Blue Eyed Sun

Blue Eyed Sun - gorgeous greetings cards

BES Blog

  • New Gorgeous Children's cards from Blue Eyed Sun

    Childrens Age Cards by Blue Eyed Sun

    Blue Eyed Sun are adding 35 new designs to their stunning Everyday range called Gorgeous including children's ages birthday cards.

    Based on original hand stitched artworks, they are printed and embossed to give a beautiful look and a realistic feel. Hand finished with jewels the range includes 12 open birthday captions  and 42 occasions cards. Based on our best selling Gorgeous Everyday Range the designs are also available in ChristmasValentine's Day and Mother's Day. The cards all come cello wrapped with a coloured envelope that is 165mm x 165mm square. Sold in sixes the designs are available for trade customers to order through our agents, by brochure, at shows or logging into our website.

    A mid year Summer Supplement brochure including all 35 new Gorgeous card designs, plus some recent additions to our best selling Vintage range, has been mailed out to customers today. The new designs are up on our website and with our UK sales agents from Wednesday and are available for delivery from 15th July 2013.

    You can see them all first in person at the events below:

    Home and Gift at Harrogate International Centre 14-17 July - Stand H90

    Autumn Fair International at the NEC in Birmingham 1-4 September 2013 - Hall 4 - Stand 4D15

    To stock these cards in your shop click here. If you'd like to see them in your local shop please tell them and point them in the direction of  www.blueeyedsun.co.uk or recommend a shop to us by clicking here. You can also visit our stockists page to find a store near you that may be selling them. To see an overview of Blue Eyed Sun ranges click here.

    Childrens Age Card by Blue Eyed Sun

  • Blue Eyed Sun return to new hall H at Home and Gift Harrogate

    Home and Gift 2013 - Blue Eyed Sun stand H90

    In two weeks time Blue Eyed Sun will be returning to Home and Gift and the newly built Hall H in the Harrogate International Centre (see show map below). Officially launching at this well loved trade show are 35 new Gorgeous designs including our new designs for children. We will also be previewing some of our new Spring 2014 ranges including our latest Valentines and Mother's Day cards. All of our best selling greetings cards, including new Vintage designs, will be on display so be sure to stop by and see us.

    Quote Voucher code HG13 when ordering during the show (online or offline) for FREE CARRIAGE.

    About Home and Gift

    This annual trade show is a highlight on buyers' calendars for it's relaxed Summery atmosphere and great range of products on offer in the run up to Christmas. It runs for four days from Sunday 14th July to Wednesday 17th July from 09:00 - 18:00 at the Harrogate International Centre. It really is a pleasure doing business at this show, so don't miss it!

    To register for Home & Gift 2013 please click here.

    Where to Stay at Home and Gift

    The closest hotels to the Business Design Centre are the Holiday InnTravel Lodge and The Old Swan a short walk away with prices range from £55-£150. However as the show opens next week they seem to be fully booked now. You can search a List of Hotels in Harrogate by clicking here. A good tip if you can't find a room is to stay in York, a short train ride away.

    How to get to Home and Gift

    The roads into Harrogate can get very congested so allow plenty of time if you are coming by car. The Harrogate International Centre post code is HG1 5IA and there are 400 car spaces on site with a daily cost of £13. These spaces get pretty full so you may like to use the park and ride scheme running from the Great Yorkshire Showground on the A61 (Post code HG1 5IA).  All parking will be available on a concrete surface, which will be safe for use for any visitors.

    Trains run every half hour from Leeds and every hour from York. There us a free shuttle bus from Harrogate train station to the show. You can fly to Leeds Bradford airport (20 minute drive from the show). Buses go every 90 minutes and take half an hour.

    For more information on travel for the show click here.

    When you get to Harrogate do remember to come and see us in the new Hall H on Stand H90.

    Can't make the show? Click here to request access all of our designs online.


    View Larger Map

  • Looking Back from Perfect - How to achieve your goals

    In 2004 I was introduced to an exercise called "Looking Back from Perfect". It changed my life and helped us to reach our goal of freeing up time whilst increasing our income. I was recently invited to share it at the annual GA Member's Day.

