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FINALISTS REVEALED FOR FIRST RETAILER STATIONERY AWARDS

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The Stationery Awards aim to recognise and benchmark good practice and innovation in the retail stationery sector. Each year Stationery Show London plays host to the prestigious Awards and this year, for the first time, the Stationery Awards have expanded to include five NEW Retailer Stationery Awards. 

Starting with just five key categories for stationery retailers to enter, the panel of seven judges each read and viewed all their material online and allocated their scores. 

The first ever Retailer Stationery Award judges panel consisted of: Jane Reucroft, founder and Chloe Bayles, head of wholesale from A Gift From The Gods, Rebecca Saunders, independent retail & ecommerce consultant of Saunders Retail (and ex Not On the High Street/JLP Buyer), Kerri Middleton, managing director of Busy B, Michael Owen co-founder of Lime Stationery & Art, George Wilkinson, managing director of Nuco International and Gemma Bassett, Thirty Under 30 Star Choice and marketing manager of Sinclairs.

“We’d like to thank our judges for taking the time to review all the entries to our five new retailer categories,” said event manager, Hazel Fieldwick.  “It’s been fantastic to involve so many stationery experts in our Awards judging this year.”

“Our congratulations go to all the finalists on being picked out, and we send our thanks to all the other companies and nominees who took the time to complete the entry forms – we appreciate your support!”

All the finalists are listed below.  The winners will be revealed at the Stationery Awards evening on Tuesday 30 April, to which all the finalists will, of course, be invited!

Best Customer Initiative (Instore or Online):

Company: Campaign:
Got2Jot The corporate pop up experience – Bringing Fashion stationery direct to the workplace
Martha Brook Stationery Social 2018
Postmark ‘Post it from the start of time’ – Inhouse franking service, Postmark (Greenwich)
ScrawlrBox The Scrawlr Challenge

Best POS/Merchandised Stationery Display:

Company Campaign Nominated by:
Papersmiths Universe  
Postscript Autumn/Winter 18/19 Nominated by BusyB
Scriptum Fine Stationery Vincero  
Stationery Supplies ‘Find Zen in your Zebra Pen’  

New Store of the Year:

Company
Comme Glom – Online
Papersmiths Brighton and Papersmiths Chelsea

Best Non-Specialist Stationery Retailer:

Company Nominated by:
B&M RETAIL Sinclairs
Little Paperie  
Paperchase Spectrum Noir/Crafter’s Companion
Papersmiths  
The Alphabet Gift Shop Ltd  

Best Specialist Stationery Retailer:

Company
Cult Pens
Martha Brook Ltd
Notable-Notebooks.com (Notable Collections S.L.U)
Penfax
Stationery Supplies
The Green Stationery Company

Ends

For further information please contact:

Vanessa Fortnam, vanessa.fortnam@stationeryshow.co.uk – 01666 824624.

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BCTF 2019 AWARD WINNERS REVEALED…

The winners of the BCTF Awards 2019 were revealed at a ceremony held on the afternoon of Monday April 8 at the Yorkshire Event Centre, Harrogate, where the very best designer-makers are presenting their latest collections to the trade.

The winners are as follows:

  • Winner: Helen Eastham Studio
  • Winner: Kevin Hutson
  • Winner: Sarah Saunders Ceramics
  • Winner: Rebecca Perry Ceramics
  • Winner: Cinda Clark Design

Form & Function Award sponsored by The Platform Gallery: Joint Winners – Ellen Monaghan, Helen Eastham Studio, Kevin Hutson, Sarah Saunders Ceramics, Rebecca Perry Ceramics and Cinda Clark Design.

  • Winner: Melina Xenaki Ceramics
  • Highly Commended: Ugly Jewellery
  • Highly Commended: D W Glass

BCTF Award for Excellence sponsored by the Pyramid Gallery: Winner – Melina Xenaki Ceramics; Highly Commended – Ugly Jewellery and DW Glass

  • Winner: Faye Hall Design
  • Highly Commended: Betsy & Elys

Best Newcomer Award sponsored by the Heart Gallery: Winner – Faye Hall Design; Highly Commended – Betsy & Els.

