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“Christmas at Spring Fair is sheer joy”

Suzanne Ellingham looks after some big hitters when it comes to trade events, but Spring Fair tops the bill. And she’s expecting things to get emotional when the 2022 edition of the show hits the NEC, as she told Sarah Welsh…

As Head of Content at Hyve Group plc, Suzanne Ellingham is responsible for some of Britain’s biggest trade events, but the Christmas Hall at Spring Fair holds a special place in her heart.

Despite being an expert in retail with a close community of buyers from across the sector, like anyone else who walks through the doors of Spring Fair’s Hall 5, Suzanne loves the sense of theatre and fun that envelops you. After all, as she says: “Who doesn’t love a dancing penguin or a singing polar bear?”

Suzanne has been in post at Hyve for four years now, and says the decision last year to turn the show into a digital offering due to the COVID pandemic was a tough one, especially following the huge success of Spring Fair in early 2020. But she says the February timing of the show is crucial for buyers, so going virtual in 2021 was the open feasible option.

“Spring Fair is held in February for a reason,” Suzanne says. “It aligns to when buyers are actually buying for Christmas, and the year ahead, so if moved it becomes another show. In 2021 the health of our team, our exhibitors and visitors had to come first, so we had to make a difficult call to offer something virtual.

“It was a really good tool for discovery, but a virtual offering can never replace the in-person show.”

When the Autumn Fair and Glee shows took place in September 2021, Suzanne says it was clear there was real ‘pent up demand’ for the return of big-scale inperson shows.

“Retailers want to get back to normal and that means attending shows,” she says. “I think people value them even more now.

“The Christmas Hall is part of the Gifts section of the show which covers Halls 1 to 5, and the festive exhibitors go all out. Buyers look to them for inspiration and they have a responsibility to bring display ideas. If a product is displayed well in store it will sell, so visual merchandising inspiration brings two-way benefit. The Christmas exhibitors bring a high level of production value with them.”

New for the show this year includes a festive trend report, designed to inspire retailers and buyers in terms of visual display – before they hit the show. Spring Fair teamed up with TrendBible to conduct the research, and held a virtual Christmas 2022 trend session in December, attended by the likes of John Lewis, B&Q and WH Smith.

“It’s really helpful for buyers to think in terms of highly visual trend stories,” Suzanne explains. “Two of the hand-picked trends we looked at were ‘Loud and Proud’ and ‘White Winter.’ Loud and Proud is about self-expression, bold primary colours and retro inspiration, while White Winter is Nordic inspired with a colour palette of icy blues.

“Other themes that came up in the trend research included the importance of sustainability and homewares. This kind of insight is really helpful for buyers and we want to be able to provide that for them.”

Suzanne says a curated meeting programme will help match buyers with exhibitors based on mutual interest, ensuring deals are done, and reveals that Hyve has also invested in upgrading the show app.

“Spring Fair is all about discovery, matching buyers to products they haven’t seen before. That’s what gets buyers excited,” Suzanne explains.

“I’m really looking forward to being at the show. I do around 20,000 steps every day just walking the floors and I can’t wait to see everyone! Autumn Fair was emotional – I think we sometimes forget the importance and sheer vibrancy of the human connection and I can’t wait to see that at Spring Fair.”

Product Predictions

Suzanne says expect to see pared-back candles at Spring Fair, made from sustainable rapeseed and coconut oil, alongside high-end faux Christmas trees and decorations made from wood, paper and card.

“Some people are taking a simpler approach to festive decorating, and using ornaments made from natural materials,” she says. “Crafting is also a big trend for this year, with paper chains, hand-made decorations and paper flowers.”

Spring Fair takes place at Birmingham’s NEC from Sunday 6th to Wednesday 9th February. For more information visit: www.springfair.com