Last week, Lara and I had the pleasure of visiting the Ice Cream & Artisan Food Show 2025, where we caught up with Henley Bridge.
This was, without a doubt, my all-time favourite show out of all the amazing events I’ve been to, and it’s easy to see why! The ice cream was incredible.
About the Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show 2025
The Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show 2025 is the UK’s leading trade event dedicated to the ice cream and artisan food sectors. The show took place on February 4th and 5th, alongside Spring Fair 2025, filling the NEC Birmingham with every flavour of ice cream imaginable.
About Henley Bridge
Henley Bridge is an ingredients supplier of over 2000 ingredients from over 90 brands! For 25 years, the company has supplied predominantly sweet ingredients, but it is now diversifying to include savoury options as well.
On my visit, I had the opportunity to interview Stephen Russell, Marketing Manager at Henley Bridge. Stephen discussed his experiences at the show and shared how the exhibition stand has fueled the company’s success at industry events. Here are some of the key takeaways from our catch-up.
How was the Show?
Henley Bridge loved the Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show. It provided the perfect environment for the team’s goals: generating new leads, creating new business opportunities and strengthening relationships with existing customers.
As a standalone event, this show is very popular. However, it also gains great cross-pollination from the UK’s favourite gift show, Spring Fair, which increases brand awareness and creates even more valuable leads.
Stephen Russell, Marketing Manager at Henley Bridge:
The show has been really good. The first day was really, really busy; we were almost overrun, which is a good thing. And today has been a steady flow as well, so it's been a really good show so far.
The Exhibition Stand
The Henley Bridge team were thrilled with the impact of their exhibition stand. This is the largest exhibition stand configuration planned for the year, giving plenty of room to guide visitors through the various ingredients and flavours on offer.
The stand is brilliant. It's been impactful. It's big, it's bold, and you can see it throughout the whole arena. I love it - I think it's really good. Everyone has been positive about it and told us how much they like it and how much they enjoyed coming to see us!
Partnering with Quadrant2Design
Henley Bridge has a long-standing relationship with Quadrant2Design, centred around their modular, reusable exhibition stand! Stephen praised the benefits of this system, including the sustainability, cost-savings, and stress-free nature of our exhibiting plans.
The whole process with Quadrant2Design, in terms of their taking the whole design process off us, taking my incredibly short and not detailed enough brief and turning it into what you see here today, makes my life much easier.
It's been efficient and helpful for me. To know that I haven't got to worry about anything on the stand side, I just turn up, and it's built, and it's done, and it looks like this, makes my life easy.
The Importance of Sustainability
Sustainability is a key priority for Henley Bridge, just like it is for many of our clients. This commitment is evident in their exhibition stand, which is fully reusable. Additionally, they’ve taken additional innovative steps by using edible spoons and cups for their samples! Stephen highlighted that the reusability of the stand was a major selling point for them when choosing Quadrant2Design. The team is already looking ahead and has plans for a reconfiguration later this year.
The reusability of the stands is a key factor for us. Being able to take panels away and reuse them at different shows makes everything much more affordable and manageable.
Looking Forwards
It was wonderful to catch up with Stephen and see how effectively this show served exhibitors, providing fantastic high-quality business opportunities and great brand awareness. The show was also particularly enjoyable from a visitor’s perspective, especially with the great samples and vibrant atmosphere.
If you’re looking to make a lasting impression at your next event, contact our expert design consultants! Email design@quadrant2design.com or call +44 (0)1202 723 500 for a free, no-obligation design proposal.
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