Necbirmingham

FranchiseInfo - The National Franchise Exhibition returns this week (5 & 6 October). A franchise gives you the freedom and flexibility to run your own business. Meet 100+ brands spanning all sectors and investment levels and find the perfect opportunity for your future career. Book your FREE tickets in advance with code NEC3:

Bricklive - Built for LEGO Fans is a celebration of everything in the LEGO® universe! Here at the NEC 1 - 4 Nov 18.
New for 2018 is Mythical Beasts with over fifty models and interactive experiences, bringing the fascinating world of creatures from mythology to life using LEGO® bricks.
All content is subject to change - more details head to http://bricklive.co.uk/

The Cycle Show test track

Don’t miss keynote speeches from Ed Hollands, Dragons’ Den success story and founder of DrivenMediaUK and Lauren Dorling, founder of Solesmith Socks at FranchiseInfo The National Franchise Exhibition on 5 & 6 October. They will be discussing the highs and lows of building a business from scratch and how to turn early mistakes into the foundations of success.
Book your FREE tickets in advance with code NEC3:

The Cycle Show is the UK’s biggest #1 cycling event, showcasing over 300 exhibitors, 500+ brands, the very latest bikes and accessories, all under one roof for 3 days in September.

Try, buy, book and hire everything you need for your special day at the UK’s biggest & best wedding event at the NEC this September! With hundreds of wedding specialists from bridal boutiques and florists to jewellers and photographers, this is the ultimate wedding shopping experience.

Take the stress out of graduate job-­‐hunting at GradJobs​ Live! Discover thousands of opportunities on 2 & 3 November. Meet face-­‐to-­‐face with top employers, take part in essential skills workshops, get expert careers advice and much more.
Register for your FREE fast-­‐track entry now! #GradJobsLive http://bit.ly/GJLBirmingham

The UK’s flagship franchise exhibition FranchiseInfo returns on 5 & 6 October. Discover how you could run your own business with the support of an established brand at this unmissable event for ambitious entrepreneurs.
Book your FREE tickets now and gain access to a host of professional advisers, financial experts and successful franchise owners who can help you leave the constraints of your current career and become your own boss.
Don't miss your opportunity to learn from th...e experts during a packed seminar programme of presentations, workshops and Q&A sessions.
Register now and use code NEC3
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Do you want to take your career in a totally new direction? Attend FranchiseInfo The National Franchise Exhibition on 5 & 6 October where a range of experts will be available on both days to advise you on the practical, legal and financial matters of getting into the franchise industry. Don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity for FREE, professional advice. Book your FREE tickets with code NEC3

Run, bounce, dance and jump your way around ! The Monster is the ultimate bouncy castle experience, at nearly 300 metres long, is one of the world's largest inflatable obstacle courses and hands down the craziest nostalgic bouncy castle experience for adults.
With delicious street food, refreshing super-cocktails, craft beers and much more from a host of mouth-watering street food pop-ups. Live DJ’s, giant adult ball pits and other crazy activities!

If you like pets, you’ll LOVE the National Pet Show on 3-4 November! There’s oodles of animals to meet, from dogs to degus, chinchillas to cats and everything in between!! #Save 25% on tickets now

Sending our best wishes for an easy fast to those observing Yom Kippur

Don’t miss the ultimate wedding planning day out The National Wedding Show next weekend! Meet hundreds of the UK’s top suppliers, watch showstopping catwalks, take part in free DIY wedding workshops and hear from the experts on all things wedding. Book your tickets in advance & save with code NEC18 https://bit.ly/2gevJfe

Looking forward to Melinda coming to the NEC in November with The Dating Show Live 2018

Thank you Newton Print - we think it's pretty special ourselves 👍

Fans of LEGO need to check out Bricklive - Built for LEGO Fans 1 - 4 Nov 18

our 1st visit, enjoyed the Gardeners World and the good food show. the tickets were a birthday gift and we're driven there too. we all enjoyed it, it's a big venue and lots to see, I thought it was all well organised , perhaps i don't have too many high expectations! I am quite happy to have a great day out.

