Two months to go and last call for cards to make up into iconic show dresses
It’s all systems go for PG Live 2025 with just two months before the doors open at London’s Business Design Centre for the two-day greeting card extravaganza on Tuesday and Wednesday, 3-4 June.
Publishers are finalising their new ranges and stand displays ready to wow the retailers, distributors and buyers travelling to the capital from across the UK as well as numerous countries around the world, including Australia, America, and many parts of Europe.
The iconic card dresses will soon be under construction so remember, you only have until Thursday, 10 April, to make sure your designs have arrived with the PG Live team if you want them to be included. Post them to Jakki Brown, Cards For Dresses, Max Publishing, United House, North Road, London, N7 9DP.
And the Imaging Centre’s digital presses are steaming under the weight of all the free postcards being produced for exhibitors to send out to retailers reminding them to register so they don’t miss out on the 200-plus stands at the UK’s only trade show dedicated to the greetings industry and discover all the newness on offer.
Also underway is the traditional tote bag that’s given out to all visitors, with a bundle of freebies inside, which is kindly being sponsored this year by Rosie Made A Thing to celebrate the humour specialist’s 10th anniversary, and they’ll be on stand 500.
There will be plenty of cake and bubbles over the show as there are numerous other big birthdays including Paperlink celebrating 40 years on stand 201, Carte Blanche and Hotchpotch celebrating three decades on stand 222, Paper Salad will be marking 20 years on stand 413, it’s also double digits for Apple & Clover (503), Bexy Boo (178), Earlybird (401), Lola Design (507), Louise Mulgrew (506), Plewsy (320), and Thortful (335), while it’s been five years in business for Letterbox Love (150), Rainee Collections (2), and Ricicle Cards (162) – and Two For Joy (747) has completed its first year!
On top of this a number of publishers will be popping the corks for their own personal birthdays, Dom Early of Earlybird for one will be celebrating his 50th!
Plus, there’s still time to grab a limited edition Choose Cards t-shirt so you can join in the special Choose-day photocall on the stairs on the opening Tuesday – see what we did there! – at 3pm.
To minimise waste, the t-shirts need to be pre-ordered by 29 April through organiser and The Letter Arty retailer and publisher Matt Simpson’s website here at £24 each, with a 10% discount for exhibitors with the code PGLIVE and for visitors using code PGVISITOR, to keep track of who’s ordering.
As well as helping promote the greeting card industry thanks to the shirts which are now available in red, white, pink and black colourways, £2 from each sale will go to Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of Emotional Rescue’s much-missed long-time product manager Toni Cresswell.
Matt said: “I wanted it to do more than just sell some t-shirts, so donating a portion of sales to charity seemed like an obvious choice.
“With the ongoing issues facing the industry such as increasing postage cost and copyright issues, I think it’s been a case of good timing that the Choose Cards t-shirts have been so popular. I’m really pleased to have played a small part in encouraging people to choose cards and start conversations about the joy that our industry brings.”
Along with all the fabulousness to discover on the stands – a full exhibitors’ list is available here – there will be all the added extras that PG Livers have come to expect, the drinks trollies with free tea and coffee, delicious lunch each day, opening night drinks party, and chance for winners and finalists from The Retas Awards and The Greats Awards to have a drinks get-together on both days as well as spend their Gold, Silver and Sunshine tickets – plus the Cardgains buying group show discounts too.
The 2025 edition of PG Live takes place at London’s Business Design Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday, 3-4 June, retailers and overseas distributors are registering by the day, make sure you don’t miss out by putting your name down here.
