Exhibitor numbers totalled 527 suppliers including 201 new exhibitors. Last eyar around 650 exhibitors attended the show which included PetIndex.
Major garden centres represented included Dobbies, the Garden Centre Group, Blue Diamond, Barton Grange, Haskins, Scotsdales, Garsons and Woodcote Green.
Glee event director Nick Davison said: "It is vital when looking at the visitor numbers for the 2012 show to consider that this year Glee went through a period of significant change and development, particularly in relation to how Glee worked for independent pet retailers.
"One aspect of this was our strategic decision to end the Petindex licence agreement, and instead incorporate pet manufacturers within the main body of Glee. There is no doubt that this will have impacted upon this year’s visitor numbers – however the overall picture is still a positive one.
"Glee 2012 no doubt delivered a garden retail audience of quality, who came to the show to do business, source suppliers and make real, tangible decisions. In fact, our garden related visitor numbers were only down seven per cent year-on-year, which is particularly positive considering current market conditions and what was deemed by many as one of the worst years for garden retailing for quite some time.
"We won’t however be resting on our laurels....Over the coming months we’ll be investing a lot of our resources to ensure that we draw more buyers to the show in 2013.
Next year’s Glee will take place at the NEC, Birmingham from 16 – 18 September 2013.
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