Usually we like to have a bit of a triumphal crow about Gift of the Year quite early on in our pre-show report but not this year. Alas, this is not so much a change of tactic but a reversal of fortune I'm afraid! We did get 5 products onto the shortlist but sadly ran out of steam in the eyes of this year's Giftware Association judging panel. So after 4 year's in a row we won't be wearing our shiny GOTY badges in 2012. There's always next year...

However, we do have plenty to get excited about - not least of which is our new look stand. Yes, we've gone posh and this time we'll be asking you to take off your shoes first before you glide around amongst our latest wares! Just kidding. As they say, you can dress as smartly as you like on the outside but you won't actually be any different on the inside! So, expect the same warm welcome from our team but perhaps an upgrade of the biscuits would be in order?

Here's what you can see this time. For those that haven't already had a fiddle with our acclaimed Electronic Dictionary Bookmark, now's your chance. It does just what you'd expect a good dictionary to do but is far slimmer, lighter and curved in all the right places. I think I can say that?

The Book Lamp is one of our very favourite products - a must see if retro with a modern twist is absolutely your thing. In a nutshell, it clips smartly onto your book for reading when the lights go out and puffs out its chest on its own desk base where everyone can see it in full daylight.

Bookend Singles are a great idea for retailer and customer alike. Because they are sold flat they take up just a small amount of precious in-store shelf space and then almost miraculously fold out to hold up your books at home or in the office (where they look particularly at home we think).

There's an expanded version of our award-winning Really Tiny Book Light which can now be attached to work with e-readers and if you like our His and Her Bookmarks you may love our new His and Her Keyrings. As you'd expect, they're smaller and even easier to fit your keys on!

I could go on (I'd certainly like to!) but there will surely be a tolerance to how much you can take of my vested enthusiasm. Suffice to say, please do come along and see us if you can to judge for yourself.

Set your Sat Nav to our new position in Hall 6, Stand N01.

Plus! As this is now officially Olympic year, you can see all our complete and wonderful London 2012 ranges in Hall 4, Stand Area K10 - L17.

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...

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!

In fact, without even including our Olympic products, there are more than a dozen new gift ranges to dunk into from the last Autumn Fair. But if you're still not satisfied, feel free to grab yourself a copy of our brand new trade catalogue where you'll find products so shiny new that Santa and his elves are still busy loading them into sacks for Christmas delivery!

So, if you're feeling even the slightest bit peckish for design-led gifts, take a 'Peek Freans' at Stand V01 in Hall 3. And if you're just feeling peckish, we can sort you out with a little something to take the edge of your appetite. For inventive gifts in innovative displays we take the bisc… no, I think that's enough of the bourbon-related metaphors for now!

So, our conundrum is - do we just show off anyway and hope that the old adage no longer rings true? Or do we find some other way to bleat about our wares without coming across as the showy-offy-type-that-nobody-likes?

My throbbing ear is testimony to our sales team's response to my tentatively asked question.

And with that firmly in mind… YOU WILL NEVER (EVER) FORGIVE YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T VISIT IF AT STAND DP1-23 AND MISS OUT ON ANY OF THE FABULOUSLY AMAZING GIFT RANGES WE HAVE ON SHOW AT THE HARROGATE HOME & GIFT SHOW 2011!

These incredible gift products include the award-winning Electronic Dictionary Bookmark in 3 red-hot flavours, the stunning Gimble Traveler - which nobody who reads books and goes on holiday (or even just out into the garden on a warm day) can possibly do without - and a whole host of highly innovative, original products and licensed ranges that you just won't be able to re-stock fast enough!!

Tell me if you think I'm getting a bit carried away now.

Stand DP1-23 is where you'll find us. Prepare to be blown away by our infectious charm and bourbon biscuits.

And with all the belt tightening that's going on as we continue to fight our way out of another gloomy recession, here we are at IF offering gifts-a-plenty on a budget that the chancellor would wholly approve of. Especially good for the little ones who's own budgetary constraints mean that a Swedish massage and pedicure for Dad are most likely off the consideration radar for this year.

So, what then DO we have? Well, to make things super-easy, here's a list that we put together of all the things we would just love our own kids to buy us on June 19th. Proper made up we would be to receive any of the following:

Classic Car Mini-Marks, Mr Men Keyring, Mr Men Bookmark, The Really Tiny Keyring,
The Really Tiny Book Light, His Bookmark, '50 Books' Bookmark

So have a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable time on the ONE day of the year that it's sort of OK to be Mr Lazy AND Mr Greedy combined. Or is that just me…?

