Before the advent of The Shooting Show in February, the trading schedule for the early part of the year was made up with a mixture of point-to-points, Masonics, hound shows, Ann Summers parties and Bar-mitzvahs. It was only in March that the first sizeable shows, The West Country Game Fair and Kent Game Fair, came along to swell the depleted winter coffers.
In years gone by, these shows out-performed not just your average point-to-point but the majority of events well into summer. However, this year, my pitch at the West Country Game Fair disappeared beneath an equestrian arena as the event suddenly developed an equine flavour.
Traders are cautious by nature. Most who had lost their old positions took less space, as they didn’t know what to expect. Some just didn’t bother at all. Numbers of stands looked noticeably down and the crowd was different to years gone by.
The game fair regulars seemed annoyed at the appearance of the horse ring in the main shed and the horsey folk who attended did not spend like the game fair regulars. With the few exceptions that tend to prove the rule, the take was generally well-down on the previous year. Many traders were fed up, reporting that they had been shoved willy-nilly into the bottom shed of the show even though they had been promised their usual pitch.
The atmosphere was not the happy one of previous years. There was genuine puzzlement amongst traders and visitors as to why the game fair suddenly had to include equine items. The organisers, Contour Events, said they were keen to access a new market. Even if the gate increased, the spend certainly didn’t. Having said that, you cannot blame organisers for trying something new.
What you can blame organisers for is apparently not caring about traders who have supported them, in some cases, since the first show. These they expect to pay hefty pitch fees up to five months ahead of the event and then seem to ignore any undertakings given at the time of booking. When they arrive at the West Country event they are given any old pitch. Loyalty seems to be a one way process in this situation.
What you can also blame them for is a corporate inability to live up to undertakings given by their staff. When I booked my space late last year, I asked for a specific reassurance that there would be no deals for last minute bookers. I was given just such an undertaking on the phone. Within minutes of my arrival I had spoken to several people who gushed that they had only paid £200 for their large pitch. On confronting Contour’s member of staff who had promised me that such things were impossible, I was told that she was no longer responsible for this aspect of the company and that another colleague was had taken over that role.
I consider this to be on a par with other great excuses of our time such as ‘The dog ate my homework’ and ‘So-and-so is responsible for that but you can’t speak to him as he’s in…. er… Russia… no Africa.’
When the so-and-so in question finally did show up, he just denied out of hand that any last minute discounts had been done.
This leaves us in the rather unpleasant position of knowing that someone – either the organisers or the traders – are telling porkies.
If it’s the organisers who are guilty of terminological inexactitude, I would have more time for them if they at least recognised the problem and came out fighting. Not that it’s my job to train them, but I’d be happier with responses like “Of course we do deals. We have to fill the hall, don’t we, otherwise that bloke Moss would be whingeing that the show was half empty!”
If it’s the traders who are fibbing, I cannot see what so many of them would have to gain other than that warm, cuddly feeling of winding up their competitors, or stitching up Moss. Answers, please, on a postcard…
I suppose that organisers are quite within their rights to say to traders like me, “If you don’t like it, don’t come.” But as a marketing ploy it’s hardly up there with the classics like ‘Buy one, get one free’ or (taking a lead from other organisers like Countryman Fairs) offering a diminishing discount in the months leading up to the event. Surely that would make more sense.
The same could be said of Countour’s other show, the Kent Game Fair. Within minutes of setting up, the trader opposite me confirmed that his stand, which was twice the size of mine, had been reserved a few days before for around the same money! Further inquiries around site revealed that this was not the only example of deals being done.
So what’s the answer? I think the options are quite simple. If traders object to being treated in this fashion then they shouldn’t attend. However, I don’t know many traders who prefer principle over profit. A more practical solution would be to book late for next year’s shows as the best deals seem to be available only in the last two weeks leading up to the event in question.
I used to pay up early for the West Country Game Fair as I wanted the same position each year. Now that’s been buried beneath the horse arena, what’s the point?
Of course, the organisers might see sense and introduce a more equitable booking system. However, I shan’t hold my breath until they do. If traders’ comments are anything to go by, the deal-culture has been a problem at both these events for some years. Some who have rung up to complain in the past have been offered more space on the site as ‘a sweetener’. This however is still not very equitable.
It would good to see the organisers take the initiative and come up with a solution. The fact is that these shows can still be good, and traders like them because they fall at a time of the year when the pickings elsewhere are often thin. However, Contour would be ill-advised to take attendance for granted, or other show organisers might offer a more attractive option.
Three years ago, few traders could have imagined an event the size of the Shooting Show. Look at it now.
