Hello to you all
I trust you all had a great Christmas with family and loved ones. To those that had to work over the Christmas holidays, thank you.
Well our year started with plenty of optimism after the previous two years of COVID restrictions and finally get back to normality. Although I am sure not many could actually remember what ‘normal’ was!
We started planning for our first shows since March 2020 and it was like starting all over again with nerves and apprehension. Wondering will customers have the same reservations and stay away. We needn’t have worried on that score as you turned up in large numbers.
On February 24th things changed when some’idiot’ decided to invade Ukraine, why? Well only he knows and since then the cost of living crisis started, as fuel costs started to spiral out of control.
Beginning of March we made the long journey to the SEC in Glasgow with apprehension and wondering what we had let ourselves in for over the next four days. The new stand layout has been well received at the shows as we invested heavily on making sure it looked more professional and appealing for visitors to the show. We did two more Spring shows at the NEC Birmingham and the ExCel Centre London were again we were well received. The highlight for me amongst the fantastic customer reviews was one of the directors of ICHF Events telling me how impressed they are with the presentation of our stand. We have worked hard to get to where we are and we have plenty of plans for the future.
We then had one summer show at the NEC Birmingham before we took a weeks holiday for Amelia’s tenth birthday. After doing four large shows indoors we took Amelia to Legoland, outdoors and yes finally caught COVID! Dawn first then me but I had man-COVID and was a lot worse than Dawn.
We did a lot of sole searching before booking the Autumn shows as costs started to spiral as the cost of living crisis started to take drip. We took the plunge and booked Farnborough, Exeter, Glasgow and finishing at the NEC Birmingham. I would especially like to thank everybody at these shows for attending and supporting all the businesses at the show. While at Exeter I had a customer who said, ”Paul I don’t care what happens, if I need to sit in the house with a candle for light and heat, I will, but I will never give up my crafting as it keeps me sane, healthy and it’s good for my wellbeing”. It gives me reassurance that we are doing the right thing to carry on.
We finished the year on a downward spiral as the cost of living costs have started to bite hard as stock replenishment costs are increasing fast. We will need to increase the cost of the Wool Blend felt range from the 1st February. The Royal Mail strikes have affected all businesses large and small but unfortunately mostly smaller ones. We took the decision to close both the Etsy and eBay shops earlier and try and protect our reviews as many have been hammered with one star reviews because of Royal Mail and we have been lucky not to get any, even with customers waiting weeks for some orders.
We have seen too many friends close their businesses down throughout what has been a very difficult year, but we have made it through to the end of the year. Lets hope for a more prosperous new year so we can finally expand and develop our ideas with new stock.
We would like to say a huge thank you for your continued support and custom, we do appreciate it and we are very much looking forward to seeing you at various venues in the new year.
Finally have a very Happy and Peaceful New Year
Happy Crafting
Paul, Dawn & Amelia