Group

    Click here for the Ladder Club LinkedIn Group

    For those that attended the Ladder Club and want to know more. Here are some links to useful content on my blog:

    Looking Back from Perfect - How to achieve your goals

    10 Business Basics to get right before using social media

    Social Media Tips on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

    The Ladder Club Delegates & Speakers 2013 - Day 2

  • Festive Friday promotes Christmas card sending

    Festive Friday 2013

     

    I am so pleased to announce the launch of Festive Friday, a new card sending day for the greeting card industry, which will take place on Friday 29th November 2013.

    Festive Friday is a day for the whole greeting card industry to write their Christmas cards and send them out to their friends, family and loved ones to start the Christmas card sending season with a bang.

    There are an estimated 100,000 people working directly and indirectly within the greeting card industry and the idea is to create a ripple effect from this initial action.

    This is a project that I have been personally involved with during my time on the GCA Council and last Christmas our business encouraged our staff to send Christmas cards as part of our marketing efforts for the card industry. It was really fun and had a great effect. Read more about it in this post: Have you sent your Christmas cards yet?

    We hope that the cards and loving messages to young and old will inspire and excite and remind everyone of the importance of the festive season for keeping in touch and staying more connected with your friends, family and loved ones. Scientific research has proven that sending and receiving greeting cards makes people feel cared for and happier and can even help fend off depression. Read more about this study in our post Scientists prove greeting cards are good for your Mother.

    So remember to set aside some time on Festive Friday the 29th November, for an hour or two, to write cards with your staff and send Christmas cards out to your friends and family. You can even save money by sending them second class post and they will still arrive in plenty of time for Christmas. Plus the more cards you send earlier the more you should receive in return. See the Royal Mail table below for last sending dates to various parts of the world and in the UK.

    Please share this post and spread this message far and wide within the card industry. 

    You can find out more about Blue Eyed Sun's Christmas cards for 2013 which were nominated for a Henries Award this year and are available at all good gift shops and card retailers.

    Royal Mail Christmas Sending Dates 2013

  • The Seasonal Buying Report - How Retailers Are Now Buying

    The Seasonal Buying Report has been released by i2i Events, the organisers of Autumn Fair. It contains insights into retailers' changing approach to seasonal buying and shows what is needed from suppliers going forward. Here are some of the key take away points from the report:

    The Changing Retail Landscape With changes in consumer behaviour, selling channels, technology and even weather patterns, 'change' has become the main constant in the last five years for retailers. This has had effects on in the card and gift market and affects both buyers and suppliers. Incidentally, the respondents to the survey were mostly independents with up to 4 shops and 43% sell greeting cards.

    The Changing Retail Landscape

    Retailers' Changing Approach to buying Retailers are reducing their forward ordering commitment and buying closer to seasons like Christmas and Spring occasions. Up to 24% of retailers in the survey are holding back more than 50% of their budget to buy closer to the season. This is being driven by tougher economic conditions and changing consumer behaviour. Retailers are looking for flexibility and speed which means suppliers are having to supply from closer to home. Buyers are also waiting to see what their customers are buying before repeating orders. According to the Seasonal Buying Report, the main reason to continue forward ordering is to guarantee supply of key products.

    Retailers Changing Approach to Buying

    The importance of Christmas Christmas has become a make or break event for many retailers with a third of respondents saying that Christmas accounted for up to 50% of their annual turnover. For 18% surveyed, Christmas is worth up to an incredible 75% of total sales. November and December account for 21% of all retail sales in the UK across all sectors. The later ordering of stock by retailers appears to be driven by consumers themselves buying later and later which makes it harder to predict sales trends.

    The Importance of Christmas to Retailers

    The Importance of Retail Events For most independent retailers, Mother's Day is the most important event after Christmas. Halloween continues to grow in the UK, with Tesco rating it more important than Valentines and Mother's Day. These key events offer growth opportunities for retailers.

    The Importance of Key Retail Events

    What Retailers are Looking at from Suppliers The retailer/supplier relationship is crucial and buyers are prepared to change suppliers to be assured of the service they require to meet these new buying patterns. That means suppliers will need to increase stock lines and manage their stock control well. Innovative, fresh new products that are well stocked will be the way forward for successful suppliers at the moment.

