The Malvern Flea and Collectors’ Fair continues to be the prize in the B2B portfolio, with the pre-Christmas event on December 10 being “fully booked with 300 pitches and plenty of casual pitches too,” she said.
“The majority of the year has seen us sold out of pre-bookable pitches well before the event date with the drive-in area being the most popular, with long waiting lists.
“Buyers have been at these flea fairs in abundance, with bank holidays, when the fair is held on a Monday, seeing 8000-plus through the gates and on the regular Sunday fleas in the region of 4000-plus visitors.”
Edinburgh has also been a winner for B2B, added Yourston. “Our two-day antiques, vintage and collectors’ fairs in Edinburgh, held four times a year, have been steady with consistently around 250 exhibitors and 3000-plus visitors through the doors.
“There are always plenty of good Scottish antiques here and our trade buyers recognise this, with a record crowd of 400 queueing for early entry in November.”
Date clashes
Dates were the prime problem for the organiser’s two-day Detling antiques, vintage and collectors fairs held five times annually at the Kent Showground, near Maidstone.
“This has been our hardest fair,” said Yourston. “It didn’t seem to matter what we did in 2017 for Detling; three out of the five dates clashed with other big fairs. However, we were pleased to see that we were attracting more overseas buyers.”
Dropped from the B2B portfolio for 2018 is the organiser’s vintage and antiques fair held at Cranmore Park Exhibition Centre, near Solihull, which was launched in 2016.
Yourston said: “While the venue and staff were beyond reproach and we had some fantastic, mainly vintage stock with some heavy buyers through the door, the two didn’t add up to make this a viable venture for us.”
B2B has several projects in the pipeline, all of which are under wraps for the moment, so watch this space.
The next Malvern Flea and Collectors’ Fair is on Sunday, January 7, at the Three Counties Showground.
