Trade Suppliers of Gifts and Book Accessories. That company called if. Trade Gift Supplier

Thank you to all those who sought out or merely stumbled upon us at London Book Fair this year. Numbers walking the show were high and pleasingly we managed to lure many rabbits onto our stand with our irradiating orange headlights! Some were so taken they even placed orders which was even nicer. In fact it was clear from our many conversations that there is a forwards trend for add on gift sales within the book trade driven of course by an increasingly competitive market.

As a well established supplier, who specialises in reading themed products, we believe we are perfectly placed to offer a whole range of appealing, ready-to-sell book related gift items to engage with these shoppers. Our continual presence at London and other major book fairs around the world will, we hope, allow us to be a first point of reference for those wishing to include these additional products into their stores.

Orders placed this time were quite evenly spread between our new ranges and our much loved and firmly established favourites. We had made a special feature of our award-winning Electronic Dictionary Bookmark and succeeded in catching the eye of buyers looking for unique and practical options for their customers. And if you happen to wonder about such things - Grey is proving to be the favoured flavour. Speaking of flavours, if you weren't offered a nibble on our raspberry and white Belgian chocolate cookies then shame on us! Send us your address and we'll mail one off to you immediately. Along with a catalogue to keep our marketing department happy of course.

If you were unable to attend LBF this time, then now might just be the moment to pour yourself a nice hot cuppa, pull up a biscuit or two and have a browse round our website. Our London 2012 bookmarks and book lights are being snapped up quickly now with less than 100 days to go, so please do check out our three Olympic ranges. Our next event is Book Expo America. If you're going to that one please stop by and say hello. Or hi. Or anything else you fancy. As long as it's friendly…

With all the timing of a wicked pantomime villain determined to steal the curtain call and keep the hero and heroine from their final scene embrace, the onset of the pre-show snow at the eleventh hour threatened to derail events at the NEC for the busiest gift fair of the year. But show-goers are a hardy breed we discovered and, despite a relatively quiet Sunday, people had battled their way through and normal business had resumed at Spring Fair by first light Monday morning.

It was all change for the show layout this year with everyone shuffled around in order to aid navigation with extra halls opened up for use and wide walkways and watering points dotted liberally around to create a more inspired and relaxing environment. So we are told. We had also moved from our usual spot in Hall 4 into Hall 6 and once we had orientated ourselves (and discovered our closest coffee bar) were happy enough with our new location.

And it was very much a show of NEW's for IF. A new stand. Dozens of new products. And as we had promised for those who come to us for no other reason - new biscuits! I am unreliably informed by a wholly unreliable source that our posh white chocolate and raspberry cookies were proving a 'real hit' with the customers. As the jar seemed to be positioned just far enough away not be accessible to anyone not from IF and the fact that I only ever saw evidence of crumbs being brushed away from the jackets of our stand team I question this.

No matter, there was plenty to occupy the many who visited us aside from snackage. Particularly popular were the retro-cool Book Lamp, jazzy Bookend Singles, His and Her terribly un-PC keyrings, the thoroughly absorbing 52 Guinness World Records Cards, nifty E-Reader Adapter and our award-winning and much accoladed Electronic Dictionary Bookmark. If you haven't come across any of these super new products yet, please take a look around our website where you can see and read much more about them.

But of course not everything we do can be brand new! There are many of our formerly brand new products, which we now like to call established favourites, that continue to be best sellers for us and for our customers. So if you do head off to browse our wares please allow yourself a little longer to graze around all our pastures - both new and once new!

Also on show in the official London 2012 enclosure in Hall 4 were our complete Olympic Bookmark and Book Light ranges. And rather smart they all looked too, lined up in their compact displays and ready to be popped into all the various nooks and crannies of retail stores in all corners of the land as the excitement builds. Even if you don't need reminding that the Games are now less than six months away, we'll do so anyway for dramatic effect if nothing else! If you haven't gotten involved yet, now's the time to dip your toes in - or better still - peel off and take the plunge. The water is nice and warm, we guarantee it!

Thank you to those who took the time to come along and seek us out in unfamiliar surroundings. To those who didn't make it this time, perhaps we will see you in the Autumn? Surely we won't get any snow in September?? Just going to check out the odds…

Let's face it, you'd probably be quite surprised if we didn't say that we think we've got the perfect prezzies to make everyone's Christmas just the best ever (in the history of ever) for 2011.

And whilst you only have to look at our earnest faces and mildly reddened cheeks - just over-glowing with pride - to realise we sincerely believe it to be true, we do also reluctantly acknowledge that there is more than a fair bit of competition for your business at this time of year with almost everyone making just such a claim.

So where do we differ? Well for one thing, almost all of our ranges would happily and rather snugly fit into even the smallest of festive sock-shaped contraptions. Though not all at the same time of course.