    What Retailers Are Looking At From Suppliers

    There's an interesting section at the end of the seasonal report, by Professor Joshua Bamfield of the Centre for Retail Research. He says that Halloween and the needs of children are dominating seasonal spending and this trend is set to continue. Baby showers and pregnancy related events are also growing and present opportunities for retailers. There is also a Q&A case study with a good customer of ours: House of Fraser.

    It's an interesting read and rather timely for us as we revamp our warehouse in order to reduce delivery times from an average of 4.3 days turnaround. We also have a gorgeous new selection of children's cards which we launched at Harrogate and showed at Autumn Fair as well as a new Baby Shower design in our best selling Vintage range.

    To download The Seasonal Buying Report click here.

    To see more on Greeting Card, Stationery and Gift trends click here.

  • UK Greeting Card, Stationery and Gift Market Trends

    Greeting Card, Stationery and Gift Trends Autumn Fair 2013

    Below are the slides from recent my talk at Autumn Fair on greeting card, stationery and gift market trends.

    Click here for details of my forthcoming talk on card & gift trends at Spring Fair 2014

    The key take away points from my talk are summarised below:

    Handmade, crafting and up cycling all remain strong trends and this is likely to continue until the economy starts to improve. I think this is because people have had to get creative with what they are restricting their expenditure because of uncertainty over the economy. Knitting, crafting and stamp booking are all rising in popularity in the UK. Fuelled also by of our interest in looking after the planet by reducing, reusing and recycling.

    Sentiment has grown stronger and is very creative at the moment. Clever use of language and humour on text based cards, gifts and stationery continues to grow. I believe this is because we all want to feel more connected during more difficult times. Humour and loving messages on our gifts and cards help us to do this.

    We are also spending more time together looking back. So nostalgia, particularly vintage and retro, ranging from the 1920's through to the 1980's is doing well.

    Nature is also a very strong trend. Perhaps as we get back to basics and what is really important we are thinking more about the world around us. British woodland creatures are doing well. One of the big trends this year has ben owls which have been selling really well in cards and gifts . Foxes are going to be stepping into the limelight in the coming months and are set to be big next year.

    British made and ethically sourced gift and stationery items has been one of the continuing current trends. The jubilee and the Olympics last year saw a huge British revival and our confidence on the world stage continues with Andy Murray winning Wimbledon and the US Open this year, Chris Froome winning the Tour de France (after Bradley Wiggin's win last year) and the English cricket team winning the ashes. The Commonwealth Games are being held in Glasgow in 2014, so we should continue to ride this wave of revived British pride.

    Big events have been recognised as key drivers for retail sales. The birth of baby George has been key to growing baby product sales and forthcoming events like the 50th Dr Who Anniversary, World War I Centenary, the World Cup Football and the Commonwealth games will all offer opportunities for retailers. If you'd like to read more about key buying events and buying patterns click here.

    Finally, one of the key observations to make regarding trends and how to improve your retail business is to pay attention to your customers needs and target them well. You can be as on trend as you like with your buying, but it the products are not priced and positioned well in your store you will not reap the benefits. Moreover, if your staff are not well trained and not focussed on making your customer's buying experience as pleasurable as possible your business will suffer as a result.

    6 Ways that you can track UK Gift, Stationery and Greeting Card Trends

    Read about retailers' changing approach to seasonal buying by clicking here.

    Click here for details of my forthcoming talk on card & gift trends at Spring Fair 2014

  • Award Winning Advice for the Henries and other awards

    Click here to see the Finalists of this year's Henries

    In my younger and more impressionable years my wife gave me some award winning advice that I have been grateful for ever since. Having always set myself goals for the business and personal achievements, Jo noticed that I had listed ‘winning an award with Blue Eyed Sun’ as one of my objectives. She wisely pointed out that this was not a goal that was within my control and, as such, was likely to cause me problems.

    It’s an easy mistake to make. As an athletics fan, I had watched the Olympics since I was a boy. I loved sharing the thrill of athletes winning medals and realising their dreams after all of their hard work. I was also a film fanatic, keeping tabs on the Oscars, the Golden Globes and the Palme d’Or and dreaming of film making glory.

