Craft Focus - Page number 16 - June/July 2021 (Issue 85)

16 Autumn Fair to return September 2021 Hyve Group is delighted to announce that Autumn Fair will return to the NEC Birmingham from 5 th -8 th September, 2021. Following their Refuelling Retail manifesto, Autumn Fair will be designed to reinvigorate the industry, providing the essential networking and product inspiration that we have all missed during this time apart. Bringing an even more exciting proposition to the halls of the NEC Birmingham, Autumn Fair will be co-located with Hyve Group’s fashion trade show Moda. Situated alongside Jewellery & Watch and Fashion (JWF), Moda’s co-location will provide even more crossover buying and selling opportunities, creating a definitive fashion destination within the UK’s leading home, gift and lifestyle trade show. Working in line with Hyve Group’s Safe and Secure guidelines, Autumn Fair will provide a space for Covid-safe trading, networking, inspiration and more, as the retail industry gets back up and running. Autumn Fair promises to provide a compelling line-up of exhibitors. Already signed up are such names as Hawthorn Handmade, Joe Davies, The Art File, The English Soap Company, Kidicraft, Dcuk, Kikkerland, Ashleigh & Burwood, East of India, Paper Salad, Rush Design, Hill Interiors, Pacific Lifestyle, Ultimate Products, Rex International, Richard Lang & Son, Korbond Group, Price’s Patent Candles and many more. New exhibitors on the line up include: Willsow, Chalk UK, Bachmann Europe, Peony & Pine, Emotional Rescue Scream Pretty, Brands Ltd, Emily Victoria Candles and Rainbow Design. Visitors and exhibitors can visit the Autumn Fair website to find out how to register their interest or apply for a stand. h+h Cologne @home deemed a success The digital version of h+h cologne @home came to a close with very good overall results which led to contented faces among all of the participants. The level of internationality was also worthy of a leading trade fair: more than 3,500 participants from more than 70 countries ensured a lively exchange on all three days of the trade fair in the scope of numerous chats as well as audio and video calls. The mood among the approximate 100 companies from 29 countries, who took part was correspondingly good. They particularly praised the professional quality and the trade visitors’ great interest in personal discussions. Hence, the chief operating officer of Koelnmesse, Oliver Frese, considered this to be confirmation of the digitalisation strategy of the trade fair: “h+h cologne @home underlined how much potential our digital event platform holds. Both the companies and the trade visitors recognised these opportunities and made intensive use of them. Our customers won’t have to do without this additional digital offer in future either.” Hedi Ehlen, executive director of Initiative Handarbeit was also impressed with the outcome of the trade fair: “Everything that was offered on the platform over these three days was simply fantastic!” The huge interest shown in the event programme of h+h cologne @home demonstrates how important the intense mutual exchange is not only for the companies, but also for the entire community. Some 40 speakers ensured full seminars and an active participation on the stage and in the virtual workshop rooms on all three days. The streams from the stage, but also the product presentations of the exhibiting companies regularly attracted interested viewers, who particularly took extensive advantage of the opportunity to chat live and pose questions. And the popular workshops that sold out very quickly also met with an excellent response. Indeed, significantly more tickets were sold for some of them online than would have been possible on-site due to lacking space. This digital enhancement is also an option for the future. The next h+h cologne is scheduled to take place from 18 th -20 th March, 2022. For further information, visit www.hh-cologne.com Top Drawer returns to live format Taking place at Olympia London from 12 th -14 th September, the show promises to reunite design-led brands, buyers and designers for trade opportunities. To ensure the needs of its audience were best met, in planning for the show’s return to an in- person format, the team has extensively surveyed its community of leading retail buyers and interior designers – 82 per cent of which said they intend to attend in September. Zoë Bonser, portfolio director, said, “Over the past 12 months, we remained committed to providing our network of incredible buyers and brands with opportunities to connect, be inspired, and trade, which is what they have turned to Top Drawer for, for more than 30 years. We saw some amazing success stories through our digital iterations of the show, however, for the full experience, we know just how important it is for buyers to see, try and feel products in person too. In terms of sourcing, networking and discovery, there’s a lot of exciting work happening behind the scenes to revolutionise these experiences for our audience, and we can’t wait for our community to be reunited for this exhilarating new chapter for Top Drawer and retail. “We’re delighted to be returning to Olympia London in September and will continue to work in partnership with the Association of Events Organisers (the AEO), who is liaising directly with the government, to ensure the safest and most successful event for our community.” The autumn/winter 2021 edition of Top Drawer will include the full range of show sectors, showcasing the names and products across gifting, interiors, greetings & stationery, fashion, children’s products, hand-made craft, and giftable food & drink. To be the first to hear when registration opens or find out how to apply for a stand, please visit www.topdrawer.co.uk