Murray Hudson's blog from Gratnells
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Fishy tale
Apr 28th
Just add chips.
When we asked for new uses of a Gratnells tray I was certainly not expecting this. Richard Ellis from J.T.Ellis & Co Ltd, one of the country’s leading school furniture manufacturers, has decided that fish storage is the way forward. Pictured is a very tasty looking bass which Richard caught off the south Devon coast over Easter. There also appears to be a couple of mackerel in there too. He tells me the bass was a solid 5lb, with no word of the one that got away! Keep those uses coming.
North London commuters get an eyeful of Gratnells trays.
Apr 8th
24 tray unit for all to see
The husband and wife team of Steven and Shirley Wakeford have always supplied schools through their business David Way ltd. Now they have gone one stage further with a full display in their Winchmore Hill shop. Shirley has designed an entire window which will be seen by commuters and teachers every day on a busy London roundabout. The company also does office installations across London.
Musings from the Education show in Birmingham.
Mar 21st
Jo sitting comfortably.
The Education Show in Birmingham is always a busy time with new products to be launched and gossip to be exchanged. It was great to see Jo Miller of Twoey Toys with one of the first showings of our new Quadrant tray. An excellent new corner unit was put on display which is bound to be popular. On the Ed Show ‘fringe’ Mark Barnett, the boss of The Consortium, was there to give his now annual speech to suppliers to the industry. It’s refreshing that such an important catalogue makes a concerted effort to get its message across. Behind the scenes the top staff at The Consortium had been trying to buy the ailing Devon catalogue, which closed in January, with no success.
Another theme at the show was the growing popularity of outdoor leaning at schools. Norseman Direct had a fantastic stand with half the contents of a garden centre. Their ‘instant’ gardens look to be a hit in 2011 and it’s worth visiting their website.
More thoughts to come.
Going Dutch – NOT 2011
Feb 1st
When an education exhibition is held only once every two years attending is very important. The NOT show in Utrecht, Holland is probably one of the best education shows in Europe and certainly the finest for school furniture. Holland has always been a very strong market for Gratnells with our trays loved by teachers across the country.
- Thanks for taking me out to dinner, Eric.
News on the market this upcoming year is tricky. Few furniture manufacturers were predicting an increase in sales, all were just hoping for a flat year. This appears to be the theme across Europe.
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Board-cum-cupboard-cum-tray storage thingy!
On a positive note for Gratnells, in 2011 the prestigious Neinhuis Montessori company will be using Gratnells trays in all its furniture. There will be more about this in the spring. Off to Nurnberg for the Toyfair!
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Sneak peek of Neinhuis Montessori furniture.
Sneak peek of Neinhuis Montessori furniture.
Gratnells trays reaches heights other trays can’t reach
Nov 29th
Less than ten pupils!
BBC’s Countryfile programme yesterday (Sunday) featured Flash Village Church of England Primary School. The school is situated high up in the Staffordshire Moorlands, standing 1,518 feet above sea level, making it the highest school in the UK. With just seven pupils aged between 4 and 11, the school consists of two classrooms and a library.
The classic red shallow tray.
But even this small, remote and isolated location didn’t stop the school from choosing Gratnells trays, as you can see from this programme still.
This proves, once again, that when it comes to tray storage, it’s got to be Gratnells. After all, it is the height of quality and value!
How many shopping days till Christmas?
Nov 25th
Orders in quick please.
Congratulations to Helen Coppen and the team at The ToyTidy Company in Suffolk who landed this excellent piece of PR in the Saturday Daily Telegraph. It’s always a thrill to see our products in the national press, but then we do get very overexcited by school trays!
Heads down – the education supplies world comes together 27-29th October 2010.
Nov 2nd
The Gratnells wall - bend it like Beckham!
After a week’s hard work Worlddidac 2010, the international education supplies show in Basle, Switzerland is over for another two years. Buyers from across the world including Japan, Kazakhstan, and Venuzuela beat their way to the Gratnells stand to see our latest products and gossip. The stories they had to tell were interesting with the economic picture across the world very varied. The government in Romania has put a ban on buying school furniture for the whole of 2010 making life very difficult there. Our Greek customer was trying to expand across Southern Europe to escape the economic misery in his country. According to our leading supplier in Italy 20% of school suppliers have closed in the past year, ironically making his business better as he has picked up market share. Spain and Portugal were also struggling. On a brighter note Germany’s economic recovery has helped their school supply business and the Dutch have had a surprisingly good year. We had strong interest from Turkey, Morocco and across the Middle East. Most visitors agreed that things were looking up and it was one of the best shows ever.
Nienhuis Montessori converts to Gratnells trays
Nov 2nd
The perfect storage
One of the highlights of the show was the example of a perfect Montessori classroom built in the centre of the exhibition. The set was constructed by a leading Dutch supplier Nienhuis www.nienhuis.com who have chosen the Gratnells tray as the best tray in early learning. Local children from Basle were brought in every day and used the set for real. They must have been thrilled to get their hands on a Gratnells tray at last!
Ooooh! - tray close up
Best Worlddidac stand with Gratnells trays
Nov 2nd
A kit for everything
The winner of the best stand with Gratnells trays has been awarded to the German Science kit manufacturer Heliocentris Energiesysteme GmbH www.heliocentris.com A big thank you to Stefan Sonntag and the team for the great display.
Gadgets you need on exhibition stands
Nov 2nd
Amazing!
To help us register all the visitors on the Worlddidac stand we invested in a fantastic machine called a CardScan from Dymo. Not only does it copy each card but it puts the names and details of each person into boxes which can then sinc into Outlook, iphones and many more. Does it work? – definitely and couldn’t recommend it more. It does exactly what is says on the box.