    Over the years I merged these two ‘award winning’ ideas in my mind as I dreamt  of the trophies I too would hopefully one day win. I was never going to be a world class athlete but, as many of us are prone to do, I always hoped I’d go on to create something special with my life and an award would most certainly be evidence of this 'specialness'.

    Perhaps you can already sense the danger with this line of thinking. In fact, these problems would be worse still if, as I was known to do at the time, one made the mistake of linking one’s self worth to achieving such goals.

    The truth is, not even world class athletes like Usain Bolt get drawn down this slippery slope. When interviewed by reporters, nearly all of them will rightly focus on doing their best. For that is all they have the power to control in their race. If your opponent is stronger, or is more naturally talented and has trained harder then you, then it is possible you may not win. The only thing any athlete can do is to leave the very best of themselves out on the track.

    What’s more important to realise is that in our business we are not athletes and we are not in a race. The awards we may be nominated for are not medals. If you have ever been a finalist at one of our greeting card industry awards for retailers or publishers (like the Retas, the Greats or the Henries) it is easy to lose sight of this.

    We recently made the final short list of the Henries for the eighth and ninth times and we have still yet to win (It may have been more if we hadn’t taken a hiatus of not entering for three or four years). I have a running joke with friends that Blue Eyed Sun are like the Alfred Hitchcock of the card industry. Hitch, famously having never won an Academy award.

    Woody Allen, who won 4 Oscars and was never been present to collect them (choosing instead to play in his jazz band), has these wise words to say on our type of awards:

    “I think what you get in awards is favouritism, I mean people can say ‘oh my favourite movie was Annie Hall.’ But the implication is that it’s the best movie and I don’t think that’s possible. I don’t think you can make that judgement. Except for track, track and field, you know where one guy runs and you see that he wins. Then it’s ok. I won those when I was younger and those where nice, because I knew I deserved them.”

    I think the only thing we can share with athletes (and great film makers for that matter) is to give our best every day. To step up and be accountable. Which means focussing on your own performance and what is most important to you (that’s within your control). For us it’s making gorgeous handmade cards, for you it may be having a great shop or running your business well.

    So why enter awards at all? Because it’s fun, it pushes you out of your comfort zone and a nomination or win is always good for marketing and PR. These days the main reason I enter the Henries is to get our products in front of the great line up of industry buyers who judge them. That’s within in my control.

    Good luck to all of the finalists in this year’s Henries. See you there. I’m taking the night off from my jazz band... just in case ;-)

    Read my blog post for Sage on Top tips for awards success: How to enter and win awards for your business

    Click for the latest news on the The Henries Awards

    October 2013 - Blue Eyed Sun finally win their first Henries Award. Click here to see which one and which range won...

    Watch this funny short youtube clip that includes Woody Allen making the quote mentioned above:

  • The Henries Awards 2013 Finalists Announced

    The Henries Awards Finalists 2013

    We are delighted to announce that Blue Eyed Sun have reached the finals of The Henries 2013 in two categories: with Gorgeous Christmas for the Best Christmas Counter Range and with Gorgeous Everyday in the best Cute Range.

    Over 14,000 cards were entered into the Henries this year and these were judged by an impressive Judging Panel, made up of 40 top retailers (including buyers fromJohn Lewis, WHSmith, Tesco, Paperchase, Scribbler, Card Bar, Joy, Asda, Squires Garden Centres, Waterstones, Funky Pigeon as well as many leading independents). We are very proud to have made it through to the finals.

    Plus, following a poll involving 1,500 independent greeting card retail stockists, Blue Eyed Sun were 18th for Best Service to the Independent Retailer ahead of competitors like Five Dollar Shake and Bellybutton Designs.

