Rousing return for Giffords Circus as Cheltenham gift firm launches circus themed party ware

By Nicky Godding

11 May 2022

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Gifford's Circus, the glorious, glamorous and gregarious Gloucestershire-based circus is back touring the South of England. After opening at its base at Fennell's Farm near Stroud it is visiting a host of locations including Bowood, Daylesford Organic, Blenheim Palace, Chiswick near London and many other places across our region besides.

And this year a Cheltenham gift-wear company has designed a special circus-themed range. Meri Meri, founded by Meredithe Stuart-Smith in 1985 when she sold her first range of glittery greeting cards to Bergdorf Goodman in New York City. Tableware and bunting soon followed, along with the invention of the ‘cupcake kit’ in 2008.

When the Gifford's Circus team discovered that Meredithe was a fan of the circus, and brought all her team to the circus each year, they invited her creative team to design a range of circus-themed party wear and suggested she do a Giffords Circus themed craft activity as one of their monthly activities that is sent to subscribers each month.

Now selling in 69 countries, in more than 5,000 shops and online. Meri Meri has offices in Cheltenham and also in Reno, United States.

By Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe.

After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts.

She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.