Last September, The Flooring Show made a welcome return to its home at the Harrogate Convention Centre, bringing together a wide range of industry figures as usual and even expanding its footprint. In just a few months, however, the show is set to grow even further, with the addition of a whole new event in Sandown Park, Surrey.
This month, we caught up with Suzy Makin, Sales Director at The Flooring Show, to get her thoughts on how last year’s edition up in Harrogate went, as well as finding out everything we could about the new Southern iteration.
Last year’s show was one of The Flooring Show’s “best years to date,” Suzy explains. With 16 years of experience working on the show, she’s in a good place to judge, but the numbers speak for themselves. The 2025 edition saw over 3,000 visitors as well as more than 400 brands exhibiting – so many in fact that the show had to expand into Hall Q at the Harrogate Convention Centre just to fit them all.
With such a huge quantity and variety of exhibitors, is it possible the show managed to work for them all? Well, as Suzy tells us: “The proof is in the pudding!” The rebooking process for next year is well underway already, with around 65% of exhibitors having rebooked on site at last year’s show, demonstrating just how successful the event was for the majority. It’s a great figure, made even more impressive when considering the challenges flooring companies are currently facing.
A difficult year
The general consensus throughout her conversations with the wider trade, Suzy says, is that flooring is tough right now. It’s a common story – between the economic uncertainties brought on by the tariffs last year and domestic changes made by the current Labour government – consumer confidence is struggling and big-ticket purchases like flooring are declining.
However, as Suzy points out, flooring is not a nice-to-have, it’s a necessity. “We all go through peaks and troughs, but the one thing we all need is flooring, so I don’t think it will ever be a dying trade.” Much like house building (and indeed the two markets are strongly linked), after a lull in development, it’s common to see a flurry of activity in short succession, and that’s what Suzy is anticipating and hoping for in 2026. “I think the first quarter of next year is going to be a little bit tough, but then I think if we look at Q2, 3 and 4, it will look an awful lot better, with the way the economy is going. For now, we just need to weather the storm.” Indeed, she experienced some of those same difficulties in her own work on last year’s show, describing it as “the toughest year to sell the show”. Although ultimately it did grow by some 20%, it was hard selling: “I can’t just sit on my laurels and expect everything to happen”.
By the same token, although everyone is hoping for an uptick in the broader economy of the country, that doesn’t mean flooring companies should just be waiting for business to return. “I think the flooring industry has been exceptionally traditional over the years,” Suzy says. She notes that the trade has historically been more male-orientated, and that companies are beginning to realise this needs to shift somewhat. For example, a vast majority of interior designers are female and, as Suzy points out, the decision-makers in home interiors often are too. If flooring companies are to take advantage of all of the business available to them, which is crucial in tough times like this, they will need to appeal to as big an audience as possible. The general principle has started to filter through, she says: “Especially this last year, we’ve had a lot more women in senior positions who perhaps look at things slightly differently. I think flooring has been a bit slow to pick up on that, but it has started to over the past couple of years.”
Location, Location, Location
In such a challenging environment for flooring (not to mention for events!) how has The Flooring Show remained as durable and successful as it has? “I think the actual town itself, Harrogate, helps a great deal,” Suzy points out. Although a majority of UK exhibitions, regardless of industry, take place in London or Birmingham, these more central locations lack many of the indirect qualities that make an exhibition like The Flooring Show so beloved. For example, between easy accommodation and the relatively small size of the city itself, visitors to Harrogate likely won’t need to drive at all after arriving, let alone get into a crowded tube carriage at rush hour!
And of course, while the show itself is crowded with conversation and business from its opening on Sunday until the last stand is packed up on Tuesday, it’s the networking opportunities outside of the show that really set Harrogate apart. “It’s got everything, from coffee shops to snack places to some beautiful restaurants. So not only is business done within the halls, but an awful lot of networking is done in the evenings. From that point of view, it works so much better than possibly going to London or Birmingham.” Given its long standing and prominent place within the industry, The Flooring Show is where many of the year’s most important buying decisions are made, and so the ability for exhibitors to socialise with customers is tantamount to its success.
Changing world, changing show
But a great location is just one part of the puzzle. Much like its exhibitors, The Flooring Show can’t afford to rest on its laurels, and as such, Suzy has made great strides to evolve the exhibition over the past several years. For example, 2025 saw the second live appearance of the UK Flooring Podcast at Harrogate, with several guests across its three-day schedule. “We’re looking to develop that a little more next year,” Suzy says. “We could perhaps have the likes of Kellars and Headlam having a one-on-one conversation. We’re looking at distributors for that, but also carpet companies and maybe LVT manufacturers. I think that would be really interesting and a bit of fun as well for everybody.”
Even the types of businesses exhibiting at the show have evolved. For example, 2025 saw the addition of some resin companies to the show floor, as well as some larger tool manufacturers. And far from spreading the show too thin by straying from its core business, these new introductions were in fact wildly popular. “KHR brought some of their bigger machines and they had a stonking show – they said it was brilliant, and have already booked for next year!”
