I went to the show yesterday.....and what a complete disappointment it was.
I've been for the last 7 or 8 years or so, with last year being very poor, but this year it even exceeded that, and then some.
The gun section was very small compared to the past, with nothing new or innovative on display....yet the unused space normally taken up with shooting was now given over to fishing........so one sport has shrunken, while the other has seemingly grown......so don't know what's going on there then.
Also, in the past, you were always offered loads of freebies by different companies....T-Shirts, Caps, Keyrings etc etc....plus the obligatory complimentary refreshments, Cold Drinks, Tea/Coffee, Beer, Sarnies, Sweets etc etc....but this year ABSOLUTELY NOTHING....not even a solitary toffee! (I did get some brochures off the BSA stand though....Whoopee).
This is more than likely a sign of the austere times and economy we are living in right now.......everyone has to tighten their belts, including the manufacturers and distributors.
I did see one stand giving out grub and drink (Tsingtao beer) however, but as it was a fishing stand, and I know next to nowt about fishing, I didn't feel confident about muscling-in and blagging some free scran and booze.
So, within about 15-20 minutes of arriving, we had seen everything, but did another 2 laps just to make sure we hadn't missed anything, which we hadn't......so I would guess we spent a total of 1 hour in the show.....pretty crap seeing how it was near a 2 hour drive there, and 2 hours back....and £30 in fuel.