Scarcely have hints stopped being dropped about what your loved one wants for Christmas before well thumbed catalogues are left lying around, forced open on the jewellery pages, or casual mention is made of the opportunity to go out for dinner in February… That’s right, there’s no chance to miss Valentine’s Day, so to make the present buying part as easy as possible, we’ve come up with a whole host of delicious gifts which are guaranteed to be well received:

• Celebration Fizz – a solid white chocolate heart and a bottle of bubbles, presented in a bright red gift box. It’s not subtle, but who ever found that subtlety works on Valentine’s Day?!
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• Champagne and Chocolate Covered Strawberries – Champagne is always a winner and although these aren’t fresh strawberries, they’re expertly smothered in creamy white chocolate by our friends at Chocca Mocca, so I’d argue that they’re a fraction better than plain old fresh strawberries!
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• Champagne and Teddy – A cute and cuddly Teddy wearing a heart shaped jumper, travelling with his own bottle of Champagne. What’s not to like?
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We’ll add your heartfelt message to the gift and make sure that it’s delivered on time, on Tuesday 14th of February.

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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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Summer might be making a feeble effort so far this June; it’s another drizzly grey day in Dorset, but that hasn’t put a dampener on things at Virginia Hayward where we’re busy doing our best to bring a ray of sunshine with our bright, colourful and tasty summer gifts.

Come rain or shine, barbecue enthusiasts will be found charring their food in campsites, on the beaches or anywhere else that the urge takes them, so why not get them burning things in style with our tough little barbecue bucket.

Or if your recipient prefers to be less involved with their food, but still appreciates al fresco dining, then the Afternoon Tea Gift might be just the thing for them, filled with delicious treats. Enjoyed best on a summer afternoon!

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Father’s Day is little more than three weeks away, so it’s time to start thinking what to get for Dad on his special weekend this year. If he’s likely to spend another year pretending to love the socks, ties and underpants that have been bought at the last minute, why not try something imaginative like our Barbecue Bucket, or the Cooler Basket, if he’s the type who likes to eat outside?

We’ve got lots more available in our Father’s Day Hampers and Gifts section.

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With all the sunshine so far in April, you could be forgiven for thinking that summer had come early. In many ways it has and lets hope that it’s here to stay! To get you in the mood for the scorcher that we’ve all got our fingers crossed for, we’ve created four new gifts, perfect for the upcoming season.

There’s something for sportsmen, gardeners, barbecue enthusiasts and picnic lovers:

Rounders Set – play this traditional English game with our wooden set, including bat, ball, stumps and a canvas bag.
Cooler Basket – Just like a cool bag, except it’s a cool-lined wicker basket which we’ve stuffed full of picnic foods!
Barbecue Bucket – A selection of dressings and snacks perfect to accompany a barbecue, which you can have anywhere using this sturdy barbecue bucket.
Gardener’s Gift – Gardeners will be hard at it this summer, so reward yours with this special gift for the green-fingered.

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As a celebration of all things British, from the Union Jack bag and mugs through to the charming English Breakfast teas, decorated with pictures of London this gift couldn’t be more patriotic. With a Royal Wedding in the offing, what better time to show your support (and a metaphorical doff of the cap) to Wills and Kate! But what is a cup of tea without biscuits? Sorely lacking we feel, so there’s a packet of our favourites – Raspberry Shortcake from Cairnsmhor Fine Foods – nestled in this very British Royal Wedding Hamper. Perfect for the dedicated royalist, as a memento of this special day, or simply for those who like a Union Jack present while they take tea! Take advantage of our European Delivery service to send this gift to loved ones overseas.

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When everybody else is giving Easter Eggs this Easter, why not try something a little different and indulge in a proper Easter gift? Presented in a decorative gift box with a cheerful Easter design in our Easter Gift you’ll find a bag of Mini Eggs and Fairtrade Chocolate Orange pieces from Choc-affair, along with Lemon Biscuits for that spring feeling. Tea and cake are a perfect combination throughout the rest of the year and Easter is no exception. Go on, spoil someone this Easter!

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No sooner has Christmas passed and life starts to return to something resembling normality, than Valentine’s Day arrives in blaze of flowers, champagne and hopelessly romantic gifts. Which reminds me, ‘sweeping romantic gesture’ must be added to my ‘to do’ list… Notwithstanding my domestic arrangements though, we’re all set for Valentine’s Day with a range of gifts which will thrill ladies of all ages.

We have the tried and tested Champagnes, chocolates and cuddly toys, with pink Champagne, finest Belgian chocolates and pink truffles available. For the cost conscious, as it’s not always about how much you spend, we also have a fantastic pink Pinot Grigio and truffles for your loved one.

For something really personal though, you can choose our ‘Personalised Valentine Gift‘, where we’ll print your message directly onto the gift box, as if Champagne, flutes, candles and delicious chocolates to share (or not!) weren’t enough already!

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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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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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