The Schoolwear Show, the annual trade exhibition for the schoolwear industry, has been postponed from October this year until 2021 because of the coronavirus.
Its organiser TSSL has booked next year’s show at its usual venue, Cranmore Park Conference & Exhibition Centre in Solihull in the West Midlands, and will review whether some kind of interim event can be run ahead of autumn 2021.
In a statement, TSSL said: “After extensive work, including canvassing exhibitors and retailers and investigating the various options for running The Schoolwear Show this October – including an appointment-only and a virtual version – the decision to postpone this year’s show has been taken by the board.
“It is a great disappointment as The Schoolwear Show has been such an important place to see virtually all your suppliers and meet potential new ones.
“The 2021 show has been booked at Cranmore Park and TSSL will be making sure that it gives you even more to help your business prosper, even in tough times.”
TSSL added that it was continuing to look at all options and would review the situation in September after the back-to-school period. These options include whether there is a practical way of putting on an “interim” show of some kind, possibly in November.
TSSL continued: “For the next three months or so, we all need to be focused on delivering as good a ‘back to school’ as possible, which is going to be a further challenge. The key will probably be the schools opening in September and fully functioning.
“You can rest assured that TSSL will be working on all the options to help the whole schoolwear market to be able to come together at a show in the future.”
Alongside the postponement, the annual Schoolwear Association (SA) Awards have also been deferred this year. The awards, presented at the SA fundraising evening after the first day of The Schoolwear Show, will return for 2021.
