From books to wines, these personal shopping and gifting experts have some clever ideas in some of the most tricky-to-buy-for categories

How do you express your gratitude for the hard-to-please mother-in-law who did after all raise your beloved? Image: Clare Meredith

How do you express your gratitude for the hard-to-please mother-in-law who did after all raise your beloved? Image: Clare Meredith

There’s usually at least one person on your Christmas list that you really have to wrack your brains to find a good present for. It only gets harder every year, so to ease the challenge, we asked a selection of personal shopping and gifting experts for clever ideas in some of the most tricky-to-buy-for categories.

Johanna Dooley, personal shopper at Kildare Village, suggests livening up a dreary January or February with an experience gift. “Maybe a concert ticket, a night at the Hoxton hotel, a whiskey tasting or even a personal shopping experience,” she says.