Autumn Fair 2025 delivers its most dynamic edition yet!

Autumn Fair 2025 at NEC Birmingham closed on a high note, delivering a dynamic and productive event that attracted thousands of influential buyers and suppliers from across the UK. Cementing its position as the definitive order-writing show for the home, gift, fashion, and garden sectors, this year’s edition saw a marked rise in retail decision-makers seizing the final major buying opportunity ahead of the crucial holiday trading season.

With a bigger event footprint and record-breaking exhibitor growth, the show saw a 16 percent rise in total exhibitors and a 38 percent surge in new exhibitors. Adding to its unique appeal, over 30 percent of exhibitors were exclusive to Autumn Fair. Over 800 brands presented thousands of new products and exclusive launches, and the halls were alive with colour, creativity, and commerce.

Retailers turned out in force over the last four days, with thousands of influential buyers and suppliers from across the UK and overseas, and a marked rise in retail decision-makers seizing the final major buying opportunity ahead of the crucial holiday trading season.

Buyers from a wide cross-section of the industry, from national multiples, department stores and garden centres to independents, museums, activity centres and lifestyle brands including Fenwick, M&S, Baldwins, Wilkies, Diageo, Blue Diamond, Marsdens, Tesco, Natural History Museum, Jeff Banks, Bradbeers, WM Nicholls & Co, The Dressing Room, Just Lily, Barsleys, Camerons, Bents Garden Centre, Sainsbury’s, Argos, Morley Stores, Frasers Group, TikTok, TJ Hughes, Sapcote Garden Centre, Haskins Garden Centre, HMV, British Heart Foundation, Menkind, The Original Factory Shop, Habitat, FW Homestores, W. Boyes & Co, Jones Wholesale, Trago Mills, Card Zone, Vinterior, After Noah, Merlin Entertainment, Walmart, Funstation, Graham and Green, Disney, Morrisons, NEXT plc, Dunelm, Matalan, F Hinds, Ocado, The Very Group, Wayfair, TK Maxx / Homesense, World Duty Free, MFI, Skinnydip London, Scribbler, Pyramid International, Squire’s Garden Centres, Tate’s of Sussex Garden Centres, Mole Avon Country Stores, and many more shopped the show.

More than just a buying event, Autumn Fair 2025 delivered a fully immersive retail experience, blending product discovery with an acclaimed content programme, trend insights, mentoring, and one-of-a-kind activations that inspired and energised the entire retail community.

The upbeat energy throughout the show was echoed in the glowing feedback from exhibitors and buyers alike, who praised the standout new products, robust order volumes, and meaningful relationships forged during the event. Alongside these strong commercial results, visitors also commended the inspirational content programme, networking features, and immersive show experiences that made this year’s Autumn Fair more valuable than ever.

Jeff Banks CBE PPCSD, fashion designer said, “The atmosphere across the show floor is alive and busy.  With concerns that the retail industry, and the high street particularly, is suffering and consumers not out spending money, it was encouraging when I came to Autumn Fair to see so many small businesses here and their incredible energy and desire to succeed and thrive. There is loads of positivity from both exhibitors and visitors and that feels both amazing and refreshing. I am hearing so many stories of people doing great business.”

Laura Simonyte, Buyer at Scribbler said, “We are always at Autumn Fair, it’s very important for Scribbler, and especially a gift buyer, to attend. The vast majority of our suppliers exhibit here. It’s also exciting to see what’s new, follow up on the trends and to see what’s coming up. It’s an event that you can’t miss, the biggest event of the year.”

Martin Barrett, Buyer, Tate’s of Sussex Garden Centres said, “It’s been a refreshing trade show, great to see new and exciting products from both our existing and new suppliers. We’ve come here for toy, game, gift pick up lines, stocking fillers and we’ve seen lots of newness from our existing suppliers, so it’s definitely been worthwhile coming. We have also sourced some strong Christmas wins and some newness for 2026 with Easter and spring launch products. As a buyer, Spring and Autumn Fairs are the must go-to shows. We’re excited to see the hybrid of Glee and Autumn Fair joining together in 2026.”

Fiona Crabb, owner of Ellesmore Antiques Emporium, Shropshire said, “We are a new business visiting Autumn Fair and have been amazed with the vast array of products and offers for buyers.  We visited to find home interiors to complement our antiques business and certainly weren’t disappointed with what was on offer.”

