Gift of the Year, organised by The Giftware Association, is thrilled to announce that Chi Cups by Chi Cups has been officially crowned the sixth People's Choice Champion.
The brand earned an overwhelming number of votes - nearly 20 percent of the total - and captured the hearts of fans and supporters within their network. The award was announced at the Harrogate Home and Gifts Sundowners drink, held after the first day of trading.
From the very beginning, Chi Cups brought energy, creativity, and an undeniable spark to the competition, making its way through to the shortlist stage of the awards and proudly exhibiting at Spring Fair. The company's ability to rally support and inspire its community was nothing short of phenomenal in the most voted awards to date.
Posted: 23 July 2025
The global craft community is buzzing after another record-setting edition of h+h americas, In May 2025, h+h americas welcomed 5,180 verified industry professionals to the Donald E. Stephens Convention & Conference Centre in Rosemont, Illinois, USA—a 29.7% increase over 2024. Attendees represented 48 countries, all 50 U.S. states, and two U.S. territories, solidifying the event's position as the most influential B2B handicraft show in North America.
Posted: 22 July 2025
Gemporia Craft is excited to announce the purchase of CraftStash, the UK's trusted online destination for papercraft and creative inspiration, along with several of its popular sub-brands. This partnership brings together two communities with a shared love of making, learning, and connecting. By adding CraftStash's extensive range of exclusive products, tutorials, and engaged customers to its portfolio, Gemporia Craft cements its place as the home of the UK's most passionate crafting community both on-screen and online. The move also opens exciting new opportunities for innovation, exclusive collaborations, and creative learning for makers of every level.
Posted: 17 July 2025
WOVEN 2025 has come to a close after a month of community-driven textile events. This year's festival, which took place throughout June, saw more than 120 events from community organisations, venues, local artists, schools and the textile industry, collaboratively coming together to celebrate the district's rich textile history and contemporary scene. The creative event was enjoyed by more than 12,000 visitors.
Posted: 15 July 2025
Momentum is building for London Packaging Week 2025. Taking place on 15 & 16 October at Excel London, this landmark 15th anniversary show is set to be the most forward-thinking and creatively charged in the show's history.
First launched in 2010 as Packaging Innovations & Luxury Packaging London, the show has evolved into a leading platform for design, materials, technology, and sustainability.
In 2022, it rebranded as London Packaging Week and introduced four co-located events: Packaging Première, PCD, PLD, and Food & Consumer Pack, each tailored to the needs of a specific market.
Together, they form a curated ecosystem that serves the entire packaging value chain, ranging from luxury to lifestyle and FMCG.
Posted: 14 July 2025
Registered attendees can start searching the Exhibitor List, Brand Directory, send meeting requests and plan their calendars by adding in conference sessions and networking events. With over 210 exhibiting companies and hundreds more brands from all over the world confirmed for Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) 2025, the show's online Event Planner opened to visitors this week, allowing them to discover properties, connect with exhibitors, request meetings and add conference sessions and networking events to their calendars.
Posted: 10 July 2025
Presenter and comedian, Sara Pascoe returns to host The Great British Sewing Bee, as 12 of the nation's top home sewers face creative and technical challenges set by judges Patrick Grant and Esme Young. Over 10 weeks, themes from Art to Movies and the 1920s to Korea will test their skills, as they compete for the coveted title of Britain's best home sewer.
Posted: 8 July 2025
New research from Ventrica has revealed the revenue benefits for brands that invest in providing emotive customer experiences (CX) that consumers want.
The company surveyed over 2,000 UK consumers and found that over the last 12 months, only 4 per cent of positive experiences were delivered by AI and only 18 per cent were a combination of AI and human interaction. Furthermore, only just over half (53 percent) found chatbots to be a successful means of resolving enquiries, significantly lower than calls (87 percent).
This is leaving UK brands at risk of losing out on potential revenue opportunities, with the survey finding consumers would be willing to spend up to £100 more on a brand in the future, following a positive experience.
Posted: 8 July 2025
A significant leadership change is underway at the globally active family-owned business Schwan-STABILO.
With operations spanning Writing Instruments, Cosmetics, and Outdoor, and revenues of approximately 800 million, the Group employs more than 5,200 people in 38 locations worldwide. After nearly three decades in various leadership roles, Sebastian Schwanhäußer will step down from his operational responsibilities at the end of the current fiscal year and assumed the position of Chairman of the Advisory Board on July 1, 2025.
As of October 1, 2025, Michele Molon will take over as Group CEO of Schwan-STABILO. During the transition period, CFO Anke Buttler will lead the Group's operations.
Posted: 4 July 2025
Koelnmesse looks back on a successful 2024 trade fair year: with a turnover of EUR 365.8 million, a profit of EUR 21.3 million and a total of 76 events in Cologne and worldwide, the company was able to further consolidate its position as one of the leading international trade fair organisers. A particularly encouraging development was that the company's subsidiaries in Germany and abroad made a significant contribution to the positive overall result. Koelnmesse remains resolutely on course for growth in the current year. The new Confex conference and exhibition centre, international premieres, major contract extensions, and new digital services strengthen the company's structure and offering.
Posted: 3 July 2025