The GCA is delighted to be heading to Manchester on Thursday 14th October 2021, for our annual Conference and AGM. The event will start with coffee from 10.15am and finish at 4pm
The event is being organised by GCA Council Members Karen Wilson, owner of Paper Salad, Raj Arora, owner of Davora and GCA President Rachel Hare, owner of Belly Button. As Manchester businesses they will bring together an exciting agenda celebrating creativity and innovation, so much a theme of both our industry and their city.
If you are local, or planning to stay over the night before, and want to meet for drinks 5.30-7.30pm let karen@papersalad.co.uk know, it will be a fun opportunity to network ahead of the Conference.
Summary of the day
We have a fantastic line up of speakers (see below).
We will also be focusing on all the Hot Topics affecting our industry, and sharing the latest consumer market research – which gives a real insight into card consumers.
And of course it will be a great opportunity to meet others in the trade and exchange news.
Key note speakers
We are delighted to welcome 3 well-known greeting card industry experts, who between them have a wealth of valuable industry experience. David Greaves, joint MD of Emotional Rescue, independent retailer David Robertson and Jo Bennett, studio director of Card Factory.
David Greaves will be sharing an insight into his business life “Greeting Cards – A Fortunate Opportunity”. It will be a very positive and uplifting presentation which will include a brutally honest and frank snapshot of his business life and childhood, which can be summed up with the two classic clichés of, “Rags to riches” and “In the face of adversity”!
Jo Bennett will speak about changes in consumer mindsets being see at Card Factory, and how this may affect the path ahead for our industry, under the title – “a great big bowl of spaghetti ….some food for thought ….unravelling the slippery future ahead“.
David Robertson, well-known Scottish retailer and industry Maverick, will talk: “Rockstar Retailing”. Sharing his tips on building relationships with indies, selling and unshakeable self-belief. Manchester music and imagery will keep everyone on their toes!
David Greaves (L) with colleagues at PGLive 
Jo Bennett with GCA CEO Amanda Fergusson 
David Robertson
Our key note speakers will all be sharing valuable experiences and thoughts about our industry at this pivotal time. Plus some tips for the future, see PGBuzz for more background.
Hot Topics – Sustainability, Diversity, selling online, latest market data and more
The day will include a “Hot Topic’s” Discussion, led by our expert Panel of Council Members and leaders in the greeting card industry.
They will be there to share their knowledge and tips and respond to your questions, and share their own business experiences, on issues such as:
What next for our industry to further reduce our environmental impact?
Greeting card industry supply chain challenges
Export post Brexit
Diversity and Inclusion in the card industry, progress to date and next steps.
How has lockdown changed consumer buying?
Brokerage – is it for me?
There is still time to add to this list – just contact us with your questions and with the topics you’d like our Panel to cover.
Our Panel will include GCA Council members Sarah-Jane Porter Head of Licensing at Moonpig, Rachel Hare owner of Belly Button, Adriana Lovesy owner of Mrs Lovesy, Darren Cave Commercial Director at UKG, Mark Callaby joint owner of Ohh Deer, plus specialist experts.
GCA Council Members will also be available to answer questions on the day.
We will also be sharing the latest greeting card facts and figures from the GCA Market Report, and also releasing the results of our Consumer Research exploring the changes we are seeing in greeting card buying behaviour by region and ethnicity.
Details for the day
The day will be an interesting and informative networking event, starting with networking coffee and biscuits from 10.15am, with the agenda starting at 10.45am. There will be a further coffee break and lunch, giving everyone lots of time to meet up with old and new friends, talk to suppliers to our industry and listen to our speakers. The day will end about 4pm.
The event will be held in Bridgewater Hall, Manchester’s international concert venue and home to the Hallé, and BBC Philharmonic orchestra’s. Manchester is a City known for its music culture which will be celebrated with a music theme to our Conference.
We will continue to update this blog with more information.
Book your tickets now
Book your GCA Conference & AGM tickets now
Tickets for the event are available to purchase online. You can buy tickets for yourself and your colleagues. Tickets (with the QR code required for entry) will be emailed to the person who makes the booking.
