Pictured above: Amarjeet Mahey of Soul Living (right) meets German buyer Paul Bloch at UKTI's Meet the Buyer event at the Spring Fair

A Dudley firm is hoping to win new business in five overseas markets, thanks to a Meet the Buyer event organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) at the NEC's Spring Fair International.

Soul Living, of Tividale, was one of 42 UK firms taking advantage of an opportunity to meet buyers from across the globe in a series of 20-minute 'speed networking' sessions run by UKTI's International Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) team, based at the NEC, at the UK's largest retail show.

A total of 39 giftware and homeware buyers from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia and the USA attended the event.

UKTI commercial officers from the British Embassies in many of these countries and in Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey were also on hand to give expert advice to the UK companies.

Soul Living designs and produces soft furnishings that include cushions, throws and bed linen.

Creative director Amarjeet Mahey met buyers from Germany, Brazil, Russia, Norway and Finland during the day.

She said: "The event is a brilliant idea - it saves companies a huge amount of time and money by bringing the buyers to us.

"It's a very cost-effective way of assessing the markets and there was a great deal of interest in our products.

"I look forward to joining more Meet the Buyer events in the future."

Buyer Paul Bloch, of concept store Pro-Idee, based in Aachen, Germany, said: "I was very impressed by the quality of the products that I've seen at this event. The companies have been very well chosen by UKTI and could all potentially be of interest to us." 

Victoria Prosser, event and marketing co-ordinator at the ITPC, said: "This is the second time we have held a Meet the Buyer event in a 'speed networking' format and the event outputs have increased - this year we managed 263 meetings with 42 UK companies.  

"The responses from both UK and international delegates have been very positive as the meetings provided a 20-minute introduction to UK products in a business environment - something which can be difficult to obtain on a busy exhibition stand.  

"Also, the international delegates appreciate the event happening on the first day of their visit so they can then visit the UK companies they met for follow-up meetings and a chance to see the full range of products on offer."

With more than 3,000 exhibitors and 300,000 new product launches, Spring Fair International is the largest and most comprehensive retail trade show in the UK.

It covers 12 key buying sectors: gift and home, design-led gifts, volume gift and home, kitchen, dining, greetings and stationery, art and framing, toys, gadgets and party, festive, floral and fireworks, outdoor living, well-being, fashion jewellery and accessories and The Jewellery Show.