Here are just a tiny few of our 60 plus ranges that are proving popular with our customers this year:

The Electronic Dictionary Bookmark. Winner of Gift of the Year 2011 in the stationery category and also featured in the Gadget Show's Top 5 Christmas Stocking Fillers. Look up all your unknown words without leaving the comfort of your own book.

See it on TV here: http://fwd.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/top-5/christmas-special-stocking-fillers

For all ages there's our 52 Guinness World Records Cards. Just as weird and wonderful as the best-selling book but much more compact and sock friendly.

His and Her Keyrings are guaranteed to bring harmony back to the lives of everyone they touch. Choose from pink or black.

For lovers of reading - and retro - there's The Book Lamp. It sits on your book, lighting the pages during the darkness hours and sits proudly on your desk in daylight to turn your friends and colleagues a handsome shade of spruce with envy.

Co-ordinate this Christmas! Bookend singles will keep your library smartly organised in a choice of 7 punchy colours at home or in the office.

And finally - how about a Mr or Little Miss Christmas bookmark or keyring to really lift someone's seasonal spirit?

Whatever your budget we think we've got some great little gifts to make a difference but not a dent in your festive finances. And you can order up to December 21st  for next day delivery (applies to UK customers only - even with Santa on our side!)

We’ll even offer to hold your stockings open for you while you fill 'em! Actually, I think I’d better check that first...

Frankfurt Book Fair is always a much relished opportunity to meet new customers from around the world who are keen to keep up with prevalent trends and enjoy soaking themselves in the rarefied atmosphere of everything book for a few glorious days of the year. With reading one of the world's top pastimes, an increasing number of retailers are finding significant add-on sales from our carefully nurtured ranges of gifts for book lovers. If you're a bookseller but have never thought of tagging book-related gift products on to your inventory, here's a good analogy that we like to use - are you the shoe shop that doesn't sell laces? Or polish? Or insoles? Well, you get the idea I'm sure.

Since 1996 IF has been the torch bearer in this department, producing a wide selection of inventively slanted products, designed by us in-house, for those with either just casual reading impulses or others with much more serious book fuelled addictions! All conceived with the aim of making the experience of reading easier, more fun, and even more rewarding for its many participants. If we had a trumpet to blow, we might even be inclined to give it a good old collective rasp at this point.

And if that all sounds a bit more salesy than you're used to on our news pages then I've done my job! Our Sales Director will be happy and might even stop reading before our more light-hearted overtones creep back in…

As for our corner at the Fair, we do have some very exciting new products on show for the first time - even before their official release dates later in the year. Listing these in absolutely no pre-determined order whatsoever, we have: The Book Lamp - a retro-styled light to clip onto your book for reading in low-light or to sit in its desk base in bright light where everyone can see and admire it! Lots of interest has been shown in this one when its been occasionally sneaked out of its brown paper bag.

Next we have the Bookend Singles range. A 'great for retailing' flat packed book end that pops up to hold your books securely and comes in 7 punchy colours to suit your mood and your decor. Lounge, Kitchen, Study, Bedroom or Office. Or bathroom - why not! One of the most anticipated book launches of the year is undoubtedly the Guinness World Records. Imagine, if you will, a scaled down version (pack of playing cards sized actually) and you will immediately grasp the concept of another of our new offerings. 52 cards of the amazing to the bizarre to the downright unbelievable, just right for fitting into the stockings of all your family and friends this Christmas.

We like to think we have our fingers on the pulses of the book reading public and it hasn't escaped our notice that E-Reading devices are becoming the preferred word mode for many. Look out for our special adapter which partners our award-winning Really Tiny Book Light to clip on for reading when the light is poor. A simple and effective solution. Just the kind we like best!

Finally, if you said to us 'pick one product that I mustn't miss at your stand this year', we'd probably panic. And then point you towards our new Electronic Electronic Dictionary Bookmark. We think it's the nearest thing to gorgeous that any dictionary has ever been in the history of dictionaries. It's elegantly styled, easy to use and has 38,000 word definitions - all taken from the popular Collins Gem English Dictionary. You won't ever have seen a slimmer dictionary in all your life and the UK Giftware Association gave it a Winners sticker in this years design awards. Which made us happy.

If books are your thing and you are coming to the world's biggest book celebration in Frankfurt, take a sideways step towards IF in Hall 8 at Stand A957 to see what we've been doing so well for the last 15 years!

Well, here’s the lowdown on a most successful night at the Gift of the Year awards for IF.

Needless to say we were tickled grey, white AND pink to walk away with the top prize for our Electronic Dictionary Bookmark in the Gift of the Year awards held at Spring Fair. And as if that wouldn't have been swell enough for us, we were also Highly Commended for the Day You Were Born Greetings Cards and our Roald Dahl Bunk-Doodling Bookmarks.