    A lot of delegates who attended have since asked me to share the presentation slides. You can find them on slideshare and view them at the bottom of this post. This talk is a shortened version of the exercise I have taken several hundred new greeting card publishers through at The Ladder Club seminars over the years.

    Think about a major goal in your life that you have yet to achieve. It may be financial, it may be time related, it may be something more personal like a relationship in your life that you'd like to improve or perhaps you'd like to lose weight or get fit. Write this goal down before you start. Consider how the exercise would work for your own goal. It's really important that your goal is personal to you and something you really want to achieve rather than just copying what we have done.

    There are a couple of things I'd like to add to the talk that I realised after discussions with delegates on the day. Some who heard it managed to quickly persuade themselves of reasons why the exercise wouldn't work for them. "My situation is different to yours" one might say or "you were already doing well, I'm starting from a worse off position", "I can't find good staff", and so on. Try to avoid falling into this trap of stopping before you even begin. I have used the exercise repeatedly with great success. If you use it wisely it can work wonders for you too.

    Following on from this, the other thing to add is that the major stumbling block for most of us, in progressing towards our goals, is very often ourselves. The ideas that we have in our head about the world, about other people and about ourselves are just that: ideas. They are all made up from our own perspective. Learning to adjust your perspective is incredibly useful. I'm not saying that you should see the world with rose tinted glasses and deny the problems that may exist. Just see them as they are, no more or less. See yourself in relation to these obstacles in a new light. Seeing obstacles as challenges is essential to overcoming them. Stop looking for problems and excuses to add to your list. If you want to conquer mountains, become a mountaineer not a mountain spotter.

    Lastly I'd just like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful friend Andrew Dymond who brought this into our own lives and changed them forever. Good luck with using the "Looking Back from Perfect" exercise and do let me know how you get on.


    To learn more about The GA click here

    Read Tips from other speakers at the GA Members' Days by clicking here

    How to do things when you don't feel like it

  • How to set up a Twitter Page for your retail business

    @Blue_Eyed_Sun on Twitter

    You might find it useful to read my blog post Social Media for Retailers - How to Get Started before you proceed. Also take a look at 10 business basics to get right before you start using social media to ensure you put first things first in terms of your business focus.

    What is Twitter?

    Twitter is a free online real-time information network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what you find interesting. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters long. You can follow anyone on Twitter and anyone can follow you.

    How to set up a Twitter page for business

    Simply visit www.Twitter.com and enter your name, email and password then click sign up for twitter, it’s that easy. Create a good password with letters and numbers and choose your username that works best for your business. This will be your Twitter handle, like @IvyEllen for example. You don’t need to use the @ sign when doing this. You can change this at any point, I would advice getting the best username you can for your business and sticking with it though.

    Next you will be taken through a couple of steps which start by showing you what a tweet is. You can skip any of these steps by clicking the grey ‘skip’ link on the bottom left. Twitter then recommends some people to follow (you can unfollow them easily later if you wish). You can also search for people in your industry to follow like @Blue_Eyed_Sun for instance. Lastly you can automatically add contacts from your Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail or AOL account to see if any of them are on Twitter.

    Next add either your square logo or a square image of yourself and copy and paste your bio text. This is really important as you are much less likely to be followed if you do not have a bio or an image (aka an avatar) on your account. And that’s it, you are up and running. Congratulations!

    Before you move on to finding more people to follow, I recommend that you click on the cog next to the search box at the top and go to settings on the drop down menu that appears. Then click profile on the left hand side of the next page. Here you should add your website address and location. This will help you to come up for people searching for you or companies like you in their area. Lastly, can also add in your landscape picture for the header on your twitter page here.

    A good tip for getting more followers is to follow lots of people. If you want card related businesses go to @Blue_Eyed_Sun and look at the people we follow and the ones that follow us. You can then easily click the follow button next to them. Over time many of them will follow you back. If you are a retailer, one of the things to look out for on Twitter are local twitter feeds. These days there are twitter accounts that list special offers, events, etc from most areas across the UK. They will often retweet your tweets to their followers when you use hashtags at the start of local phrases in your tweet.

    It’s important to tweet fairly regularly rather than not at all because more sophisticated users will unfollow accounts that appear not  to be active and you don’t want to lose followers. Having said that the main thing to do when you start is to listen and interact. Twitter is all about engagement. Be interested, be interesting or be funny and you will do well. You can use the search facility on twitter to search for tweets and users using keywords on topics that you are most interested in.

