Events and Show


Red flowers at Haskins Bulb Festival

With its popular Bulb Festival now in full swing, Haskins wants to encourage gardeners to celebrate and showcase the fanfare of colours which can be achieved through bulb planting.

Haskins’ Bulb Festival continues across all four garden centres until Sunday November 17. There are more than 250 bulb varieties on sale, with a focus on British-grown bulbs. Of all the varieties on sale, 24 are UK-grown and include a selection of rare and unusual bulbs.

Alasdair Urquhart, Haskins’ in-house plant expert, commented: “Our Bulb Festival aims to highlight how easy it is to create a…


Scheurich logo

Retailers seeking products of the future and the latest in-store merchandising ideas need look no further than the Retail Lab at Glee. Now in its third year, this inspirational feature area, in association with the Horticultural Trades Association, is bursting with ideas. In fact, 61% of Glee’s visitors say they will attend Glee 2019 as a result of seeing the Retail Lab last year. Here, we meet one of the sponsors of this year’s feature – the German pot, container and plant accessories manufacturer Scheurich, which is eager to…


People at Glee in 2018

As garden retailing continues to thrive, with double digit year-on-year growth, the future for our industry continues to look bright. One place where this optimism will shine through will be the forthcoming Glee exhibition (10th – 12th September, NEC Birmingham), where 550 plus suppliers will join with 7,000 UK and international key decision makers, buyers and trend setters, to showcase the future of gardening.  

Matthew Mein, Glee’s Event Director, said: “The market is reporting a strong start to the 2019 season, with sales up 37% year-on-year. A combination of good weather, and…


The Crystal Maze challenge at GIMA Charity Day

A successful day and night of fundraising was had by all who recently attended the 10th annual GIMA Charity Day, held at Telford Hotel and Golf Resort on 6th June.

Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2019, the event brought together garden industry suppliers and retailers, with 18 four ball teamscompeting for the GIMA Golf trophy, and two teams battling it out on the new-for-2019 Crystal Maze course.

This year saw the team from Hartman retain the golf crown having also won in 2018, with a superb score of 86. Sunshine Garden Centre and Mr Fothergills Seeds following closely…


Glee logo

Confirmed exhibitors, both new and existing, are invited to join the forthcoming Glee Exhibitor Workshop (June 25th, Poplars Garden Centre in Toddington), where the team will be joined by leading retailers and partner agencies to help exhibitors maximise their time at the show.

Recognising the significant investment of exhibiting, the one-day event is designed to help suppliers optimise their return on investment. Key sessions will focus on Glee’s dedicated marketing, logistics, PR and social media support, as well as advice on how to drive more pre-show buyer engagement. Details…


Exclusively Housewares - First Dates' Cici Coleman checks out the show where gifts, cookware and housewares are showcased

The final thrust for the 2019 shows is in full swing as the days count down to Exclusively 2019. With over 150 exhibitors, not only do we have more housewares and gifts exhibitors than at any other UK show, we can now delve deeper into the star-studded line-up and highlight what visitors can expect to see.

A big trend that is emerging is that of exhibitor’s products with eco credentials.  25% of our exhibitors are showcasing products with eco credentials, including Eddingtons, Huski, Smidge, Neat Ideas and Dexam with qualities stated as biodegrageable, earth-friendly,…


GIMA Awards

Following in the footsteps of Stephen Mangan, Rufus Hound, Tim Vine, Russell Kane and Hal Cruttenden, it has been confirmed that Vernon Kay, star of TV and radio, will host the 39th annual GIMA Awards.

Vernon has had a varied career, starting in the world of modelling before moving into TV with the hugely popular Channel 4 show, T4.  From here, Vernon’s star continued to rise. He presented his own Radio 1 weekend show for six years, before moving to Radio X. ‘Mr Entertainment’, Vernon’s TV CV includes All Star Family Fortunes, Splash!,  ITV’s Beat The Star, Just the Two of Us (…


Purple plants in pots at The Great British Growing Awards

In an exciting move to help build Glee’s ongoing relationships with consumer media and their readers, it has been confirmed that Grow Your Own magazine will once again be bringing its annual Great British Growing Awards to Glee 2019.

Having hosted the ceremony to critical acclaim at Glee 2018, following a move from their previous home at the Edible Gardening Show, the Great British Growing Awards is back! These awards recognise all that is great within the gardening industry – from tool companies, to seed suppliers, garden writers to fruit nurseries and everything in between, as…

Glee 2019

With catering and food sales continuing to offer major add-on profit opportunities for garden centres, leading garden trade show Glee (10th – 12th September, NEC Birmingham), will be offering retailers extensive inspiration at the newly introducedTaste Village.   

This new Taste Village will provide food and catering suppliers - particularly smaller brands, niche suppliers and start-ups - with the opportunity to participate and exhibit as part of a larger group. 

Offering exclusive exhibition packages, exhibitors within the Taste Village will be able to enjoy an enhanced…


Brambles Pet and Wildlife Giveaway Hedgehog Awareness Week logo

Hedgehog Awareness Week runs from 5th – 11th May 2019 and hedgehoggy events are being organised all around the country!

Hedgehog Awareness Week is organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) and takes place every year.  It aims to highlight the problems hedgehogs face and how you can help them!

Brambles Pet and Wildlife are running daily Facebook giveaways to coincide with Hedgehog Awareness Week, with Brambles Hedgehog Food and other related prizes – it’s our biggest ever campaign with a total retail value of over £700! 

There will be a mixture of…


SOLEX 2019 - Daisies on a green background

The Summer Outdoor Leisure Exhibition or for those in the know SOLEX, will be opening its doors to the most influential buyers from within the garden industry on 9thJuly 2019.  It will be packed full of the freshest designs from 60 LOFA members, with the full A-Z and everything in between that the outdoor and leisure industry has to offer. 


Cici Coleman of TV's First Dates at the Exclusively Housewares show in 2018

The UK's premier showcase of housewares, tabletop and small domestic appliance brands returns in June 2019 as two shows, Exclusively Housewares and Exclusively Electrical, take place in London.

These shows guarantee an explosion of new products, the very latest on trend creations and Christmas gifting collections showcased by the 150 plus exhibitors.

Visitors have the unique opportunity to gain an understanding of the very latest styles and trends interpreted for the housewares market by trend experts Scarlet Opus. They will share their predictions for future high street…