With more than 400 brands exhibiting in 2025 though, finding the balance was key. Particularly given the enormous category growth in smooths over the last several years, Suzy says it would be fantastic to see more rugs at next year’s show. “I think they work so well with smooth flooring. I’ve got LVT down in my kitchen, but I got a fantastic rug from one of our exhibitors and it just softens the area. So I think rugs play a key role in the industry too.” Interestingly, she says, the show had a much stronger rug contingent around 7-8 years ago, and so a big goal for 2026 is bringing those companies back to the fold.
Are there any other companies Suzy would like to see return to The Flooring Show’s halls next year? “I’d love to see Amtico back next year,” she admits. “I think they’re missing a trick. Karndean came back for the first time in seven years for 2025 and they had an absolute amazing, amazing show. They’re great to work with – a fabulous company, and they’re willing to put time and effort into getting the visitors to the show.”
Going South
Speaking of next year, 2026 will see perhaps the biggest new development in The Flooring Show’s more than 60-year history, with the launch of a brand-new Southern exhibition. Taking place at Sandown Park in Surrey, The Flooring Show South will take place 15-16 April, 2026, and is aimed to bring the beloved event’s convivial atmosphere to a new set of visitors for whom the Harrogate show is too long a trek. There are plenty of good signs for the new show, not least of which that it only came about because exhibitors were already requesting it! “Two or three companies were approaching me and asking why we don’t do a show in the South. One particular exhibitor said they already spend thousands of pounds a year on a small roadshow, and would be prepared to invest it in a small show if we did it.”
With that kind of encouragement, Ocean Media employed a Business Development Manager – Luke Hutchins – and got to work organising the new show. After carefully examining several different potential venues, Sandown Park was chosen for a few key reasons: it’s easily accessible from the M25 and only 30 minutes from London by train: “And I can guarantee that’s the truth because I did it yesterday!” Suzy says. The venue itself is attractive, light and airy, and the right size for a new launch. “It’s not too big, but it’s not too small, and the biggest bonus for our exhibitors is that they can drive right up to the front doors and unload, where Harrogate has always been a little bit challenging in that respect.”
Naturally, at least in its first iteration, the show will be a smaller, shorter affair than its Northern counterpart, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting, says Suzy. “We decided to do it over two days, and we’ve got just over 1200sqm, compared to more than 6000sqm for Harrogate, so obviously we’re not going to have the same number of exhibitors, but we’ve got some really good key names in there, some great supporters and also a lot of new people we didn’t have before.” Demonstrating the value of the concept itself, a lot of those new exhibitors are Southern companies who previously haven’t been able to attend Harrogate. The atmosphere and buzz around the new show is already positive, but once again, numbers speak louder than words: “I’ve got about six stands left and then that’s it, I’m sold out,” Suzy says. In fact, the launch has been so popular thus far that the organisers are already looking to see if it can be expanded.
Although it will clearly take after the original show, however, potential visitors shouldn’t see The Flooring Show South as merely a replica. “Harrogate is what I would call the mothership, and this is more like the smaller brother or sister,” Suzy explains. More specifically, while the Harrogate exhibition has a large focus on informative content about actually building and fitting floors, the Sandown show will be more product-focused, catering particularly to suppliers looking for the newest, most cutting-edge launches. While the Harrogate show is expanding to encompass as much of the industry as possible, the Sandown event will focus on the core audience that made The Flooring Show so successful originally – at least for now. “Things might change in future years, but at this moment in time, we need to walk before we can run.”
Ultimately, the mood as we approach April is one of anxious excitement. “I’m really, really looking forward to our new launch,” says Suzy. “Going from one show a year, we’ve now got two, and I’ve got to make sure they’re both successful without impacting on each other. That’s huge for me.”
2026 and beyond
One question which has become more and more common, particularly since the pandemic, is whether in-person exhibitions still have a place in modern industries. With mobile technology, hybrid working and ecommerce all becoming more and more standard, have trade shows become an antiquated format? Well, at least in flooring, the answer seems to be a resounding no.
Even putting aside the deliberate, meaningful efforts The Flooring Show has taken to modernise itself and adapt to the current market, Suzy believes that the industry will always need a physical component. “I think we’re very lucky from that point of view, because flooring is very much a touchy-feely product. If I’m going to have a carpet down, i want to feel how soft it is to touch, how durable it is, what will happen if I spill something on it?”
Beyond that, as an event organiser, Suzy says, Ocean Media’s not-so-secret weapon is simply listening to exhibitors and visitors. Attendees are asked to fill out a survey at the end of every show asking questions: what they’d like to see, what they felt was informative, what could be improved on. Even for more specific requests, if an exhibitor wants to move from one hall to another or change the size of their stand, Suzy will do her best to accommodate it. “It’s all about listening to our clients and our audience. I think Ocean Media is really good at doing that.”
The Flooring Show South will take place 15-16 April at Sandown Park, Surrey, and the Flooring Show 2026 will take place 20-22 September at the Harrogate Convention Centre.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.theflooringshow.com