The doors to Spring Fair, the UK’s largest and longest running wholesale marketplace encompassing the best in home, gift and fashion, open today (Sunday) until Wednesday, welcoming thousands of buyers and showcasing tens of thousands of new products and innovations.

Its organisers, Hyve Group plc, has announced the re-launch of the Power of One campaign and a renewed focus on sustainability with an impressive number of sustainable and ethical brands showing. Building on the shows Empowering Change manifesto, visitors will also discover a host of inspiring and educational interactive activations onsite.

Successfully launched in 2018 by Hyve Group’s fashion trade show Pure London to galvanise the fashion industry into taking collective action, the Power of One initiative is being adopted across all of Hyve Group’s B2B events in the form of three powerful pledges created to help energise retailers to take small steps to change the world, their mental health, and their environment.

Suzanne Ellingham, Head of Content, Hyve Group plc says; “Power of One is all about small changes leading to big differences. We hope we can use our influence across key retail sectors in a positive way to help effect change in the industry. We have created three simple but impactful pledges to encourage the circular economy, combat overproduction, and prioritise wellness. Conscious decisions are the future of retail and Power of One is here to help shape that future, one decision at a time.”

• Pass It On puts the circular economy under the microscope and encourages consumers to give their best-loved items a second lease of life, thus reducing the impact on finite resources and encouraging customers to seek sustainable alternatives. By giving customers more power to reuse, repair and recycle their best-loved items, retailers can also do more to protect the planet. Using schemes like refresh and recycle, retailers are poised to help their customers do better.
• Do You Need It combats overproduction at the source and really showcases the power that small steps have to make a huge change. The retail industry must do more to combat overproduction. With 94% of paper receipts binned, this pledge addresses how we can reduce waste in plastic bags, paper and more, encouraging more retailers to offer their customers options such as email receipts, so reducing our reliance on paper and plastic.
• Checking In gives retail staff the recognition they deserve. Retail workers are the beating heart of our industry, which is why we’re #CheckingIn. This pledge asks staff the questions that matter, from time off to a healthy work/life balance. As we recover from the pandemic, there has never been a more pertinent time to prioritise mental health and long-term wellness in retail.

Visitors to Spring Fair will be introduced to the Power of One pledges on activation walls which also enable donations to Spring Fair’s wellbeing and charity partner the Retail Trust in support of the Checking In pledge. Power of One pillars explain the powerful pledges and enable visitors to make their own pledge. There will be bins at all entrances for visitors to recycle their show badge. The bins are set up as a voting system so visitors can choose where to post their badge and it will vote for the pledge they want. Pre-registered visitors have been asked to bring their own reusable water bottles and use the water stations positioned round the show

The Sustainability Trail returns for 2022 and highlights the many brilliant brands and suppliers striving to do their part to ensure a more sustainable and ethical future for all. From sourcing materials and manufacturing to the final product and packaging, brands and suppliers are shifting their focus and the Sustainability Trails enables them to celebrate and highlight this with hundreds of brands including Kin, eco rascals, Ling Design, Lola & Blake, Neve’s Bees, Fruu Cosmetics, Pom Pom Galore, Sass & Belle, Orange Tree Toys, Portfolio Home, The Seed Card Company, Rocket 68, Shepherd of Sweden, The Little Green Cracker Company, Wildlife World, Beefayre, Black Yak, Earth Squared, MAI Clothing, Kushboo Soaps, Keel Toys, Denby, DCUK, Sea Gems, Morgan Wright, Pineapple Island, Pukator, Rex London, Squelch, Ulster Weavers, Willsow, Nomads Clothing, and many more taking part.

Ellingham adds: “We have all been talking about it for some time, but this year you can’t miss the sustainability credentials displayed loud and proud. Wholesalers have made a concerted effort to reassess their supply chain and the materials they use, and they are not shy about letting buyers know. We all are aware how important this is to consumers, so it is fantastic to see so many exhibitors making it a priority. In every category, throughout home, gift, fashion, and noticeably in the Christmas section, there is no shortage of sustainable products to add into ranges.”

Sustainability Trail brands are identifiable with the green leaf icon in the Little Black Book, the show guide, You Are Here boards, on their stands, on the Spring Fair App, and on the website at  https://www.springfair.com/exhibitors?&filters.haslibentry=sustainability&searchgroup=00000001-exhibitors

For visitors keen to go paper-free at the show, they can download the super handy official Spring Fair App featuring new GPS navigation to help find brands and suppliers more easily. It also delivers intelligent AI product recommendations based on your profile and interests. Download it before arrival to help plan beforehand and use it as a personal show guide and planner. Visit www.springfair.com/show-app-visitor for more details.

For further information on Power of One please visit https://www.springfair.com/powerofone