Spring Fair Trade Snow... sorry, Show! (Spring Fair International (NEC Birmingham))

Member Name: SapphireSunflowr

Product:	Spring Fair International (NEC Birmingham)
Date:	03/04/09 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Shows from all different trade areas, great for students, budding business and existing ones

Disadvantages: Jewellery show pretty uninspiring

The Spring Fair is a trade event held every year at the NEC in Birmingham, in February. Covering all of the NEC's exhibition space, this is a vast show with exhibitors in every area, from homeware to giftware, traditional to contemporary design. It's fantastic research for buyers, owners of business and people considering setting up business, as it offers hundreds of relevant exhibitors all in one place. I was particularly interested in the Jewellery Show - three halls of jewellery from costume to fine, including a small exhibit on emerging designer-makers.

I'm not a purchaser or distributor, instead I was there for design inspiration for my own work, and maybe even to shop! On both fronts, I must admit, I was disappointed. Most of the exhibitors seemed to be selling the same old, uninspiring stuff - even if you were looking for ranges to sell you probably wouldn't have felt particularly inspired by the choice, it felt all very samey, much the same as what is already on the high street. The sponsor of the jewellery show was a company who very much marketed themselves as a new, innovative brand, but even their jewellery didn't grab me as being particularly excellent quality or breaking ant boundaries. A trade show should be for excitement, not just a collection of what's already been out there for years past and years to come.

Anyway, I digress. On the shopping front, I ended up not buying anything at all, mainly because I was uninspired but also because I hadn't come expecting so much very cheap stuff that would have made - in retrospect - excellent stocking fillers, standby presents and so forth. Its too late for this Christmas, but as you could buy single units of trade price jewellery, such as small silver pendants for a few quid - mass machine produced of course, and not something you'd buy as a "proper" gift, but would have made lovely cracker gifts! Actually, as someone who produces my own jewellery, it was quite depressing to see just how cheaply mass market jewellery can be produced - after importing the silver in and machine producing it, many of the units were being sold trade much cheaper than I could even buy the raw materials to make a piece - but then that's the difference between handmade and not. If you are considering setting up a business in any of the areas covered by the show - eg, greetings cards, jewellery, giftware - its well worth a research trip to see just what other, bigger companies are doing, and what costs they're doing it for.

The wares on sale aren't only the finished products either - the jewellery section had tool manufacturers and stone dealers (who by the last day were marking down their prices considerably, given that the heavy onslaught of snow we had that week had made it a very quiet show indeed). I picked up some cracking contacts for stones, taking the opportunity to talk in depth with some dealers about a particular cut of stone I was after. Although I can't be sure, I imagine other crafts, such as card making and so forth, may have had similar stalls selling equipment and supplies.

As well as the jewellery show, I also took a peek into the homewares section to check out the kitchen ware and knives. This section was also vast, and had a mix of kitchen goods, laundry products and so forth. There was a lot of choice of some very interesting, modern products, from coloured plastic utensils to the highest quality kitchen blades. So I think there will be something for everyone, whatever your area of interest, at the show.

The areas covered by the show are:
Volume Gift & Home

Kitchen & Dining

Greetings & Stationery

Contemporary Gifts

Toys, festive & floral

Gifts

Home Gifts & Interiors, Outdoor Living

Art & Wall Decor

Jewellery

Fashion Accessories

Gifts, Fashion Accessories, Wellbeing, Heritage & Souveniers,

Brands of China. Click here for more information and a list of exhibitors


A few tips - if you do plan on going, whether for shopping or for research, its generally best to tell the stall holders that you are in the business in some way - don't lie and pretend you're likely to be placing an order for one hundred units of their ice cream scoops or anything, but equally if you say you're a student or similar you will be ignored - as they're at the show to make money, of course. Wear flat shoes - the show is huge! And check out the website for early free entry offers to see if you can save the £30 entry fee.

Summary: Great for students, budding business and existing ones to research