    Something to watch out for on Twitter are messages saying “Have you seen this photo of you” or “Somebody is saying bad things about you” with a link. When you click on the link it takes you to a replica of the twitter login page and when you type in your details they have access to your account. They then spam your followers with the same messages. Don’t worry if this happens to you. Just login and change your password to something secure and that usually fixes the problem.

    Good luck with your adventures on Twitter. I will be posting more tips in the coming months so be sure to follow us and keep reading our blog. Thanks for visiting!

    Click on the link below to read more about...

    How to set up a Facebook page for your retail business

    How to get started on LinkedIn

    Why is social media so important for business?

    Watch the video below and visit http://business.twitter.com/twitter-smaller-businesses for more info...

  • The Ladder Club 2013 for New Greeting Card Publishers

    The Ladder Club seminar for new greeting card publishers (and those considering the industry) will be take place on the Wednesday 23rd and Thursday 24th October 2013. It will be my ninth year as keynote speaker at this fantastic annual not for profit event and I am looking forward to an enjoyable two days helping our industry continue to grow.

    There are two seminars being held over two days at the Cliffs Pavilion, Leigh on Sea, Essex. It usually sells out so book early by emailing waiteandtaitbakery@hotmail.com or by calling Trudi or Pauline at Lynn Tait Gallery on 01702 480180.

    What is the Ladder Club?

    Organised by publisher and retailer Lynn Tait, this event is to support and nurture the UK card industry to be the best it can be. If you are new to greeting card publishing then this is the perfect place to start. Speakers include Sharon Little from the Greeting Card Association, Jakki Brown from Max Publishing (Progressive Greetings MagazineThe Henries Awards and PG Live), Claire Frost and Karen Wilson from Paper Salad, Jeremy Corner from Blue Eyed Sun and many other industry professionals including printers, envelope manufacturers, warehousing specialists and paper suppliers GF Smith.

    Who's the Ladder Club for? 

    Day One - Getting on the Ladder - Is for anyone considering the greeting card industry or who have just started their card business and is well suited to artists, photographers, illustrators, designers, writers and cartoonists considering their options.

    Day Two - Climbing the Ladder - Is more advanced and helps new card businesses that have been to one or two trade shows, have a turnover of more than £3,000 and would like to grow their businesses further. Anyone who has already attended the first day the year before may attend this day the following year.

    Networking Dinner

    Lynn also organises a dinner the night before each day, which is well worth attending if you are staying over. She seats card industry insiders on every table so you can pick their brains for help with your business and grow your knowledge as well as take the opportunity to network with other publishers. The dinner usually costs £23 for 3 courses.

    Is the Ladder Club worth it?

    It is very affordably priced at £40+VAT per day and I have received dozens of thank you cards for doing this over the years. Those that attended the Ladder Club answer this best though. Here's what some previous delegates have had to say about their experience of the day:

    "I just wanted to say thank you for putting on such an informative and useful day. I certainly felt I got my money's worth!! All the speakers were excellent and helped to put together the jigsaw puzzle of publishing cards." - Rayya

    "Thanks for my Ladder Club experience on thursday – it was well, well worth the trek from Bristol! It provided me with so much useful information and inspiration – it was just brilliant to hear from so many different people, and important to hear about the negatives as well as the positives. I drove home just buzzing with thoughts and excitement about my business" - Jenny

    "I have to say that you are all so inspirational and generous to organise these events and give up your precious time and I just wanted you to know that it's really appreciated. It's a fantastic industry to be working in and I wouldn't even be putting my toe in the water without all the help and encouragement that you and your industry colleagues have selflessly given." - Rose

    " I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the seminar. I am amazed at how much was packed into the day and I have come away with some new ideas and useful contacts." - Jocelyn

    " I was very impressed at how open and helpful everyone is to potential newcomers/competitors. Obviously paper manufacturers and printers are happy to help new customers but I was also impressed by the lack of any kind of 'sell' by them." - Caroline and Greg

    " I loved it! Was the best seminar I've ever been to! Thank you so much." - Cheryl

    Ladder Club Alumni

    Many good card businesses have benefited from the Ladder Club seminar training and are making their way successfully in the card industry. Including: Wrendale Designs, Molly Mae, YTR Design, The Artrooms, Shine Publishing, Luvio, Full Colour Black, Lesser Spotted, Open Box Design, Iona Cards, The Art Lounge, Rosa Kitt Designs, Moobaacluck, Cutture, Megan Claire, Aiania and Big John.