My first time at The Craft Show in Hall 20 a very long way to walk from the train station Birmingham International but the show made up for it it excellent very enjoyable looking forward to November when I believe there is another one that they tell me is even better than the one I went to on Saturday

Had a marvellous day yesterday at Gardeners World/ Good Food show.. The weather was great and the perfume of the flowers was heavenly. I walked and walked and stood and stood. The one and only criticism would be for more seating. That would have been a godsend. Lots of places to get food but hard to find anywhere to sit to eat it. Oh and a g&t would have eased the strain on my knees.

Excellent day for my son and I.. Think the cars offered to a crippled old git like myself were outstanding and the information given by the representatives of various vehicles offered was first class. More than I can say for some of the public more interested in butting in to my conversations with the various reps. Great day for me and a better one for my son talking to the birds. Reminds me of someone I once knew, long time ago. Loved all the cars but I can only pick one. Thanks son and Motobility, it was a great day.

Attended BBC Gardeners World Live/BBC Good Food Show Saturday 16th June. Fantastic overall experience. Car parking/shuttle bus was perfect for us - no waiting whatsoever at either end! NEC staff very courteous and helpful, exhibitors very knowledgeable and helpful, amazing diversity of stalls and excellent quality foods. The planting displays were stunning in the floral marquee and the show gardens were breathtaking.



Only one small criticism - extremely busy at outdoor food vendors with very limited numbers of seating. Eventually found somewhere to sit though and the roast pork, stuffing and apple sauce sandwich was devine!



See you next year!

Went for the good food show and gardeners world. Very helpful staff. Enjoyable day. Could have been made better by having more seating areas, but was ok as weather good enough to sit on grass. Wouldn't want to visit on a wet day tho as not enough room to seat people

Had the pleasure of going on the Sunday to gardeners world good food show. Even getting in to see Michel Roux Jr. I was lucky enough to have won tickets from Oswestry magazine. Never had been to the n e c before I was very excited about the whole day I'd planned in my head! Try foods , see Michel Roux, drink some lovely things , go out side see a few faces from gardeners world , smell loads of lovely flowers and get something different to normal garden centers.

Car park , not enough information to say you need a ticket. Only on way back did we find out ! Walked into the ctr. No one to say which way to go at the doors. Once in went for coffee in weathers poos. No different to others. Into front door, just noticed the small board with info on who's cooking and when. Paid for m r j. Amazed at the amount of stalls. No tasting unless you asked. Not enough food to try stalls for me. Just more like an artisan market that's in Oswestry. The cooking demo ok . The recipes not my liking, though looked great. Thought might have been a bit of audience participation, such as tasting and so on. Out side great. Lovely flower displays something for everyone. So much normal garden fauna . Might say prices on most over the top . Toilets, not enough. Staff all very polite. Bus back lovely � feet had left the building!

As to my day out! Happy that I hadn't have to pay for tickets, due to it feeling like paying at the gate of a car boot to walk around.

Had an enjoyable day. BUT have to agree with previous reviewer the arrangements by the NEC for food and drink were not adequate. It was confusing where you could buy different types of food,and then totally inadequate seating after food purchased. Toilets not bad but perhaps some air freshener could have helped.

Had an enjoyable day out with my Mum and Sister on the whole. My main complaint is that my is disabled and they're aren't enough places for her to sit down and have a rest especially inside the halls. It was very hard for her to get around the show, otherwise had a good time. Didn't buy much though!

Had a great time meeting new people and meeting up with great friends but the food and drinks was expensive

Had a good day yesterday at the Gardeners World & Food show live Show. We went primarily for the Gardeners World. Too be honest we were a bit overawed with it all. Carparking staff were a bit grumpy and not giving much info. It was our first time at the show. Glad we went on the Sunday though with lots of reductions. Good choice of food stands, we opted for the hog roast. A few more picnic tables would have been helpful. Didn't get the transfer bus as lots of queues. Other than that would go again.

Great venue ,well located , great links to airport and train station ,plenty of halls and things to do , plenty of staff around working who are happy to help .only problems are the lack of seating and price of food and drink otherwise lovely place .

Been many times to various Comic-Con events and the place is fantastic and I've always found the staff to be helpful and friendly. However there is not enough seating inside the halls and outside, and with how busy and popular the NEC is some people who have problems walking often find themselves sat on the floor.

Overall fantastic place put more seating in and it'll be a 5star place.

Attended the real body exhibition, it was really well put together. Beautiful and cool in there, which was a bonus. Very interesting. Even had the chance to donate by body at the end.

