The first few days of Spring Fair 2022 have seen thousands of retail buyers and indie owners from across the UK head to the show for the first time in two years.
The busy aisles and stands across all eight halls showed that retailers are ready for a return to business as usual and in-person trading as they look to source new products.
Julie Driscoll, divisional managing director, Spring Fair & Moda, commented: “The show has been bustling, exhibitors are excited to be back and retailers have flocked to the show to return to face-to-face business and networking.
“We are still on a high after winning AEO’s Trade Show of the Century Award, and feel genuinely proud to continue to successfully put on the UK’s largest and longest running trade show.
Exhibitor, Liz Ireland, managing director of Bigjigs Toys, said: “It is very good to be here and to be back on the show floor talking to buyers, the visitor attendance was extremely high for the first day and the quality of buyer has been excellent.”
On Monday – day two of the show – the Curated Meetings programme launched, uniting actively sourcing buyers from retailers including Asda, with a range of brands.
Three rounds of meetings took place throughout the day. Monica Todd, product manager, commented: “There was a great buzz in the Curated Meetings lounge as over 100 new business connections were made. So many businesses enjoyed and benfited from the experience, and we were delighted to hear the feedback from Asda. Offering an intelligent roadmap to ROI the future for Curated Meetings is very exciting.”
Drew Stevenson, source specialist at Asda, added: “We joined Curated Meetings to get a better view of selected suppliers, an overview of the show and to open a dialogue with suppliers we have not spoken to previously. It was good time spent as we were able to see a number of suppliers in the shortest time possible.
“We did groundwork in advance to identify the right meeting opportunities. The most valuable part of joining Curated Meetings was to sit down with people and scope out products that we have not sourced previously but that are good opportunities for us.”
