Let’s be honest, one of our most favourite things about The Game Fair is the shopping. Exhibitors come from all walks of country life and range from global brands to kitchen table start-ups. We spent some time on Sunday morning with a few made in Britain retailers and we heard some truly interesting stories.
Starting with Sporting Saint, the Official Supplier of Gundog Training Equipment to The Game Fair and had a chat with founder Pip Jones about the business and the exponential growth it has experienced recently. The company will be 20 years old in 2027, and Pip is making plans already for the celebrations. Started on her kitchen table, Pip began her business with a mini range of training aids for gundogs and has been at The Game Fair pretty much ever since. “I love The Game Fair,” commented Pip. “My team work so hard and getting everything ready for the stand and setting up, then we get to meet so many of our familiar and loyal customers. I so enjoy seeing Sporting Saints being celebrated by our customers and fellow exhibitors.” With a 20% increase in business in the last year, we are very much inspired by Pip! Look out early next year for a signature range of Dummies and more surprises from Sporting Saints.
Dee McGilvray started Cló Fold September 2025, and The Game Fair is her first show. Dee’s intention was to create a business to support farmers and make the most of wool a natural product which for some farmers was not worth selling. As a designer Dee had some ideas for clothing made using the wool and celebrating the quality of it as a raw material. Using spinners, tailors and producers from London, Norwich, Glasgow and Birmingham it really is a home grown company. Every garment is traceable back to the farm the wool came from with labels and QR codes in the products. We can’t wait to see what is next on the agenda for Dee.
Also on Avenue B we found the Stamford Notebook Company, started in the 1950’s the business has been in the family ever since and specialises in the making of and personalisation of high quality notebooks all made in the UK. This the place to find things no one else makes – fishing and shooting books to record the places and notes of each fishing or shooting outing along with pocket versions for ease of use. If you need any thing special do get in touch and they can help with bespoke items too.
Coco and Sage Master Carpenter, Martin Kelly is another first timer to the show. His tables and custom made furniture are a pleasure to see and the attention to detail and service is impeccable. Martin is working on a list of shows to come to over the next year so do check out this unique furniture.
The Beorma Leather Company has a great story to tell and I’m sure we will return to it. Alex Simpson came home from Iraq and instead of taking a year off to play happy families with a new baby, he ended up investing n a leather business and taking on staff who otherwise would have been made redundant. Three and a half years later with over 100 stockists in Japan and a trip to Chicago to sell into the USA the sky is the limit for Beorma and its family of staff who clearly all take enormous pride in what they do.
Valentino Singh is carrying on the family business started in Northern Ireland in the 1960s. Specialising in tweed and tartan, Tweeds of Scotland, as the business is now known, has shops on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh and all the cloth used is made in Scotland the Tweed being genuine Harris Tweed. The tailored ranges are superbly crafted and finished with some stunning designs which really show off the quality of the fabric.
Valentino has plans to broaden his customer base attending further shows around the year including Burghley, Badminton and Winter Wonderland so keep your eyes peeled if you are on the look out for a new jacket or coat to steal the show.
Finally, we popped in to see Samantha Thomas at Waring Brooke, a knitting whiz with a great eye for design she physically makes every item on sale. With personalised shooting socks where the letters become a graphic design and join the range, to the beautiful, knitted skirts and twist tops. A new addition to the range is knitted hairbands. A natural progression for Samantha who has many more ideas for new products on the horizon.
There are so may more amazing businesses at The Game Fair and we will be revisiting them next time.
See you all next year! Sign up for 2027 updates here.
