Sky News gives platform for GCA to support sending, as greetings feature across media
Plenty of people have popped up to write the obituary for Christmas cards over the past few days but, in the words of Mark Twain, the reports of the death have been greatly exaggerated, as the greeting card industry has been at pains to point out.
And the biggest coup to prove it was GCA ceo Amanda Fergusson’s appearance on prime-time Sky News yesterday morning, 17 December, where she was invited to refute journalist Mel Hunter’s lengthy article in The Telegraph from the day before.
Amanda, who also appeared on Radio Wales last week, capped her discussion of how the very British tradition is part of the Christmas decorations, and that research shows younger generations are increasingly sending more cards, with handing a festive card to Mel, as well as one to news anchor Kay Burley, along with a birthday card too as it was the presenter’s big day.
And Amanda highlighted how people are spending more on single cards that have extra meaning – part of the £1.5billion greeting card industry that supports thousands of jobs across publishers, suppliers, and retail – by showing an Objectables’ design she received from an old friend featuring Folkestone where they went to school together.
Kay thought so much of the discussion that she posted part of the video, which can be seen below, to her personal X account and asked: “Will you be sending Christmas cards this year? Is this very British tradition dying, or just changing?”
While most responses bemoaned the price of stamps, many were very supportive of the humble Christmas card, as was the recent Independent article from columnist Will Gore who admitted: “Writing Christmas cards can be a chore but there’s no magic in emails, and a WhatsApp one-liner just won’t do.” He said he’d been putting off completing his card list until opening some that arrived: “Each was a little reminder of the love we feel for these people and the love they feel for us. “I realised the game was up. I might resent the cost of postage and get frustrated when I can’t find the address of a cousin who I’m sure has moved but. the truth is, I would resent even more not hearing from those old mates and the relations I rarely catch up with in person.”
And, while Flora Watkins’ recent piece for the Spectator asked how many can afford the postage for sending reams of cards these days, it also gave Amanda a platform to explain the dynamics of how Christmas sending is changing from lots of cheap ones to fewer more considered sends, as well as charities showing how they are directly affected when people decide to cut down.
The Revd Angela Tilby, a Canon Emeritus of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, was on BBC Radio 4’s Thought For The Day on Wednesday, 11 December, talking about a “sense of home” and how she likes the conscious thought that goes into writing and sending of Christmas cards, thinking about those who are in your life, and who you may have lost touch with.
Parenting expert and @noahsarkfamily social media name Kate Ball, mum to six including two sets of twins, has been posting about the festive lead-up and included the below Instagram clip explaining how a family of eight still manages to send Christmas cards.
“I’ll tell you how… my own elves, a stamp with all our names and a production line. We’ve added a little family pic for the fridge for all our family who we don’t get to see. Now it’s just the small matter of the crazy price of stamps!”
Cath Tate Cards had a surprise visit from the ITV News team on Friday, 13 December, when director and GCA council member Rosie Tate spoke for a segment on Royal Mail being fined £10.5million by Ofcom from not meeting delivery targets, and the impact on the greeting card industry.
David Falkner, co-owner of Cardology and the GCA lead on Royal Mail relations, was interviewed on both BBC Radio 4’s Today programme yesterday, 17 December, and the Associated Press news reel which can be watched here, where he gave his personal views on the news that the government has approved the sale of the business to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group.
And indie retailer Heidi Early was also part of that story as she was filmed at her Stoke Newington-based store Earlybird explaining that the current postal service is so unreliable, she has to pay extra to track orders dispatched by Royal Mail.
Stationery Supplies owner Sarah Laker is another retailer known for speaking out in support of indie businesses and the card industry as a whole, which she did to great effect on TalkTV’s show with Westminster insider Peter Cardwell on Sunday, 15 December, which can be seen in the video below.
She was on to speak about the recent Small Business Saturday, explaining how local stores have a real connection to customers, and linked it to the host’s previous segment on stories about people not receiving Christmas cards, saying it is “so important during this season”.
“We sell a huge amount of Christmas cards. I think when you look at the cost of it, it’s 85p for a second-class stamp these days, that coupled with the cost of a card is less than you’d spend in a chain buying a coffee that people buy every day.
“When you compare it to that and the fact that you’re choosing and you’re sending some love to somebody that they’re going to put on their mantelpiece and enjoy for a few weeks, you can’t put a text or a WhatsApp message on a mantelpiece to enjoy. You don’t get that same feeling of excitement and of being loved by somebody.”
Following on from last week’s story of the nation’s favourite department store John Lewis dealt a blow to the greeting card industry by declaring “Christmas cards are lost in the post” in its latest retail Shop-Live-Look-Report, Danilo CEO Laurence Prince hit back with a letter headlined Don’t Write Off Cards in the Mail: “John Lewis sells only a tiny fraction of the cards people buy at Christmas each year and, in fact, as the GCA will confirm, despite increased postal costs, the market is buoyant.”
And the report’s writer Mandy Pursey has now confirmed to PG Buzz the figures were from last year so don’t reflect 2024’s sales: “Last year, we surveyed customers who told us they were buying fewer cards due to the price of stamps. We continue to sell Christmas cards and would be delighted if this trend changed.”
Every year, journalists and news outlets seem to put in so much effort to writing about and discussing the perceived decline in card sending and rise in isolation and lack of community, and then there all those taking time to post on social media making excuses why they’re not bothering.
Why don’t they stop protesting too much, and follow The Grinch’s realisation that embracing the magic of Christmas and Christmas cards is the way to go – buy a big box, get out your address book, and share the love with family, friends and the many charities who rely on the income!