A great day at Gardeners World Live, but the food was expensive and not enough seating to then eat the expensive food!

We went to the Good Food Show/Gardeners World Live today. Not the first time to this show and certainly not the last. However we will not be repeating one experience - eating at The Oak Kitchen. I chose fish and chips - the fish batter was dark brown and crispy with a very dried out piece of fish, the chips were soggy and the mushy peas were not cooked. My husband ordered the curry - the rice was inedible, the popadom was stale and a pot noodle would look like a feast compared with the curry. Cost? Just over £20. A definite rip off - NEC, you need to urgently address your catering franchises. I've given you a 3* rating purely because the other facilities are good but if asked to rate the catering I couldn't justify 1* - it's appallingly bad.

Good but Disappointing, no guides to the show by the good food entrance. Not a clear enough key to who people where and which building you were looking at on the map. No where near enough samples by stinging sellers unless you asked them. When your paying to be there!!! Shame there wasn’t more variety in the sellers in the good food section a lot of alcohol and cheeses. Nothing on website map wise to look at before you go, so you can plan your day better!

Gardeners World Live was on when i visited. I have to say that the shuttle buses do not run frequently enough & there is no seating available while you are waiting for the next bus. The car parks were also too far away to walk to the halls. There was also a severe lack of gluten free food suitable for coeliacs - take your own is the message. Lack of seating to eat your food is also a major issue.

Both the BBC shows were excellent! Had an enjoyable day. BUT the arrangements by the NEC for food and drink were not adequate. It was confusing where you could buy different types of food, where you could buy and take away alcohol, too many places to go to pick up different types of food and then inadequate seating after food purchased. Saved only by M&S lounge who looked after us well. Toilets were mixed. Some had very long quesues and others did not but failure to sign where the next available toilets were to avoid queues. Toilets not always as sparkling and fresh as they should be. Shuttle bus arrangements between station and shows were good.

our 1st visit, enjoyed the Gardeners World and the good food show. the tickets were a birthday gift and we're driven there too. we all enjoyed it, it's a big venue and lots to see, I thought it was all well organised , perhaps i don't have too many high expectations! I am quite happy to have a great day out.

My first time at The Craft Show in Hall 20 a very long way to walk from the train station Birmingham International but the show made up for it it excellent very enjoyable looking forward to November when I believe there is another one that they tell me is even better than the one I went to on Saturday

Had a marvellous day yesterday at Gardeners World/ Good Food show.. The weather was great and the perfume of the flowers was heavenly. I walked and walked and stood and stood. The one and only criticism would be for more seating. That would have been a godsend. Lots of places to get food but hard to find anywhere to sit to eat it. Oh and a g&t would have eased the strain on my knees.

Excellent day for my son and I.. Think the cars offered to a crippled old git like myself were outstanding and the information given by the representatives of various vehicles offered was first class. More than I can say for some of the public more interested in butting in to my conversations with the various reps. Great day for me and a better one for my son talking to the birds. Reminds me of someone I once knew, long time ago. Loved all the cars but I can only pick one. Thanks son and Motobility, it was a great day.

Attended BBC Gardeners World Live/BBC Good Food Show Saturday 16th June. Fantastic overall experience. Car parking/shuttle bus was perfect for us - no waiting whatsoever at either end! NEC staff very courteous and helpful, exhibitors very knowledgeable and helpful, amazing diversity of stalls and excellent quality foods. The planting displays were stunning in the floral marquee and the show gardens were breathtaking.



Only one small criticism - extremely busy at outdoor food vendors with very limited numbers of seating. Eventually found somewhere to sit though and the roast pork, stuffing and apple sauce sandwich was devine!



See you next year!

Went for the good food show and gardeners world. Very helpful staff. Enjoyable day. Could have been made better by having more seating areas, but was ok as weather good enough to sit on grass. Wouldn't want to visit on a wet day tho as not enough room to seat people

Had the pleasure of going on the Sunday to gardeners world good food show. Even getting in to see Michel Roux Jr. I was lucky enough to have won tickets from Oswestry magazine. Never had been to the n e c before I was very excited about the whole day I'd planned in my head! Try foods , see Michel Roux, drink some lovely things , go out side see a few faces from gardeners world , smell loads of lovely flowers and get something different to normal garden centers.

