The UK water gardening and aquatics industry is eagerly anticipating the return of AQUA 2021 at the Telford International Centre on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 October.
Now firmly established as a biennial event, AQUA 2021 is set to attract the major companies in the industry, who acknowledge the importance of exhibiting their products and services to aquatic and garden centre retailers face to face.
Since Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in February the steps for the UK to emerge from lockdown, including the resumption of indoor and outdoor events from the May 17, (with limits on capacity), preparations for AQUA have gathered pace.
Organiser Gordon Thomas said: “Already we have seen a good uptake in stand bookings from leading companies and we’ll be working hard over the coming months to ensure the aquatics and water gardening industry can re-unite in the best possible way after such a challenging period.
“Registration for entry via the AQUA website is now open and there has been a good response from retailers and buyers – and that shows there is a real thirst for the show.”
With more than six months still to go before the show, many of the industry’s leading companies have booked stand space, including Aquadip, Aqua One, D-D The Aquarium Solution, Evolution Aqua/Bermuda, Fish Science, OASE and Seneye.
Mark Winter, managing director of Aqua One, said: “This show is the perfect opportunity for retailers and suppliers to reunite after all the pains of the past year. If there was ever a time to freshen up your retail offering and get your business ready for the future, then make sure you visit AQUA 2021 in October.”
Mark, who is also chairman of AQUA 2021, added: “As far as the aquatic and water gardening industry is concerned, this is the event that everyone looks forward to every two years.”
Dominic Whitmee, chief executive of the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA), said: “With last year’s surge in interest for garden ponds and home aquariums AQUA 2021 should provide an excellent opportunity for businesses to discover the latest the industry has to offer to help them build on this momentum.”
The show is also crucial to European companies such as Aquadip from The Netherlands, whose Joey Abrahams commented: “This event is crucial for our business and is the ideal opportunity to meet current and new UK customers. It’s always a good show.”
The importance of the exhibition to retailers and buyers was emphasised by Simon Jenkins, of Ripples Waterlife, who said: “It’s always great to get everyone from the trade together, and it’s important this happens every two years. I thought the 2019 show was a huge success and look forward to AQUA 2021.”
Following the announcement of the roadmap out of lockdown, the Event Industry Alliance said: “The inclusion of events in the latter stages of the reopening roadmap is a welcome development and we are confident that we will be able to further demonstrate our ability to deliver covid-secure events in the pilot the government has announced.”
Details of the 2021 event can be found on the exhibition’s new-look website www.aquatelford.co.uk, which includes the latest show news and how to register to visit.
To discover more reasons why AQUA has become a vital date in the water gardening and aquatics trade calendar, retailers and suppliers can view a special video of the 2019 event at https://vimeo.com/371139081.