Winner Sandra Vick

Post Newcomer Award sponsored by ACID: Winner – Sandra Vick

Winner Rachel Thornton

The Giftware Association Award for Excellence: Winner – Rachel Thornton

Winner Francesca Marcenaro

The NAJ Award for Excellence: Francesca Marcenaro

  • Winner: Citrus Bunn
  • Winner: Betsy & Els
  • Highly Commended: Claire Baxter Fine Art
  • Highly Commended: Jill Ray Landscapes
  • Highly Commended:The Three Foxes

Greeting Card Award sponsored by Greetings Today magazine: Winner – Citrus Bunn; Just Because – Betsy & Els; Highly Commended – Claire Baxter Fine Art; Commended – The Three Foxes and Jill Ray Landscapes

  • Winner: Kate Toms
  • Shorlist: Melina Xenaki
  • Shortlist: Jack McGonicle

Wow Factor Award sponsored by DesignGap/ArtGap: exhibitors selected Kate Toms as the winner from a short list of three, which also included Melina Xenaki Ceramics and Jack McGonicle Ceramics.

Show organiser, Margeret Bunn said: “BCTF is a real celebration of all things British and handmade, and our award winners represent that brilliantly and I am delighted to congratulate them all for their well-deserved accolades. We are very fortunate that our awards are supported by important industry associations, prestigious galleries and trade press, so a big thank you to them all for getting behind the show and supporting the best of British here today.”

BCTF 2019 has proved to be a success, with visitor numbers up and many exhibitors reporting that trade has been exceptional as retailers lined up to place orders on their stands.

“It has shaped up to be a fabulous edition of BCTF,” Margeret confirmed. “Buyers are aware that demand for handmade British products has increased over the years and they are keen to offer something new and unique to their customers. We have some incredibly talented designer-makers from all parts of the UK who are creating the most beautiful crafts, so it’s well worth the visit for gallery owners, gift shops, tourism destinations and other discerning retailers”.

For more information visit www.bctf.co.uk

Press contact: Charlotte Cowell: 01442 863646 / 07725 181974 / charlotte@bctf.co.uk

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GIFT OF THE YEAR VIDEO

We are incredibly excited to share this video we made to celebrate our Gift of the Year competition, from previous years winners, current entrants and the awards night.

This year was a great year for us with a record number of entries from over 250 companies.  The opportunities are amazing and we love hearing your success stories from the winners and highly commended,  about how the award evening and the display on our stand at Spring Fair brought people across to their stands and placed orders, which is always great to hear.

Watch the video to find out the real benefits of the competition.

 

 

 

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GIFT OF THE YEAR WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Gift of the Year 2019 celebrated its winners in style at the competition’s awards ceremony last night on the Main Stage at Spring Fair. The awards took place after the first day of busy trading at Spring Fair 2019 and saw the home and giftware industry come out in full force to celebrate the winners and finalists. The ceremony celebrated 20 category winners, with newcomers Hot Smoked taking home the coveted Judges Choice award, in addition to winning in two categories.

GibsonsTrophy

The competition, now in its 41st year, celebrates all that is new to market, innovative and design led covering the whole of the home and giftware world. Suppliers can enter across 20 categories and have to make it through two tough stages of judging by the industry’s experts, retailers and trade press to become finalists that are celebrated at the awards. This year competition saw a record amount of entries being put in from over 250 companies.

This year saw a rise in the number of ethical or eco-friendly gifts, not just in the Ethical Gift category but across the competition, proving the growing trend towards a more sustainable future and a socially conscious industry as buyers’ and consumers’ habits change.

The Gift of the Year winners logos are proven badges of honour to drive sales, as the competition continues to grow in both numbers and impact. All the finalists can winners can be seen on display at the Giftware Association’s stand in Hall 5C82 – D83. Come and say hi to the team and view the products in all their glory.

You can view the full list of winners and finalists on the Gift of the Year website.

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CELEBRATE IN STYLE

The Giftware Association would like to invite you to our Gift of The Year awards evening at Spring Fair, NEC. Starting at 6.30pm on Sunday 3rd February, The winners to our annual Gift Of The Year competition will be announced in Hall 20 at The Main Stage. The event is free to attend, you don’t even need to be exhibiting at the show or be a finalist in the competition.

We want to extend the invite to the whole of our industry so come and raise a glass of champagne, network with your peers and celebrate the best new products and winning companies in style.

But wait there is more…

To continue on with the celebrations, The Giftware Association is hosting a ‘Curry Night’ at Pushkar Indian Restaurant in Birmingham. The fine dining Indian restaurant is located on Broad Street, about 20 mins journey from the NEC*, in the centre of City and will begin at 8.30pm. Birmingham is home to the curry, so it would only be right to celebrate with our cities favourite dish.

We would be delighted if you could join us, the cost to attend is £40 + VAT, which includes a three-course dinner and drinks. Please book here, once we have received your booking, we will send over the menu options and request any dietary requirements.

For more information on future events with The Giftware Association, please contact Simone Rose on simone.rose@ga-uk.org.

 

*Please note we will not be able to provide transport to the venue but buses, trains and taxis all travel into Birmingham and are readily available at the NEC.