    Why are you involved?

    Even though I am, in effect, helping the competition, I do this event every year for free because I believe a great card industry is good for all of us. Thanks to the generosity of the organisers and delegates, who have supported my many charity races over the years, I have also raised quite a bit of money for various good causes. With the support of last year's Ladder Club attendees and others I raised £1,162 for Save the Children by running Edinburgh Marathon. Thanks to everyone who donated.

    How do I book a place at the seminar?

    Please note that Blue Eyed Sun does not organise or take bookings for this event. You must email waiteandtaitbakery@hotmail.com or call Trudi or Pauline at Lynn Tait Gallery on 01702 480180 to book your place in advance. It sells out every year and is only held once annually so don't miss it.

  • How to set up a Facebook page for your retail business

    Blue Eyed Sun Facebook Page 2013

    How to Set up a Facebook Page for your retail business

    You might find it useful to read my blog post Social Media for Retailers - How to Get Started before you proceed. Also take a look at 10 business basics to get right before you start using social media to ensure you put first things first in terms of your business focus.

    What is Facebook?

    Facebook is a free network of online profiles of individuals, companies and characters. At the heart of Facebook is the news feed where users can post, share and discuss information, videos, photos, websites and stories. Users can follow any companies pages, but can be selective about who and how they connect with one another.

    How to set up your Facebook page for business

    Start by visiting Facebook at www.Facebook.com. If you have never used Facebook before, click on the link below the green Sign Up button which says Create a Page for a... business. Local Business or Place doesn’t work so well for the UK, so from this page choose Company, then Retail and Consumer Merchandise from the drop down; after which you can add your business name and contact details. Tick the terms agreement check box and then click Get Started.

    Next you will be prompted to set up a Facebook account. If you already have one you can log in here. After this you will be prompted for a description about your business and to add your business website. You will also be asked to verify if the organisation is real and if it will be the official page of your business on Facebook. Say yes. Then click the Save Info button. After this you will be able to upload you square company logo / avatar. Then lastly you will be able to enter the URL you would like for your business. For example ours is www.Facebook.com/BlueEyedSun. Interestingly when I want a shortened version for marketing www.FB.com/BlueEyedSun also works. Once you have chosen this and clicked the blue button your page is set up. You can then like your page, which will in effect be your personal account that you set up earlier ‘Liking’ your business page. You will also be prompted to post an update. I recommend posting about anything that is of interest to your audience / fan base. For example, you can add pictures like www.fb.com/bijouelgin do with food from their cafe each week. You can ask questions or share news and information.

    A good way of adding likes to your business is to ask friends and family to like your page. Reach out to your customers via flyers, printing your social media details on your till receipts and by offering deals which are only available to those who like your page.

    The way to change between your business FB Page from your personal account at anytime is to click on the cog at the top right and choose your company or name from the drop dow menu. The icon on the left of this cog is always the user who is viewing the page. Ie if it is your personal photo / account name and you are viewing any page on Facebook which you then like, you will be liking it as you personally and not as your business. It’s worth keeping a close eye on this as you may not wish to mix business with your personal posts on Facebook.

    If you click on the Facebook logo at the top left it will always show the news feed of your friends and or the companies you follow. If you click on your avatar or on your page name it will show the posts and interactions from your page only. You can easily add your landscape photo of your products or shop by clicking on Add a Cover on your profile page.

    A word of warning: Do not set up your business as a personal page, this is against the rules and you could have your account deleted at any point. Customers don’t like it either as it means when they connect with you that you can read the personal feeds on your wall.  You cannot change between the two later.

    I follow a lot of card related and retail businesses via my Blue Eyed Sun page and regularly check my news feed to see what they are up to. It’s lovely to see what our customers and competitors are up to and engage with through this medium. You can like pictures they have posted by clicking on the like button or leave a comment under their posts. You can also share anything they have posted by clicking share.

