Feel Good Factor at National Calendar Awards

Held at the beautiful location of The Stationers Hall in London, for the seventh year running, the National Calendar Awards ceremony certainly had the feel-good factor when it took place earlier this week, with Rose Calendars winning three trophies.

Rose Calendars mingled with industry colleagues, photographers, artists, dignitaries, students, the rowing team from Warwick University (who were up for a number of awards for their own iconic naked calendar) and celebrity Eamonn Holmes who presented the awards.

Setting the scene, the evening was opened by David Higgins, MD of Avonside Publishing who spoke of the use of calendars in today’s lifestyles. When confronted with someone commenting they felt that calendars had no future 20 years ago, he quite rightly pointed out that over 16 million calendars are sold annually in the UK alone, which is enough for one in every family home. Calendars are proven to be useful and still very much in fashion.

The first female Master of the Stationers’ Company in their 612 year history, Helen Esmonde spoke of ‘events as occasions that celebrates dates’ saying “To everything there is a season, and for every season there is a beautiful calendar page.” She touched on calendars appearing in all walks of life, from ‘The BBC’s Apprentice’ to ‘The Archers’ bringing calendars center stage, before commenting how lucky the event was to have the rowers from Warwick to admire in person.

With over 400 submissions in the awards this year, Helen introduced the student category demonstrating innovative approaches to calendar design. For the first time this year Rose Calendars have joined forces with Premier Paper to present an inaugural ‘Special Student Award’ comprising a £250 cash prize and the manufacturing of the student’s calendar with the best commercial potential.

The winner of this prestigious award for 2016 was Christian Cornell, from Blackpool & The Fylde College, for his ‘Student Lads’ Survival Calendar’. Michael Rose said: “We are keen to encourage new blood into the industry and help launch their ideas into reality by producing a number of calendars for them to take to market to see if the idea is commercially viable.”

The guest presenter Eamonn Holmes presented the awards in a convivial and amusing manner, referring to the wonderful variety and relevance of calendars in today’s markets. He struggled at one point when the Leeds United Calendar won an award – Eamonn is a loyal Manchester United fan. He also rounded off the evening with an idea of a-year-in-the-life of himself and his wife TV presenter Ruth Langsford through pictures selected for each month, which was entertaining.

Rose Calendars were pleased to not only be nominated for 5 awards, to win 3, but also to sponsor a number of prestigious awards. The ‘Excellence In Production Award’ sponsored by Rose Calendars, award went to the 2016 Pirelli Calendar, which since having been produced for over 20 years, has become iconic in its own right. Focusing on strong women in a format not unlike a book, rather than a calendar, the finished product will no doubt become a collector’s piece.

Rose Calendars won trophies for 2016 calendars in the following categories:

Corporate Stock Calendars, Animals & Natural World – Winner: Endangered Species

Corporate Stock Calendars, Scenic/Landscape – Winner: Countryside Walks

Excellence In Digital Calendars – Winner: The Master Millers

The final award of the evening was the people’s choice – voted for on the night by the audience. Unsurprisingly, the Warwick Rowers scooped this, no doubt buoyed by the sheer number of young guys in their rowing kit who attended the evening awards ceremony.