Olympia suffers at the fate of the recession

Olympia, Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair, November 10 to 16

At the close of the Winter Fine Art & Antiques Fair at Olympia, November 10 to 16 there was no doubt that the worldwide banking crisis and now the recession had taken there toll. As the most important UK quality fair since the economic crisis took hold, there was more focus than usual on the fair and not surprisingly the ATG reports that the fair was badly hit. Again it was not surprising that this year a significantly high proportion of exhibitors failed to cover costs, but it must be remembered that Olympia is a very expensive fair at which to stand. The number of stalls were down by 35 but the visitor numbers were 22,352, almost identical to last year.

David Moss from the ATG reports that, 'The phrase that kept cropping up around the stands was "pockets of business", and even some of the dealers who just ticked over admitted that there was business out there. As with all recent fairs, period furniture proved difficult, although again a handful of dealers in this field enjoyed remarkably good business. Jewelery sold very well, period silver not so well as usual, but some of the objects soared, such as the Arts & Crafts.'