Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2020 (Issue 117)

85 SPRING FAIR PREVIEW Who are this year’s returning favourites? With so many of our visitors using Spring Fair as their yearly opportunity to properly catch-up with suppliers face-to-face, it’s always encouraging to see our visitor favourite suppliers coming back to the show year-on-year. 2020 will be no different in that regard, with the likes of Yankee Candle, Enesco, Something Different Wholesale, Mosney Mill, Wild & Wolf and Mathilde M Creations. You have some exciting speakers at both Spring and Autumn Fair – can you reveal any big names? Spring Fair will have the freshest and most important market insights, with 90 per cent of our speakers being new to the show for 2020. Across our three stages – Inspiring Retail Stage, Design & Source Stage and Retail Skills Theatre – we’ll be looking forward to hosting speakers from huge brands such as John Lewis, Google, PwC, Harrods, Penguin Random House and many more. We’ll be announcing plenty more exciting speakers in the coming weeks and months too, so do watch this space! Last year there was a big focus on your Power of One initiative – is this ongoing for 2020? Absolutely! We’re continuing to lead by example on the sustainability front. We’re bringing together more sustainable exhibitors and environmentally-conscious insights across the show. Our successful Power of One Campaign, which ran at Spring Fair and Autumn Fair 2019, will be evolving for 2020 to have a greater focus on exhibitors who’ve pledged to do more around sustainability, environmental causes and single-use packaging. A designated at-show sustainability trail will highlight the exhibitors that are striving to do their part to future-proof the retail sector and save the planet, and it’ll be easier than ever to connect visitors with these sustainable brands and suppliers. We’ll be releasing more details nearer the show. We’re also doing our bit to improve the sustainability of the show by ensuring that there’s eco-friendly carpet throughout the halls and that all show guides and marketing materials, including the Little Black Book, are 100 per cent recyclable. What do you think makes Spring Fair a must-visit trade fair? Over the last 70 years, Spring Fair has proven to be indispensable to the retail community and an essential part of retailers’ planning for the year ahead. As a market-leading, trend-driven event, Spring Fair is the perfect environment for buyers, manufactures, designers, creators and innovators to showcase their products to buyers from all over the world. For suppliers and buyers alike, it’s a chance to meet their market. “Over the last 70 years, Spring Fair has proven to be indispensable to the retail community and an essential part of retailers’ planning for the year ahead. As a market-leading, trend-driven event , Spring Fair is the perfect environment for buyers, manufactures, designers, creators and innovators to showcase their products to buyers from al l over the world.”