With the Scottish Referendum occupying shoppers’ minds in recent months, the Autumn edition of Scotland’s Trade Fair enjoyed a back-to-business atmosphere with a successful show kicking off the crucial festive season.
Exhibitors reported healthy orders from the show off the back of a busy summer in Scotland, with The Commonwealth Games and the annual Edinburgh Festival insuring steady visitor growth in the capital and across the wider Central Belt and Glasgow.
As the last Show before Christmas, it attracted an excellent line-up of interesting exhibitors offering retailers a range of last minute Christmas gifts options such as jewellery from Tartan Twist, Sheila Fleet and Rosa Red, The Just Slate Company, Gillian Arnold homewares and Lucy Donnell’s woollen accessories.
The Launch Gallery for new, young companies attracted particular attention with some highly innovative exhibitors such as Braw Scotland’s homewares, Badger & Baird’s stylish jewellery and Amy Macgregor’s luxury textiles.
Mark Saunders from organisers, Springboard Events, commented: “Given the backdrop to this Show with the referendum, it went well. Trade has suffered in the last few weeks, as inevitably local shoppers have thought of little else but the vote and shopping has been a long way from people’s minds. Businesses and shoppers are keen to get back to business as usual and we expect to see more orders materialise in the coming months, leading up to our big Spring Show in January when we have a whole raft of new exhibitors, new products and exciting events.”