Another successful show
Harrogate Christmas & Gift 2018 continued momentum achieved over the last six years, with a great vibe throughout the halls of the Harrogate Convention Centre; and the majority of exhibitors and visitors spoken too having experienced another fantastic show.
Hall Q, which was newly opened last year, proved to be one of the busiest areas of the show with 50 exhibitors and many of these attending for the first time. Troy of greetings card company Rossana Rossi commented: “The show was run fantastically, and staff were helpful and polite. It was refreshing to trade at a show with friendly staff and security – it makes for an enjoyable time. Also, we were happy with the amount of orders taken and the customers attending were serious buyers.”
Playwrite Group is a long-standing exhibitor, but moved to a new location in Hall Q for the first time last year. James Cornelius of the company commented: “We had one of our best years ever at Harrogate Christmas & Gift. Orders were up nearly 50% on last year and we have a large number of high quality enquiries to follow up on. We are very much looking forward to next year.”
However, it wasn’t just companies in Hall Q which achieved record sales for 2018. Sincere Floral was situated in Hall A and Simon Lightbown of the company said: “We’ve been coming to the show for 17 years and we’ve actually had our best ever year for orders taken and new customers gained. It’s been really great.”
This was reiterated by James Marshall, of Festive Productions which was situated in Hall C, adding: “This year was a record show for Festive in terms of footfall, physical orders and quotations. Harrogate Christmas & Gift is the most important show of the year for us – our customers prefer Harrogate.”
Visitors attending Harrogate will have noticed the increased diversity in products on offer in 2018 with very much more in terms of gift-led ranges. From aromatherapy products, candles, jewellery, personalised novelties to greetings cards and sweets, there was something to appeal to almost every retailer in the UK. Michael Nicholas of Luxa London said: “We come to Harrogate Christmas & Gift because all of the big buyers and suppliers attend – it’s a one-stop-shop and you will find everyone here.”
Enquiries are already coming in about participating in the show next year – the dates will be 13th to 16th January 2019. Bookings will open on 1st March 2018 – more information will be available on the website at www.harrogatefair.com in due course.