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CENTRE FOR CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
Report on the Harrogate British Craft Trade Fair – April 5th to 8th
On the trip: Andy Ross (CCI – woven textiles and music), Cheryl Jamieson (glass
fusing,UNST), Pauline Walsh (felted textiles,YELL), Nicky Peet (FETLAR resident and looking to get
into crafts)
A short meeting was held prior to the journey to talk about logistics and what we
wanted to do, what we wanted to see, and why we were going. Andy and Pauline
handed out business cards so that we could give to them out at the fair.
5th April: The journey started in Yell where Cheryl and Nicky came to the CCI, and we
travelled together to Ulsta, where Pauline was waiting for us. Once we were on the
ferry, we talked about what we wanted to get out of the experience, and Andy asked
the group to think about their future plans while we were going around the fair.
The flights and trains were very easy to use but even so, the travel took twelve hours.
In future we would try to go down a day before to allow some time to relax before
setting off to the show. We ate in the BandB having bought food at the local
supermarket.
6th April: After a huge breakfast, we set off walking to the fair. Our host had told us
the walk was twenty minutes to half an hour. An hour and a half we were still walking!
Once we reached the site, which was very picturesque, we went inside and had
coffee and water to recover.
The hall was completely full of stalls – 500 in all. Our first idea of settling down with
the catalogue and marking those things we wanted to see was clearly not going to
work, so we split up and walked around separately, meeting occasionally to talk
about things of interest, and to eat. By the end of the day, we had seen a lot of
things, talked to a lot of people, and were exhausted.
We went to the Turkish Baths that night for a relax and then to Wagamama’s for
food. Then back to the BandB and bed.
7th April: Cheryl and Andy stayed in Harrogate, Andy to work on some papers that
were needed for a deadline, and Cheryl to look at the craft shops and see what was
going on in the retailing of craft, Harrogate being an ideal market for crafts as it is
fairly affluent and has a long tradition as an entertainment and leisure centre.
Nicky and Pauline went back to the fair, by courtesy car this time, and walked around
again. They found this second day better than the first as they saw things they
wanted to see again, talked to people about their products, saw some new things,
and generally managed to get more in-depth information.
We met up in the afternoon and ate lunch. Then we split up again and went our
separate ways to explore the town. We met in the evening and ate at a really good
Indian restaurant.
8th April: We left Harrogate and came home. The journey home was quicker and
easy, and on the train we talked about what we had seen and what our thoughts
were for the future. We all managed to catch our separate ferries and went straight to
bed!
It was a very tiring trip but extremely useful.
Points about the trip:
The fair was enormous and it was exhausting going around. In future, we will make
sure that we don’t walk beforehand!
There were a lot of stands with a lot of competition and a range of crafts on display.
Some of us felt intimidated by the number of stands and the quality of work, and this
stopped us from going up to exhibitors to ask questions.
We met a lot of people interested in coming to Shetland to visit, work, etc. Next time
we go anywhere, we will take some cards Promotional literature for tourism would be
interesting. We need to check what we are allowed to do at such events. Some
organisers don’t like people handing out their own literature.
There is a Newcomers Corner at the fair. This area is for first-time exhibitors and a lot
of help is given; financial, stand design, etc.
We found it very useful to meet makers and get hints and tips. Useful too for seeing
what is out there and the quality. Some of the exhibitors were keen to talk more
about their work and we learnt a lot about what they did and how they did it. We
gained new ideas and expertise, and wanted to start work on new products
immediately.
There are now loads of new ideas for everyone. Tourism included which was a
surprise to us, and new ideas for creating marketable goods.
Next steps:
Create a group of craftsmakers – the nucleus to be this team, meeting regularly with
lectures, tours, visits, etc. Invite others to join. Could this be a North Isles group,
meeting in various places around the islands? Who would run it?
A possible exhibition next year at the fair. Is this the most appropriate given that it is
trade and not a retail show? A joint stand with makers under one umbrella body? If
so, who would that be? What is allowable on such stands? What is the cost? Other
constraints?
Since returning to Shetland, Andy has had two enquiries from people we met at the
fair. One is a weaver based in Aberdeen who is keen to work with us on developing
holidays with Aberdeen as a stop-over on the way to Shetland. The other is a singer
and textile designer who is also keen to work up here in the isles.
Many thanks to IatE for funding or organising the trip so well. We had a lot of fun and
learnt a lot about what is out there. It was a real opportunity and we are all inspired
and keen to develop our work and ideas.
Andy Ross
4, Sellafirth Business Park, Sellafirth, Yell, Shetland Islands ZE2 9DG
tel: 01957 744 355 http://creativeindustriesshetland.org.uk
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