SPRING FAIR
understand critical market trends and themes, and connect with leaders in the field. The Style Sisters shared their knowledge and expertise on the hybrid home on Tuesday 7th February. The retail market has an opportunity to capitalise on growing demand for highly functional yet fabulously designed products for the home, as consumers adapt to a new way of living. The stage also hosted trend updates with TrendBible. Trend Update: 2024 Home and Lifestyle Trends uncovered how householder behaviours and lifestyle choices are set to underpin product and design trends for the home over the next 12 months and beyond.
Supporting new retailing talent On day three, Spring Fair welcomed one of retail’s most forward-thinking entrepreneurs, TV Dragon and #Small Business Sunday founder Theo Paphitis. He joined the speaker line-up as part of the show’s continuing ethos to support and guide up-and-coming design and retailing talent and nurture the show’s retail community. Speaking to a packed audience of
Theo Paphitis
retailers, Theo Paphitis, interviewed by The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong, said: “I’ve had an incredibly vibrant career being an entrepreneur, it was never a career in my day. Hunger and passion is key, but it can’t be taught. There are different levels of entrepreneurial success. Most entrepreneurs are dreamers. I’m still dreaming, the dreams drive us, but you have to make those dreams come true and that’s the difference, having the drive the realise it.” Paphitis continued by discussing the support he gives to start-ups
through #Small Business Sunday. “#Small Business Sunday came about as I’d just joined Twitter and got all these followers from starting on Dragon’s Den. One Sunday I thought why I don’t I use these 50k followers to some benefit and thought the first half a dozen that tweet me telling me a little bit about their business I’ll retweet. We read them all, picked 6 and left it at that. The following Sunday my phone goes off again and #SBS was coming in. On the third week I took it to the office, retweeted on the Monday. Every Monday morning we did it and now it’s grown to our event, self-help groups, and forums,” he said. Offering advice to small businesses, he said: “Business is common sense – don’t be shy, stick your elbows out and know your numbers”, adding that “50% of all small businesses fail in the first 2 years because people don’t know their numbers, they haven’t done their homework. Lots who fail the first time, go on to succeed the second. Learning from their mistakes, finding places to get help, understanding the things that really matter in business. The things you need to sweat and the things you don’t need to sweat because they don’t really matter.” When asked how can small business manage cash flow post pandemic and cost of living, Paphitis responded: “You’re absolutely right it has been difficult. You couldn’t make it up, with Russia and Ukraine, cost of living, inflation and energy costs, it’s been very difficult for us to plan. We have to build in what we’re doing with some margin for error, but I still believe there is opportunity. As a small business, if you remain agile and survive for the next 3 years and do it in this market you’ll have great foundations.”
Spotlight on sustainability With consumers increasingly purchasing more mindfully, buyers had the opportunity to visit the Sustainability Showcase on the Power of One stand in Hall 4 to see a selection of some of the best sustainable products. In addition, the Power of One
housewareslive.net
housewareslive.net
as opposed to doing multiple washes a day in a smaller washer.” “On the other hand, we typically say that a refrigerator will use the most amount of electricity in a household as it is required to be powered 24/7, to avoid defrosting and risking any foods or liquids going mouldy or past their best. There are, however, many ways in which you can reduce the energy consumption on your fridge or fridge-freezer, without having to switch it off. For example, by ensuring your refrigerator appliances are set to the optimum settings or not leaving the door open for longer than necessary. It may sound simple, but many homeowners don’t know how much energy any of their appliances generate – in fact, lots of people are causing more damage than good when it comes to switching up their household chores and appliances in their efforts to cut down on energy bills. Some may be cutting back on dishwasher usage to prioritise washing by hand, yet if that requires multiple bowls full of water with a lot of dirty pots, the dishwasher can be the better option,” he adds. Transparency
