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Press

Photo - see caption
Photo - see caption

GIFT OF THE YEAR AWARDS EVENT 2011

The Giftware Association has announced that EMAP Connect, the organiser of Spring and Autumn Fair Birmingham, is to become the headline sponsor for its 2011 Gift of the Year competition with the winning companies being unveiled at a new prize giving event to be staged on the 6th February, 2011, the Sunday evening of Spring Fair International.

“We are delighted that EMAP will be joining, the Giftware Association Gift of the Year Awards,” says The GA’s chief executive, Isabel Martinson. “The changes we are making with regard to timing mean that those companies who are successful in the competition will have their products seen by the thousands of buyers who visit their stands and The GA’s ‘Gift of the Year House’ throughout Spring Fair and this will not only enable them to maximise their sales opportunities at the UK’s greatest gift and home event, but will also give them a springboard for the rest of the year and throughout the key festive trading period.”
 
Louise Young, managing director of Emap Connect Home & Gift, agrees. “Spring Fair is the heartbeat of the industry and the largest platform for launching new product, so it is fitting that those products judged by retailers to be the best should have the highest possible profile at a show that focuses on great design and quality. As long standing and committed supporters of The Gift of the Year Awards we are delighted to put our weight behind such a prestigious competition,” she told giftwrap.
 
The GA and EMAP are delighted that other long-standing sponsors of the Gift of the Year such as the CBG Healthcare Group, the specialist insurance brokers T H March, RBS Worldpay, the exhibition and events services company Melville and the various industry magazines will also continue to support the competition.

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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS AND HIGHLY COMMENDED OF GIFT OF THE YEAR 2011 WELL DONE. 

A FEW WORDS FROM THE JUDGES.

Gift of the Year judge Brian Wiseman, owner of the Present Company home and gift shop in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, said : “There are some categories this year that have delightful and beautiful designs, and with our industry facing difficult times, innovation and good design are the best antidote to the economic downturn.

 

“I love the Joseph Joseph Pie timer. It’s simple and practical – design at its best. Dora Designs’ product is also absolutely beautiful and still affordable: good design and attention to detail. The Kids’ category seems stronger to me this year, which is very encouraging. It’s not an area that has always attracted the best of design in recent years.”

 

Fellow judge Henri Davis, who buys stationery and greeting cards for The National Trust’s 200 shops, commented: “I think what we have seen this year is far stronger than last year. Made in the UK stands out as being much better, with a greater breadth of product type – a much more interesting category and for me more reflective of what is being manufactured here.  

“Now that China is becoming less and less competitive and less reliable, the importance of UK manufacturing is increasingly seen as an option for retailers, whereas five years ago it was so out of kilter in terms of cost you would never have thought about it.”  

Her stand-out Gift of the Year products: “Rocker, the Joseph Joseph garlic crusher – just stunning; so simple – and I really like the Talking Tables wedding collection.”

 

Another judge, Coralie Keech, owner of Daisy Chain, Stratford upon Avon, said: “I thought the Stationery category was fantastic: a lot to choose from and very difficult to decide the winning and highly commended products. And I loved Premium/Luxury.”

 

Isabel Martinson, chief executive of The GA, organiser of Gift of the Year, stressed that the return of the competition to Spring Fair, the industry’s biggest stage, would help grow what had become an increasingly important event in the gift and home calendar.

 

 

“But crucially, those Spring Fair exhibitors whose products were successful in the competition will have them specially branded and seen by thousands of buyers who either visit their stands at the show or view them in the Gift of the Year House at Spring Fair, Home & Gift - Harrogate, and Autumn Fair 2011.

 

Further information from Alan Monahan on 07710 437789.  Product Images and Winners brochure available from Amanda on 0121 237 1105 or email Amanda.wilkins@ga-uk.org

The GA work together with PR consultants to gain as much national and regional coverage as possible for the Awards, the Winners and the UK gift industry, across both trade and consumer press.