    The key thing to bear in mind with social media is that it is very much about engagement more than followers or 'likes'. By being active on Facebook you are being available to engage and being referable to boost your business. As Oscar Wilde famously said, “There’s only one thing worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about.” If you are not on Facebook or Twitter you are very much not allowing your business to be talked about.

    Click on the link below to read more about...

    How to set up a Twitter Page for your retail business

    How to get started on LinkedIn

    Why is social media so important for business?

     

    Check out the video below and visit www.facebook.com/business/ for more info.

     
  • Social Media for retailers - How to get started

    Greetings Today - June2013

    This post is adapted from my Greetings Today Column on Social Media for Retailers published in the June 2013 issue

    In May's issue of Greetings Today we looked at why social media is so important for businesses looking to engage their customers and to grow, this time we’re going to be looking at how to get started on the three biggest social media platforms Twitter and Facebook. We’ll discuss how to set up your accounts, what you will need, things to look out for and a strategy going forward.

    Before you get started, make sure that your website is up and running and focussed on what your customers want from you and what you’d like from them. I suggest having a blog that focuses on your customers interests, but only if you have the time to contribute it to it on a regular basis. Weekly is ideal, but monthly is fine too. The main thing is to be consistent. It's also worth reading through my 10 business basics to get right before you start using social media.

    I think the most important thing to do before you start is to get Google Analytics set up on your website. This is a free tool that you can sign up for at www.google.co.uk/analytics/. Google send you a short piece of hidden code that you can have your website developer add to your website (this should not cost you more than £30 to do). This fantastic tool will provide you with an incredible amount of data on how many people come to your site, how they navigate through it and where the come from to find you.

    It’s the last piece of info that is most useful to your social media efforts. You want to know whether what you are doing is working and which social media platforms are most successful for you. For example last month I know that we had 72 referrals from Facebook who spent an average of 2.5 minutes on our site and two users ordered from us. Google Analytics will also tell you which keywords users are typing into google to find you.

    The last thing you will need before you get started are some images for all of these social media accounts. To keep it simple you will need a square image of your logo (180x180 pixels is sufficient) and a landscape image of your shop or products. It’s also drafting a 50 words about you and your business as a consistent, keyword rich, bio for your accounts.

    To a large extent these networks are what you make of them. Like going to a party, you can have a good time or not, it’s up to you. It’s also worth considering how they will best fit with your marketing strategy. For example, with our wedding business we use @IvyEllen to engage and interact with other wedding suppliers and with www.FB.com/IvyEllen we engage with our brides and customers who leave feedback and message us through the page.

    The key thing to bear in mind with social media is that it is very much about engagement. Being available to engage and being referable to boost your business. As Oscar Wilde famously said, “There’s only one thing worse than being talked about, and that’s not being talked about.” If you are not on Facebook or Twitter you are very much not allowing your business to be talked about.

    Click on the link below to read about...

    How to set up a Facebook page for your retail business

    How to set up a Twitter Page for your retail business

    How to get started on LinkedIn 

  • 10 Business Basics to get right B4 you start Using Social Media

    There's a lot of hype and buzz about social media these days and for good reason. These tools are already having a great impact on how businesses and customers engage with one another. This engagement is driving both sales, brand loyalty and referrals. Having said that, if you have yet to get started with social media, there are some important business basics to get right first. I have listed ten in this post here for you to take action on before you start pouring a load of your time and energy into social media.

    1. Know your customers

    This is key to making sure which social media network and strategy is best for you. What demographic sets do your customers fit into and are these groups engaging on social media? If so, which platforms are they using? Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, Pinterest are all good, but you may find that your audience favours one more than another.

    2. Get your product and pricing right

    It's no good driving a footfall to your door if you don't have the right offering for people when they arrive. Do you have products that people will want and prices that fit for them?

    3. Know what makes you special

    What is your unique selling point? What makes you stand out from the crowd? This will help you attract more customers anyway, it will also drive follower numbers on your social media networks. Be sure to mention what makes you special in your bios when you set up your accounts.

    4. Communicate this well with your branding

    It's all very well having a great USP, but if you don't tell your customers about it you are missing a trick. Communicating your uniqueness consistently across your marketing will help get your story across when you are using social media.

