Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2018 (Issue 106)

hand to talk to retailers about how they can interpret the trends and merchandise them in their own stores. The ‘On Trend’ display will be supported by new ‘Trend Tours’ of the show. Each Trend Tour is a 25-30-minute tour of 8-10 products around the show which Scarlet Opus feels sum up the key consumer trends that will be playing out in the stationery market in the coming months. Visitors can request their own ‘team tour’, or they can simply book a place on a timed tour. Places are limited to six to seven people on each tour. Any visitors interested in booking a tour place should email vanessa.fortnam@stationeryshow.co.uk to receive the timetable. Listen, learn and do! This year’s show will also include a series of quick fire presentations covering ‘ The State of Stationery ’ from Rebecca Saunders, an independent retail and ecommerce consultant, having recently run Stationery, Weddings and Christmas at Notonthehighstreet. com; a ‘Review of what’s really happening on the UK’s High Streets ’ by leading small business and retail commentator Michael Weedon, of EXP2; and, of course, presentations from trend translator Phil Pond of Scarlet Opus on the three key trends – Out of the Ordinary, ECO 2.0 and Imperfect Beauty – they are working on for the show. In addition, a selection of hour-long Retail Masterclasses are on offer for visitors to learn from. Topics include commercial planning and the key decisions behind buying a range and how to put together a weekly marketing plan. And finally, following its launch at last year’s show, the Creative Stationery Workshops are back! Supported this year by the Association for Creative Industries, exhibitors will be ripping off the packaging to get visitors hands-on with products to discover simple workshop ideas that they can run for their customers. Calligraphy, paper-cutting, fun gift-wrapping ideas and testing out the latest inks and pens will all be included. A full programme of these free presentations, master classes and creative workshops will be published shortly on the show website stationeryshow.co.uk . Early bird bookings for the creative workshops will receive a fabulous goodie bag! 2018 exhibitor line up The London Stationery Show will have more than 150 exhibitors representing many more brands at this year’s show. Regulars include Abram & Chronicle, AT Cross, Brown Trout, Bruce Douglas, Busy B, C Josef Lamy, Castelli, Cathedral Products, Collins Debden, Colman Group, DKL, East West, Edding, ExaClair, Flame Tree Publishing, GO Stationery, Hardie Grant, Jakar, Jet- Tec, Kaweco, Kuretake, Laura Stoddart, Leuchtturm 1917, Lime Stationery & Art, Luxor, Manuscript, Maped Helix, Museums & Galleries, Mustard, My Pretty Circus, Newell Rubbermaid, Notable Designs, Nuco, Pentel, Pomegranate, Portico Designs, Postsafe, Premier Stationery, Pukka Pads, Reliable Source, Royal Talens, Santoro, Semikolon, Shachihata, Sinclairs, Stabilo, Staedtler, Stone Marketing, Thames & Hudson, Tiger Stationery, Treewise, Uniball, West Design, Zebra Pen and Zipit. New exhibitors New exhibitors this year, or companies returning after a break include Bright Concept, Carpe Diem, Colart Fine Art & Graphics, Daler Rowney, Derwent, Dingbats Notebooks, Fresh LLC, Fringoo, Gruppo Padovana, Guangzhou Premier Plus Stationery, Hahnemuehle, Hex & Ginger, Ire-Tex Premier India, JWS Europe, Kanin India, Katy Sue Designs, Laurige France, Magnetips, Morocolor, Narcissus, Nikki Strange, Nukkias, Otima Grafica, Pagani Pens, Paper Mirchi, Peter Pauper Press, Railex File and Store, Reb Buzas Wholesale, Scribble Geeks, Sloane Stationery, TapePal, teNeues Publishing, Tonic Studios, Toscana Carte Pregiate, Withit and the Yoobi Trading Corporation. For further information, visit stationeryshow.co.uk Fringoo Nikki Strange West Design Bright Concepts giftfocus 65 LSS