The Giftware Association (GA) announces Sarah Ward has stepped down as CEO, creating a pivotal opportunity to move the association forward.
Tom Jones, CEO of the British Allied Trades Federation (BATF), will step in as interim CEO, ensuring continuity and supporting the GA's mission to serve its members during this critical time.
The giftware industry is undergoing significant change, with new opportunities and challenges emerging daily. At this critical juncture, the GA remains committed to its mission of providing resources, connections, and advocacy to help members thrive in a competitive global marketplace. With a renewed focus on inclusivity, innovation, and sustainability, the GA aims to drive growth and continued success for the industry and its members.
The GA would like to extend its gratitude to Sarah for her leadership and the valuable contributions during her time as CEO.
Posted: 21 February 2025
The Giftware Association has unveiled the finalists for the Gift of the Year 2025 awards! After months of anticipation, hundreds of incredible entries, and two rounds of judging by an panel of over 120 industry experts, the best products from the home and gift industry have been selected to move forward.
The Gift of the Year awards celebrate the most exciting, innovative, and commercially successful products across 20 categories covering Home Fragrance, Home and Kitchen and Games and Puzzles as well as introducing new categories' such at the Made in The UK Category for this year.
Judges from leading retailers, trade press, and industry professionals struggled to select their top choices from a truly outstanding pool of over 900 entries.
Posted: 19 February 2025
The new House of Phaedra store has opened in the historic Antelope Walk, Dorchester, Dorset, and is dedicated to beautiful natural home fragrance and stunning lifestyle pieces, carefully curated to work in harmony.
Founder Phaedra Radstock has created a space where the company's Purbeck Candles play the leading role in this beautiful lifestyle store, where home fragrance is the pivotal element for creating stunning interiors.
Warm cosy scents accentuate plush blankets, sheepskins and dried hydrangeas and eucalyptus plants in beautiful glass vases. It has always been a dream of Phaedra's to have a lifestyle store that put home fragrance at the very core of the shop, building layers of style and colour around what arguably is the essence of every well curated room.
Posted: 3 February 2025
ExaClair Limited, the UK subsidiary of the Exacompta Clairefontaine group, is thrilled to announce that they have been shortlisted at the upcoming 2025 European Office Product Awards (EOPA).
Following continued developments across their extensive global operations, they company has been nominated within the prestigious 'Vendor of the Year' Category.
Together with substantially enhanced drop-shipment capabilities and marketplace management systems, the group is further expanding its presence throughout various sectors, such as the hospitality industry. Meanwhile, new product innovations continue to drive sales across several stationery categories, including storage systems, luggage and pencil cases.
All the winners will be announced on the 11th of March at the EOPA Awards, which are held in Hotel Okura in Amsterdam.
Posted: 29 January 2025
The toy industry reunited at Olympia London for Toy Fair 2025, a dynamic three-day event that showcased the latest trends and innovations shaping the world of play. With more than 250 exhibiting companies unveiling thousands of new products, including trending categories such as collectibles, pocket money toys and licensed toys, the event was a true celebration of the creativity and ingenuity of the toy industry and a positive start to the year. It was an incredibly busy three days connecting exhibitors with high-calibre visitors including buyers, licensors, inventors, media and the wider industry, all under one roof, establishing new connections as well as building on existing relationships.
Posted: 24 January 2025
The global spotlight is on India's textile industry, which skilfully weaves centuries-old traditions with cutting-edge innovation.
As one of the largest textile producers globally, India is poised to solidify its leadership amidst growing demand for sustainability, high-performance fabrics, and competitive supply chains. With the industry projected to grow to USD 350 billion by 2030 and expected to add 35 million new jobs, India's textile sector is at the forefront of shaping a massive economic and employment expansion.
India's textile industry, a cornerstone of the economy, contributes 2.3% to the GDP and employs over 45 million people directly, with an additional 55 million indirectly involved across the value chain.
Posted: 23 January 2025
The British Toy & Hobby Association (BTHA) and Circana presented their annual industry insights at London's Toy Fair, held at Olympia London from the 21st to 23rd January 2025. While the UK economy may have continued to present a challenging picture during 2024, figures released by Circana show that the UK toy market remained resilient, generating £3.4billion in overall sales, which was bolstered by a surge of Christmas sales (up 51 percent) in the week leading up to Christmas. While sales in 2024 may have been down by 3.7 percent, several toy categories achieved growth in 2024, adding to the positive trajectory.
Posted: 23 January 2025
Candlelight, a leading designer of candles, gifts, and home fashion is proud to announce an exciting new collaboration with Amefa in the UK, who distributes market leading brands, Amefa and Richardson Sheffield, to the catering and retail sector. This partnership represents a significant milestone for both companies as they come together to bring an exceptional range of products to a wider audience.
As part of this joint venture, Amefa GB's entire portfolio of products will now be available for purchase on the Candlelight website, offering customers an expanded selection of high-quality products from two trusted brands in one convenient location.
Posted: 17 December 2024
Retro trends, preppy and Brat Girl fashions and travel returning to pre-covid levels were among the biggest influences on our shopping habits.
That's according to John Lewis's annual trend report How We Shop, Live and Look, which looks at the products and trends that defined the past year.
'Social shopping' is definitely in fashion. One in five (19 percent) of the 1,996 customers surveyed said they have shopped more with friends and family this year, and nearly seven in 10 (68 percent) of them said they like to combine it with other activities like eating out. This tallies with John Lewis data, which shows that more than three quarters of a million more customers ate in its Place to Eat restaurants over the past year.
Posted: 17 December 2024
Fanattik the award-winning UK based pop culture brand has signed a multi-territory, multi-year deal with Fuzzballs to produce a wide range of gifts. The deal was brokered by Fuzzballs licensing agent Rocket Licensing.
Fuzzballs is a UK brand created in 2013 by artist Marc Sach and product can be found on sale in the likes of WH Smith, Scribbler, HMV, Toymaster stores, Forbidden planet and over 1,000 independent retailers worldwide.
"I saw Marc at Comic Cons up and down the country over the years selling Fuzzball product and the crowds swamping his booth were incredible, he has worked incredibly hard growing the Fuzzball fan base all over the world, we are elated to be part of the Fuzzball journey," says Anthony Marks. M.D. Fanattik.
Posted: 9 December 2024