Leading greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection has recognised tenacity and team spirit by awarding the Heidi Sulley Commemorative Cup to franchisee David Roseweir at its annual conference recently held in Northamptonshire.
“Heidi Sulley was one of Card Connection’s business development managers, who sadly passed away in 2005,” explains Michael Johnson, managing director, Card Connection. “We created a special award in Heidi's name, which is presented annually to our franchisee who best demonstrates teamwork and support beyond the call of duty.
“This year David Roseweir was presented with this award because he stepped into the breach to take over another territory when a fellow franchisee left the network due to ill health,” continues Johnson. “He worked very hard to turn around some of the inherited retail outlets and has increased the range of greetings cards on display and number of merchandising visits, which in-turn has led to an increase in sales. This has required both a financial and significant personal commitment while he has dedicated more time to the franchise and his hard work has not gone un-noticed, particularly so, as David has a young family.
“David Roseweir, previously a franchisee for Esso, is based in Scotland and joined Card Connection in 2007,” continues Johnson. In his first year, he won Card Connection’s ‘Best Newcomer’ award for his tremendous enthusiasm and his commitment to continue to develop his area. Since then, David has grown his business with the help of his wife Dawna and now supplies Card Connection’s extensive range of greetings cards and accessories to more than 300 retailers in Scotland. Over the past few years, he has continued to work hard and set an inspiring example for the other franchises in our network.”
Card Connection which last year celebrated its 21st year in operation as a franchisor is one of the UK’s largest card publishers and is the market leader in the franchised distribution of greeting cards. The business’ unique model of consignment sales has resulted in a strong brand and established reputation which has been proven over many years. Through its franchisees Card Connection supplies about 12,000 retailers throughout the UK.
Card Connection franchisees place quality greetings cards in retail outlets on a ‘consignment’ basis. This means the stock and display equipment is installed on free loan to the retailer. This is one step beyond ‘sale or return’ as Card Connection retail customers never have to buy the stock in the first place, only paying for what they sell. The award winning merchandising service provided to retailers by local franchisees is second to none and has established the company’s excellent reputation especially within the convenience sector.
Card Connection is part of UK Greetings, which is a subsidiary of American Greetings Inc., one of the largest greeting card publishers in the world and has limited vacancies for franchisees that are keen to run an expanding business. Since the franchise network in the UK is complete, the available opportunities now consist of acquiring an already-established territory from an existing franchisee. These vary in price according to their level of development, but start at £7k + Stock + Card Connection fee with earnings potential in excess of £50k per annum.
