It’s the news that the home and giftware industry has been waiting for! After an exciting live judging event at Spring Fair, the judges’ votes have been counted, with The Giftware Association (GA) delighted to reveal today (Tuesday February 14) which six products are the official finalists in each category for the Gift of the Year (GOTY) 2023 awards. View the Gift of The Year 2023 finalists here.
The winners and highly commended products will be announced at The Gift Awards, to be held at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel on 11 May 2023, for the second year running, marking a significant unified step forward for the UK gift industry.
The live judging event, held at Spring Fair for the second year running, was a resounding success. It was held over all four days for the first time, allowing judges to come and go when they had completed their time at Spring Fair, with a record-breaking total of over 60 judges casting their votes.
The Giftware Association (GA) confirmed that the Gift of the Year product display also attracted non judges to the area who were on the look-out for the next best products featured in the shortlist, with a lot of trade contacts shared, and interest in all the shortlisted products.
“It was great to be back at Spring Fair to live judge again and for longer, allowing more judges to complete their in-person judging which we know is so important,” commented the GA’s PR and marketing manager Chris Workman.
“What we learned from this year was that it attracted a great deal of attention to the area of non-judges, who were looking for great products, so we hope that businesses who were exhibiting got traffic from our stand, as well as non-exhibitors still getting interest and follow ups. Being able to hold the judging during Spring Fair – the most important exhibition on the gift industry’s calendar – makes perfect sense for the future, and speaking to judges on the day we found that this was a great time for them to buy from the Gift of the Year competition and go and meet the companies behind the products.”
The awards event ceremony will bring together The GA’s Gift of the Year Awards and The Greats gift retailer awards, organised and owned by Max Publishing (publishers of Progressive Gifts & Home magazine).
At the lavish awards event, both gift product excellence and retail prowess will be duly recognised and rewarded. In addition, Gift of the Year finalists are also in with a chance of winning the coveted Judges Choice award, presented in previous years to Gingko, Go La La and Willsow.
“We are delighted that Gift of the Year 2023 has been so well supported by the whole gift community – from Hyve Group’s commitment as headline sponsor to our strong roster of category sponsors – in addition to the widespread engagement from the suppliers who entered, and the great care and attention to detail from our enthusiastic judges,” stated Sarah Ward, ceo of The Giftware Association. “I can’t wait for everyone to celebrate together at The Gift Awards on May 11!”
Once again, The Gift of the Year awards will also be announcing the People’s Choice award which is judged by the general public, enabling everyone to vote for their favourite product across all of the Gift of the Year categories. This year, The Giftware Association has again opened it up to all shortlisted products and hopes it will be its biggest year yet, so there is still an opportunity for a shortlisted company to get through to become the third ever People’s Choice winner.
To view the GOTY finalists, click here.
Tickets and tables for the awards event on May 11 can be booked via the Max Publishing digital box office event at Max-Tickets.net or by contacting event organiser Createvents: clare@createvents.co.uk or 0118 334 0085.
To find out more about The Gift Awards and book tickets click here.
Top: The live judging of the Gift of the Year competition took place across all four days of Spring Fair.
