The Exclusively Show 2021, which took place at The Business Design Centre, Islington on 24 and 25 August, exceeded the expectations of the organising team and exhibitors in terms of both the quality and quantity of attendees, resulting in a very positive event full of happy visitors and exhibitors.
This was the view of Will Jones, Chief Operating Officer at BHETA and Chair of the show, as well as many colleagues in the industry, amply backed by both the statistics and the individual feedback.
“The show has been a much-needed return to business normality for all of us,” one brand commented, while another said: “A brilliant show and always worth a visit. I would encourage anyone that hasn’t been to make sure they attend the next one!”
Over the two days of the Show, there were more people present than in 2019, as many saw the event as an opportunity to get the industry back together after the pandemic.
Exhibitors were overwhelmed by the quality of UK visitors, which was evident across retailer and media visitors with many first time attendees.
Marketing Manager of the show, Steve Richardson, said: “I’m still on a high after all the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the exhibitors at the Exclusively Show, and the fabulous visitor support.”
The Brand Showcase – a curated edit of the show for media – also proved immensely popular as did the Trends area in which trend forecaster, Scarlet Opus, both illustrated and talked about the key trends from now through Christmas 2021 and over the next two to three years, using exhibitor products as examples of the key themes which will influence both buyers and media. Scarlet Opus also took key buyers on trends tours of the show, tying in trends with specific ‘must-have’ product listings.
The Brand Showcase attracted both traditional consumers and trade media as well as an enthusiastic host of well-established consumer influencers. Media visitors included This Morning, Olive and BBC Good Food as well as many other mainstream consumer titles. From the influencer community, perhaps inevitably given the nature of the pandemic, the ‘cleanfluencers’ brought great energy to proceedings with names like Lynsey Queen Of Clean, Crazycleaningcrawford, mancleany, Officially Hinched, Cleanigram, MrsHinchHome, CleaningwithLuicy and many more all in attendance.
In the Trends area, several themes struck a particular chord with buyers with ‘Neo Luxe’ being particularly popular. The most talked about examples were the vibrantly coloured Swan products, in particular the Gatsby Range, with kettles in Rich Teal and Emerald Green.
Winners of the Trend Awards were: Sabichi with the Haden Kettle ‘Dorchester Sage Green Collection’, also in the Reset trend’ Ladelle’s AURORA Recipe Shaker from Neo Luxe; Black + Blum’s Stainless Steel Lunchboxes with Olive silicone bands, in the Reset trend; Denby’s ‘Statements Collection’ was a standout in the Neo Luxe trend; David Mason Designs had the ‘Pressed Flowers’ collection with colourways that featured in the Reset and Togetherness trends; and Meyer’s ‘Prestige’ Eco Pan Collection was another standout in the Reset trend.
Mr Richardson added: “Exclusively has always been must-see event in the home enhancement industry – and so the 2021 show proved. We can honestly say that it certainly felt that it was back to business as usual.”
