As SOLEX moved into the final day organiser Phil Gibbs took the opportunity to thank all the exhibitors and visitors for making the exhibition a record-breaking success, and said he hoped to see everyone again next year.

Phil said: "SOLEX has been an overwhelming success in terms of numbers of exhibitors and visitors, and the general consensus is that has been a highly profitable event for all concerned.

"As well as the high number of visitors attending, exhibitors have commented that the quality of people visiting their stands has been excellent.

"We've received some fantastic comments, and the general concensus of opinion has been one of great satisfaction.

"So thank you for your contribution and we hope to see you again at the NEC in 2017."

There were good attendances on all three days of the show.

SOLEX 2017 will take place on July 11-13

For all the news from the show click on the following links to SOLEX SUN:

Tuesday Live

Wednesday Live

LeisureGrow also launched its newest brand – NOMA Garden Art – at this year’s SOLEX.  

The brand uses the technology and expertise from the Christmas lighting experts at NOMA to create a new range of stylish, innovative and on-trend battery and solar-powered garden lighting, with floor, table, wall, and hanging lights available.

Modern Metallics:  On-trend industrial-style range includes copper lanterns with rice lights, and solar-powered LED filament bulbs that stick into the ground.

Rustic Emporium:  Classic meets eclectic range with metal lanterns complete with battery-operated pillar candles.

Woodland Walk:  Natural, rustic and full of woodland textures, this range includes realistic ‘wood-effect’ logs and blocks with inset solar-powered lights.

Starry Nights:  A touch of North Africa, with whimsical mirror-covered lanterns and monochrome designs.

Solar 360:  We've developed our unique Fit & Forget battery technology to work alongside our new solar range of garden lighting. This innovative state of the art range lights for 6 hours every day, 365 days a year, guaranteed.

Premier have diversified into gear for the beach, potentially a good fit for garden centre outdoor living departments.

They have taken on the Terra Nation brand of beach accessories, which include beach shaders and shelters, beach bags – and even a brush for removing the sand from your toes!

The shelters and shaders employ an ingenious ‘pop-up’ frame which needs only a firm pull on two cords to make putting it up a fast, easy process. All offer UV protection of 98% plus. The range is presented in roll-up packaging in an attractive PoS merchandiser.

Four new additions to the Outback barbecue range – in the latest exclusive stainless steel design – are sure to put a shine on their SOLEX Stand (325).

Buyers have already signed-up for the new top-of-the range Outback Signature Series, with four- and six-burner models exceeding sales targets in the first three months since their UK launch. The Signature provides the ultimate in grills, griddle, roasting and rotisserie cooking, and is delivered pre-assembled on its own pallet. 

Responding to three-year research results Outback, have also introduced stainless steel versions to the Jupiter four- and six-burner barbecues, where up-to-date design includes a new roasting hood and sear side burner, auto ignition and a digital meat thermometer.

Information: use this email link

‘It looks like wood…but isn’t’ is a message that visitors to this year’s SOLEX can’t fail to notice…

More and more exhibitors have been developing garden furniture made from materials that can be fashioned to look like wood but offer zero maintenance properties.

We’ve featured some of them in previous editions of SOLEX Sun this week, but here are thee more…

Li-Lo Leisure Products (stand 210):  are showing furniture sets made from aluminium with a wood-effect paint finish (cover page and below). Check out bistro set and dining sets with distinctive contemporary styling.

Mercer Leisure (225): have their Nevawood furniture (below), based on a top-secret material that can be sanded if required to remove blemishes and stains without losing its warm wood colouring.

Innovators International (425): are exhibiting their growing Winawood range of furniture made from a compressed recycled polystyrene with a realistic wood-effect finish.

Customers who are reluctant barbecuers because of the smoke may be attracted to the LotusGrill, which you can see on the stand (625) of importers LLC, the UK distributors of Lafuma furniture.

LotusGrill’s built-in battery-driven fan that blows air directly on to the charcoal, which burns considerably hotter, cleaner and more efficiently as a result, with little or no smoke. Double-walled construction means the outer skin never becomes burning hot and both stainless steel inner bowl and grill grid are dishwasher proof.

Displays like the one set up at SOLEX by LLC (pictured) would make a colourful focal point in any garden centre outdoor living department and offer a genuinely different alternative to the regular barbecue offering.

Information from the LLC website

A visit to the Summit stand (130) at SOLEX today could well provide solutions for your ‘gifts for men’displays.

The company’s National Trust collection is almost tailor-made for the job, consisting of items like LED hand-held and head-torches, mugs, flasks, bags and back-packs. Designs on some items employ iconic National Trust patterns and images (for example, Corfe Castle on mugs and flasks.


Sales director Richard Taylor told SOLEX Sun: “Garden centre giftware tends to be quite female-orientated so we’ve made sure this range addresses that problem with products that have a distinctly male appeal.”

Garden centre buyers visiting the stand have also been picking up on another great ideas from Summit –water-proof slippers. And who doesn’t need a pair of those by the back door?

Writer and broadcaster David Domoney, co-presenter of ITV’s Love Your Garden series, made an appearance on the Hartman stand (505) at SOLEX on Tuesday to promote the latest addition to his Celtic Collection.

The new 6ft (1830mm) Aria table features a top made from a glass-reinforced concrete onto which Domoney has designed an innovative tiled diamond pattern with a mosaic edging. The cast aluminium table itself has a new bronze finish, also now available on the matching Celtic chairs.

“The new tabletop material we’ve used here means the top can be a single tile on to which we have painted the pattern, eliminating the problem of moisture permeating the gaps between tiles in conventional tiled tops,” Domoney said. “We think we have created something very different that will appeal to a wide market. It’s very hard-wearing and only needs wiping down to keep it looking good.”

You don’t have to look too hard at this year’s SOLEX to discover that more and more suppliers are turning to alternatives to wood for the manufacture of outdoor furniture.

Yesterday in SOLEX Sun we featured a furniture collection by Supremo made from a compound, called Resysta, based on rice husks.

Today, we spotted a new range of furniture on the Daro stand made from another re-cycled waste product called Stonewood. Yes, it’s made of powdered stone – waste material from the quarrying industry – which is moulded at high pressure and laminated on to steel frames to produce a striking range of chunky tables, benches and stools. The moulds used are created from real timber cuts, for truly authentic surface detail and texture that has to be seen to be believed. Half close your eyes and you could pretty much be looking at the real thing!  “We had to put these signs drawing attention to the material on the display, otherwise visitors would probably have assumed it was just wood,” said Daro director James Brown.

Daro have been working on the material’s development for more than a year, after searching for an alternative not just to wood but to glass, a popular but increasingly expensive (not to mention brittle) tabletop material. Stonewood appears to tick all the boxes – strong, sustainable,good looking…and distinctive. 

Bosmere are aiming to re-energise the garden protective covers category with new ranges and clearer segmentation between them.

The company now has four ranges to choose from – entry-level Protector Plus, the new mid-range Master line-up, the best-selling Cover-Up collection (including Storm Black, Thunder Grey and Modular) and finally, the all-new Premier range.

The addition of Master and Premier means Bosmere can now meet all price point and consumer needs across the category. Master lines in durable polyester fabric offer a sharper price point and a five-year guarantee, while the new flagship Premier range promises the ultimate in outdoor covers, made in an amazingly lightweight but durable new breathable fabric with a seven-year guarantee.

Garden Trade News were at the NEC early on Monday to capture all the action from the build-up to the three-day SOLEX, which started today (Tuesday). See the picture gallery below...

To register for your place at SOLEX click here