The Print Show and its new sister event The Sign Show have been postponed until 2021 because of the coronavirus.
Originally due to take place at the NEC Birmingham from September 27 to 29, they have been moved to September 28 to 30 next year at the same venue.
The organisers at Link Exhibitions UK have already reached an agreement with many of the companies that had signed up to attend in 2020 to instead exhibit next year.
Event director Chris Davies said that every effort had been made to go ahead this September but it had become clear in recent weeks that restrictions caused by Covid-19 meant that running the show would not be possible.
“Before anything else, the health and safety of our exhibitors and guests is our number-one concern, and while it was a difficult decision, we believe this is the right course of action.
“While we hope the situation with Covid-19 will have improved by September, there is no guarantee that the event would be permitted to go ahead due to the current government restrictions.
“The government is yet to make any announcements as to when large gatherings or events can take place again, and we have to be realistic. Planning to host a large-scale event like The Print Show this year is just not feasible, given the level of uncertainty as to what situation the UK will be in come September.
“Therefore, we have decided that the best course of action would be to postpone both The Print Show and sister event The Sign Show until next year, when we hope the worst of the crisis will have subsided.
“We’re finalising the details with our exhibitors and we’ll be making a number of announcements in the coming weeks and months, but it is fantastic to see this level of confidence in the show.
“We remain fully committed to delivering a quality event that solely focuses on the UK printing industry. The Print Show is the only event dedicated to the UK market and as we emerge from lockdown and build for a brighter future, we believe our event will play a key role in this recovery process.”
