As Spring Fair is one of the biggest shows that we exhibit at throughout the year and has so many great opportunities for us, we thought this year we would try something a little bit different, by teaming up with ‘Buy From Shropshire’, a similar organisation who share the same ethos in helping small businesses thrive and succeed in their business goals. This enabled us to create a mini exhibition space on our stand featuring the best from Shropshire. With designGAP now under our umbrella as well we created a gallery space over in the contemporary halls where we featured four exhibitors who all new to trade shows.

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After months of planning and preparation, stand designs and stand re designs we got the concepts right and put our plan into action, even though this plan had a lot of moving parts and a lot of people involved, it came together with the help of team work and the pure excitement to pull this stand idea off.

After days of hard work, prepping the areas and many trips to and from the NEC from our offices in central Birmingham down the road, we painstakingly created the stand in the eyes of our designer we left our ‘exhibitors’ to create their own displays ready for opening day, which looked amazing when all the products were in place.

 

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The Buy From Shropshire team were very excited about this plan and helped out amazingly throughout the show photographing all our member's stands and being experts on our social media.

The exhibitors on our stand were also pleased with the show and how it went and also the amount of interest their products received.

The designGAP area over in hall 6 was a bit more of a labour of love, as we had to curate the space with four different artist work of various size and category, from ceramics to classic art through to greetings cards and high-end stationery, but we felt we pulled of the gallery feel and stayed true to designGAPs roots created by Shirley Frost in the 1990s, she sometimes created shared spaces like this with various artists and designers makers for them to get their products to market.

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Sarah ward The CEO of The Giftware Association stated “This idea has been a small itch which I have finally got to scratch and it has been amazing to see all the different suppliers together in one space and also on our stand, Its great to see them learning how a big trade show works as well as helping each other out. The Buy From team are amazing and helped out incredibly to realise our dream”

If you didn’t manage to visit our stand at Spring Fair and meet some of the exhibitors, then take a look at their beautiful products online.

ANNE REEVES JEWELLERY

Distinctive, yet very wearable, Anne Reeves Jewellery reflects Anne’s love of nature, animals and romance. Her collections of contemporary solid silver jewellery and giftware incorporate exciting textures and effects. She has used traditional silversmithing techniques to create a stunning range of pieces, taking familiar shapes and giving them a modern twist.

 

BRADLEYS TANNERY

Our leather goods are hand made by a small team of local people whose crafts have been led by generations, our products are built with care, to last and get better with age. With 30 years experience and stocked all over the globe, even worn by celebrities, Bradleys Tannery is a quintessentially British,  with quality at its heart with a little sprinkle of fun and eccentricity.

 

CHAMPION AND REEVES

Champion & Reeves, are manufacturers of premium confectionery,  their products are 100% natural with no artificial additives or flavorings and are gluten free and palm oil free. Their aim is to produce the finest 100% natural confectionery money can buy, and to create a joyous confectionery experience with satisfying, complex taste structure, packaged in premium, silver foiled presentation boxes, lined individually with wrapped pieces of delicious confectionery.

 

CHERIE DID THIS

We here at Cherie Did This are thrilled to be exhibiting at Spring far through the Giftware Association. The exposure to our brand and meeting suppliers will be an invaluable experience. Cherie Did This is a design based greetings card and gift company founded by illustrator, Cherie Jarrard. They aim to produce colourfully cool cards, pins, patches and prints to bring joy and positive vibes

 

 

EMMA LAWRENCE DESIGNS

Emma Lawrence had a successful career in the NHS before pursuing her passion for illustration and design.  She has always been inspired by the natural world and the beautiful Shropshire countryside where she lives.  Her unique and recognisable style is fresh, fun and appealing with hand drawn lines and a soft colour palette.  Following her popular children’s series of books, the Little Nature Explorers series, she has recently launched a range of children’s stationery and gifts which have been shortlisted for Gift of the Year 2018.

LISH D'LISH

I am a mum of two young girls who love to wear children’s perfumes, however they couldn’t due to skin allergies. My children enjoyed dressing up and wearing jewellery and so I decided to create a bangle that not only looked good and was fun to wear but was also scented allowing my children to wear perfume without having a reaction to it. Although my previous career had been in the hospitality industry I have always wanted to run my own company.  So, with the help of a colleague, who had knowledge of the retail industry, the Lish d’lish Scented Jelly Bangle range was born.

MEG HAWKINS ART

British watercolour artist and homeware designer Meg Hawkins established Meg Hawkins Art in 2013. Inspired by her travels and the countryside surrounding her Shropshire home, Meg’s work is a timeless blend of contemporary and classic.

"We are delighted to be part of the GA stand at Spring Fair this year. Being part of the GA over the past few months has opened many opportunities to my brand and new invaluable experiences for my business"

RISDON AND RISDON

Risdon & Risdon are two generations designing and making a new breed of workwear from their workshop in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

The mother and sons handmake luxury adults and children's aprons in a choice of finest quality canvas, high grade denim or full-grain leather all with removeable leather straps and metalware fastenings cast in a British foundry. Also catering to the vegan market with beautiful cork straps carefully sourced from Portugal.

With a strong belief in sustainability their aprons are built to last backed up by a Lifetime Guarantee.

TIPSY TART VODKA

The Tipsy Tart is a family run business producing fabulously fruity, funky and fun luscious liqueurs. We also sell other Tipsy Tart branded products such as gin glasses, champagne flutes, juice bubbles and shimmer so that you can Pimp Your Prosecco to the next level.

We have twice been awarded Best Alcoholic Drink and have now been shortlisted at the Giftware Association for our White Chocolate Vodka.

Some of our unique flavours include Mango and Passionfruit Gin, Blood Orange Gin, Violet Vodka and our awesome Rose and Raspberry Vodka.