British suppliers of garden, leisure and pet products attending the June 20 'Meet the Buyer' day by Gardenex and PetQuip are aiming to match the recent successes of firms who are now selling in Dubai following a similar event.
This event resulted in orders for at least five British attendees from one buyer alone, the Dubai Garden Centre. These companies included Hampshire-Gardencraft, Haws, James & Steel, Wildlife World and Wood Fired Ovens by Jamie Oliver. The items now being supplied by these companies to Dubai include ornamental garden stoneware, watering cans, vases, jugs, cat and dog accessories, wildlife nesters and feeders and portable wood fired ovens.

The next event on 20 June is being held at the Gardenex/PetQuip head offices in Brasted, Kent. It's designed to give interested British firms specific meetings on a one-to-one basis with five buyers from four countries, all of whom have expressed interest in adding further products to their portfolios. The buyers invited by Gardenex/PetQuip are from a leading Swiss importer, a Swedish import and distribution company, two large mail-order companies from Germany and a Dutch chain of large garden and pet centres.

Gardenex and PetQuip director general Amanda Sizer Barrett said: "The main attraction for British suppliers is that it provides a cost-effective platform to meet with carefully selected buyers without the expense of travelling to an overseas market.

"The international buyers are equally impressed as they have the benefit of identifying the type of products they wish to source prior to the visit, and they know that they will be meeting with reputable suppliers of those products."

The meeting on 20 June is open to members and non-members of Gardenex or PetQuip, which are divisions of The Federation of Garden and Leisure Manufacturers Ltd, the trade association that works on behalf of British companies to help its members increase sales worldwide.