Exhibitors happy with orders.

Although the UK consumer slowdown, coupled with a mini heat wave, trimmed buyer numbers at Autumn Fair 2005, many of the 2,000 exhibitors in the midlands city of Birmingham were generally pleased with orders taken at the show.

When the four-day event closed on 7th September, 32,518 visitors - including 2,549 international buyers - had passed through the doors of the NEC trade complex.

Alison Jackson, managing director of the event organiser E-map TPS, said: "we cannot ignore the fact that trading in retail is currently difficult and I believe this has impacted on the attendance."

Activity was restrained ahead of Christmas.

Those who did best adapted to market conditions and were working with struggling independent retailers to offer good quality products, usually in small quantities and at competitive prices.

Brands of China returned to the show with a European Showcase in the popular Hall 5. On display were many leading brands among a range of products that included giftware, stationery, jewellery, houseware and garden goods.

At the Brands of China opening ceremony, Liu Xinhua, director general of the Department of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Commerce, said that the presence of Chinese exhibitors was not only an important step to further strengthen the economic and trade relationships between China and the UK, as well as between China and the EU, but also a significant event to complement the China European Summit which was opening in Beijing on the same day (Monday, 5th September).

While footfall was again generally light on these stands, exhibitors seemed prepared to accept that discovering the requirements of European markets would be a lengthy process, with orders for products possibly taking years to filter through.

Liu: strengthening trade relations with UK.

Chiu: "cool looking" scales.

One exhibitor, Tobias CC Chiu, manager of Camry Industries (HK) Ltd and Kenwell Industries Company, offered a selection of what he termed "pretty cool looking" scales, which he was showing at the fair for the first time.

"We are here to test the market and get exposure. You don't expect real business at every show. It takes time - it can take years - for people to build up confidence, and when they find you are a long lasting company and they have no choices, they will come to you. We will play a long game," he said.

Jiangsu Textile Industry (Group) checks the market.

Chiu, whose business is in Hong Kong, was seeking buyers who are looking for long-term business links and who will put together a collection of mixed models that can be presented well into the marketplace. He estimated that the dollar spend for lower-, medium- and high-end products from China will be between US$20,000 and US$30,000 (€16,260 to €24,390) per customer at the show.

Gun Nan Yan, of the Jiangsu Textile Industry (Group) Import & Export Co, was exhibiting porcelain dolls made at the company's Chinese mainland factory.

She commented: "first, we want to find European customers and second we want to check the market to find out which items are suitable. A few people have been on the stand to have a look and have left their business cards."

Lee: passing interest.

Prices ranged from US$2 to around US$30 (€1.6 to €24.3), plus freight, taxes and warehouses charges, with customers normally expected to take one container.

Clocks were to be found on the stand of Yantai Polaris Import & Export Co, a 90-year-old Chinese company with a range of 500 clocks. Sales manager Lynda Lee reported: "yesterday [Sunday] was a much better day on the stand than last year. Most people were just interested in picking up a brochure, and I hope they will contact me later."

Small alarm clocks were priced at US$3 (€2.4), with a minimum order of 2,000 pieces, while a clock with a German movement - "too big to bring here" - was priced at US$750 (€609.7), with an order of at least five pieces required.

Hong Kong award for electrical entrant - and competition for China

Actress Su Pollard with product at Home-tek International.

Away from Brands of China, Home-tek International was celebrating the presentation at the show of a British Hardware Federation award for one of their electric kettles.

The company is 75% owned by Yasuda Technology, which is based in Hong Kong and has just opened a new, single storey 1.2 million sq ft factory in Zhongshan on the Chinese mainland, and will produce up to six million electrical appliances a year.

On the stand, actress Su Pollard was demonstrating the Carpet Wizard - a rechargeable sweeper - which retails at £39.9 (€57.8, US$71.4).

Importer Harry James always has one of the busiest giftware stands at the show and managing director Patrick Perry was enthusiastic about what he was selling from Asia: "China still remains a leading country in manufacturing for value. But there is always a certain amount of competition for China and, as we have seen with the textile business, a lot of people have looked at other countries to supplement possible restrictions on Chinese imports."

While there had "certainly been a mood of despondency in the trade" through May, June and part of July 2005, Harry James took some healthy orders at the Home & Gift show in Harrogate, and business generated on the road during August has been "very good".

Perry continued: "most retailers have held back and their shelves were starting to look a little bit tired. Sooner or later, if they are going to carry on in business, they are going to have to come and buy some new merchandise. We are probably seeing more orders with smaller quantities and lower values, which is understandable, and people want to operate more on a buy-as-required basis."

Stand-out items from Harry James.

He said there has been no single trend that has engulfed the industry: "perhaps that is one of the issues: there is not one particular thing for retailers to focus on and maybe they are buying a wider variety of product to cover the absence of a trend. We develop product because that's what we are in business to do. It's a risky business. But there is a tremendous amount of duplication, which doesn't help the trade and perhaps causes a lack of originality."