    The Henries Finalists 2013 are:

    Most Promising Young Designer or Artist 2013

    Claire Louise Hill of Claire Louise

    Jessica Hogarth of Jessica Hogarth Designs

    Helen John of Hotchpotch

    Cameron Pitcairn of Urban Twist

    Jo Rose of Deer Little Forest

    Anna Wise of Rachel Ellen Designs

    Best Children’s Range

    Belle & Boo Playtime from Nineteen Seventy Three

    Glitter Ball from Five Dollar Shake

    Hug Cards from Pango Productions

    Jellybomb from Urban Graphic

    Wobbly Eyed from Stripey Cat Cards

    World of Fairies from GBCC

    Best Christmas Counter Range

    Christmas from ArtPress

    Christmas 2013 from The Art Group

    Gorgeous Christmas from Blue Eyed Sun

    Marmalade from Belly Button Designs

    Sparkle Sheep from Cherry Moon

    Starlight and Snowfall from Five Dollar Shake

    Best Christmas Box Or Pack

    Drama Queen from Cardmix

    Help Cards Christmas Pack from Noel Tatt

    Madeleine Floyd Wallet Cards from GBBC

    Quentin Blake from Woodmansterne Publications

    Snow Stories from Five Dollar Shake

    Waitrose Christmas luxury Christmas cards from UKG

    Best Words & Sentiments Range

    Field Study Eye Test from Portfolio

    Happy Jackson from Pigment

    Scrawl from Urban Graphic

    Sentiments from Sarah Ray

    Therese Sennerholt from Lagom Design

    Tranquility from UK Greetings

    Best Contemporary Trend Range

    Alice Scott from Pigment

    Crafty from bric-a-brac

    Debbie Powell from Lagom Design

    Piano - The Keys of Life from Hammond Gower

    Portfolio from Bug Art

    Sasparilla from Think of Me Designs

    Best Cute Range

    Feltipips from The Art Group

    Gorgeous from Blue Eyed Sun

    Me to You 3D Photo Finish from Carte Blanche Greetings

    Moggies & Doggies from Fourth Wall Brands

    Valentine’s or Anytime from Laura Skilbeck

    Wobbly Eyed from Stripey Cat Cards

    Best Handmade or Hand-Finished Range

    Countryside from The Red Corvid

    Handstamped from Emmeline Webb

    Paloma from Belly Button Designs

    Pretty In Love from Stop The Clock

    Say It With Lace from Image Plus

    The Fitzgerald Collection from Five Dollar Shake

    Best Photographic Range

    1000 Words from Urban Graphic

    Aspects from Abacus Cards

    Dante from Odey Publications

    Loose Leashes from Woodmansterne Publications

    Minimiam from Holy Mackerel

    Norman Parkinson from ArtPress

    Best Humorous Card Range

    Drama Queen from Cardmix

    Fleet Street from Pigment

    Frankie Dog from Frankie Whistle

    Genius from Woodmansterne Publications

    Good Things from Redback Cards

    Reincarnation Is Cool from Splimple

    Best Art Range

    Alice Scott from Pigment

    Billy Showell from Glebe Cottage

    Letterpress from Archivist

    Sonia Marialuce Possentini from Signature Studios

    The Country Set from Wrendale Design

    Toasted from Urban Graphic

    Best Licensed Range

    Janet Hill from Hallmark

    Julie Dodsworth from Tracks

    Kirstie Allsopp from Cardmix

    Laser Cut Cards from Danilo

    Moomin from Hype Associates

    Mr. Men and Little Miss from Gemma

    Best Wholesale Range

    Dazzle from Hambledon Studios

    Glitz from Simon Elvin

    Isabel's Garden from Simon Elvin

    Mixed Favourites from Gemma

    Special Occasions from Hambledon Studios

    Trendy Pops from Xpress Yourself Cards

    Best Giftwrappings Collection

    Dixie from Think of Me Designs

    Happy Jackson from Penny Kennedy

    Kelly Hyatt Collection from Lagom Design

    Tea & Roses from Hallmark

    Toasted from Urban Graphic

    Vintage Romance from Hallmark

    Best Male Range

    Collaboration from UK Greetings

    Jubilee from Hotchpotch

    Just My Type from The Great British Card Company

    Mustard from Cinnamon Aitch

    Stamped from Allihopa

    Trinkets + Trumpets from The Art File

    Best Relations & Occasions Range

    Occasions from Roger la Borde

    Pizazz Baby Boutique from Nigel Quiney Publications

    Platinum from Belly Button Designs

    Sooshi Occasions from Sooshichacha

    txt msg from Urban Twist

    Uppercase from Hotchpotch Publishing

    Best Spring Seasons Range

    Carlton Contemporary Father’s Day Collection from UK Greetings

    Decoupage Collection Easter from Laura Darrington Design

    Jardin De Roses Mother’s Day from Five Dollar Shake

    StardustMother’s Day from Janie Wilson

    Sweet Tooth Valentine’s Day from Fay’s Studio

    The Perfect Match Valentine’s Day from Megan Claire

    The Henry Cole Classic Award

    (This award is for ranges that have stood the test of time. The winner will join the Henry Cole Classic Hall of Fame with the previous winners which are Bestie from Paperlink, Eric the Penguin from GBCC, Forever Friends from Hallmark, On The Ceiling from Emotional Rescue, Me to You from CBG, Medici Cards Blue Label from GBCC)