“Businesses can absolutely provide help on the cost-of-living crisis on its website and through its customer service to ensure support is available when needed. By providing transparent information on energy usage, costs and energy savings, consumers will have more trust and loyalty to these brands and will likely return to purchase later down the line,” says Bhatoye. “Unfortunately, the cost-of-living crisis is not going away any time soon, and we predict that in 2023, consumers will be looking for even more support from businesses in the year. In order to stay ahead of the
stand hosted experts from Products of Change, a global educational hub driving sustainable change across consumer product markets and beyond. Source Home & Gift, the only international sourcing platform of its kind in the UK, made its debut at Spring Fair. It was designed to unite the best manufacturers from key sourcing regions with retailers, brands, contractors and interior designers who are looking to find new suppliers or explore private label opportunities. Offering a global showcase, exhibitors from over 20 countries including Egypt, Pakistan, Ghana, Nepal, Singapore, Europe and the USA converged at the NEC Birmingham UK from 5-8th February. The launch show also welcomed dedicated country pavilions from China and three Indian pavilions organised by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts EPCH, and the Handloom Export Promotion Council HEPC who highlighted the benefits of face to face interactions and the impact of exhibiting. Source Home & Gift was also proud to host a delegation from the Bangladesh Women in Ecommerce Initiative to highlight the work they are doing to support female entrepreneurs. Bangladesh is now standing at a crucial point, poised to become a Developing Country by 2024, it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Of the 165.57 million Bangladeshi people, 82.70 million are females and they have huge contribution to the economic development with 80% working in the textiles industry. The Bangladeshi government has signed a 3-year agreement with Source Home & Gift to help support the initiative and showcase the communities and female entrepreneurs at future shows. On the new Responsible Sourcing Stage visitors were offered a seminar programme packed with informative talks from industry experts across all four days including a keynote address with founder of JoJo Maman Bébé, Laura Tenison MBE on building an ethical business, The Evolution of Trends in sourcing with trend forecasters BDA London, sustainable product development trends with TrendBible, green supply chain practices with Tom Barton, Co-Founder and Director of Food, Quality and Sustainability - Honest Burgers, and Cleaning up the wasteful business of eCommerce returns with Lewis Blitz, Founder of Skinnydip London. On Tuesday 7th February, Rob Wilson, CEO of Toast Ale offered
Laura Tenison
invaluable advice to businesses looking to start their B Corp’s journey demonstrating how going through the B Corps accreditation process transformed the business and enlightened the founding team on channelling growth in an appropriate way for people. The company, whose first principle is to create tasty beer, is also committed to creating systemic change in the industry, and ‘saving the world over a cheeky pint’. With 44% of bread wasted, Toast Ale uses a slice of surplus bread in every can and has re-used over 2.5 million slices since launching seven years ago with a target of a billion slices. Wilson highlighted the necessity to be totally transparent in your business to achieve B Corp status and outlined the business’ initiatives for People, Planet and Profit stating that continually pushing the boundaries to be authentically and genuinely sustainable is also a compelling proposition for customers. “What an opening show! We’ve seen gorgeous, responsibly made
“Right now, it is our number one priority to help the nation to understand how to best use their appliances.”
products from around the world, met some very talented people and changemakers, and heard the brilliant and emotional stories behind the businesses. The show has created life-changing connections and given the UK a genuine platform for responsible sourcing. We couldn’t have asked for more for our inaugural show, and can’t wait to be back in September,” says Suzanne Ellingham, director of sourcing of Source Home & Gift.
curve, retailers and suppliers should use their voices of authority to put out clear, concise, and transparent messaging to their customers, to let them know that there’s support there for them. Consumers understand the importance of analysing energy usage on their appliances and will be making much more considered purchases than in previous years. Therefore, businesses should be prepared to work collaboratively with consumers to help them understand energy usage and find the best solutions for their purchase needs. It could also be that shoppers look more towards high-street retail purchases, feeling more peace of mind and confidence shopping with the support of a sales assistant,” he concludes.
FEATURE
January/February 2023
March/April 2023 | 25
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