With just over four weeks to go to The Gift Awards on 15 May, Colin Bottle, managing director of Trade Counter Distribution, sponsors of the Gift of the Year’s Best Heritage Gift Product category, tells GiftsandHome.net why the company is, once again, supporting the Awards.
“Trade Counter Distribution has been embedded within the gift industry for many years, with customers including black+blum, Bubblegum Stuff and Suck UK, among those who have been with us for over 15 years,” highlights Colin. “We are excited to be sponsoring the Gift of the Year/Gift Awards again, as we see and completely understand the amount of effort and passion that goes into getting these products from the design board and into the hands of the retailers and consumers.”
He continues: “We feel the same level of pride, when we see our customers nominated for these awards, or recognised by the major retailers for excellence, knowing we have played our small part in their journey. There will always be winners on the night, but these award ceremonies are always about recognising the efforts of so many people across the industry, in a fun and relaxed evening.”

Colin adds that the end of 2024 was especially busy for Trade Counter Distribution. “Last year saw us take on two major new customers, including sass & belle, and just as the design, production, sales and marketing teams can perhaps finally start to relax a little towards the end of the year, so the final huge wave of business flows the distribution end of the supply chain. As always, we are now taking the relative calm of Q1 to get ready to do it all over again, taking on further new customers, investing in new systems and improving processes to make us more efficient again, for what we hope will another successful year for the industry. “
All Gift of the Year and Greats winners, including the recipient of the prestigious Outstanding Achievement award, will be revealed at The Gift Awards on Thursday 15 May at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. This incredible event will, once again, bring together The Giftware Association’s Gift of the Year Awards and The Greats gift retailer awards, organised and owned by Max Publishing, publishers of Progressive Gifts & Home/GiftsandHome.net.
At the glittering event, both gift product excellence and retail prowess will be recognised and rewarded in a true celebration of both sides of the UK gift industry.
The Greats 2025 finalists as well as those for Gift of the Year 2025 can be viewed HERE.
Hyve Group, organiser of Spring Fair, Autumn Fair, GLEEand Source Home & Gift (among other trade shows), is the headline sponsor of The Gift Awards.Other leading names in the impressive line-up of sponsors include: Allsorted, Autumn Fair, BATF, Candlelight, Cardgains, Carte Blanche Greetings, Cereria Molla, DKB Toys & Distribution, FYG, Gift Republic, Gisela Graham, Good Results, Harrogate Christmas & Gift Fair, Letterbox Love, Life Charms, London Stationery Show, Messe Frankfurt, N Smith and Co, Progressive Greetings Live, Scotland’s Trade Fair/Springboard Events, Source Home & Gift, Spring Fair, Talking Tables and Trade Counter Distribution.
Tickets and tables for the awards 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, visit www.thegiftawards.com; www.thegreatsawards.co.uk
Top: Colin Bottle, managing director of Trade Counter Distribution, sponsors of the Gift of the Year’s Best Heritage Gift Product category.