    Quicksilver from Wendy Jones-Blackett

    Ribticklers from Pigment

    Second Nature Pop Ups from Second Nature

    Spring Chicken from Peartree Heybridge

    The Funny Side Of Life from Rainbow (Ling Design)

    Woodmansterne Fine Art from Woodmansterne Publications

    Best Service To The Independent Retailer Award

    Abacus Cards

    Carte Blanche Greetings Group

    Hallmark

    International Cards and Gifts

    Jonny Javelin

    Nigel Quiney

    Noel Tatt

    Paperlink

    Second Nature

    The Great British Card Company

    UK Greetings

    Woodmansterne Publications

    The winners of all the Henries award categories will be revealed at a spectacular Calypso Carnival-themed Henries Ball on Thursday 10 October at the Lancaster London Hotel, overlooking HydePark.

    See all of the the Henries Awards winners 2013 by clicking here.

    Read some award winning advice for the Henries and other awards here. 

  • The Retas Greeting Card Retailer Award Winners and Finalists 2013

    The Retas Awards Winners 2013

    Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners of the Retas Awards 2013 celebrating Greeting Card Retailing in the UK. We would especially like to thank all of you who stock our cards! We consider ourselves very privileged to be serving such a fine host of retailers. For those of you we are not supplying, what are you waiting for?! Click here to stock us.

    Our lovely customer Paperchase wins The Reta for Greeting Card Retailer of the Year

    The Retas Awards Winners 2013 are:

    Just Write, Wood Green & North Finchley, won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - London (Inside M25)
    Finalists:
    B Cards, Forest Hill
    Greetings, East Dulwich
    New Frames, Soho

    The Stationery & Gift Boutique, Ampthill, won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Home Counties

    Finalists:

    Bearing Gifts, Horsham

    Best Wishes, Bishops Waltham

    The Gift & Card Co, Lewes

    The Village Gallery, Hook

     
     

    Love It, Bury St. Edmunds & Stamford, won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - East Anglia

    Finalists:
    Natural Edge, Leigh-on-Sea
    Sincerely Yours, Shenfield
    Simply Cards, Beccles
    Snape Maltings, Near Aldeburgh
    The Card Collection, Bath, Salisbury, Oxford & Hereford won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - South West
    Finalists:
    Forget Me Not, Stubbington
    Hallmark & Thorntons, Shaftsbury & Blandford Forum
    Sentiments, Burnham-on-Sea
    Tidings, Cirencester
     
    RSVP Greetings, Porthcawl & Caldicot won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Wales and the Midlands
    Finalists:
    Best Wishes, Ashbourne
    Celebrations, Stourbridge
    Sugar 'n' Spice, Sutton Coldfield
    Unit 7 Cards & Gifts, Birmingham & Manchester
     
    Dragonfly Cards & Gifts, Knaresborough won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - North and Northern Ireland
    Finalists:
    Hallmark, Belfast, Lisburn & Portadown
    Magpie Cards, Nantwich
    Mantons, Isle of Man
    Something Special, Widnes & Rainhill
     
    Bijou, Elgin won Best Independent Greeting Card Retailer - Scotland
    Finalists:
    Conochies, Lerwick
    J & G Innes, St. Andrews
    Kairds, Kirkwall
    Marshmallow, Cumbernauld
     
    Gill Morrison, Sales Advisor for Fenwick Brent Cross, London is Greeting Card Retail Employee of the Year
    Finalists:
    Kitt Bellamy, manager for Greetings Galore, Bristol
    Glen Gibbs, team leader for stationery, The Wisley Shop, Woking
    Lauren Keen, manageress for Sentiments, Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset
    Lisa Gilbert, manager of House of Cards, Tring
    Rachel Neilson, manager for Unit 7 Cards & Gifts, Manchester
    Susanna Rodriguez-Ortega, senior sales assistant for New Frames, Soho, London
     
