Feature - Spring Fair

Come to the mega marketplace!

With an ever-increasing focus on sustainability and more diversification by retailers, Spring Fair is attracting many new exhibitors, as Sam Giltrow discovers when she chats to Hyve Group’s key account director, Bhavika Pattni.

As the dust settles on the toy fairs in London and Nuremberg, some UK toy buyers will be heading to the halls of the NEC, Birmingham for another key event in the retail calendar – Spring Fair. Although encompassing a wide range of product sectors, 14 in total, covering everything for the home and lifestyle such as housewares, gifts, Christmas and fashion, it is the Kids, Toys and Play section in Hall 5 which is the main draw for Toy World readers.

Bhavika Pattni, key account director for show organiser Hyve Group, suggests that many retailers have diversified in recent years to broaden their offerings to include toys and games. “Spring Fair is one of the largest retail shows in the UK with exhibitors showcasing both toys and gifts,” she told Toy World. “We know that toys are a gift item, so there’s that cross-over buying opportunity, and we also know that many shops are diversifying and want to have different ranges, so that is a really big factor for us.”

She cited the example of garden centres, many of which have introduced or expanded their toy departments in recent years as they bid to become a destination for the whole family. “I think retail buyers appreciate the one destination approach that Spring Fair offers, especially for multi-channel retailers,” she said.

Commenting on this year’s show, Bhavika added: “It’s all looking really good and shaping up nicely. We are in a good position, especially in Kids, Toys and Play. We have lots of new exhibitors and what I have also noticed is that many companies have taken on new distribution ranges - that seems to be a growing trend. There have also been some acquisitions, such as Smart Toys and Games taking on The Happy Puzzle Company, so there’s lots of newness within the existing companies too.”

Kids, Toys and Play offers an array of toys, games, puzzles, high-tech gadgets and craft gifts for all ages. Among the numerous suppliers exhibiting at Spring Fair this year are Keel Toys, Orange Tree Toys, Kidicraft, Ty, Rainbow Designs, Spinning Poodle Games, Wilton Bradley, Bachmann Europe, Gibsons, Big Potato, Toynamics, University Games, Blue Sky Designs, Fanattik, Alpha Toys, Simba Smoby, Hunter Price, SES Creative, The Source Wholesale, PMS International and Cheatwell Games.

The Covid pandemic caused a hiatus for the show and when it returned in 2022, numbers were lower than usual. However, Bhavika points out that the number of toy exhibitors has increased for 2023.

“Our numbers are up on last year and the floor plan is growing again.”

The show places a big focus on sustainability and innovation and many exhibitors offer sustainable product. “Hyve has a personal pledge to be a sustainable company, so it’s great to see what companies can bring to the show,” commented Bhavika.

One new exhibitor at Spring Fair this year is SES Creative which offers a wide range of crafting kits for kids from fingerpaint, poster paint, colouring pencils, markers, chalk, play dough and more. “We are exhibiting at Spring Fair for the first time this year and are looking forward to meeting the diverse visitors to the show,” said Damien Collett, head of Sales & country manager, UK & Ireland. “We feel that our company ethos of designing and manufacturing products that are both extremely safe and environmentally responsible is a good fit for the visitors to Spring Fair, with all our products being made in the Netherlands.” Damien added that he was excited to showcase many products at the show, but particularly the new iron on beads range Green Beedz, made from a plant based plastic alternative from sugar cane. SES Creative will also be showing its pre-school crafting ranges, safe for children one year plus, which are performing very strongly in the market and are gluten free, vegan and hypoallergenic.

Orange Tree Toys, which offers a wide range of wooden toys, will also be exhibiting at this year’s Spring Fair and is particularly excited about its new woodland animal range, which includes lots of new concepts. It is also introducing a beautiful new Peter Rabbit TV range - a new licence for Orange Tree Toys - and says it is also looking forward to showcasing its new Disney range as part of the D100 celebrations.

Commenting on last year’s Spring Fair, national account manager Bev Cochrane said: “2022 was amazing for us - it was our most successful year to date – and the whole team enjoyed meeting both our existing customers and many new ones, proving that face to face is best. We hope that 2023 will be equally successful, if not more.”

Another exhibitor is Fanattik, a UK-based gifts and collectibles company which supplies pop culture retailers worldwide and is a licensee for Universal Studios, Hasbro, Paramount Studios, Bethesda, Toho Studios, Konami, Capcom, Microsoft and many more. Among Fanattik’s newest releases launching at Spring Fair are a Jurassic Park 30th anniversary range, Yu-Gi-Oh! collectibles and a Dungeons & Dragons range. “Spring Fair gives us the opportunity to re-connect with the UK retail trade. We release over 300 new licensed gifts each year and there’s nothing like seeing our partners reactions when they see product for the first time in person,” said managing director Anthony Marks. Fanattik has signed six big licences in just the past few weeks and the show will provide the opportunity to reveal to its retail partners what it has planned for the year ahead.

Jigsaw puzzle and board game company Gibsons is looking forward to introducing its brand-new range at the show. “We’re excited to showcase over 40 new products for 2023, including the new TfL Elizabeth Line collection, our commemorative puzzle for King Charles III Coronation and a brandnew collaboration with the design studio Snowtap. Our team have worked so hard on this new range so we can’t wait to show these off during Spring Fair,” said Gibsons’ Zoe Walsh.

As well as welcoming back regular exhibitors, smaller companies and start-ups will be promoted in the popular toy debut area. “We want to make sure that we are pushing new companies, as well as the exhibitors that return each year. It’s all about building long-term relationships and we like to see the companies grow,” said Bhavika.

Enticing new visitors, and suppliers, is a challenge for any big trade show and Bhavika added that Spring Fair aims to keep things fresh by not having exhibitors in the same place each year and by creating little “pockets” such as a family board games area, or puzzles. “We don’t want to have a stale floor plan,” she commented. “It’s a little bit like a retail store really; we don’t want the same display all the time.”

In her eight years dealing with the show, Bhavika has seen many toy companies develop and watching them grow has been a personal highlight for her. “I just love the buzz of Spring Fair and the Toy section is particularly exciting for me. It’s great to see companies come in as small businesses and a few years later take bigger stands,” she concluded.

Spring Fair runs from 5th- 8th February 2023 at NEC Birmingham. For further information, visit www.springfair.com