LEADER

The dust has settled from the winter trade shows and events, but it’s interesting to note that the positive vibes from both Toy Fair at Olympia and Spielwarenmesse are continuing into the spring.

And a clutch of separate incidents coming in the wake of both events has highlighted not just the response from, but also the importance of trade shows.

Both Toy Fair and Spielwarenmesse have made announcements in the past few weeks about their 2024 events.

The former has opened up sales for exhibitors and is looking for another success story after the sold-out 2023 event. Exhibitors should need little nudging in getting along to next year’s event, as most had said, both on and off the record, just how worthwhile this year’s show had been. One told me that the show felt “normal” and that, after the upheavals of recent years, that could only be a good thing.

LEGO’s Isabel Graham noted that it was great to be back at the show; these are the kind of ringing endorsements that Toy Fair has mustered.

Ditto Spielwarenmesse. And this too has made its own announcement, unveiling the dates for its event at the start of 2024, but also revising the days of the week that it takes place. It has eschewed the Sunday, adding an additional weekday to the proceedings, running from Tuesday through to Saturday, kicking off on January 30 and running through to February 3.

As board spokesperson Christian Ulrich said: “Many attendees expressed a preference for an additional day during the weekday. At the same time, we’re sticking to the Saturday after listening to the needs of our specialist retailers, who continue to play an important role.”

As its announcement rightly noted, “the

Tim Murray

choice of these new dates demonstrates that the world’s leading toy fair is in touch with its target group and responds flexibly to prevailing market conditions”. The speed with which it moved, picking up on feedback from a show held little more than a month ago, and changing it for the coming year, is impressive, and shows how a modern, post-pandemic trade event needs to respond smartly and swiftly.

Meanwhile, there was more to come as it emerged that Spring (and Autumn) Fair parent organisation the Hyve Group was being acquired by US investment fund Providence Equity Partners. The deal, which has been recommended by directors and other significant investors in the events company, values Hyve at some £320m and follows two failed bids.

The deal, which sees Providence noting that Hyve will be given the backing and clout to expand and acquire other businesses to enable it to realise its “full growth potential”, gives a major thumbs-up to the events sector, showing just how it is recovering from, and moving forward after Covid and accompanying lockdowns.

Officials at Providence further note: “Providence believes that Hyve has established a strong platform for future organic and inorganic growth underpinned by Hyve’s portfolio of high-quality global brands and marketleading events focused on developed markets and in growing sectors.”

During the lowest points of 2020 and 2021, things looked bleak for the sector, as everyone was cooped up indoors, the idea of a trade show being miles away from anyone’s mind. Now, with the worst the pandemic could throw at it disappearing in the rear-view mirror, both businesses and individuals are realising just how integral these events are.

You can sense a certain pre-Covid ennui; the idea that a trade show was a waste of time, effort and money, has dissipated. After spending so much time behind closed doors, getting back out into the real world and meeting, face to face, with suppliers and your peers in the industry, has been shown to be a truly worthwhile experience.

The amount of cards in the eagerly-awaited trading card game Disney Lorcana due to launch from Ravensburger in August. The range, unveiled at the season’s toy events, features starter decks, a gift set, booster packs and the ‘Illumineer’s Trove’, as well as assorted extras and accessories. The First Chapter is going into independent and hobby shops on August 18, with a national retail launch on September 1. Ravensburger said there had been a brilliant reception to the game at Toy Fair.