Celebrations from best service and The Henries product finalists
Service with a smile always wins and those nominated for the Best Service To The Independent Retailer Henries category are absolutely buzzing.
Mark Callaby, co-founder and md at first-time service finalist Ohh Deer, was so pleased he couldn’t help crowing: “Along with being nominated within three product categories this year – Best Licensed Range, Best Male Range and Best Art Range – I’m incredibly proud that we’ve been shortlisted for the Best Service award this year too.
“The whole team at Ohh Deer work incredibly hard to deliver the best service possible and over the last year we’ve really knuckled down and thought about how we can go that extra mile – and I’m so happy that our amazing customers are noticing this.
“We provide lots of opportunities for our customers to give us their feedback, whether that’s good or bad, because it helps us improve. So, thank you for your honesty and helping us improve.
“This nomination is for the whole company and those who support us in what we do – everyone contributes towards our journey whether our customers have met you or not.
“And a huge thank you to our customers who have nominated us, I know you could have nominated so many other incredible greeting card publishers – maybe you did! – because this industry is thriving with talent. You’ve made us incredibly happy!”
And at Noel Tatt Group, md Jarle Tatt said: “It is both very pleasing and reassuring to reach the finals of Best Service To The Independent Retailer once again. We’ve missed grabbing hold of these lovely trophies for the last couple of years – it would be so great to wrap my hands around another one as our sales and customer service teams really deserve it. Fingers and everything else crossed!”
At Dandelion Stationery, founder Jo Wilson just missed out on a best service trophy in the 2022 awards so she’s dead chuffed to have been nominated again: “A bloody humongous thank you to all our customers who took time out to vote for us. Getting to the finals in this category genuinely means the world to me and the team. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, finalists in the Henries product award categories are still celebrating, with Deva Designs’ designer Reuben Duffy telling PG Buzz: “Many thanks for sending us the great news. We’re all thrilled to be nominated for the Henries awards and filled with pride. We feel honoured to be up against some great publishers and designs.”
At Tipperleyhill co-owner Abi Tippetts was in the pink with her celebrations for getting through to the finals of the Best Diversity & Inclusion category, as the short video below shows.
For Stop The Clock directors Erin James and Kathy Harrington it was “happy dance time!” and they admitted being “thrilled to bits to be finalists in five categories this year” adding: “We can’t wait to celebrate with everyone in October.”
Being picked as a finalist was “great news” for md Nick Carey and the Abacus Cards team: “We’ve reached the final for the Henries with our BBC Countryfile range! Selected for Best Photographic Range, this is a huge achievement as the Henries are the Oscars of the greeting card world! Congrats to all the other nominees and thank you to everyone who voted for us. We can’t wait for the award ceremony.”
The full list of service finalists for The Henries Awards 2023 – for which there will again be Gold, Silver and Bronze trophies – can be found here. The Best Service To The Independent Retailer award is sponsored by the Cardgains buying group, and the finalists were arrived at following nominations being sought over the past month from 1,750 independent card retailers, both Cardgains members as well as non-members.
The product finalists can be found here and were picked following a two-stage judging process, with the second in-person event taking place last week where 35 buyers from multiples and indies scrutinised all the shortlisted ranges arrived at from the first round of online voting, and their collective votes from the day decided the finalists.
All winners will be announced at a lavish awards event at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Thursday, 5 October, 2023, where The Henries 2023 awards event will be a vibrant affair with its colourful Mardi Gras theme.
To book tickets click here. It will be a fabulous opportunity for the greeting card community to get together and celebrate its creative excellence as well as its strong sense of camaraderie.