And since we mentioned birthdays, have you also seen that the volume and variety in the world of the greetings card these days is quite staggering? Yes, we noticed it too. So it wasn't lightly that we stepped forward with our Day You Were Born range. But, we thought, we have a good angle here. Everyone has a birthday. If we produce one unique card for every single one of those everybody's - that's 366 (we haven't forgotten the eternally young among us who only celebrate one every forth year) - and we make them appealingly interesting, amusing and fun enough, then perhaps we could be helping to make one of life's trickier decision making processes just that little bit easier?

Take a peek at our product page to find out more about our Gift of the Year commended Day You Were Born greetings cards.

The Progressive Greetings Live 2011 show is on at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London on Tuesday 24th May and Wednesday 25th May. We will be ready and waiting at stand 139. (In our best slippers).

And this is certainly one show where we can confidently say that we've got something for everyone!

Apart from our gargantuan grins, there is much to attract the wary buyer at this year’s show. Not least of these is the official unveiling of our Gift of the Year award-winning Electronic Dictionary Bookmark. At the risk of repeating ourselves - if you have already heard us raving about it - we'll subtly direct you to the product link just here. But to actually fondle it for yourself (and it is extremely fondle-able), you'll have to come along to the show in person!

Another exciting new product showing for the first time is our Gimble Traveler book holder. This is the follow up to the very popular Gimble (original, regular, (ready salted?) version) and is designed to accommodate larger sizes of book (up to size C if you know about such things) and then rather conveniently fold down to fit into your pocket or bag. This one also comes in 3 shades of British summer. Pink, white and ... grey!

We are delighted to have bagged the license for the Gruffalo and our side-slotting magnetic bookmark will be another new debutant ready for inspection. Add these to our growing stable of book-related gift items and we feel sure there will be something to attract the book and gift seller looking for appropriate add on sales. End of pitch.

I'll save the last word this time for our London 2012 range - the Games seem to be coming up faster than Arthur Wharton in the 100 yards dash (am I showing my age here...?) These products are now in full production and we hope to start launching our bookmarks in the early summer. Again, you can preview these for yourself at the show. Recommended retail prices fall between £2 for the printed card bookmarks and £8 for the metal domed bookmarks and book lights.

I hope you can find time to come and see us in our regular spot at stand Q505. Remember to smile back!

Dealing with those things in reverse order, the Gift of the Year awards turned out to be our most successful ever as we picked up 3 GOTY's from our 7 shortlisted products. We have them proudly on our mantelpiece and take it in daily turns to polish them up. You can read about that in our previous news story.

London 2012 is getting ever closer and interest in the games is gathering momentum with press and public awareness increasing as the days tick by. Our own bookmark ranges were well received at the show with enquiries coming from across a wide range of retail sectors. And that's very encouraging as this is a difficult event to calculate sales potentials. There will be a last burst of activity before we start officially launching the first of our products, we hope, towards the end of May.

One of the major advantages of our ranges is that they take up very little space and so can be slipped in strategically around the store. We have a variety of POS programs planned including single product, till point displays, and slimline counter-top spinners. Indeed, at the show we had a lot more room that we needed so had to perform a bit of a comb-over to spread ourselves around! With our lowest priced bookmarks set at appealing low price points (just RRP £2) we obviously hope they will find their way onto many tills and counter tops throughout the land.

At our main IF stand most of those who came to see us were giving off a generally optimistic vibe about business. We hope that by offsetting the recent UK VAT rise (thereby giving retailers the same margins as before the increase) we have helped to make our ranges even more appealing. Aside from our GOTY awarded products, proving particularly popular at this years show were the Gallery Collection Bookmarks - a wonderful gift with a hidden twist - as we like to say, our new Mini-Marks Classic Cars, His and Hers (not so PC) Bookmarks and the upgraded Gimble Traveler Book Holder. The latter was making its full debut and with the holiday season looming large, we hope this will be a bit of a winner with readers on the move! If you weren’t able to make it to the show, you can check out these and all our other ranges here at our site.

So, there we have it. All in all, a really positive, if hectic, few days at the Birmingham NEC. Now I expect we can put up our feet until London Book Fair in a couple of month's time...

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!

Wishing all our customers a very happy new year!

Roald Dahl's books have sold over 100 million copies worldwide and feature some of the best-loved characters in children's fiction.

Soon you will be able to carry your favourite characters around all day long - and that's quite an achievement fitting the BFG in your pocket! IF will be producing Roald Dahl Keyrings and Bookmarks - look out for these in January 2011.

For more details about Roald Dahl day please visit the website: www.roalddahlday.info or www.roalddahl.com

Have a scrumdiddlyumptious Roald Dahl Day in 2010!

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...)

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/

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)...

Sedex, the Supplier Ethical Data Exchange, is a membership organisation for businesses committed to continuous improvement of the ethical performance of their supply chains.

Sedex is a not-for-profit organisation based in London, UK, open for membership to any company anywhere in the world.

For more information please visit the SEDEX website: http://www.sedex.org.uk