This enthusiasm was shared by exhibitors, many of whom reported strong sales and valuable new connections. Tara Carlisle Swift, Founder at Freckleface commented, “We’re thrilled to be at Autumn Fair and delighted to see old and new customers. We want our customers to come and visit us here and actually smell our products and meet us in person and experience everything in real life. It adds that value to retail that’s just so important that you just lose online, especially with fragrance.  We feel the show is so important and want to energise the buyers that are coming so offer incentives on orders placed. It’s just incredible to get everyone together!”

Jon Sallow, Sales Director at TY UK was upbeat following a successful four days. “This is the most successful show we have had for the last 30 years! It’s been brilliant with a mix of gift and toy buyers coming to our stand and from a range of department stores, independents, garden centres and more.  The sponsorship has been huge for us, making our brand a huge focal point of the show and the new collection of bouncers we are launching.  We’ve opened lots of new accounts and taken lots of orders.”

Helen Marshall, Sales Director at Walton & Co was also buoyant, “The show has been a great success this year. We used it to launch our new Spring Summer collections, and they have been very well received. We’ve had a range of buyers, lots of independents who I would describe as lifestyle retailers, and we’ve taken a lot of orders. This Autumn Fair has certainly had a high calibre of buyers and decision makers as well as the owners of small stores. It’s been great.”

Amy Hogarth, Founder at CAHM said, “After a very successful Spring Fair earlier this year, we decided to venture back down to the NEC to Autumn Fair, our first time at the show, and it has been as successful as anticipated. We’ve seen lots of existing customers, but more importantly, we’ve met loads of lovely new buyers from a range of garden centres, small independents and some larger stores. We’ve had lots of orders placed at the show.”

Four days of inspirational content & features

Autumn Fair delivered four days of educational and inspiration content, and immersive brand activations. Highlights included the Retail Corner Stage, styled as a British high street shopfront, where sessions on trends, merchandising and retail innovation provided practical takeaways; and the Buyers Retreat, which offered, workshops, and networking. Global plush brand TY UK were unmissable with their vibrant Beanie Bouncers and Sweet Shop activations. From TV screens in the main atrium and banners across entrances to floor stickers, map borders, water fountains and lanyards, Ty filled the space with its 360-degree branding.

The Gift Of The Year Showcase which attracted buyers eager to discover the winners of The Giftware Association’s prestigious 2025 Awards, shone a spotlight on the very best in design and retail-ready gifting and bestsellers for the coming year.

Gemma Sault, Managing Director, of the Giftware Association commented, “This has been my first time at the show as an exhibitor, which has been very exciting, having attended in my previous life, in my roles within retail merchandising and trading. It has been an incredible opportunity to meet and get to know so many of our Gift Association members, to see their businesses showcase incredible products, but also to meet new members and to develop opportunities for the Association.

“I think the content, showcases and Pitch Live in particular have been absolutely fantastic, and the educational content has been brilliant to really inspire and help businesses grow and also encourage new buyers and new people who are here to learn new things that will help their businesses grow and ultimately help save our High Streets. Autumn Fair has been a win all round.”

The Retail Makeover Mission was a particular highlight. The show brought the new initiative to life with one-to-one mentoring sessions by the retail Task Team and inspiring talks. The one-to-one sessions offered personalised advice tailored to retailers’ business challenges and the expert mentors delivered over 20 hours of personalised guidance covering buying strategy, marketing, PR & customer experience, operations, data, and visual merchandising.

Jenny Brandon from Scape Interiors West in Bournemouth found the mentoring sessions invaluable. “I’ve spoken to three of the mentoring experts, and I think everyone’s given me a very interesting perspective on marketing, on branding, and community engagement. We often get stuck in our own ways of doing things, and it’s interesting to hear their perspective. I would highly recommend anybody else to do it.”

Bria Williamson and Jodie Jenkins from Lazy Lobster in Norwich commented, “We’ve been really excited to come to Autumn Fair, see all the exhibitors, and take advantage of the mentoring sessions. It’s been a very useful experience, and we have been blown away by all of the information and learnings we have got out of our visit and will definitely be implementing.”

