We were delighted to attend the 20th anniversary of The Henries greeting card awards, which took place at the Lancaster London Hotel on the evening of Thursday October 8 and had a Roaring Twenties theme in honour of the milestone occasion.
Having attended half of those 20 ceremonies (oh, how time flies!) it was a great pleasure to be there as a guest of organiser Max Publishing and be surrounded by so many industry friends and colleagues.
The hotly anticipated Gold award for Best Service to the Independent Retailer, a category sponsored by the buying group Cardgains, was presented to UK Greetings for the sixth year running, with International Cards and Gifts taking the Silver and Noel Tatt the Bronze.
Independent retailers were also given the Honorary Achievement Award for 2015, with John and Jennie Proctor of Scribbler expressing their surprise and delight at joining other industry legends as recipients of the prestigious accolade.
Another highlight was when our good friends at Paper Salad scooped a much deserved award for Best Children’s Range with the quirky Dungarees range. Paper Salad took to the stage once again later in the evening when the fabulous Glick won the Best Giftwrapping award for its Paper Salad licensed collection.
UK Greetings brand Hanson White joined the Henry Cole Classic hall of fame award for its brilliant Giggles range, while Wrendale Design was once again winner of the Best Art category for the distinctive and delightful The Country Set range.
Rising Star Cathryn Jones of Carte Blanche brand Hotchpotch Publishing was named the Most Promising Young Designer or Artist, the second time in recent years that a Hotchpotch designer has won this award.
Christmas cards were given two categories, reflecting their value to the overall trade, with Five Dollar Shake winning the Best Christmas Counter Range yet again (have they won ALL of these?!) and Form Christmas Box from The Art File named winner of the Best Christmas Box or Pack.
Hearts Design is the 2015 leader in Traditional Words & Sentiments for Mad Dots Wedding, with the Best Contemporary Words & Sentiments award going to UK Greetings for Little Voice. The best overall Contemporary Range was judged to be Stephanie Dyment’s Colour Me Happy.
Scrabbly Neons from Bexy Boo took the prize for Best Handmade or Hand Finished range, while Ling Design – which was recently bought out by Swan Mill – winning the Best Photograhic category. Redback Cards won the best Humorous range award for Wulffmorgenthaler, while Danilo scooped the Best Licensed prize for its Despicable me range.
Top of the Wholesale category was Keepsake Treasures from Xpress Yourself and the Best Male Range was named as Platinum by Belly Button Designs. Belly Button immediately took home another award, this time for Best Relations or Occasions Range for the elegant Paloma.
One of our favourite smaller publishers, Cinnamon Aitch, won the award for Best Spring Seasons range for Springtime Easter, while Little Creatures from Pippi & Me was deemed to be the Best Cute Range.
A big congratulations to all the winners, see you again next year!
Images top to bottom: Warren Lomax and Jakki Brown of Max Publishing welcome guests to The Henries; Tony Roberts of UKG receives his trophy from Cardgains’ Chris Dyson and Penny Shaw; Karen and Claire from Paper Salad line up for a lovely photo with Nigel Quiney’s Alison Butterworth; The Spring Fair team and friends; a roll-call of 2015 winners; a happy John and Jennie Proctor round off the night.
