There are now more questions than answers. The IOG’s sudden announcement yesterday morning that 2014 SALTEX would be the last at the Royal Windsor Racecourse caught everyone on the hop.

And the move under cover at the NEC in November next year was the bigger surprise.

Of course, speculation has been rife for some while about the future of the show. The contract with the venue was up for renewal and visitor numbers were dwindling. In 1989, the last show at Windsor before SALTEX decamped to Peterborough, the IOG reported visitor numbers of 48,000. Today the show typically attracts less than 8,000 over the three days, but then that is more a sign of the times.

So it is no surprise that IOG should have been looking very carefully at the viability and future direction of a key industry event that has had ‘real legs’. Starting in 1938 as a Field Day at the Hurlingham Club, it took a break for the war before resuming in 1947. 1965 saw a move to Motspur Park, thence to Windsor Racecourse in 1979 for 10 years, Peterborough (rather disastrously) for three years and back to Windsor in 1994 for the past 20 years.

But that was then. Today, trade shows have become increasingly more challenging to run successfully as the infra-structure of the industry changes, suppliers polarise and many try out alternative ways of reaching customers.

The biggest surprise is that virtually none of the exhibitors had got wind of the announcement of the move to the NEC next year. Timing such a sensitive announcement, particularly in this Twitter age, will never be easy but there have been several grumbles from exhibitors, large and small, that they knew nothing about the plans before it hit the press yesterday morning.  And they included many who work closely in partnership with the IOG.

In recent years, SALTEX at Windsor has been regarded as a largely regional event, struggling to attract a national audience. This was the very reason given for the move to Peterborough in 1990. That not only prompted manufacturers to stage their own show at Kempton Park (which only lasted one year) but soon hastened a retreat back to Windsor after a mass withdrawal by a number of high profile exhibitors ahead of the 1993 show.

Now, the show is to up-sticks again and move to the heart of England. The NEC as a venue prompts thoughts of high cost, but with no plans announced yet it would not be fair to pre-empt the package to be presented to potential exhibitors.

We are, however, left with the reality of two turfcare shows, both indoors, in the winter months within 10 weeks of one another. And don't discount the prospect of renewed interest from some in the garden machinery sector of a return to the trade-only GLEE (also at the NEC during September).

You can appreciate the logic of IOG wanting to combine their major Conference and Awards event in November, with a training and education programme - underpinned by a trade show at a single venue. But hang on, doesn’t that remind you of a similar event in North Yorkshire in January?   BIGGA say that they were made aware of IOG intentions ahead of the formal announcement yesterday, but give no indication that any joint discussions had taken place about the 'fit' or suitability of having two similar shows so close together.

Through all the ebbs and flows of shows over the years, I have always believed (and still do) that a showpiece exhibition should remain an important focal point in the industry’s calendar.  Shows are the ‘parish-pump’, an opportunity to meet, greet, natter, compare notes, laugh, slag-off, look and learn.

However, as things stand we have probably seen the last of the type of event that SALTEX has typified in recent years. Outside, staged during the embers of Summer, open to the elements, grass beneath our feet, friendly, chaotic at times, the feel of country fair and a 'let's muck-in' attitude from organisers and exhibitors that was just right for our industry.     

Yes the world moves on, but somehow it won't feel the same . . .