Mike Braddock, Managing Director of Slater Harrison, has confirmed his personal commitment to the framing industry by becoming more involved with the Fine Art Trade Guild.

The Guild is the industry body for information, development, promotion and recognition and, as such, plays an important part in the future of framing. Mike Braddock has joined the steering committee for Art & Framing For You (AFFY), the Guild's media awareness initiative which was instigated in 1996.

AFFY is funded by contributions from the biggest manufacturers and suppliers to the framing industry, of which Slater Harrison is one. As the manufacturer of Colourmount, the company obviously wishes to see the framing business grow through customer demand. By creating media "noise" about art and framing, AFFY will help generate that demand.

With his 28 years experience in this industry, Mike Braddock can see the importance of AFFY's success to the future of the industry: "In its relatively short life, AFFY has raised the profile of art and framing, through successful features in popular magazines and newspapers, as well as placements in several well-known television shows. I am looking forward to working with the committee to continue this success."

Manufacturers of quality gifts and housewares are continually looking for new, exciting ways of presenting their product to keep them one step ahead of the competition.

Slater Harrison has been working with some of the leading giftware companies for many years, producing stunning, embossed boxes for china and glassware. Now we are developing a range that brings a whole new dimension to packaging and gift presentation.

You will have seen Centura Pearl elsewhere in this newsletter, used as mountboard for the framing market, for example. We are now experimenting with our embossing tools on this remarkable new finish, and are delighted with the results. As you can see from these pictures, our range of embossed patterns stand out beautifully on the pearlescent finish, adding a touch of luxury without the expected additional cost.Slater Harrison has already launched embossed Centura Pearl into the gift wrapping market. It is ideal for envelopes, particularly for wedding, anniversary or birthday cards, as it can be written on in normal ballpoint pen and is easily gummed on the reverse. When used as wrapping paper, with matching tags, bows and ribbon, Centura Pearl looks fantastic.

We are now working on the development of Centura Pearl to allow its use for box-making. As we can match any colour, boxes made with Centura Pearl can also be used for Corporate gift presentations.