*** 2020 seminar slides now available to download! ***
For 2020 we tailored the content of each show day to best fit the profile of visitors.
Seminars and workshops were tailored to meet the challenges facing buyers.
*** 2021 seminars TBA ***
Stay ahead of the game, with the help of our superb business seminars delivered by key industry figures.
No pre-booking required to take advantage of this FREE expert advice!
All seminars will take place in the Presentation Theatre. No booking is required but it is advisable to arrive early to get a seat.
Sunday 16th FEBRUARY 2020
9.45am The Craft Report 2020
With Linda Jones of Linda Jones & Associates, Research Specialists
This year’s Craft Report takes a look back at a difficult trading year and examines what lies in store for the forthcoming year. The underlying theme is about consumer change and how to capitalise on this to help develop your business.
11.00am HIGH STREET VERSES ONLINE
With Steffi Stern, founder and owner of The Makerss
More and more High Street shops are closing as more and more people buy online. How can you as a shop owner keep your customers coming to your shop? What can you do as small business owner, how can you get the community of your town involved. What do you offer that cannot be bought online? This talk will address at the personal service aspect, the community value, the added-value-to-products bought locally and the initiatives individuals but also groups can start to maintain a busy shop and keep customers coming back as well as attracting new footfall.
12.15pm UNLOCK A FLOW OF RAVING FANS TO YOUR CREATIVE BUSINESS
With Sarah Cressall, founder of Creation Station
In this open and candid talk Sarah shares practical advice and tips on how to become the ‘go to’ centre for creative resources and to turn passions into your profit.
1.30pm THE ROLE OF THE BOOK IN A MULTIMEDIA AGE
With Martin de la Bedoyere, Managing Director of Search Press
In this digital age why are sales of printed instructional art and craft books on the increase? Martin de la Bedoyere, MD of Search Press, looks at trends in the current book market and how art and craft shops can benefit from stocking inspirational books.
2.45Pm Selling to myself – Making luxury product accessible through craft
With Katie Jones
This talk focuses on my journey as a young designer and how I wanted to make product for my own demographic. An insight into the making power of the under 35’s and their desire to craft!
4.00Pm HOW TO CREATE EXHIBITION STANDS THAT WILL WOW YOUR CUSTOMERS AND BECOME YOUR BIGGEST SELLING TOOL!
With Liz Rivers and Nicola Lugard Davies
Exhibitions and shows are a big investment in time and money, so it is vital that your stand is working as hard as it can for you.
Whether you’re exhibiting at a trade or retail show, making the most of this valuable advertising space is really important. With interested footfall reaching the thousands, showcasing your products properly can really boost your profits and with social media sharing on the rise, an eye-catching stand can do its bit to increase your brand awareness outside of the exhibition hall too! However, it’s not always easy to make your booth stand out among a sea of competitors.
Join Liz and Nicola as they walk you through tips and pointers on how to dress exhibition stands and create eye-catching displays, whatever space or products you have to hand. Having worked on exhibitions focused on everything from craft and fabrics to eyewear, they understand the complexities of stand display, and can guide you through the simple steps you need to make your stand the one that everyone remembers.
Monday 17th FEBRUARY 2020
9.45am DRESS TO IMPRESS: HOW TO TURN YOUR WINDOWS INTO YOUR BIGGEST SALES TOOL!
With Liz Rivers and Nicola Lugard Davies
If eyes are the window to the soul, windows are your eyes to your customers!
With so much competition from online competitors and budget retailers, today’s high street stores need to work twice as hard to stand out from the crowd. In today’s society first impressions really do matter, so the same principle applies to your shop front. Using everyday tools, simple techniques and cost-effective decorations, learn how to maximise the impact of your most valuable marketing asset and create seasonal window displays to wow your customers and get those tills ringing!
11.00am The Craft Report 2020
With Linda Jones of Linda Jones & Associates, Research Specialists
This year’s Craft Report takes a look back at a difficult trading year and examines what lies in store for the forthcoming year. The underlying theme is about consumer change and how to capitalise on this to help develop your business.
12.15Pm HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL CRAFT BUSINESS IN THE AGE OF NEW COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY
With Paul Wright, co-founder of HOCHANDA
Paul Wright gives and personal review of the social changes that have had an impact on all our lives; how different crafts and their specific skills are passed down generations, and the bearing all this change has had on the craft industry. Recognising the new challenges this has presented, and how to build a successful craft business by harnessing these new and emerging communications technologies.
