Curated Meetings to go global at Autumn Fair

Following a successful launch at Spring and Autumn Fair, Curated Meetings is now opening its doors to buyers and brands from across Europe and the rest of the world, inviting them to take part in this new way of doing business at Autumn Fair, held on September 5 and September 6 at the NEC in Birmingham.

The programme is now open to retailers and buyers who have purchasing responsibility and are actively sourcing across product categories including home decor, housewares, garden, toys, party, beauty, wellbeing, seasonal, accessories, jewellery, white label and more.

Curated Meetings facilitate 15-minute pre-scheduled, one-to-one meetings between qualified buyers and relevant suppliers based on a mutual interest to drive new business opportunities together.

Working closely with DIT representatives, Curated Meetings is specifically focused on attracting buyers and brands from Central & Eastern Europe, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Nordics, France, USA, Mexico, and India, with buyers from Four Sisters, The Snug, Hedgerows, and Henry Vokes Adare from Ireland, Manor from Switzerland, Kosmelita from Lithuania, and Pro-92 from Slovenia, already confirmed.

Elizabeth Miller, international buyer community manager of Curated Meetings, said: “Two highly successful Curated Meetings events have taken place at Spring and Autumn Fair in the last year, and it has without question proven its value.

“As part of the next phase of our strategy, we are very excited to be extending our reach to become a truly international proposition. Curated Meetings is a game-changing programme for the global retail community. For international decision-making buyers, it offers the opportunity to discover amazing products in an efficient, focused, personal and highly productive way. For international brands, Curated Meetings enables a fast-track route into the UK market – plus brands don’t have to exhibit at Spring and Autumn Fair to take part. For both brands and buyers, it offers incomparable returns on time and investment and will take your business to a whole new level.”

International buyers attending Curated Meetings will be able to accept meeting invitations with suppliers in advance of Autumn Fair and secure up to nine 15-minute meetings to touch and feel the products, all taking place in the exclusive Curated Meetings lounge. Approved buyers will also receive up to £350 in travel expense subsidies.

Drew Stevenson, source specialist from Asda, took part in Curated Meetings at Spring Fair this year and said: “Through Curated Meetings, we did supplier groundwork in advance to identify the right meeting opportunities, and it worked really well. We had meetings with people we had not spoken to previously and scoped products we had not sourced before. I will join Curated Meetings again and advise our trading teams to do the same.”

Carolyn Johnston, retail operations director from Houstons, added: “In one day I had eight meetings and out of those, I have placed four orders. I was matched with companies that are useful to my business and it made my life a lot easier.”

For further information and to sign up visit www.autumnfair.com/curated-meetings