Koelnmesse looks back on a successful 2024 trade fair year: with a turnover of EUR 365.8 million, a profit of EUR 21.3 million and a total of 76 events in Cologne and worldwide, the company was able to further consolidate its position as one of the leading international trade fair organisers. A particularly encouraging development was that the company's subsidiaries in Germany and abroad made a significant contribution to the positive overall result. Koelnmesse remains resolutely on course for growth in the current year. The new Confex conference and exhibition centre, international premieres, major contract extensions, and new digital services strengthen the company's structure and offering.
Posted: 3 July 2025
Autumn Fair, the UK's leading marketplace for home, gift, and fashion, has revealed its most ambitious and retailer-focused content programme to date. Practical, focused, and easy to consume, it's been thoughtfully designed to fit around buyers and deliver maximum value in minimal time.
Taking place at the NEC Birmingham from 7–10 September 2025, this year's show recognises the pressures facing independent retailers, from rising costs and evolving customer behaviours to the demands of digital transformation and responds with a powerful new programme of over 30 short, high-impact sessions.
Across the brand-new Retail Corner stage and Buyers Retreat, the agenda is packed with real-world strategies, future-facing trend intelligence, and expert-led workshops to help home, gift and fashion retailers buy smarter, sell better, and future-proof their businesses, while staying connected to the wider retail industry without missing a beat on the show floor.
Posted: 2 July 2025
ICHF Events has announced that the craft industry trade show CHSI Stitches will pause in 2026. The show has welcomed more than 250,000 visitors through its doors since it was started in 1976. Simon Burns, ICHF Managing Director said: "CHSI Stitches will pause in 2026. This will allow us to step back and consider the evolving needs of the creative craft industry; shaped by shifting consumer behaviour, digital growth, and new retail models."
Posted: 1 July 2025
Great News! Creative Solutions has recently updated its website. Keep a look out for an ever expanding range of fabrics. Creative Solutions is a leading distributor of sewing, knitting, crochet and craft products. It was established in 2014 to provide a wide range of dressmaking, craft and home décor fabrics, threads, buttons, ribbons, needles, haberdashery, trimmings, bag making and lots of other crafty products to businesses throughout the UK, Eire and now Worldwide.
Posted: 26 June 2025
Autumn Fair, the UK's leading marketplace for home, gift and fashion, has announced an all-star Task Team of retail experts to support its Retail Makeover Mission campaign including award-winning independent retailers, visual merchandising experts, and buyers. The Retail Makeover Mission, which launched on Tuesday 10th June in partnership with SaveTheHighStreet.org, has already been inundated with entries from independent retailers keen to win a retail transformation package worth over £10,000 including support from the elite team of experts.
Posted: 24 June 2025
Big news - eatsleepdoodle has teamed up with Beth's Sunflowers for a very special charity collab! Beth's Sunflowers is a truly incredible charity founded by Beth's Mum, Andrea, to raise money towards finding a cure for blood cancers, support blood cancer patients undergoing treatment and keep her daughter's legacy alive. Beth was a champion fundraiser who spent her entire life helping others. After sadly losing her battle with Leukaemia, Beth's family and friends felt strongly that they should carry on the work she cared so deeply about and continue fundraising in her memory.
Posted: 19 June 2025
The UK's largest B2B trade show for Home, Gift & Fashion, Autumn Fair, returns to the NEC Birmingham from 7–10 September 2025, facilitating fit-for-business partnerships by bringing 12,000+ buyers and over 800 stockists together to make connections that last. As retail prepares for the crucial golden quarter, Autumn Fair will spotlight the power and profitability of licensing across the gifting, homeware, and fashion sectors. With licensed products continuing to outperform in key categories, this year's show reflects the growing demand for British-made, purpose-driven, and nostalgia-infused licenses.
Posted: 17 June 2025
Knitted Knockers UK, a registered charity in England & Wales which offers free of charge bespoke knitted and crocheted knockers to women who have had surgery following a breast cancer diagnosis, proudly announces its 10th anniversary, marking a decade of confidence boosting, sometimes lifechanging assistance to women in the UK. The Charity relies on donations to help it do that and is solely run by volunteers.
Posted: 12 June 2025
The popular, coastal Giving & Living trade show will now take place from Sunday 18th to Tuesday 20th January 2026, in its usual venue, Westpoint in Exeter, just one mile off the M5, in the heart of the beautiful South West. The later dates mean that the show no longer clashes with Top Drawer Spring, or Harrogate Christmas Fair. Great news!
Posted: 10 June 2025
Autumn Fair 2025, the UK's largest seasonal showcase for Home, Gift and Fashion, has joined forces with SaveTheHighStreet.org, to launch Retail Makeover Mission, a bold new initiative launching aimed at revitalising independent retail and act as a catalyst for high street regeneration across the UK.
Championing independent retail innovation and resilience, the Retail Makeover Mission is a timely answer to the UK's retail crisis. The campaign launched on Tuesday 10th June with a competition for independent retailers to win a complete business transformation package worth over £10,000, and a survey to understand the pressures facing the industry to help drive positive change.
Posted: 10 June 2025