Glee ‘23

To Glee? Or not to Glee? Shakespeare may have known a thing or two about panto, but he clearly had a blind spot for the horticultural trade if he was questioning attendance of the U.K.’s leading garden and outdoor living expo. Assuming that was what he was on about, his dithering may just have cost him an enduring place in the nation’s hearts. There’s simply no better way to get noticed by the great and good of the U.K. garden trade – and by extension the public at large – than at Glee.

The ultimate destination of the products on show at Glee is the horticultural marketplace, and that’s what makes the expo really intriguing. It’s a great big look at what is coming down the tracks, and a surefire test of whether your products are rated by the industry.

So being at the show is a none-brainer. But how to get some attention when you are in the midst of all that gardening glory? Glee people are wily, seasoned, and discerning. They’ve seen brands and concepts aplenty. What could we offer both them and you, their customers?

Our humble offering for Glee ’23 centred on a time-honoured AutoPot maxim – ‘growing within your grasp’. We set out to present the simple joys of growing with AutoPot as clearly as possible. This a continuation of a thrust that we’ve been thrusting (?) over the last 18 months. We’ve been looking to concisely introduce new groups of people to our easy-to-use techniques for watering and feeding plants. Would-be growers, casual growers, people for whom growing never really seemed a possibility given their available spaces. Of course at Glee we were also appealing to those people who can give our products a platform – in garden centres and the like.

To bring these new demographics in we’ve assumed no prior knowledge of what we do. Instead, the idea has been to demonstrate and illustrate systems in action at every step. This approach dictated the design of the exciting new live demo stand that took centerstage for AutoPot at the NEC this year.

Incorporating all our home and garden favourites, the beautifully crafted stand subtly imitated a range of typical growing settings whilst keeping things bright, airy, and simple. We commissioned ReCreation for the job of fabrication and by-George/Georgina did it reap rewards.

Having enticed in a diverse and eminent selection of trade players we very much enjoyed being able to talk them through the principles and functions of our systems in the flesh – complete with AutoPot-grown plants courtesy of our R&D department. 

Fear you missed out? Well you did, but that’s not nice to say. So instead we’ll say, ‘fear not!’, many a visitor to our stand expressed the wish to see parts of the expo display replicated in their stores. That means you can expect yet more ways to inspect, acquire, and enjoy AutoPot, coming to nearby stores near you and near people who are near people you know in the very near future! As for Glee, look forth to more in ’24!