UK promotional products trade show Merchandise World, produced by the British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) and Sourcing City, has pushed back its January 2022 dates to April. The show will now be held on April 13-14 at the CBS Arena in Coventry, England.

In announcing the move, organizers cited new rules from the UK government to combat the spread of the Omicron variant, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Sunday evening address on the issue, the current dramatic increase in COVID infections in the country and continued speculation that further COVID regulations may come into place.

In a statement announcing the move, BPMA and Sourcing City noted, “We deeply regret the inconvenience this will cause our loyal exhibitors who have already made significant plans for January, and the many hundreds of distributors that had already registered or intended to attend. The industry had demonstrated that they were excited to once again meet, and having put on a successful Merchandise World in September 2021 we fully expected January to be well attended and a much needed environment for the industry to regather and focus for the new year. … We fully expect the new April date to be the biggest UK industry event yet, and whilst we regret the wait, we know the industry will be excited to meet again in the Spring.”

Click here for more information.