    5. Make sure your website works well

    Once you have spent time and money driving customers to your door you want to make sure that they don't leave because of something that you haven't got working on your site. If your website is slow loading, not up to date, has broken links or doesn't deliver on what is expected then people will leave very quickly. It's worth focussing on what you want customers to do when they visit your website and then making sure everything on it funnels them towards this goal.

    6. Train your staff and sales team well

    Make sure that your team are on message with your brand and understand what the business focus is. Then give them the support and tools to be able to deliver satisfaction to your customers and resolve issues fast and well. If you are delivering products make sure that you have good operations and logistics set up to get your products to customers quickly. Amazon have set the bar very high for all of us. Do your best to make meeting high expectations standard procedure for your team.

    7. Have a blog that's useful to your customers

    I believe blogging is the backbone to any social media and activity. The content helps drive traffic through these platforms to your website and enhances your SEO strategy. Try to avoid just writing about yourself and selling your products on your blog. People want to read informative articles on subjects that interest them or they find amusing. None of us like feeling sold to (even when it's something we might want to buy).

    8. Set up Google Analytics on your website

    This is a free tool that you can sign up for at www.google.co.uk/analytics/. Google will send you a short piece of hidden code that you can have your website developer add to your website (this should not cost you more than £30 to do). This fantastic tool will provide you with an incredible amount of data on how many people come to your site, how they navigate through it and where the come from to find you. It will show you which social media sites are driving the most traffic and help you to improve what you do.

    9. Plan your social media strategy

    Plan out when you will broadcast your social media messages and run tests on the times of day that best suit your audience. Also plan when to check in and read the tweets and messages of those you follow in your industry. Remember to leave them a like, a share, a retweet or a message to let them know you were there and to engage with them.

    10. Focus on building a network of engaged fans

    The more engaged you are with your loyal customer database and fan network offline the more likely you will be able to take this into your social media arena. You can easily connect with your customer email database when you set up your accounts on these platforms. Good customers who are already online are more likely to share you with their friends and the wider your audience will become over time. It's great to have a lot of followers, but a small network of engaged followers is more powerful. When videos go viral on Youtube it is because of the impact of lots of small groups rather than a few big ones.

    These are some of the business basics it is important to think about before starting up using social media online. Remember when you do start using social media to listen to others first before you start broadcasting so that you can pay attention to what works and who is worth following. Good luck.

    Follow Blue Eyed Sun on Twitter      Like Blue Eyed Sun on Facebook    Watch Blue Eyed Sun videos on Vimeo

  • 5 Good Restaurants near the Business Design Centre in London

     

    5 Good Restaurants near the Business Design Centre

    I have spent many years exhibiting at trade shows in London and have tried all sorts of restaurants near the Business Design Centre in Islington during that time. The list that follows is not exhaustive, as London has a huge selection of great restaurants. These are some of my own favourite restaurants close to the Business Design Centre. I am not a food critic, just a regular business visitor to the BDC. I enjoyed eating at all of them though and hope you do too.

    The Gate Restaurant near the Business Design Centre

    1. The Gate on St. John Street

    This place is a must for vegetarians and vegans looking for a good vegetarian restaurant near the Business Design Centre. It's the award winning younger sibling of the original The Gate in Hammersmith. The menu is delicious and the service is excellent. There's a good selection of options and the decor is inviting and warm. It's very popular though, so it's worth booking in advance.

    Book a table at the Gate by clicking here

    Bills Restaurant near the BDC in Islington

    2. Bills Restaurant on White Lion Street

    I've been a fan the original Bills in Lewes

    for many years, so it was a pleasure to find an outlet of this expanding restaurant chain a short walk from the Business Design Centre in Islington. It's the perfect place to stop for breakfast on the way in. I highly recommend their porridge with bananas, hazelnuts and honey. They also do a seriously delicious eggs benedict and eggs florentine. For lunch and dinner they offer a good range of tasty food for a variety of diets, including vegeterians.

    Find out more about Bills in Islington by clicking here

    Thai Square Restaurant near the Business Design Centre

    3. Thai Square opposite the Business Design Centre

    This award winning thai restaurant is popular with Business Design Centre visitors as it's right across the road on Upper Street. It has a vibrant atmosphere and extra rooms to cater for larger groups. Service is fast and friendly and the food tastes good. It's reasonably priced and a nice option if you like Thai food or have a larger group with you. Book ahead as it can get busy.

