Winners party on with tears, emotions, and plenty of cheer at The Henries 2024 Awards
A whopper of a party saw cardies celebrated in fine style at The Henries 2024 on Thursday, 3 October – with lots of fun and a little bit of naughtiness at what was going on under those togas!
The ancient Rome-themed event at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel had tears, emotions and plenty of cheer as can be seen in the video below from the night’s events.
Heyyy Cards’ co-founder Dan Clarkson refused to let go of the Best Male Range trophy, taking it to bed with him and out for dinner the following evening.
Wife and business partner Yvette said: “We’re just so overwhelmed to be taking a Henry home with us again this year! We had the best night as you could probably tell from Dan’s reaction, even if he did elbow me in the face celebrating on stage – I forgive him!
“It’s an absolute honour to be part of this amazing industry, and to see so much talent, determination and hard work be rewarded. An absolute highlight of the night was seeing Emily Byrd’s reaction to winning the most promising young designer, it really did bring it home what this award means to us all – well done Emily!
“We got stuck in London for another night due to train cancellations so took Henry out for dinner as Dan won’t let it out of his sight!”
An overwhelmed Emily Byrd barely made it to the stage through her tears to collect Postmark-sponsored The Lynn Tait Best Young Designer award: “It was crazy, totally unexpected and absolutely wonderful! I think my reaction said it all! When my name was called it didn’t feel real. I was totally blown away.
“When you leave a steady pay cheque to pursue a dream and start a company, it’s a huge leap of faith. I’ve worked so hard this year so to have that recognised with such an amazing award, and to be on that stage among industry legends and incredibly talented creatives, it means the world to me.
“I’m so grateful to the PG and GCA teams, my lovely stockists, suppliers and to this wonderful community of people that have helped support me this last year where I’ve gone from a Ladder Club rookie to a Henries’ award winner! I’m so excited to see where this incredible journey will lead me and what the next year has in store for Bird & Co Studio.”
Wendy Jones-Blackett was chuffed to bits with her Henry Cole Classic award for her Quicksilver range.
“It’s still our bestselling range after 18 years and a timely win as we’re about to launch new designs in November,” Wendy said, “what a night! But if anyone speaks to my Steve it was an ‘all right night’ as he was on parenting and dog duty so completely missed out. Henry Cole Classic award – couldn’t be happier!”
UK Greetings came out tops in the Cardgains-sponsored Best Service To The Independent Retailer category, taking the Gold award, and head of independent sales Matt James commented: “This is a fantastic achievement and testament to the hard work that goes into looking after our customers both within our Dewsbury teams and out in the field.
“It is an outstanding result to be recognised by our customers in this way. I’d like to pass on my own personal thanks to everyone who contributes so diligently to ensure we’re delivering a fantastic experience to our customers.”
Darren Cave, customer and channel director, added: “I’m so pleased to win as this award is voted by our customers, so it means so much that we are consistently recognised in this important category. Thanks to all who contributed. It’s a real team effort.”
