Home & Gift, Harrogate - Gift Focus magazine

After half a century Home & Gift, Harrogate
remains forever young.
With a host of exciting new products set to
be unveiled, this year’s 50 th anniversary show
promises to be as fresh and inspiring as ever.
Ideally placed in the buying calendar it allows
retailers to source new lines for the busy
Christmas season and beyond.
This year’s golden edition will feature over
900 exhibitors showcasing ranges across a host
of categories from gifts, jewellery and fashion
to greetings, stationery and home.
New exhibitors for 2011 include Avoca,
Bahoma, Zippo UK, Lime Cards, Blue Moon
Trading and En Gry & Sif.
Also new for 2011 is the Men’s Gifts sector,
which in addition to traditional gifts for men
like cufflinks and ties, will also feature gadgets,
health and wellbeing products.
After two successful years, the Intro North
sector will once again be showcasing new
and original design talent from across the UK.
Each Intro North exhibitor is hand-selected
based on the originality, quality and commercial
potential of their products.
As well as a major sourcing ground, Home
& Gift offers visitors the opportunity to gain
valuable business advice. Free one-to-one
sessions with successful industry professionals
will be available at retail surgeries which will
run after the informative seminars. Topics
84 giftfocus
include PR, visual merchandising and trend
advice, geared to help retailers maximise sales
and prepare for the busy Christmas season.
Paul Middlemiss, chief executive of
renowned gift company Pedlars and owner
of his own wholesale company L-Living, is this
year’s keynote speaker.
He will be outlining and discussing key
points to help retailers make their businesses
world-class and will share his experiences as
a former director of Habitat, House of Fraser
and previous owner of The General Trading
Company. Paul’s talk will take place at 3pm on
Sunday 17 th July.
The 50 th anniversary celebrations will run
throughout the show, promising a party
atmosphere and plenty of opportunity to
combine business with pleasure.
Visit the website www.homeandgift.co.uk to
find out more.
Flashback to the 1960s
Facts & figures
(Courtesy of Clarion Events)
• Home & Gift is the largest annual
event to take place at the Harrogate
International Centre
• The show was relocated to Blackpool
during the early years and was then
moved to Birmingham’s NEC before
returning to its original home in Harrogate.
• Clarion Events acquired Home & Gift
during the early 1990s and has expanded
the show ever since
• The 2010 edition saw over 12,000
visitors with over 900 UK and
international exhibitors
• It takes 40 days to build and break down
the marquees