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Glee and the Pet Care Trade Association end Petindex licence

Glee and the Pet Care Trade Association have ended the Petindex licence by mutual agreement; but pet suppliers can now exhibit as part of Glee’s main show to attract garden retailers

Following a major research project, Glee and the Pet Care Trade Association (PCTA) have announced the end of Petindex at Glee by mutual agreement. Pet exhibitors will instead be able to reach garden retail buyers by participating in the main Glee show.

The Petindex exhibition licence between the PCTA and Glee’s organisers, Emap Connect, finishes with immediate effect, giving both parties fresh opportunities to move forward in a changing market.

From September onwards, Glee will feature pet exhibitors within its main garden retail areas; including emerging companies showcasing new ideas within Glee’s popular Innovation Zone. The arrangement gives pet suppliers a unique opportunity to sell to the valuable garden retail market; as well as enabling garden centre buyers to source innovative new ranges for their petcare sections each year. As part of Glee’s new agreement with the PCTA, Pet Care Trade Association members will continue to receive a 12.5% discount on exhibition space at Glee in 2012 and beyond.

The PCTA, which regains ownership of the Petindex brand, is considering options for its continuation and development.

The decision to incorporate pet exhibitors into Glee’s main floorplan was reached following an extensive research project undertaken with Glee exhibitors and visitors during and after the 2011 show. The results showed that Glee should focus on the core garden retail market and give pet suppliers, who want to work with garden retailers, the appropriate platform to engage and build relationships with garden retailers. To ultimately optimise their petcare sales opportunities it was therefore decided to offer pet manufacturers more flexibility within Glee itself.

Nick Davison, Glee Event Director, confirmed: “Petcare represents a valuable and growing sales opportunity for the thousands of garden centres, on-line retailers, DIY retailers, supermarkets and High Street names that Glee attracts. We therefore decided to integrate pet product suppliers into our main Glee exhibition, rather than in a separate Petindex show aimed at pet retailers. The new arrangement will provide greater convenience for garden retailers seeking exciting new ranges for their petcare sections, as well as giving pet suppliers a unique chance to sell to often hard-to-reach garden buyers. For the first time, pet exhibitors coming to Glee will be able to choose a location within our key gardening areas that really maximises their visibility to this valuable market.”

“Petindex saw phenomenal growth under EMAP’s stewardship dating from 2001, which led to the show being the biggest annual pet trade show in Europe,’ said Janet Nunn, chief executive of the Pet Care Trade Association. ‘More recently, the global economic crash prompted big changes, also in the UK pet trade scene. The pet-garden synergy endures and the new format GLEE show aims to cater for that at the NEC, which is good news for both sectors.”