1.30Pm TEXTILE STANDARDS AND OTHER INITIATIVES – HOW WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE OUR PLANET – THE STORY SO FAR
With Jane Makower, former MD of Jane Makower Fabrics
With Climate Change being a hot global topic at present, more and more customers are starting to ask, what is being done in the fashion and textile industry to protect the planet? So as retailers we want to be better informed.
Jane Makower says, “A large number of textile initiatives exist and many of the big players on the high street have signed up to them. But not many of us know what what these initiatives and standards aim to do or how effective they are.”
This talk is an introduction to textile standards and other initiatives, who developed them and why, so we can have a more educated conversation with our customers. It includes recent research, which measures how different stages of the fashion supply chain impact the environment. The research shows that consumers who make things or enable others to do so can be well placed to reduce our carbon footprint.
2.45Pm HOW TO TAP INTO POTENTIAL WITHIN SITES TO INSPIRE COMMUNITIES
With Sarah Cressall, founder of Creation Station
Managing multi sites brings a range of unique challenges. In this practical and insightful talk Sarah shares realistic advice and top tips on how to develop the potential in each site, support your teams and grow the bottom line.
4.00Pm BENEFITS OF RUNNING WORKSHOPS AND CRAFT CLASSES
With Steffi Stern, founder and owner of The Makerss
What are the benefits to you and your customers organising or even running workshops yourself? What do you need to know and be prepared for, how to promote them and what to expect to get in return. What could go wrong? This talk will look at the benefits of onsite workshops and gives you a deep insight into the preparation, promotion, execution and follow up of workshops and craft classes including pricing structures and creating clarity of the direct and in a direct benefits to your business and your customers.
5.30Pm CRAFT BUSINESS AWARDS 2020
With Aceville Publication’s Craft Business magazine
The Craft Business Awards, now in their 15th year, are back and are bigger and brighter than ever before. The awards, sponsored by The Creation Station, reach every area and our Elite Industry Award categories highlight the very best. A glittering panel of star-studded judges ensure that these standard-defining awards not only mean status for the winners, but better business too. Don’t miss the chance to find out who the winners are at this at this glitzy champagne awards reception, where you can enjoy the chance to network with the other award winners, the Craft Business magazine team and Aceville’s craft department’s journalists.
TUESDAY 18th FEBRUARY 2020
9.45am SOCIAL MEDIA: FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE…
With Steffi Stern, founder and owner of The Makerss
Which one do you use already? What are the benefits of each one and the differences? How and when to use them to their best benefits.
This talk is as much about informational and educational details as well as a discussion platform inviting participants to share their views and experiences.
11.00am HOW TO TURN YOUR PASSION TO PROFITS AND STILL STAY REASONABLY SANE!
With Sarah Cressall, founder of Creation Station
Taking your ideas, and creating and growing your business involves a wide range of steps and skills. Sarah shares practical ways of gaining clarity, goal setting and managing your time to achieve the results you want.
12.15Pm INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY: PROTECTING YOUR BUSINESS
With Meg Pascoe, Business Engagement Manager, Intellectual Property Office
Every business will own intellectual property – the name you trade under, the look or the function of products you make or use, even the brochures you create to promote your business. The Intellectual Property Office can help you understand how your IP can be protected effectively.
1.30Pm THE CRAFT REPORT 2020
With Linda Jones of Linda Jones & Associates, Research Specialists
This year’s Craft Report takes a look back at a difficult trading year and examines what lies in store for the forthcoming year. The underlying theme is about consumer change and how to capitalise on this to help develop your business.
Presentation Theatre Speakers
Meg Pascoe
Intellectual Property Office
Meg has been at the IPO for three years, working in Internal Communications for two and a half years before moving on to the Business Engagement team. She has recently started delivering and advising on all aspects of Intellectual Property and is looking forward to travelling the UK giving advice to SME’s, stakeholders and individuals who want help with their IP.
Sarah Cressall
The Creation Station Ltd
Sarah Cressall is a number one bestselling author, speaker, multi-award-winning entrepreneur and founder of the UK’s leading creative activity company The Creation Station Ltd. Over one million children and adults have been inspired by the award-winning classes, parties and events delivered by the fabulous family of over one hundred Creation Station franchise owners. Sarah believes creativity is the currency of the 21st century and is essential for education, entertainment, wellbeing and our economy.
Linda Jones
LJ&P Research Specialists
Linda Jones is an independent research specialist, who has run her own business for over 30 years.
She has worked with ICHF’s parent company TI-Media for much of this period and has a particular interest in home décor, craft and consumer media.
