Craft Focus - April/May 2021 (Issue 84)

64 Educated in craft Rashmi Overthrow, head of sales and marketing at Specialist Crafts Ltd, talks being the go-to supplier in the education sector, their notable charity work and expanding their ranges over the months ahead Tell us a little bit about the history behind Specialist Crafts Ltd. Where are you based? Who started the company and when? Specialist Crafts is based in Leicester and has been trading for more than 30 years. The company has however traded for over a century, originally known as Dryad Handicrafts in the ’20s and was owned by Winsor & Newton in the ’80s trading as Reeves Dryad until the current owners bought the company, renaming it Specialist Crafts. What do you specialise in? We’re the UKs largest supplier of arts, crafts and design materials to the education sector. We work closely with art educators, artists and technicians to develop our product range. Our Specialist Crafts Brand now contains more than 6,000 competitively priced and high-quality products that we supply to our 80,000 customers worldwide! How has your product range evolved over the years? After catering for the education sector for many years our product range has evolved to include our Spectrum Artist range: a superior quality product designed for the retail market. We’ve now launched this range with many retailers starting to stock it due to demand from students that are used to using these products at school and university. We consider our brand to be an affordable alternative to other big brands, with no compromise on quality. What’s your most popular range? The Spectrum Artist Colouring Pencils and Graphites are one of our best sellers. The 48 and 12 set respectively offer a diverse colour and tone range for artists looking to finesse their blending techniques with a complementary range of graphite shades. What art materials are currently very popular and have you noticed lots of newbies taking up crafting? We have! Sales of our Specialist Crafts Watercolour Tablet Sets and Spectrum Artist Pencils have increased rapidly over the past 12 months. During lockdown, many people have realised the therapeutic benefit of art and creativity. Paint by numbers and colouring activities seem to be the public’s favourite at the moment. In fact, we’ve partnered with various Crafts Council funded charities during lockdown, such as www.anewdirection. org.uk , to provide kits to kids across the country to help their wellbeing and mental health. Talk us through the current collections you’re particularly excited about. We’re super excited about the Spectrum Artist range. From colouring pencils and graphites, to charcoal and oil pastels, our drawing range, in particular, will give artists lots to choose from. What company values do you hold? We believe in providing high quality materials and service, which is supported by investment in people. Our staff all receive extensive product training and are keen ambassadors for the range, many of them art graduates themselves who understand the need for quality materials at the right price! At Specialist Crafts you’ll always find experienced people who can offer product advice and guidance to help you make the right choice. “We’ve partnered with various Crafts C ouncil funded charities during lockdown, such as www.anewdirection.org.uk, to p r ovide kits to kids acr oss the country to help their wel l being and mental health.”

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