Gift Focus - Mar/Apr 2019 (Issue 112)

70 giftfocus Stationery Show London attracts some of the UK’s biggest retailers, buyers and brands in the stationery, gift and fashion sectors. This year’s show once again set to deliver its trademark mix of brand-new paper and writing instrument suppliers. “Stationery is a core product for many retail stores; it fulfils the role of an everyday essential, an on-trend impulse buy, a stylish and useful gift, and, just as importantly, a carefully chosen personal accessory,” said Hazel Fieldwick, the show’s event manager. “The product mix at Stationery Show London reflects this broad appeal and offers visitors a depth of product choice and knowledge from all corners of the retail stationery market.” The show brings together 50 first-time exhibitors and more than 100 show regulars sharing their latest collections. New exhibitors include Back Pocket Notebooks (featured in our November/December issue), Chiltern Publishing, Cambridge Imprint, Code Naturel and many more. Regular exhibitors returning this year include A Gift From The Gods, Derwent, Envelopes Ltd, Pukka Pads and the Charfleet Book Bindery. Competitions and awards The show’s regular LaunchPad competition will deliver 12 new hopefuls to be put before the judging panel of industry experts. This year’s judges are: Sarah Sibley, founder of Got2Jot; Michael Owen, co-founder of Lime Stationery & Art; Penny Green, director of retail and wholesale Europe for kikki.K; Jamie Mitchel, co-founder of Ohh Deer and Kaushal Shah, founder of Paper Plus Europe. James and Kaushal were both identified as 30 Under 30 Star Choice industry winners earlier this year. This is the eighth year for the show’s Stationery Awards, which last year saw more than 400 entries across 12 product categories. A panel of senior stationery buyers judge the event, which is chaired by independent retail advisor and Giftware Association deputy chairman Henri Davis. Judging will begin at the start of April, with finalists to be announced in the run up and winners revealed on the first day of the show. The Stationery Awards were previously judged at the show and were therefore only open to exhibitors. The move to judge entries in advance of the show is a reflection of the consistently high number of excellent entries to the award. “We decided our judges really needed more time to review the number of entries, without being under such a huge time pressure, so we’re very lucky that so many buyers are giving us an extra day of their time to come along and take a look at the entries in early April,” explained Hazel. “We have also opened up the Supplier Awards for all stationery suppliers to enter, not just show exhibitors.” In addition, this year sees two new sections added to the Stationery Show. There are also five new Retailer Categories, and a new Designers Category, which is sponsored by GO Stationery. We bring you an early look at this year’s exciting Stationery Show London Taking note IN BRIEF Show Stationery Show London Organiser Ocean Media Where Business Design Centre, London When 30 th April-1 st May, 2019 Website stationeryshowlondon.co.uk Twitter @StationeryBytes