You'll want to know all the juicy details - that's why you're here after all - so where shall we begin? Well, winners first seems best...

The Electronic Dictionary Bookmark is a very exciting addition to our range and was debuting at this years show. In a nutshell, it takes all the well respected content of the Collins Gem English Dictionary (that's 38,000 word definitions) and rather elegantly squeezes it down to a convenient size to keep handily in your book as you read. When you come across a word you don't know, you simply type it in, press OK and you'll be enlightened enough to carry on with the full understanding of the authors intentions. Full details will be available soon on our product pages and the EDB is available for sale in June.

We think you'll agree that anyone who is anyone has a birthday these days (we even know someone who has two), so the Day You Were Born Greetings Cards are, logically, absolutely perfect for everyone. Find out who from the world of history, literature, the arts and even the world of popular music share their big day with little old you. You'll also discover an amazing amount about all the significant and not so significant things that happened on every single day of the year. And for those of us who are trying to simplify our lives - it will definitely take all the stress out of choosing the right card!

In the highly contested Branded Character category our Roald Dahl Bunk-Doodling Bookmarks certainly punched well above their price tag! Designed to appeal to younger readers and encourage them in their reading, these are the wibbliest and wobbliest page keepers ever devised and are dual-puposefully equipped to be hung as decorative mobiles to increase the bunk-doodling enjoyment. Six of the authors most popular titles are represented, featuring a wealth of Quentin Blake's unmistakable illustrations. Grown ups who never grew up are allowed to join in the fun here too.

Our celebratory headaches are finally subsiding but we just can’t seem to get the glitter off our shoes!

Here are our three Gift of the Year 2011 awarded products:

Electronic Dictionary Bookmark
WINNER
Stationery Category

Day You Were Born Greetings Cards
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Card and Wrap Category

Roald Dahl Bunk-Doodling Bookmarks
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Branded Character Category

We've done it!

OK, before we all get over excited - we haven't actually won anything. Not a bean. However, we are still very excited.

No, the reason we've come over all tingly is because seven of our products have made it past the judging committee to this years grand final where the winners will be announced, live, after day one of Spring Fair at the NEC. For the first time the organisers have gone public with the nominee's - so there really would have been nowhere to hide!

For those that don't know, the Gift of the Year competition is held by the Giftware Association to promote the best of British based gift design. It is usually an excellent barometer to current and future trends and of course a very big pat on the back in terms of both pride and commercial return for the winners. Last year there were nearly 150 gift companies that entered, so you can see that competition is strong.

So, no chickens are being hatched, counted or otherwise interfered with by us. Anyone remember Craig David?

Sunday 6th February is GOTY day. We'll have a bottle of champagne in one hand and a box of paracetamol in the other. Let's hope we need both!

'Third time lucky' is a phrase often used when you haven't been successful on the two previous occasions - so we weren't quite sure if we should say 'third time lucky again' or 'third time as well as the first and second times lucky'. And then I started thinking, is it luck? Or is it down to the genius of our nocturnal design owls here at if? Anyway, as you see, we chose 'third time in a row lucky' and I am beginning to labour the point a bit now...

Regardless, we were thoroughly delighted to receive our award from the Giftware Association at the recent Harrogate Home and Gift Show. This is our MD, John Calvert, (in the middle) receiving the award from GA Chairman Michael Sweeney and GA Chief Executive Isabel Martinson. New suit John? (Erm, no, I mean it's time for a new suit...)

Image our surprise and delight to discover our very own Germany 'Travelmark' featuring alongside Jeremy Clarkson last night on the BBC's programme 'Top Gear'

For those of you who missed our 'Travelmark' appearance please follow the link below to view on BBC iPlayer (11 mins)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t0yw2/Top_Gear_Series_15_Episode_2/

Well, they do say things come in three's - but we didn't really think that applied to Gift of the Year awards! Who'd have thought that we'd be walking away with a 'GOTY' for an amazing third year running! A big pat on the collective backs of our industrious design team for dreaming up yet another award-winning product.

Of course, as we love ALL of our products equally, we'll be going round giving warm hugs to every one of them so none will feel left out...

The Gift of the Year awards are independently judged by industry professionals and were set up to recognise and reward products of excellence within the industry. They are run by the Giftware Association. www.giftoftheyear.co.uk

They say: "The awards is a fantastic opportunity to prove your brilliance by showing that your products are winners. The Gift of the Year competition is open to all UK gift and home related companies." You can find out more about the awards at: http://www.giftoftheyear.co.uk/

Mini-Marks won in the Stationery category.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Mini-Marks, follow the link below to discover a whole new world of colourful page marking!

http://www.thatcompanycalledif.com/product_detail.asp?id=93

Just off to polish the trophy(ies)...