Bigger event

This year has been anything but great for the DIY industry in the UK, mainly because the poor weather in the summer put the brakes on sales of garden products. But this has had no effect on the DIY & Garden Show: on the contrary, the fair that is due to take place at Earls Court in London from 16 to 18 January 2005 will be the biggest for four years.
Even though it may still be considered small by European standards, the coming fair will have a floorspace expanded by one third to 10 000 m². Represented there will be 240 exhibitors, 30 of them from abroad.
“We are passionate about what we do,” says show director Christopher Leonard-Morgan, “The message that ‘If it’s new, it’s here!’ has found a strong resonance and we have successfully evolved and developed a show where serious buyers do serious business. DIY remains the fastest growing retail sector in the UK, and we are very positive about the prospects for the 2005 show.”
The decoration segment will again be well represented in 2005.
An innovative feature for 2005 is Totally Tools, which will run alongside the DIY & Garden Show. On view here will be hand and power tools plus accessories for both professional and DIY users. Tools represent a significant growth area for this year’s event, with the 80 companies exhibiting in this segment including a number of major power tool brands. Approximately 50 of the tool manufacturers will be showing their products at Totally Tools, which is positioned as a separate but integral part of the overall show. As things look at present, it will offer the greatest concentration of manufacturers of power tools to be seen in the UK for some years. They will include a number of suppliers from Europe as well.
Growth in the tool sector will not, however, be at the expense of other product categories. According to the organisers, there will be an expanded range of products in all the different segments, including the decorative category. And a look at the list of exhibitors soon shows that this segment is well represented. Altogether more manufacturers of branded products will be using the show to launch new products and provide the stimulus to advance the market in the year 2005.
Also represented there will be quite a number of companies from overseas. The US group stand organised by the Worldwide DIY Council will comprise the record number of 22 firms, including the USA’s two biggest dealer-owned wholesalers, Ace Hardware and True Value (Truserve). Other international…