Spring Fair, the UK’s definitive showcase for Home, Gift and Fashion, returns to the NEC Birmingham from 1-4 February 2026, unveiling an inspiring new creative direction themed Retail Alchemists - Masters of the Mix. The Alchemists of Retail.
Marking a bold new era for the UK’s most influential retail event, this campaign signals Spring Fair’s transformation from a marketplace into an experience; a living, breathing celebration of retail’s power to inspire, connect, evolve, and transform. This is retail reimagined: immersive, sensory, and alive with possibility. Every choice, every product, partnership, and detail builds the chemistry.
No longer just a destination for buying and selling, Spring Fair 2026 becomes a stage where creativity, commerce, and community collide. It celebrates the Masters of the Mix - the retailers who curate the unexpected, the suppliers who spark what’s next, and the visionaries who turn stock into stories and shops into stages. These are the true alchemists of retail, blending inspiration with innovation to transform the everyday into the extraordinary.
For over 75 years, Spring Fair has united the best of retail, bringing together thousands of brands, suppliers, and buyers to discover, collaborate, and shape the seasons ahead. The 2026 edition builds on that legacy with an expanded footprint, a re-energised visitor experience, and a bold new programme of content, networking and design-led innovation.
Across the show, visitors will experience the Retail Alchemists theme through a series of beautifully curated spaces designed to engage all five senses and visionary new content areas that reimagine what trade shows can be. Each destination becomes a modern apothecary of ideas, where people, products, and stories combine to create something truly extraordinary.
Jackson Szabo, Portfolio Director at Hyve Group, says: “Spring Fair 2026 marks a new chapter for the show. Retail Alchemists captures what happens when creativity, community and commerce converge. We’re creating an environment where discovery and connection are as important as the products themselves. By bringing together the right ingredients – product, design, storytelling and technology – Spring Fair 2026 becomes the alchemy that forges meaningful connections, unlocks opportunity and inspires transformation.
“Visitors should feel like they’re stepping into a living marketplace where ideas, people and products mix. It’s immersive without being overwhelming, beautiful without being superficial, and always aligned to the purpose of driving retail forward.”
For the events industry, this evolution represents an important moment. Spring Fair’s shift from transactional to transformational is a blueprint for the future of live experiences, proving the power of trade shows to engage audiences emotionally, deliver value commercially, and reignite the excitement of in-person connection.
Beyond sourcing, Spring Fair continues to be the beating heart of the UK retail industry, where relationships are formed, ideas are shared, and trends are born. With a combined buying budget of over £2.25 billion, attendance means being part of the most influential and inspiring trade event in British retail.
Discover, connect, and transform your retail journey at Spring Fair 2026, 1–4 February, NEC Birmingham – www.springfair.com
