SPRING FAIR BIRMINGHAM 2007
(4-8 th February'07)

Spring fair – one of Britain's top buying event reflecting the market trends and offering the very latest products from wide range of product segments classified into four buying zones – Giving, Living, Greetings and Jewellary was organized at the famous National Exhibition Centre venue , Birmingham during 4-8 th February'2007 .

Council took part in this event with a delegation of 14 member exporters by taking 126 sq.mtrs area offering 9 sq.mtrs each to the individual participant. Council participated in this event for the 2 nd time in succession. In Spring 2007 Council opted for relocating its stalls from Hall No.16 ( Discovery area for Asian companies ) to the new area in Hall No.11 which was branded along with other halls 9 & 10 as “Living & Garden” in the “Living” Zone. Spring fair is a multi product show and Council took a decision to repeat its participation for the 2 nd time in this event for the reason a) Spring fair being one of the major events happening in UK and b) Changes in the market trend has more focus on lifestyle products and there exists crossover buying habits among the buyers who would like to source the complementary products . Taking into account of above factors Council had changed its strategy by relocating from Asian pavilion to new hall, wherein, products for Home & Garden were on display and the products complimenting each other meeting Buyers demand . This decision was welcomed by our participants.

Further, Council had put up banner advertisement at 3 important locations so that the banner will not miss the attention of buyers entering Hall Nos 9,10 ,11 & 12 of which the first three were branded as “Home & Garden”. In such a big event having about 300+ exhibitors under “Home & Garden” brand alone the banners really contributed for drawing the visitors to our exhibitors' stall as it was informed by some of the visitors. Besides, Council had also availed the free space of 9 m2 provided by the fair authorities to promote the Indian Handwoven Hometextiles by putting up posters display of wide range of products that are being offered by the handloom industry and also distributing exhibitors catalogue and other publications on the spot. Council also had published about our members' participation in the show preview which was circulated by fair authorities to the prospective visitors prior to the event.

The following participants have participated under the aegis of the Council.

1.  Dakshin Home Fashion , Karur

2.  Ess Pee Exports, Panipat

3.  HCM Exports, Varanasi

4.  Home Accents, New Delhi

5.  Imperial Lace Exports, Sitaramapuram

6.  The Khamdhenu Khadi Wool PCIS Ltd, Panipat

7.  Narain Export, Kanour

8.  Nivedita- Swarup, New Delhi

9.  Richa International, New Delhi

10.  Rung International, Mumbai

11.  Sarovar Impex, Mumbai

12.  Sethi International, Panipat

13.  Shivam Exports, Panipat

14.  Western Textiles, Kannur

The product composition of our member exhibitors spread across table linen& kitchen linen ( 2 exhibitors ) ; floor coverings (5 exhibitors ) ; Floor coverings and other made up ( 2 exhibitors ) ; Stoles and scarves ( 2 exhibitors ) ; Lace made ups ( 1 exhibitor) ;. Tassels & cushion covers ( 1 exhibitor ) Fashion accessories – fancy hand made bags ( 1 exhibitor ) offering almost the entire ranges of handwoven products to the visitors.

As per the fair organizer press release, 73049 individual trade visitors attended the show among them 7309 were from overseas looking for new products from over 4000 exhibitors across 19 halls. The final day of event witnessed a dramatic drop in the number of visitors due to widely reported snowfall, which, dented the overall inflow of visitors.

A total of 159 visitors had visited our member participants and as per the on the spot report submitted by the exhibitors about Rs.14 lakhs worth of spot orders were booked. While some of the exhibitors were unable to quantify the enquiries generated in terms of its value others have reported that enquiries worth of about Rs.31 lakhs were generated.

Fair Outcome Analysis

•  As per the spot assessment made by Council official representative the event mainly attracted retailers as it was already informed to our member exhibitors .

•  Stoles and scarves products attracted good number of visitors, however, had we known the product profile of our exhibitors in advance , these exhibitors could have been located under Fashion Accessories segment ( Hall 20 )

•  Other fashion accessories like hand made bags / tassels had also invited good number of visitors.

•  Surprisingly , this time we had only 2 members exhibiting Kitchen Linen , Table Linen and related items .Out of two exhibitors under this product group, the performance of one of the exhibitors was satisfactory and it wasn't for the for the reasons unknown.. Probably a wrong color selection and a crowded display could have contributed for their poor performance.

•  Floor coverings products on natural fibres like cotton and wool had a lukewarm response from the buyers. This product segment with 5 exhibitors from different region which had less Buyers' turnout had its impact on the final total outcome of the event for our group exhibitors which was not very satisfactory.

•  Alongside our member exhibitors there were sizeable number of UK importers of hometextiles ( mainly of wholesalers who supply to retailers) who had also put up their stalls in Hall No.9,10,11 and in Arena / Pavillion / Hall 1 volume halls . Council representative had an interaction with a couple of these exhibitors and it was informed that they were very much apprehensive about our presence there and they were under the impression that our exhibitors were targeting retailers ( their customers) directly and hence might snatch the business from their hand. Of course, it may be true to the extent that volume retailers may prefer to place order directly with Indian suppliers and in some cases couple of retailers may join together and start placing order directly with Indian suppliers. But for many of our exporters it may not be an economically viable transaction to deal with retailers directly and the same was explained to them so as to allay their fears .

•  It was informed that the event also attracted many of the leading hometextile buyers of UK but to our disappointment most of them had a look around but were very cautious and selective in entering the exhibitors stall.

•  There could be no second opinion on the quality of the event as one of the largest event happening in UK . Relocation of the stalls to better Hall and other publicity measures such as banner advertisement etc., undertaken by the Council notwithstanding, the overall results for our group participants were not very encouraging.

However, as far as export of Indian Handwoven textiles is concerned UK is the second largest importer country next to USA . In an international business it also matters that there has to be continuity in the presence of any exhibitor to bring in confidence to the buyer visitor and make an in road into the market. On this assumption, it may be concluded that it may be worth repeating our participation next time but with only selected 5-6 member exhibitors or totally shift our focus to some other event happening in UK thus providing a continuous platform for our members to develop business in UK as there still exists an opportunity to improve our trade with UK.

Council was represented by Mr. P.Rangasamy, Textile Designer for on the spot coordination and evaluation of above event.

- P.Rangasamy

Textile Designer