ASI: Goldstar's Heather Smartt and Kenny Ved among the top 50 international consultants

According to the US industry association ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute), Heather Smartt and Kenny Ved from the British promotional product manufacturer are ranked 36th in the current Counselor Power 50 ranking of international promotional product specialists.

Heather Smartt is included in the list of the 50 most influential consultants for the first time this year, after being appointed global head of the top 40 supplier Goldstar. She joins Kenny Ved, who is still a ‘newcomer’ to the list of the 50 most influential consultants himself, having been included for the first time last year.

The two are said to be the faces of a new era for the global supplier. Goldstar entered the top 40 consultants for the first time last year and has increased its revenue by 132 per cent since 2020 by expanding into other product categories beyond writing instruments.

Kenny Ved is a long-standing employee of the company with over two decades of experience, who was promoted to director of global sales in 2021. Heather Smartt joined the supplier in 2023 as Global Director of Merchandising, after many years at Polyconcept and a brief stint at National Pen, a distributor, like Goldstar, owned by Cimpress, based in Dundalk, Ireland.

Smartt and Ved point to numerous achievements in 2024. Goldstar has expanded its global footprint and ensured unified customer support and product finishing. It fosters a people-centred ethos through its internal Goals, Results, Opportunities and Workplan (GROW) programme. Both have led the company to embrace sustainability, with a strengthened ESG plan, the creation of a dedicated Green Team and the introduction of life cycle testing and digital passports.

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