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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Listening to the radio this morning, the topic of hot debate was whether or not spring had indeed sprung. Radio 4′s ‘Today’ programme devoted several moments of discussion to the subject and reached the uncertain conclusion that it probably had. There’s no such confusion at Virginia Hayward, where on this glorious morning, Spring has most certainly made an appearance.

To reflect the new season (and the emergence of the first brave daffodils!), our hampers website has changed its appearance to a bold green and yellow look, which we hope will put you in the mood for Spring!

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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 has been a hectic month in the world of Christmas Hampers and finally the pace has slowed sufficiently that there is time to reflect and write a short blog post to thank all of our loyal customers for choosing Virginia Hayward to send their festive wishes.

We’ve learnt a vast amount this season, thanks to the frank feedback that we’ve been getting from our customers which is now being read by visitors to the site, both old and new. Where we’ve made mistakes, we will endeavour to learn from them and make the changes that mean that they won’t happen again and equally, where we’re getting things right we’ll continue as we were and hope to improve if we can. There have been many challenges this year, not least the weather, but I sincerely hope that the (on occasion almost superhuman) efforts of our staff have paid off and that each and every hamper that we’ve been asked to deliver this Christmas has arrived safely.

It remains only to wish a very Merry Christmas to one and all from all at Virginia Hayward. We hope to see you again in 2011, for Christmas and all occasions in between.

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We’ve always taken in pride in the fact that we listen to our customers and try to act on your suggestions and feedback to improve both our Christmas hampers and our service.

We know that people are sometimes don’t have the time to comment unless their experience has been one of two extremes, so we’ve gone a step further and made it even easier for our customers to provide their views on every part of the order process, from the first click onto the website, to the parcel arriving in their hands and beyond.

We’ve teamed up with independent review specialists, Feefo, who contact all of our customers with a 15 second survey, where customers can express their views on both our service and our products. We’re not allowed to edit the feedback in any way, other than to respond to points made by customers, so we really are taking on board the points raised by customers, both good and bad to see if we can improve our Christmas hampers and our service.

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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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As I write this post, it’s little more than 73 days and 16 hours to go until Christmas, so we’ve decided to fully embrace the festive season and get the website into its winter clothes. Just last week visitors will have seen a warm, autumn feel to the site, but today it’s on with the traditional red, white and green.

This year we’re featuring the Santa and sleigh design which you can also find on the Virginia Hayward Christmas Hampers brochure. You can’t help but notice that Santa’s sleigh is in fact made from one of our traditional hamper baskets. In the brochure you can find many more designs like this, like the Christmas angel, designed around a triangular wedge of Stilton to promote our Fresh Foods category, or the Champagne bottle bursting with retro sweets for the ‘Sweet and Sparkling’ category.

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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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Virginia Hayward is proud to be home to several high quality brands of our own. From Maxwell and Franks puddings and brandy butters, through to our own ranges of sweets and fudges, we’re very pleased to be able to pack some of our favourite flavours into our Christmas Hampers.

In the run up to Christmas, we are of course busily packing away and putting hundreds of ‘Just Fudge’ bags of fudge into their brand new packaging.

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