    Click here to visit Thai Square's website

    The Elk In The Woods Gastro Pub near the Business Design Centre

    4. The Elk in the Woods

    This gastro pub is tucked down a little alleyway called Camden Passage off Charlton Place (the side street opposite the Business Design Centre). It serves a great veggie breakfast in the morning and cocktails in the evenings. There are a good range of menu options and it's a great secret local haunt if you like places off the beaten track. Plus it's still very near the Business Design Centre.

    Click here for more information about The Elk in the Woods

    Byron Burger Restaurant near the Business Design Centre

    5. Byron Burgers opposite the Business Design Centre

    This restaurant is on my list because it's a fun place to go and is right across the road from the Business Design Centre. It's easy to miss because of the shabby appearance of the building, but the food is great and very affordable. They even have a delicious Portobello mushroom burger for vegetarians. It can get busy, but I found their service to be pretty quick and they have spare space upstairs. The burgers are made from freshly ground Scottish beef and said to be excellent.

    Click here to find out more about Byron Burgers online

    If you liked this post you might also like to read these:

    5 Great Restaurants near the NEC in Birmingham

    5 Great Restaurants near the Earls Court Exhibition Centre in London

    4 Great Restaurants near the Harrogate International Centre

    See when Blue Eyed Sun are next exhibiting at the Business Design Centre

    Can't make the trade show?

    Click here to request access all of our designs online

  • The Greats Awards 2013 for Gift Retailers - Winners and Finalists

    The Greats Awards 2013Congratulations to all of the finalists and winners of the Greats 2013. It's a wonderful thing to be nominated for awards. We hope that you enjoyed the day and would 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.

    The Greats Awards Winners 2013 are:

    The Honourary Achievement Award went to Gisela Graham

    Narborough Hall sales assistant, Glenda Goodwin, is Retail Employee of the Year  

    Finalists

    Glenda Goodwin, Narborough Hall
    Ilana Herd, About Living
    Lauren Eaton, Oliver Bonas
    Katie Gilmour, Loch Leven's Larder

    The Loft, Teddington won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - London (inside M25)

    Finalists

    All Good Gifts, Battersea
    Aria, Islington
    The Inside Man, Wandsworth
    Sources, Spitalfield and South Woodford
    The Loft, Teddington

    Bohemian Days, Gerrards Cross won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - Home Counties, South and South East

    Finalists

    Bohemian Days, Gerrards Cross
    Fresh, Witney
    The Blueberry Store, Saffron Walden
    Tickety Boo, Chelmsford
    Yummy Home, Pinner

    Darts Farm Gift Shop, Topsham won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - South West

    Finalists

    Cilla and Camilla, Beaminster
    Darts Farm Gift Shop, Topsham
    Eureka, Dorchester and Swanage
    Forever England, Salisbury, Sherborne & Sidmouth
    The Inner Yard, Devizes

    Quest, Bury St Edmunds won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - East Anglia

    Finalists

    Cloud Nine, Deeping
    Horizon, Hunstanton
    Kitty’s Homestore, Framlingham
    Quest, Bury St Edmunds
    Tilting Sky, Eye

    Let’s Go Round Again, Wombourne won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - Midlands and Wales

    Finalists

    Bright Ideas, Melton Mowbray
    Let’s Go Round Again, Wombourne
    Narborough Hall, Narborough
    Number 45, Newport
    Peppertrees, Northampton

    Nora’s Interiors & Gifts, Ilkley won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - North and North East

    Finalists

    Amanti, Beverley
    Follie, Lincoln
    Libby’s, Chesterfield
    Manton’s, Port Erin
    Nora’s Interiors & Gifts, Ilkley

    Harvey Willis, Glenrothes won Independent Gift Retailer of the Year - Scotland

    Finalists

    Boxwood, Glasgow
    Harvey Willis, Glenrothes
    Illuminati, Glasgow
    Liquorice Tree, Edinburgh
    Top Drawer, St Andrews

