As I sit at my desk this morning, coffee in hand, children expertly ferried off to school by Caroline, I find myself thinking about the shows that we have missed through the whole of 2020, and the very difficult and testing time everyone within our industry has had during this pandemic.

Never have we had a year like last year, where we have not been able to meet and see friends, family, customers, face to face, something we took for granted as the normal. As a business, shows have always been a massive and very important part of our year and we have missed it, financially and emotionally!  

I really miss the frantic weeks before we exhibit, preparing new artwork/ signage, finalising the new jewellery collections and mocking up the stand layout and displays. But most of all I miss the buzz of the shows and the interaction with our lovely retailers! Thinking about our food options for the duration of the show is also never far from my mind! I love food!! As we live and work in the middle of nowhere, we have to get in a car in order to visit our local eateries, but when we are at a show, the world is literally our oyster, with a huge choice of food establishments within easy walking distance, what a treat!! Another love of mine is proper coffee - I love hunting out the local independent coffee roasters & retailers and checking out the single origin roasts they have on offer, proud to be a coffee snob!!

I cannot wait to see everyone soon, and we are counting the days until we see you all again at the shows and in your shops. We are very excited that Harrogate home and gift will be the first show of 2021 in July and hope to see you all there!

#tradeshows #retail #jewellery #lovefood #buylocal #familybusiness #independent

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