Andy Beck Shows. A look back at a very busy season of shows and events.
Wow, where did that go? The summer has just flown by. It only seems like a few weeks ago since we were getting prepared for our 2023 Andy Beck Shows season and now it has gone. From the end of May until the middle of October we travelled the length and breadth of the north of England. 28 different shows over 36 days.
And for 2023 we had a bigger and better show stand, 2 gazebos joined together provided plenty of wall space. In addition this setup allowed customers room to have a good look round.
And what a summer it was weatherwise. It all looked so promising in late May and early June, bright warm sunny days. In fact who remembers when it got just too hot and we thought that a bit of rain would be nice? We spoke too soon…
Perhaps the worst was the Royal Lancashire Show towards the end of July. The week before at the Great Yorkshire Show we had some heavy downpours but the Lancs show was something else.
All was not a complete wash-out though. Even though the weather for the rest of the season can only be described as “mixed” we got through it fairly unscathed.
The shows were generally really well attended and we had an increase in sales over the previous years. As ever, The Wainrights in Colour book was still popular, not only selling a good number of copies but getting some great feedback from those who had bought the book previously.
The artwork section proved to be really popular. In particular the new range of Lakeland Fells sketches, prints, cards and mugs. This is a range which will be expanded in the near future.
On many of the show days we had our third member of staff with us. Bailey would either sleep quietly in the back of the van on cooler days. If it was a warm day we would have him with us in the stand. As some of you will know, he was getting quite old. Sadly, in early September we made the tough decision to have him put to sleep. We were gutted. It put a bit of a damper on the rest of our season. We still miss him dearly.
Life goes on though.
We were kept busy. As the nights drew in we even had a couple of back to back shows to do. These are hard work, moving from a show on one day, driving to the next location for a show on the following day. This would mean putting the stand up in the dark.
Thankfully Esther and I work well as team. We both get on with our tasks, hardly a word being spoken. It gets the job done.
These show days are hard work, not only the setting up but the actual show days themsleves. Our policy is to remain standing for the whole day, only taking a very short break in the van to have lunch one at a time. We feel that this is the best way to connect to potential customers, making eye to eye contact.
We appreciate everyone who calls in to see us on our stand. We love chatting to folk about my work as well as having conversations on a wide variety of subjects. Regularly the topics cover fellwalking, painting and vintage tractors. (We even met one of Wainwright’s relatives at one of the shows- what an interesting guy.)
Thank you to everyone who came along and supported us over the summer of 2023. We really appreciate you coming by to see what we do.
How many years do we spend our summers like this? Who knows, as long as we are fit and able I suppose. Selling my work directly to clients has some real advantages for both parties. The logistics of doing shows is hard work but fruitful.
The most important thing is that I couldn’t do it without the total support of Esther. She is incredible (god knows how she puts up with me). “Team Beck” is, and can only be, a 2 person partnership. Long may it continue.
And now we move on to our next event, our Pop Up Shop in Barnard Castle from mid-November until mid-December. More details to follow.
Thanks for reading