Tasker Teamer, Deryane Tadd from award-winning store The Dressing Room in St Albans spent the day at Autumn Fair with Katie Gibbs, owner of the Retail Makeover Mission winning store OSO Boutique. She said, “I have loved being a part of the Retail Mission Task Team. I have found it really inspiring and enjoyed working with Katie and her team and understanding the challenges they are facing. It has been an insightful process and a joy to see everything we have been working on already having a positive impact.”

Fellow Task Team member, Claire Bevan, Head of Retail at the Natural History Museum added, “I’ve had an amazing time at Autumn Fair, I’ve caught up with some existing suppliers and have found and met some new brands and products. I’ve been engaging with the Retail Makeover Mission content; it’s been really inspiring to look at retail from the High Street view. Coming from a heritage background, seeing new trends coming through across the show and on the stages is fantastic.”

The Retail Corner also hosted live, inspiring talks and expert insights from the two Retail Makeover Mission winners and their task team helpers, exploring how independent retailers can transform their businesses and bring their brand stories to life.

Lark London’s Priya Aurora-Crowe shares the truth about independent retail success at Autumn Fair

Independent retailers packed out the Retail Corner stage at Autumn Fair today as Priya Aurora-Crowe, owner of Lark London, joined retail consultant Graham Soult of CannyInsights.com to deliver an unfiltered look at the realities of running one of the UK’s most successful family-owned retail businesses.

Founded nearly 25 years ago, Lark London now operates over 20 stores and stocks more than 500 brands across categories from fashion and jewellery to homeware, gifts, and even pet products. Aurora-Crowe reflected on the constant adaptation required to survive and thrive on the high street: “For a retailer to survive, it’s never going to look the same as when it first started. The key of any success is the constant ability to react. Knowing your limits is also vital, if there’s something you’re not good at, see it, name it, and delegate it.”

Aurora-Crowe spoke passionately about her love of physical retail, admitting she’d “rather open ten more stores than focus online.” For her, the tactility of the in-store experience, from merchandising to customer engagement, remains retail’s biggest strength.

She also praised the role of trade shows in shaping her buying decisions and the role of the retail community; “I feel very proud to be part of the high street and the community it represents. I love being part of people’s shopping experience and journey. I love buying, I love brands, I love seeing the newness, the ideas. When I come to shows like this, I’m overwhelmed by the concepts people are bringing to market. It’s such a great industry to be a part of. Trade shows are a great representation of what we love to stock in our stores.”

However, Aurora-Crowe didn’t shy away from addressing the growing shoplifting crisis, revealing that Lark London has experienced more theft in the past six months than in the previous 25 years combined. “We’ve had to make difficult decisions, like introducing tap-in and tap-out entry systems in some locations, to protect staff. It goes against our open-door values, but adapting is the only way to survive right now. We need to see government efforts to lower the threshold for investigating shoplifting put into practice.”

Championing small brands

Stephen Spencer of Stephen Spencer + Associates was joined by Davesh Thakkar, VP of Commercial at Not On The High Street (NOTHS), for an inspiring session titled Not Just Another High Street Story: Championing Small Brands. Thakkar highlighted the platform’s role in helping independent makers and retailers not just survive but thrive: “Right now retailers are trying to survive, we need to make them thrive.”

“At NOTHS we see a marketplace as a partnership. If we can share insight that helps small brands skip a few steps, that’s what we’re here for, to amplify brands.” He noted the growing consumer demand for provenance, ethics, and authenticity, while also pointing to the impact of AI on shopping habits, with customers increasingly asking technology for hyper-specific gift recommendations. “Places like Autumn Fair are so important to connect digital and physical together,” Thakkar added, underlining how NOTHS’ 350,000-strong product range offers unique insights into how customers discover and connect with small brands.

Soraya Gadelrab, Event Director of Autumn Fair says, “Autumn Fair 2025 has truly been a record-breaking event, surpassing our expectations in terms of visitor numbers, order volumes, and overall energy on the show floor. It’s clear that retailers and suppliers alike see the value in coming together here to discover fresh products and build lasting partnerships ahead of the crucial trading season. We’re proud to provide a platform that continues to grow and support the retail community at such an important time of year. Autumn Fair is not just about transactions, it’s about inspiration, education, and creating an experience that empowers retailers long after the show doors close.”

Autumn Fair 2025 confirmed its role as more than a trade show, it is an essential destination where retail comes together to source, inspire, learn, and connect in one dynamic experience.