july News brief...
DENBY TO EXPAND Denby Pottery is to acquire the Poole Pottery visitor centre following an agreement which will see them buy the Dorset-based centre from the Lifestyle Group. The centre attracts more than 500,000 visitors each year and offers a range of Poole pottery, homewares and gifts as well as a pottery studio.
JOHN LEWIS NAMES NEXT AT HOME
STORE John Lewis has revealed the location for its next At Home development. Ashford in Kent will be the site of the next opening, which is due in autumn next year. £7m will be invested in the development and around 160 jobs will be created.
COMPLETE COOKSHOP TO ABANDON BRICKS &
MORTAR The owner of Bakewell cookshop, The Complete Cookshop, Roger Lownsborough has made the decision to take the company’s entire operation online. An expiring lease has presented Lownsborough with the opportunity, and he reports that work is being undertaken to develop the e-commerce offer.
HIGH STREET
STRUGGLING Colliers International has released its latest annual report, the findings of which suggest that almost a quarter of high street shops are floundering. The report surveyed 365 retail centres and discovered that the high streets of more than 80 towns had seen a growth in vacant retail premises which had prompted a “downward spiral” and seen shoppers spending less.
As one show ends,
another begins Clarion Events is rethinking its gift and housewares exhibition offer.
News came in April that Clarion Events had postponed the London Gift Fair, which was due to run alongside September’s Top Draw exhibition.
T
he first edition took place last September, adjacent to Top Draw,
and hoped to provide visitors with an alternative selection of gifts, housewares, jewellery, greetings cards, china and glass. However it
failed to sufficiently diversify from Top Drawer and as a result did not gain enough support from the industry to warrant continuing with the 2011 edition. Clarion released a statement which suggested that difficult market conditions had made establishing the show problematic: “Given the current market
conditions, it is felt that while there is an industry need for London Gift Fair, in
the interest of best serving the market, the right decision is to postpone the show until market conditions improve.” However the Top Drawer
exhibition continues to stand as a firm favourite within the industry and Clarion reports that the next edition will expand into the National Hall, Olympia, where the London Gift Fair had originally been located. Furthermore, Clarion subsequently decided to
Movers and shakers
Cutlery manufacturer Robert Welch recently celebrated its 50th birthday. The company was launched by Robert Welch on April 7th, 1961 and remains under the direction of the Welch family, now run by Robert’s son and daughter,
Rupert and Alice Welch. They lead a small team of designers and remain based in the original design studio in the Old Silk Mill. The UK Gift Card and Voucher Association (UKGCVA) has elected its new executive board. Diane Jackson of CPI Card Group Europe, Steve Bradbery of Ceridian SVS and Siobhan Moore of Salans LLP (pictured) join the board and will serve
alongside re-elected members Wayne Harrington of Edenred and Kevin Lake of Countdown. Tony Rich of Halfords, Bill Alexander of Red Letter Days, John Bohan of Marks & Spencer and Denise Porter of
treatme.net continue in office.
4 Gifts & Housewares
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