Thoughtful Production

At Hadley, we believe the things we make should bring joy for a long time, and how we make them matters just as much as what we make.

As an artist-led business working in the world of cards, gifts and paper goods, we recognise that ours can be an industry of things bought, enjoyed briefly and thrown away. We want to do things differently. We create products with character, thoughtful details and a sense of permanence, designed to be treasured rather than discarded.

From the materials we choose to the people who help bring our designs to life, we're always looking for ways to tread a little lighter. We haven't got everything figured out, but we believe that paying attention, making considered choices and continually looking for ways to improve is a good place to start.

Here's a little more about what that looks like in practice...

Printed in the UK

Our greeting cards are printed in the South West of England, near our design studio. This helps reduce the distance travelled by samples and makes it easier to work closely with the people who print them.

We've been working with the same two printing companies for more than eight years. That continuity matters to us. It means we can build relationships, understand how each other works and collaborate on getting the details right.

A small proportion of our products are made overseas. When we work with international manufacturers, we take care to understand the supply chain from end to end and work with certified factories.

Good relationships, shorter journeys and knowing where things come from. These are important parts of the Hadley ethos.

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Designed to be kept, not thrown away

We're part of a gifting industry that can sometimes encourage a rather disposable way of thinking. A card is sent, read and, all too often, forgotten.

We'd like to change that, even if only in a small way.

We design things with enough character to earn their place on a shelf, mantelpiece or desk. Our stand-up cards unfold into decorations. Our concertina designs become little displays. Our sketchbooks invite people to fill their pages, and our prints are made to live on walls for years.

We want our products to feel worth keeping because of the thought behind them, the quality of the materials and the joy they bring.

Of course, not every card will be kept forever. But if a design makes someone smile for longer, finds a second life as a decoration or becomes part of a treasured collection, that's a lovely thing.

Our aim is to make things people want to hold on to and never want to throw away.

Completely plastic-free packaging

We're proud to be completely plastic-free in our packaging, from the sleeves that protect individual cards to the materials we use to send wholesale orders from our UK warehouse.

Our individual sleeves are made from a cornstarch-based material rather than conventional plastic. Our belly bands, which most cards are wrapped with, are made of paper. Our string is plastic free and made in the UK. All are completely compostable.

We also reuse incoming cardboard boxes wherever we can, giving them another journey instead of sending them straight into the recycling stream.

For wholesale orders, we apply the same thinking. We want products to arrive safely and in good condition, without unnecessary packaging or materials that will quickly become waste.

It's one of the ways we try to make sure that the care we put into our products carries through to the moment they arrive with you.

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A child with curly blonde hair rides a small pink balance bike in a rustic room with wooden floors and shelves, while an adult woman stands at a table nearby. This is Hadley's warehouse and the woman is packing beautiful Greetings cards to be sent to their customers

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Hand finished, by real people

We believe thoughtful production is about people as well as materials.

Our cards are hand-finished, packed and dispatched by a team of real people from our UK warehouse. We work with people who value flexible working, including home-based outworkers who may find it difficult to access more traditional employment.

This includes supporting mothers and people who need to work around the demands of home life. We want to create opportunities that fit around people, rather than expecting everyone to fit around a workplace.

We value the care, skill and attention our team brings to the work. Every card passes through human hands, and we're proud of the people who help bring our designs to life.

For us, thoughtful production means looking after the people who make our products possible, as well as the world those products go out into.

Choosing materials with care

Paper is at the heart of what we do, so choosing the right materials is one of the most important decisions we make.

We look for papers and boards that combine beautiful print quality with more considered material choices.

All of our paper and card uses responsibly sourced FSC-certified materials with much of it having recycled components.

The exact composition varies by product, but we look for opportunities to reuse existing materials and make better use of natural resources.

Here are a few examples:

- Our envelopes contain 40% post-consumer recycled waste, giving paper that's already been used a second life. The majority of them also use paper incorporating fruit pulp, including by-products from citrus fruits and cherries that would otherwise go to waste. And they are all produced using 100% green energy.

- Much of our wrapping paper is made with 80% recycled fibres, with the remaining 20% made up of FSC-certified virgin cellulose.

- Our digitally printed cards use Mohawk Eggshell, a premium-quality paper widely regarded as the gold standard for uncoated printing. It's acid-free, archival quality, FSC-certified and manufactured using 100% wind-generated electricity.

We don't believe thoughtful materials should mean compromising on quality. We want our paper goods to feel beautiful, work purposefully and make considered use of the resources that go into them.

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Making the most of every sheet

We love the unusual shapes of our cut-out cards. They're part of what makes Hadley, well, Hadley. But cutting intricate shapes from large sheets of paper can leave behind more unused material than printing standard rectangular cards. So, we look for ways to make better use of the space.

Our manifestation charms are one example. We designed them to fit into the spaces left over when printing other products, turning otherwise unused paper into something new.

And what better use for a spare piece of card than a tiny charm with a little magic about it?

The boxes these charms come in are produced from recycled cardboard by a family run box producer based in the UK too.

It's a small idea, but one that reflects how we like to work: looking at what we already have and asking what else it could become.

Making our products recyclable

We want our products to have a useful life beyond the moment they're given. And when that life eventually comes to an end, we want to make it as easy as possible for materials to be recycled.

We design our paper and card products with recycling in mind, considering everything from labels, individual display sleeves and bands, to the way we apply decorative finishes.

We know every choice affects how much of the finished product can be recycled at the end of its life and we take this seriously.

There's always room to do better

We don't believe thoughtful production is something you can tick off a list and forget about. Materials change, better options emerge and there's always more to learn. We're continually reviewing the papers we use, the way we print, our packaging and the partners we work with.

We're also actively working towards further environmental accreditations, helping us strengthen our existing practices and give our customers greater confidence in the choices we make.

We know there's more we can do. We'll keep asking questions, challenging our own habits and looking for better ways to work. Beautiful things can be made thoughtfully. And there's always room to do better.