Among the Harry James new season lines was the Hat, Handbag and Dress lamp series - a range of female accessories that has been converted into table lamps. Made in China, they retail at between £12.9 (€18.7, US$23) and £24.9 (€36.1, US$44.5).

But products from Asia didn't have it all their own way. Throughout the fair, flags on stands indicated products manufactured in the UK and Ireland for those buyers who preferred a more traditional backstamp.

Visitors who attended a seminar about trends in the UK giftware market, heard Richard Perks, head of retail research at Mintel Group, say that the UK gift market - worth £20 billion per annum (€29 billion, US$35.8 billion) - was vulnerable "if things really get tough and people turn off gift buying".

Perks: end of boom, but no recession.

He continued: "we have come to the end of a consumer boom - a quite unprecedented boom that lasted for about 10 years. It was financed by borrowings and cash release from the rise in house values. And the boom has changed attitudes, I think, at least in the short term. Consumers have forgotten what it's like to be in recession, they've forgotten the problems of negative equity, and I think in their attitudes towards spending they are still in boom mode."

"That's not to say that we are in recession; we're a very long way from it. One of the reasons you hear so much grief from retailers on the high street is that growth in consumer spending in retail sales is being concentrated in two places, the leading grocers - Tesco in particular - and the Internet. In between those two, the non-food retailers are really suffering," said Perks.

"Tough" Christmas ahead

According to Perks, "Christmas is a critical period: it's going to be tough, but I think the prospects really could be worse. It does really look now as though we are not heading for a recession."

"Christmas 2005 is likely to see some value and volume growth and, so it will be a record Christmas: it's not going to feel like it, I'm sure, but it will be in terms of actual spending growth," he said.

Brilliant Gems competitively priced.

"If present trends continue then I think it really will again be the grocers and the Internet that are going to take the majority of what little growth there is around. The prospects are really not that bad: they could get worse."

The event's sectors comprised jewellery & fashion; accessories; gifts; design-led gifts, greetings & stationery; art & framing; home interiors; kitchen & dining; and volume, with some 500 exhibitors showing at Autumn Fair for the first time.

One of these, Brilliant Gems, was offering a large range of competitively priced sterling silver jewellery set with semi-precious gemstones, inspired by ancient civilisations and nature.

One piece, used by the TV series "Charmed" as its logo, is based on a Celtic design called the Triquetra. The pendant is set with a faceted peridot but is also available in garnet amethyst, citrine and blue topaz (RRP £14.9, €21.6, US$26.6).

Monili Silver: warm shades of autumn.

Jewellery is one of the few hot sectors in the gift industry, and Monili Silver returned to the fair with a new "indulgent and rich" collection whose colours reflect the warm shades of autumn.

Its champagne, chocolate and black sparkly pendant (£30.9, €44.8, US$55.3) has matching earrings (£23.9, €34.6, US$42.7), while the red, dotty, mosaic heart pendant (£42, €60.9, US$75.1) comes with matching earrings (£13.9, €20.1, US$24.8) and ring (£25.9, €37.5, US$46.3). Prices range from £4.5 (€6.66, US$8) for earrings to £188 (€272.6, US$336.5) for designer necklaces.

Phone Charms launched a new range of mobile phone charms for women of all ages. These include dainty flip-flops, handbags and shoes in sterling silver and enamel, as well as beaded designs and this season's ethnic look. Teen styles such as hearts, fluffy pom-poms, diamante letters and football club emblems are also in the range (RRPs from £2.9, €4.2, US$5.1).

Stick-a-Card was showing what it called "a brand new UK invention", eye-catching, self-adhesive greeting cards requiring no envelope or wrapping. Easily removable without damage or residue, they can be easily signed and affixed to such gifts as flowers, chocolates, wine/spirit bottles and CDs. The nine-card pack has an RRP of £2.9 (€4.2, US$5.1) and the six-card pack costs £1.9 (€2.7, US$3.4).

Phone Charm for women of all ages.

Stick-a-Card a brand new invention.

Candles in a hard marketplace; but fragrances show better returns

Harper: encourage the sale.

Candles, one of the staples of the gift industry, were well represented at the show, where Yankee Candle had boosted its range of handy-sized Housewarmer Tins with six new fragrances, Juicy Grapefruit, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Splash of Rain, Sweet Strawberry, Seaside Holiday and Lemon Zest (SRPs £5.9, €8.5, US$10.5).

Yankee Candle (Europe) managing director Clive Harper commented: "the marketplace is harder than I've seen it for the past five or six years. You've got to work with your retailers and I think that's what a lot of manufacturers forget. You have got to encourage the sale more and provide them with the tools to do it - and if they follow your advice, they're successful."

Khan: take that risk.

That view was shared by Claremont & May managing director Sultan Khan, whose company wrote more business for its home fragrance products in the first two days of this year's Autumn Fair than during the whole of last year's show: "If you can put the package together correctly for the retailer and try to understand what problems they have to overcome, you can find a solution that works well for both of you. It's not about price. We are regarded as having a premium price for this sort of range and certain lines are selling faster than we can make them.

