Over 1.5 million people started their morning today being reminded to write and send their Christmas cards as Amanda Fergusson, the new ceo of the GCA appeared on the BBC Breakfast twice during the programme, as well as on the BBC News 24 channel. Filmed on location...
Latest Figures from the GCA Market Report 2018 The latest GCA Market Report shows that in 2017 the UK public spent £1.7 billion on greeting cards. The report, which covers sales January - December 2017, is the only research based on actual retail sales figures, with...
The latest Thinking of You Week 2018 branding and toolkit are now live! “Huge thanks go to Miki Rose of the Great British Card Company for designing the new ToYW branding and toolkit and also to Raj Arora at Davora who has built the website for us,” said Sharon...
Greeting cards received some really positive PR when Sharon Little, ceo of the GCA appeared at peak time on Simon Mayo’s Drivetime show on Radio 2 yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 28 February). Sharon was invited as the ‘greeting card expert’ after a discussion arose on...
This May a new law from the European Union will come into effect in the UK. The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, will apply to all companies which process EU citizens’ personal data (for example greeting card purchasers) and seeks to tighten up the rules...
After the success of the Spring Fair Debut, the scheme is coming to Autumn Fair 2018. “The feedback from Debut exhibitors at Spring Fair last week has again been fantastic, and with this area going from strength to strength I’m now really excited to be able to offer...
In this supercharged superfast pitching event, publishers will get to meet buyers from indies, small chains and multiple retailers and also take part in workshops with top players in the card trade. The date for your diary is the 1pm - 4pm on Friday 20 April and the...
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is urging card publishers to stop producing cards featuring images of brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds, such as pugs, French bulldogs and Persian cats on their products as part of its #BreedtoBreathe campaign. The BVA (the...
The news of the recent jailing of a man in a modern slavery case involving the making of greeting cards for an un-named company (see PG Buzz), had the potential to seriously damage our industry’s reputation. As this is the first time that greeting cards have been...
The winner of the GCA's Tagline Challenge is 'Send a card, deliver a smile’. This is the phrase that received the most votes for an industry tagline which retailers, publishers, agents and trade suppliers felt best represents the spirit of greeting card sending. ...
The GCA and greeting card industry as a whole received a positive thumbs up in the latest WWF Timber Scorecard Report – a biennial report that scores businesses on the visibility of their timber (paper in the case of cards) sourcing policies and the steps they’ve...
Towards an ever more sustainable future The GCA has been actively working on environmental issues since 2008. In 2008 we held our first Green GCA AGM, launched our original Green Resources and our first model Green Card Policy to encourage and support our members in...
We’ve received so much fantastic feedback on the GCA’s Speed-dating with Dragons event which saw 60 publishers in one to one pitching sessions with 18 retailer 'Dragons'. The buyers were out in force with retailers including Clintons, Cardzone, Scribbler, House of...
Just six hours after this event was announced by GCA CEO Sharon Little this morning, Speed-dating with Dragons was sold out! In this exciting new event, publishers will have one to one sessions to pitch their cards to retail buyers from a multiple, a small chain and...
The latest Christmas card research from Royal Mail shows that Christmas cards remain more popular than e-cards and texts. The research showed that an overwhelming 72 per cent of people who celebrate Christmas would prefer to receive cards this Christmas. Only six per...
In another strand to our lovely Thinking of You Week campaign, the GCA has collaborated with Teacher's Post, Royal Mail’s magazine for schools and teachers. The magazine has given the its front page to Thinking of You week with a full page article on page two,...
Use this unbranded lesson plan to teach a year 4 class about the importance of letter writing.
The latest GCA Market Report 2016 confirms that the UK greeting card sector has grown in value to £1.7 billion in the UK. The report, which covers sales January - December 2015, is the only research based on actual retail sales figures, with data confidentially...
The GCA's new dedicated Thinking of You Week website is now live! Hooray!!! Spread the word!!! Here's the new address: www.thinkingofyouweek.cards This new stand alone website explains the aim of Thinking of You Week - to create a wave of love, caring and...
We're starting to get super excited about the GCA AGM with the date set for Tuesday 8th November! Sharon Little has just announced that James Daunt, ceo of Waterstones, and Giles Andreae (creator of Purple Ronnie, Edward Monkton and Happy Jackson) are already...
The GCA’s Sharon Little took part in the launch of Songs of Praise’s UK-wide competition, which calls on all budding artists to dig out their paintbrushes, to help raise money for BBC Children in Need. The competition will give amateur artists the opportunity to have...
No one should let a big birthday go by without being lavished with a fabulous array of birthday cards. And if you're marking a really major 90th birthday milestone and happen to be the Queen, well that sets the bar a little higher! Obviously as the card industry we...
The GCA is delighted to present two short, focused seminars in one afternoon, with a two great panels of expert speakers! The seminars will take place at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.Registration: 1.30pmSeminar: 2pm - 5pmCost: £45+VAT per person Part...
Spreading Happiness By Sending Cards Now in its third year, Thinking of You Week (26 Sept – 2 Oct) inspires people to create a wave of love, caring and happiness by sending a card to a different person each day during this special week. Thinking of You Week has grown...