Car park , not enough information to say you need a ticket. Only on way back did we find out ! Walked into the ctr. No one to say which way to go at the doors. Once in went for coffee in weathers poos. No different to others. Into front door, just noticed the small board with info on who's cooking and when. Paid for m r j. Amazed at the amount of stalls. No tasting unless you asked. Not enough food to try stalls for me. Just more like an artisan market that's in Oswestry. The cooking demo ok . The recipes not my liking, though looked great. Thought might have been a bit of audience participation, such as tasting and so on. Out side great. Lovely flower displays something for everyone. So much normal garden fauna . Might say prices on most over the top . Toilets, not enough. Staff all very polite. Bus back lovely � feet had left the building!

As to my day out! Happy that I hadn't have to pay for tickets, due to it feeling like paying at the gate of a car boot to walk around.

Had an enjoyable day. BUT have to agree with previous reviewer the arrangements by the NEC for food and drink were not adequate. It was confusing where you could buy different types of food,and then totally inadequate seating after food purchased. Toilets not bad but perhaps some air freshener could have helped.

Had an enjoyable day out with my Mum and Sister on the whole. My main complaint is that my is disabled and they're aren't enough places for her to sit down and have a rest especially inside the halls. It was very hard for her to get around the show, otherwise had a good time. Didn't buy much though!

Had a great time meeting new people and meeting up with great friends but the food and drinks was expensive

Had a good day yesterday at the Gardeners World & Food show live Show. We went primarily for the Gardeners World. Too be honest we were a bit overawed with it all. Carparking staff were a bit grumpy and not giving much info. It was our first time at the show. Glad we went on the Sunday though with lots of reductions. Good choice of food stands, we opted for the hog roast. A few more picnic tables would have been helpful. Didn't get the transfer bus as lots of queues. Other than that would go again.

Great venue ,well located , great links to airport and train station ,plenty of halls and things to do , plenty of staff around working who are happy to help .only problems are the lack of seating and price of food and drink otherwise lovely place .

Been many times to various Comic-Con events and the place is fantastic and I've always found the staff to be helpful and friendly. However there is not enough seating inside the halls and outside, and with how busy and popular the NEC is some people who have problems walking often find themselves sat on the floor.

Overall fantastic place put more seating in and it'll be a 5star place.

Attended the real body exhibition, it was really well put together. Beautiful and cool in there, which was a bonus. Very interesting. Even had the chance to donate by body at the end.

A great day at Gardeners World Live, but the food was expensive and not enough seating to then eat the expensive food!

We went to the Good Food Show/Gardeners World Live today. Not the first time to this show and certainly not the last. However we will not be repeating one experience - eating at The Oak Kitchen. I chose fish and chips - the fish batter was dark brown and crispy with a very dried out piece of fish, the chips were soggy and the mushy peas were not cooked. My husband ordered the curry - the rice was inedible, the popadom was stale and a pot noodle would look like a feast compared with the curry. Cost? Just over £20. A definite rip off - NEC, you need to urgently address your catering franchises. I've given you a 3* rating purely because the other facilities are good but if asked to rate the catering I couldn't justify 1* - it's appallingly bad.

Good but Disappointing, no guides to the show by the good food entrance. Not a clear enough key to who people where and which building you were looking at on the map. No where near enough samples by stinging sellers unless you asked them. When your paying to be there!!! Shame there wasn’t more variety in the sellers in the good food section a lot of alcohol and cheeses. Nothing on website map wise to look at before you go, so you can plan your day better!

Gardeners World Live was on when i visited. I have to say that the shuttle buses do not run frequently enough & there is no seating available while you are waiting for the next bus. The car parks were also too far away to walk to the halls. There was also a severe lack of gluten free food suitable for coeliacs - take your own is the message. Lack of seating to eat your food is also a major issue.

Both the BBC shows were excellent! Had an enjoyable day. BUT the arrangements by the NEC for food and drink were not adequate. It was confusing where you could buy different types of food, where you could buy and take away alcohol, too many places to go to pick up different types of food and then inadequate seating after food purchased. Saved only by M&S lounge who looked after us well. Toilets were mixed. Some had very long quesues and others did not but failure to sign where the next available toilets were to avoid queues. Toilets not always as sparkling and fresh as they should be. Shuttle bus arrangements between station and shows were good.