Paul Wright
Co-founder of HOCHANDA
Paul Wright a lifetime avid crafter and childhood fan of Blue Peter, Tony Hart and others who stimulated children to get art and crafting. He conceived and launched Create and Craft the world’s first 24-hour live broadcast, interactive dedicated Craft Shopping Channel in 2003. He successfully exited this business five years ago and retired. However, bored by retirement in 2015 together with his business partner Val Kaye they founded and launched HOCHANDA – Home Of Crafts Hobbies AND Art a new shopping channel showcasing a much broader range of art and crafts available to a worldwide audience on-line via HOCHANDA.COM.
Martin de la Bedoyere
Managing Director of Search Press
Search Press is the leading art and craft publisher in the world and is celebrating it’s 50th birthday in 2020. They specialise in publishing beautiful and practical books for artists and crafters of all skill levels. The company was founded in 1970, when Charlotte de la Bedoyere published her first book – Basket Weaving – in an attic room in Kensington. In the early 1980s, Lotti moved to Tunbridge Wells, where they still are today. Her son, Martin de la Bedoyere, took over as Managing Director in 1997 with his wife Caroline running Sales and Marketing. The company now publishes 100 plus titles a year, and is a one-stop-shop for art and craft books wholesaling and distributing the very best titles available. In 2019 they were voted Best Craft Book Publisher in the prestigious Craft Business Awards, the craft industry’s highest accolade for a book publisher. This was their SIXTH consecutive win, and the eighth since the awards began in 2006.
Jane Makower
Former MD of Jane Makower Fabrics
Jane Mather Makower read Economic History at Durham 1983 – 86 and wrote her dissertation on the decline of the Lancashire Cotton Industry 1880 – 1959.
She joined the Family Textiles Business, M. Makower & Co. Ltd in 1991, taking over as Managing Director in 1999 and continued in that role until she sold the brand Jane Makower Fabrics to Alan Litman Ltd in 2017.
She now works as a consultant to Alan Litman helping them to select fabrics and market them to the Retail Fabric Outlets. This includes John Lewis and numerous smaller Independent Businesses. Her particular expertise is Ladies Fashion Fabrics.
Steffi Stern
Co-founder of The Makerss
Steffi Stern has extensive experience in the crafting industry but also as an experienced business leader, entrepreneur, designer maker, author and mother of four. Steffi grew up in Germany and moved to the UK in her early 20s, she was a UK company director at the age of 27 and loves building businesses. Steffi has an MA in Management Learning and is a qualified Myers Briggs Type Indicator, as well as Belbin facilitator and has studied Gestalt in Organisations for two years.
As a child she crafted freely and confidently as part of her German culture, and today runs a successful craft business The Makerss with her business partner Sophie Buckley. She has written two books on needle felting and a third on making dolls, will be out in May 2020. Steffi loves combining her business experience with her passion of crafting and helping others to craft.
Liz Rivers
Liz Rivers has been working as a window dresser for nearly 40 years, and during her time has certainly created some challenging displays. From Christian Dior showrooms, to exhibition stands covered in cement mixers, to hairpieces for a high street hairdresser, Liz has turned her hand to making even the most unglamorous items look exciting, and is perfectly placed to pass on her time-honed skills.
From creating wedding dresses on mannequins with lengths of dressmaking fabrics and a handful of pins, to the proper grouping of small items to really ensure they make an impact, Liz is able to use her knowledge to create unforgettable window and interior displays.
Nicola Lugard-Davies
With qualifications in both display and interior design, Nicola Lugard-Davies has spent 20 years window dressing around the world, which has given her a wide range of knowledge and experience, and a real flair for what works in the real world.
As well as many years working in the UK and Europe, Nicola spent time as a visual merchandiser in Australia. In this role she was responsible for planning store layouts and the training of internal staff in the skills needed for visual merchandising, so is ideally placed to pass on the tricks of the trade. She has worked with everything from toys to furniture, and can always ensure that whatever the product, it’s always shown off to its very best advantage.
Katie Jones
Katie’s self named brand was launched by the British Fashion Councils Estethica after finishing her MA at Central Saint Martins in 2014, and went on to win Selfridges Bright New Things Award in 2016. Her work has been stocked in luxury stores worldwide and featured on the pages of global fashion and craft publications such as Vogue, Dazed and Confused, The Telegraph, The Guardian, Mollie Makes, Inside Crochet, Selvedge Magazine, and Simply Crochet.
Wanting the product to be more accessible to her own demographic the label turned Make-It-Yourself in 2018. The MIY range brings its designs out of the Luxury stores and into your homes! The designs offer a range of pieces for you to make in your own home or at one of our workshops.
