28th - 30th September 2025  |  NEC, Birmingham

Impact Exhibitions and Events Limited, one of the UK's most experienced show organisers, has a dedicated team with over 100 years combined experience of running trade shows.

PATS (Pet & Aquatics Trade Show) was first staged in 2009, with the majority of the team having worked together for over 25 years.

Call us on +44 (0)1892 862848 or email one of the team below.

Gordon Thomas - Sales

Gordon started exhibition organising in 1982. In his almost 40 year exhibition career he has staged more than 100 exhibitions, including many of the UK’s major trade and consumer events, The Spring Fair, Interbuild and the Autumn Fair . Gordon was responsible for Glee between 1999 and 2003 and, along with Annie Foord, was also responsible for incorporating Petindex alongside Glee in 2001. Gordon’s major achievements include building the visitor attendance at both Glee and Petindex. His desire has always been to stage exhibitions with colleagues who share his passion for his ideals; delivering great value and fun events to exhibitors and creating positive, enthusiastic reasons for visitors to attend.

 

Jo Scotting - Operations

Jo has worked in exhibitions since 1997 and was responsible for the operations of six Glee and Petindex Exhibitions, as well as the Spring and Autumn Fairs.  Jo has worked on the operations side of PATS since its launch in 2009. Throughout her career she has organised more than 45 exhibitions; and although these have included some of the UK's largest trade fairs, Jo has never lost sight of the importance of customer focus.

Joanna Bladon - Visitor Promotion and Web Management

Joanna started working in exhibitions in 2001 when she worked on Glee and Petindex and Spring and Autmn Fair, amongst others. In 2008 she joined Impact Exhibitions for the launch of PATS and subsequently AQUA. She has worked on over 40 exhibitions working within the various departments of event/exhibition organising and marketing and enjoys all that comes with events from the pre-show organising to onsite and seeing the event open.

Helen Price - Show Administration

Helen has worked for Impact Exhibitions since 2009 and has been involved in the organisation of over 25 shows. Helen comes from a publishing background having worked on many different publications from University Prospectuses, to Children’s educational books and business to business directories at Benn’s, before joining the team at Impact.

Vikki Norman - Accounts and Marketing

Vikki is a fully qualified chartered accountant and has worked for Impact Exhibitions since 2017, implementing financial strategy, internal systems, and all aspects of regulatory returns. Vikki has a background in investment management where she was actively involved in investment decisions and marketing of funds during her 20-year career in the city.

Fiona Dagger - Sales

Fiona started working in exhibition sales in 2001 with Clarion Events and then Emap, working on shows including Home & Gift Harrogate, Top Drawer, The Royal Smithfield Show, Glee and Spring Fair.  She relaunched the Greeting Card section at Home & Gift Harrogate and the Home section at Spring Fair.  Since joining Impact Exhibitions in 2018 Fiona has worked on 9 PATS and Aqua shows as well as BETA. Fiona enjoys meeting exhibitors and seeing the whole exhibition come together.

Hattie King - Sales & Exhibitor Liaison

Hattie has over a decade of experience in luxury events at private members clubs, working for the Hurlingham Club and 67 Pall Mall, organising several events a year for 3,000 to 5,000 guests. She is also a qualified floral designer, providing luxury florals for weddings and events.

Neil Pope - PR

Neil is a trained journalist by profession, having learned the trade on his home-town newspaper, the Grantham Journal. He has edited leading consumer magazines like Angling Times, Today's Golfer and Garden News. He became heavily involved in the pet industry in 2009 when he was made Editor of Pet Product Marketing, and over a three year period built up a good relationship with the trade, including the PATS team. 

Call Neil +44 (0)7595 442601 or email press@impact-exhibitions.com

We are thrilled with the incredible response from our very first exhibition at PATS! The three days were absolutely brilliant, giving us the opportunity to connect with many new and existing customers. PATS proved to be the perfect platform for launching our new catalogue and introducing over 350 brand-new SKUs. We can't wait to be a part of next year's event at the NEC!

Tom Gwilliam
Sales & Marketing Director |  HugglePets

I think it’s a great idea to add a third day to PATS. We’re here for all three days, giving us enough time to meet everyone and make informed decisions about stocking new products. We also like PATS because of all the networking opportunities.

Tina Quest
Redpaw Pet Supplies, Devon

At PATS 2024 it was lovely to reconnect with our existing customers while also having the opportunity to meet potential new ones. We were thrilled to launch three new ranges during the show, Canagan Petite, Canagan Raw (Freeze Dried Treats and Toppers) and Symply Little, all of which have sold amazingly well, further highlighting the value of this event for showcasing our innovations. Looking ahead, we believe that the Birmingham NEC could offer significant advantages, including improved transport links and a larger venue to accommodate a growing number of exhibitors and visitors, both will enhance the overall experience.

Charlie Williams
Joint Managing Director |  Canagan Group

We’ve been rushed off our feet on all three days. It has been an excellent show and I love the fact you can spend more time with visitors. I will definitely need a larger stand in 2025

Cyril Geoffray
UK & Ireland national Sales Manager |  Zoo Med
We’ve missed going to Aqua so we’re really happy to be visiting the Aquatics Zone at PATS. We’ve come to see the new products, find out about deals on offer and meet people face to face. It’s also a great opportunity for networking with other shops and companies and building new relationships – something we have missed out on during the Covid years
Mark Warren
Partner |  West Dorset Aquatics
We’ve come to PATS for the whole three days because you just can’t do it justice in only two. For us, as we deal with the whole spectrum of the pet industry, we spend day one wandering through the halls to see what catches our eye and day two doing our buying – but we’ve found that by the end of the second day we haven’t always got round to everyone. So the third day is a real bonus. There is less of a rush to get it all done and we can spend more time building relationships and ensuring we’ve caught all the deals and found all the new products we might want to stock. PATS is an important highlight of the year and we wouldn’t want to miss any of it!
Toni Thornton
Managing Director |  Four Oaks Pet Supplies, Scarborough

It was great to see the Aquatics Zone sold out and full of exhibitors. For us at J&K it was a pleasure, as always, to catch up with a good number of our longstanding customers as well as meet with and introduce our brands and product ranges to potential new ones. Hopefully the new format for 2025, moving into a larger venue, capable of accommodating even more exhibitors, and with better air, road and rail access, will encourage even more visitors, allowing the show to grow in the years to come.

Ben Windeatt
Sales & Marketing |  J&K Aquatics
I’m a big advocate of having three show days because it gives you more time to spend with clients. PATS keeps growing in a good way because it gives more companies – big and small, old and new – the platform to make their mark. I had a look at the New Starter Zone and loved the buzz that these new companies were creating. PATS is great for the UK pet industry
Greg Van Praagh
Head of UK |  RPFC Group

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