    Feather & Fern, Dorking won Best Gift Retailer - Newcomer South and Wales

    Finalists

    Chasey Lifestyle, Kings Lynn
    Emporium, Winchcombe
    Feather & Fern, Dorking
    Made, Bristol

    Ruby blu, Southgate

    Marmalade Meringue, Hinckley won Best Gift Retailer - Newcomer North and Scotland

    Finalists

    Embrace Life, St Andrews
    Marmalade Meringue, Hinckley
    Hirst & Hirst Living, Oakham
    The Gift Gallery, York
    Velvet Moon, Glasgow

    Huttons won Best Specialist Multiple Gift Retailer (4 or more shops)

    Finalists

    Collectables in the North East of England

    Cool Britannia

    Huttons

    National Trust
    Temptation Gifts in the Home Counties

    Rossiter's, Bath and Cardiff won Best Department Store Retailer of Gifts

    Finalists

    Bentalls, Kingston

    Jarrold, Norwich
    John Lewis, Oxford Street

    Rossiter's, Bath and Cardiff
    Selfridges, Oxford Street

    Joy won Best Non Specialist Retailer of Gifts

    Finalists

    Butterfly Rooms, Saltaire

    Joy
    M&S
    Paperchase
    Rose & Co Apothecary

    Oliver Bonas won Best Gifts Lifestyle and Homewares (interiors)

    Finalists

    About Living, Glasgow
    Home FX, Skegness
    Oliver Bonas
    Orange Tree, Topsham
    Utility, Liverpool and London

    Bijou, Elgin won Best Gift Retailer of Jewellery

    Finalists

    Bijou, Elgin
    Clifton’s, Lytham
    Identity, Derby
    Treasure Box, Camberley
    MacMillans, Preston

    Mains of Drum, Banchory won Best Garden Centre Retailer of Gifts

    Finalists

    Klondyke Garden Centre
    Longacres
    Mains of Drum, Banchory
    Trentham Garden Centre
    Webbs of Wychbold, Droitwich

    British Museum won Best Museum/Visitor Attraction Gift Shop

    Finalists

    Aston Pottery
    British Museum
    Chester Zoo, Chester
    Paultons Park
    V&A Museum

    Peppertrees, Northampton won Best Retail Display

    Finalists

    Flutterbyes, Bromley
    Forget Me Not, Stubbington
    Peppertrees, Northampton
    The Country Stile, Horncastle
    Tiger

    Temptation Gifts won Best Online Gift Retailer, to include Mail Order

    Finalists

    Not On The High Street
    Rigby and Mac
    Temptation
    The Great Gift Company
    The Brilliant Gift Shop

    Amanti, Beverley – (Independent Beverley Initiative) won Best Retailer Initiative

    Finalists

    Amanti, Beverley
    Folly Hinckley
    Nora’s Interiors & Gifts, Ilkley
    Ortak
    Wonder Stuff

    Winners of Best Service to the Independent Retailer

    Joe Davies won Gold

    Widdop Bingham won Silver

    Carte Blanche Greetings won Bronze

    Finalists (in alphabetical order)

    Ashleigh & Burwood
    Enesco
    History & Heraldry
    Nemesis Now
    Robert Taubman
    Think Pink

    Now in their eleventh year, The Greats Awards have become the accolades to strive for and the Awards event itself has become one of the most exciting and vibrant in the country. It brings together the entire gift industry for a day of celebration.

    The Greats Awards are owned and organised by Progressive Gifts & Home Worldwide (published by Max Publishing). They recognise and celebrate not only the top independent and multiple gift retailers regionally and nationally, but also one-off niche retailers, garden centres and supermarkets as well as outstanding retail employees.

    The Greats 2013 ceremony was held on Thursday 9th May at The Savoy in London celebrating their 10th anniversary of The Greats with a 'Greats Encounter' themed event which included and cocktail reception, lunch, awards and entertainment.

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

    A special thanks to Sophie from Narborough Hall who kept us up to date with all the winners on the day.

    All gift retailers who have been named as a Greats winner or finalist over the past 10 years of the Greats are invited to attend a special Greats Party at PG Live next week on Tuesday May 14th at 3pm at the Business Design Centre in Islington. Contact Ian Hyder through the PG Live website for details www.progressivegreetingslive.com.

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