At Virginia Hayward, it’s rare that a day will go by with no mention of Christmas, so although the sun is probably shining and it’s still nice and warm outside, Christmas is only 120 or so days away. We’ve been working hard this summer to make our gifts for this Christmas better than ever, so I’m pleased to announce that we have now launched our range of Christmas Hampers and gifts for 2011. We have gift trays, smaller gifts and wine gifts available from £16.50, through to our largest luxury hamper at £550. In response to demand we’ve expanded our range of personalised hampers and gifts and are looking forward to printing individual gift messages directly onto box lids or hamper tags. You can see the full range of hampers here.

Our popular range of sweet hampers continue to sell well and will also be available for sale this Christmas. We’ve added ‘Best of British Sweets’, a charming Union Jack tin full of classic sweets. Also on the sweet theme, we’ve developed a new version of last year’s hugely popular Chocolate Box.

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It’s little more than a month until Christmas and we’re really getting into the festive spirit here at Virginia Hayward. So much so in fact that our Product Development team have launched another 30 gifts to give you more choice than ever at Christmas time.

We haven’t restricted ourselves to Christmas hampers though; there’s the Winter Teddy, in his knitted woollen jumper, or 5 new gifts that we’ll personalise with your gift message directly onto the packaging. New to the range are a trio of ‘Edinburgh Preserves’ gifts, all packaged in a smart black gift boxes delivered directly to your recipient.

If you’re looking for something home grown, then you might like the ‘Union Jack Bag’ – a tote bag filled with quintessentially British produce and with a Union Jack emblazoned on the front of the bag itself. Vodka afficianados will recognise Chase Vodka as the English potato Vodka which recently won the San Francisco World Spirits competition. For the rest of us though, it’s simply a stunning looking Vodka which tastes even better than it looks!

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Encouraged by the success of recently launched sister site YourHamper.com and the interest in our Personalised Sweet Cube, we’ve expanded our range of personalised hampers and gifts to include 4 new hampers and gifts, each of which can be individually personalised with your special message.

Simply enter your gift message as normal when prompted during the checkout and we’ll print that message directly onto the box lid for our white gift boxes or wooden hampers boxes, or we’ll create an individual leather tag for the hampers.

There’s a personalised gift to suit every budget, from the Personalised Sweet Cube at £22.50, through to the Personalised ‘Turtle Dove’ Christmas Gift Box at £85. You can see the full range here: Personalised Christmas Hampers, or feel free to browse our range of Christmas hampers.

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As we approach Christmas, we’re only a few weeks away from distributing our 2010 brochure. In keeping with tradition, it’s laden with all sorts of goodies for Christmas, from the traditional Christmas hampers that you know and love, through to personalised sweetie gifts, picnic gifts, fresh foods and much more in between.

So, whilst thinking of the forthcoming brochure, my mind inevitably began to wander back to brochures of the past and came to rest on the first brochure ever produced by Virginia Hayward, for Christmas 1984.

Set on a plain green background, the cover features two angelic girls rifling through a Christmas hamper at the foot of a Christmas tree in front of a roaring fire. The cover boasts ‘Virginia Hayward’s Selection of Traditional British Good Taste’ and could hardly be more Christmassy!

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Finding a cost effective hamper for Christmas can sometimes be a challenge; browsing around the Virginia Hayward website you’ll find hampers all the way up to £500, which can be a little bit daunting if you’re trying to say Merry Christmas to friends, family or colleagues with one eye on the cost.

However, we’ve given the problem some considerable thought and have come up with the ‘Christmas Box‘, which is a little taste of Christmas, perfect to pass on your season’s greetings without breaking the bank. The charming gift box is a delightful attempt to prove that sometimes good things come in small packages.

We’ve chosen miniature versions of some of our favourite Christmas products. The Walkers Pure Butter Shortbread Fingers are mouthwatering whatever the size, as are the Haribo Jelly Beans. Neatly presented in a ribboned green gift box, this is an excellent choice of Christmas Hamper.

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We’d be the first to admit that the Chocolate Box sounds understated… However, the simplicity of its name belies the complexity of the delicious contents. The idea behind the gift is, like all the best ideas, quite simple and is based around the idea that you simply can’t have too much fine chocolate, presented in a neat chocolate coloured storage box.

Naturally, extensive testing has been carried out to make sure that this gift will satisfy your chocolate requirements. A slab of Gwynedd Dark Art on White Chocolate Bar, Chocolate Cake, Luxury Chocolate Fudge Sauce – what more could anyone want? Except perhaps Burnt Sugar’s Chewy Caramels, the most deliciously chocolatey chews that we have ever discovered.

Perfect as a Christmas hamper, or in high summer. There’s always time for chocolate.

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It’s another day of glorious sunshine in Dorset and we all have our fingers crossed that the good weather will continue over the weekend. There are a few pessimists who are convinced that this lovely warm spell can’t last, but we’re determined to look on the bright side, although it hardly feels like a day to be concentrating on Christmas Hampers!

What could be better than a picnic this weekend? It might be a trifle cold for swimming in the sea (in my view it’s still too cold in July or August for this sort of carry on), but wherever you are in the UK, there is probably an unspoilt stretch of coastline which is perfect for a picnic. Failing that, the local park, woodland or green space will certainly suffice.

If you need a basket to stuff with goodies, our fitted picnic basket is big enough for the whole family and has all the hardware that you’ll need. If you’re travelling a little lighter then our picnic backpack has ample space for two, a cool area and wine bottle holders. If the weather’s good enough for a barbecue then look no further than our barbecue bucket, or barbecue grill! Or let us do all the hard work for you and choose our filled ‘Picnic Delights‘ hamper.

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We’re very pleased to see that the myth that hampers are just for Christmas has been dispelled this Mother’s Day. With more visitors to the website in the run up to Mother’s Day than ever, hampers and food gifts are being embraced for celebrations other than Christmas.

You can shop for all occasions at Virginiahayward.com, from Valentine’s Day through to Christmas itself, we’ll have just the gift. Browse our selection by occasion, recipient, product or price to find the right gift for friends, loved ones or colleagues.

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