January Furniture Show 2021 is going ahead, with doors set to open 24-27 January at the NEC in Birmingham. As the government has given the events industry the green light from 1 October, the show is due to proceed as planned, following government and industry guidance.

While it was an important initiative to backstop the needs of the NHS, fortunately the Nightingale Hospital at the NEC was not required to treat any patients. Previously located in halls entirely separate to those used for January Furniture Show, the hospital has now been decommissioned and will be replaced by a small non-COVID standby facility. This will be created remotely on the NEC campus and will not affect the running of events.

The organising team is working closely with the venue and relevant authorities to ensure the that the event environment is as safe as possible.

Event Director Cleere Scamell said, “Given that January Furniture Show is a trade event with a very targeted audience and occupies a massive physical space, we are lucky that safe social distancing is largely built-in to our format already. As the first large-scale opportunity for the furniture and interiors sector to meet after many months of change, interest in the show is stronger than ever.

As a truly global Event Organiser, Clarion Events has been key in the development of practical solutions sector-wide and we will be setting the gold standard for safety, whilst ensuring that all our clients can do business effectively and profitably.

Given the likely ongoing uncertainty around international travel, January Furniture Show 2021 provides the easiest, most reliable and effective way to assess and buy the products that will be key to successful retail offerings next year and beyond.”

Measures such as controlling crowd density, a contactless registration process, enhanced cleaning, and pre-planning of show days using our online meetings system are currently planned. Measures will be refined and enhanced further between now and the show, and updated as necessary.

The January Furniture Show website enables visitors to plan their days at the show, using the online meetings system, sending messages and adding exhibitors and products of interest to the favourites list.

With the online meetings system, visitors will be able to organise a clear structure for their visit and can avoid having to wait to see exhibitors by scheduling their meetings in advance.