    SWALK, Lindfield won Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer - South
    Finalists:
    i candy Cards and Gifts, Hatfield & Ilford
    Maddy Moos, Totton
    Paper Gangsta, Bristol
    Someone Special, West Wickham
    Wish, Leeds won Best Greeting Card Retailer Newcomer - North
    Finalists:
    Austin & Co, Malvern
    Don't Forget Cards and Gifts, Accrington
    N V us cards, Newark
    The Wishing Tree, Codsall
     
     
    The Wisley Shop, RHS Wisley, Woking won Best Non-Specialist Independent Retailer of Greeting Cards

    Finalists:
    Armstrong Ward, Kendal
    Frame of Mind, Illminster & Wellington
    Homewares and Gifts, Brentwood
    Watlington Post Office, Watlington

     
    House of Cards - 7 shops in the South of England won Best Greeting Card Small Multiple
    Finalists:
    Between The Lines - 12 shops in the South East
    Funky Pigeon - 16 shops in London
    I & A Group - 7 shops in Scotland
    M & P Cards and From The Heart - 6 shops in the South of  England
     
    De Gruchys, Jersey won Best Department Store Retailer of Greeting Cards

    Finalists:
    Daniel Department Store, Windsor
    Fenwick, Brent Cross
    John Lewis, Oxford Street
    Liberty, London

     
    Tesco won Best Supermarket Retailer of Greeting Cards
    Finalists:
    Asda
    Morrisons
    Sainsbury's
    Waitrose
     
    National Trust - 200+ stores (inc. 15 high street shops) nationwide won Best Non-Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards

    Finalists:
    Gee Tee's - 5 stores in the North
    Huttons - 9 shops in London & the South East
    Joy - 22 shops nationwide
    WHSmith - 586 travel outlets and 611 high street stores nationwide
     
    Paperchase - 100+ branches won Best Specialist Multiple Retailer of Greeting Cards

    Finalists:
    Card Bar - 24 stores
    Cards Galore - 50+ branches
    Clintons - 350+ branches
    Paper Kisses/ Card Zone/ Special Occasions - 65 branches
    Scribbler - 24 branches
    Card Factory - 596 stores
     
    Garden & Leisure won Best Garden Centre Retailer of Greeting Cards

    Finalists:
    Frosts, Woburn Sands
    Brookfields Garden Centre, Nottingham
    Ruxley Manor Garden Centre, Sidcup
    Whitehall Garden Centre, Laycock & Whitchurch
     
    B Cards, London - for its Totally Locally Forest Hill and Fiver Fest activity won Best Greeting Card Retailer Initiative
    Finalists:

     

    Postmark, London - for its Postal Promotion
    Celebrate, Scunthorpe - for its Desperate Dan Day
    The Secret Garden, Borough Green - for its marketing programme including its Letter to Santa initiative
    To Be Established, London - for its annual Breast Cancer Charity Event

     
    Crosswear Trading, Enfield won Best Greeting Card Service Based Wholesaler
    Budget Greeting Cards - 7 branches throughout the UK & Ireland
    Eltham Greeting Cards, Eltham
    Jacksons, Sheffield
    Rupert Magnus Trading, Acton
     

     

    NB: Wherever possible the names of the shops are clickable for you to be able to see finalists website and social media links.

    Now in their ninth year, The Retas Awards are established in recognition of the tremendous contribution that retailers - both large and small - make to the success of the greeting card industry. Launched by Progressive Greetings magazine in 2005, The Retas recognise and celebrate not only the top independent and multiple greeting card retailers regionally and nationally, but also the new generation of retailers as well as employees of outstanding excellence.

    This year the Retas Awards, the ‘Oscars’ of greeting card retailing, were held at at a Roaring Twenties themed luncheon at at The Dorchester Hotel on Wednesday 10 July, where the winners of 2013 were announced. Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists!

Items 61 to 70 of 92 total

Page:
  1. 1
  2. ...
  3. 5
  4. 6
  5. 7
  6. 8
  7. 9
  8. 10