"Suppliers are being forced into new product development at such a speed that inevitably it's all going to start looking the same - and that's the trouble. You have to get a feel for the market yourself and develop your own product and take that risk. At this show we have got over a hundred new products," said Khan.

Jacqueline Gardner, an independent retailer who runs Ringwood Hardware in Hampshire, ordered from Claremont & May for the first time: "things are very hard at the moment. I usually go for small quantities to begin with to see how it goes, because I think the way to survive at the moment is buying little and often. We are looking for something different to pull the people in and fire their interest. I have bought these products with Christmas in mind."

Gardner: buying little and often.

Malin: sales figures holding up.

Another buyer, Bob Malin, managing director of Occasions, a greeting cards and gift shop in Liskeard, Cornwall, was also looking for product for Christmas: "we find that our sales figures are holding up. We don't know where the doom and gloom is coming from. We have re-merchandised a lot since taking over from the previous owners over a year ago and have found that there are certain ranges that are turning over very well for us and that is what we are focusing on."

"Buying from China has never been an issue for us as long as the price is right and the goods have been selling. We haven't had a particular policy about buying British," he added.

Cheeky items get the crowd

Pole dance fun.

One of the most unusual exhibits at Autumn Fair could be found on the Moo Cow stand, where the Peekaboo Pole Dancing kit (RRP £44.9, €65.1, US$80.3) was on view. Peekaboo is a "cheeky, fun, innovative brand for girls who want to celebrate their sexier side" and its range includes gifts, games and clothing.

Elsewhere, fair trade business Coral Seed, working with producers in Mongolia, was offering hand-crafted felt bags, which are expected to retail at between £38 (€55.1, US$68) and £57 (€82.6, US$102).

Kitchen and Dining in Hall 1 brought the Housewares Show into Autumn Fair, thus maximising crossover buying potential.

Coral Seed felt bags.

Typhoon International scales.

Here, innovative Typhoon International, with its usual attractive stand, was launching new retro and metro scales, retailing at £15 (€21.7, US$26.8) and £20 (€29, US$35.8).

Storage is a major theme for Typhoon.

The company has also made its entry into textiles, with aprons, tea towels and oven gloves. Apart from introducing the Vintage Kitchen range - inspired by the very best of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s - Typhoon was also showing Magnetab, a magnetic capsule allowing users to attach the tea towel or oven glove to fridges and cookers.

Heidi Bartlett, Typhoon's PR and marketing manager, commented: "pastel shades are still very strong and we can see those continuing through Christmas into next spring.

The sale rate on the Vintage Kitchen for spring launch has been fantastic - and storage has also been a brilliant range for us." Prices range from £8 (€11.6, US$14.3) for the utensil holder to £30 (€43.5, US$53.7) for the bread bin.

Navigate's most popular offering is the Hungry Jungle range of insulated products, which aim to provide children with attractive-looking products while keeping the contents chilled.

With heightened concerns about obesity and bad diet, Navigate believes that by making lunch bags attractive, children will be encouraged to use packed lunches, enabling parents to fill them healthily.

Hungry Jungle lunch bags.

Navigate, which has a factory in South East Asia, launched new lines at the show ready for pre-selling in the next season, including pencil cases, drawstring rucksacks and wheeled trolleys.

Hungry Jungle snack packs, lunch bags and the mini backpacks retail at £5.9 (€8, US$10).

Eddingtons specialises in kitchen gadgets. It launched the Vigar range from Spain at the show, with mannequins modelling the aprons, gloves, dish brushes and rotatobrooms (RRPs from £4 to £20, €4.5 to €29, US$7.1 to US$35.8). "The products are easy to display and look good in store, which is the way to sell your goods," commented sales & marketing coordinator Sonia Spencer.  

Linda Barker, who made her name on British television by appearing in home makeover programmes, told her seminar audience about colour trends: "I'm seeing a very opulent colour scheme, dominated by blacks, making a very powerful impact in the things that we are buying and the ways we are decorating our homes and the fashion that we wear."  

"Black and white is very strong, perhaps used best with oyster and mink colours and mirrored finishes."  

Barker: new "pretty" is pink.

Barker also spoke of "the new 'pretty', dominated by lovely pinks, soft and not too demanding". She thought these "very comforting and maybe in today's environment we do focus on our homes, our interiors and what we like to put into them because they make us feel secure".  

Bold, eclectic pattern making was also a trend, featuring colours such as teal blue and orange.  

Forty million pounds (€58 million, US$71.6 million) is being spent upgrading the facilities at the NEC over the next three years. The first phase, which was completed in time for Autumn Fair, included a new-look Piazza, the introduction of high street catering outlets and high quality seminar facilities.  

The volume halls were once again open a day early to give volume buyers the benefit of extra time during the critical lead in to Christmas.

The 2006 show will take place in Birmingham between 3rd and 6th September.  

from special correspondent Alan Monahan, Birmingham