SPRING//SUMMER 2018 3 Editor’s Letter It’s hard to ignore the doomsday talk in the media about the future of retail on the UK high street. Stationery Matters readers will find none of that here, as we highlight the positives in a challenging retail environment. As Charlotte Kemp reveals in her feature on experiential retail, one way of staying ahead is to bring exciting new experiences into the business of selling stationery. Just look at what Waitrose is doing, for example, piloting in-store evening yoga sessions. Instead of yoga mats, think calligraphy workshops, which you can read about in Henri Davis’ feature on the ascension of modern calligraphy. For an extra boost of positivity, there’s much to celebrate in the award-winning young brands of the LaunchPad London competition, a peek into the working lives of our Thirty Under 30 Star Choices, and a host of exciting new products to read about in the Show Preview of the upcoming London Stationery Show in April. 7 NEWS All the latest industry news,including a new section, Stationery+ 12 NATIONAL STATIONERYWEEK How the industry is working together to promote stationery and handwriting 14 LAUNCHPAD LONDON COMPETITION We reveal the 12 winners of the third LaunchPad competition 17 BOX OF DELIGHTS Julia Faiers unwraps stationery subscription boxes 20 ICONS OF STATIONERY Chris Leonard-Morgan on Silvine’s‘Little Red Books’ 22 EXPERIENCE, NOT SELLING Charlotte Kemp on how bringing theatre in store is a win-win for retailers 27 POWER POINT Trend watch:pencils 28 MODERN CALLIGRAPHY Henri Davis on the current craze for cursive LONDON STATIONERY SHOW PREVIEW 53 STATIONERY X DESIGNER Why we can’t get enough of designer collaborations 55 RETAIL GOES DIGITAL Chris Partridge on the digital tools retailers are using to grow sales 59 THE PERSONAL TOUCH Trend watch:social stationery 61 THIRTY UNDER 30 At work with… the judges’ Star Choices of the Class of 2017 27 CONTENTS 14 28 Front cover features theA5 PB notebook from the bestselling new collection from Rose Quartz at GO Stationery,www.gostationery.net London Stationery Show STAND M401