The Great British Shooting Show 2026: Our Honest Verdict

We're back from the NEC, we've unpacked the cases, and we've had a few days to reflect. It feels right to share our thoughts with you on how it went.

The Good Stuff First

It was genuinely wonderful to meet new faces. The conversations we had over those two days reminded us exactly why we do what we do. People who care about quality, about provenance, about owning something that lasts — that's our tribe, and the Shooting Show has always been a good place to find them. We sold watches, shook hands, and swapped stories. For that, we're grateful.

Now For the Honest Part

We're a small, independent British brand. When we commit to an event of this scale, we do so on the basis of what we're promised — specifically, a well-positioned stand in the main thoroughfare of the show where serious visitors actually walk. That's what was agreed. That's not what we got.

Instead, we were placed in a corner off the main event — tucked away near the toilets, at the end of a blind walkway that most visitors had no reason to venture down. It was made worse by the neighbouring company that effectively blanked out the side of their stand, making the entire approach frankly uninviting. Footfall was poor. Not because visitors weren't there — they were — but because the layout made sure many of them never found us.

We raised this. We were told there was nothing that could be done.

The Bigger Issue

What made this harder to swallow was the timing of a significant piece of news. Just five weeks before the show opened, we learned that the event — which had been run by the same ownership for many years — had been sold to a magazine company. A five-week handover to a new organisation running one of the shooting world's flagship events. The new owners, when approached about our concerns, were candid that the whole thing had been out of their control. We appreciate the honesty, but the impact on exhibitors like us was real.

What we find harder to excuse is that neither the outgoing nor incoming organisers thought to inform exhibitors about the sale before it became public. We had paid, we had committed, we had prepared — and we heard about the change in ownership the same way everyone else did. That's not how you treat business partners.

We Weren't Even on the List

There's one detail that particularly rankled, and which caused genuine confusion in the run-up to the show. Despite being confirmed exhibitors, Wagstaff Watches was not included in the official Exhibitors List on the show website. Not buried — simply absent.

The consequence of that was exactly what you'd expect. Customers who were planning to visit couldn't find us, and reasonably assumed we weren't attending. We actually received phone calls from customers asking why we weren't at the show — when in fact we were there, stands set up, watches on display, ready to welcome them. That's customers we lost on the day through no fault of our own, and it's difficult not to feel let down by that.

For a brand like Wagstaff, every event is an investment — not just financially, but in time, preparation, and the opportunity to put our watches in front of the right people. When the terms of that investment are undermined by decisions made far above the exhibition floor, it matters.

Both Barrels

We'll leave you with this. Within days of the show closing, we received a call from the new owners — not to apologise for the stand placement, not to acknowledge the exhibitor listing fiasco, not to ask how our experience had been. No. They rang to invite us to advertise in their associated magazine.

In true shooting parlance, they got both barrels.

What Comes Next

We'll be reviewing carefully whether the Great British Shooting Show remains the right fit for Wagstaff Watches going forward. We remain committed to meeting our customers in person — at events that respect both exhibitors and the people who attend them.

If you visited the show and found us — thank you. If you were looking and couldn't, we're sorry you missed us. You're welcome to reach out directly, and we'll make sure you don't miss out on the GMT!

— The Wagstaff Watches Team