CLA in talks over Game Fair successor

A number of organisations have contacted the CLA to express an interest in taking over its annual Game Fair show, Farmers Weekly can reveal.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) announced on 21 September that it could no longer continue to host the annual summer event because it was losing money.

Ending its involvement with the show, the CLA said it would launch a consultation to invite proposals from other organisations to see if they would be interested in taking it on.

See also: CLA ‘deeply regrets’ decision to scrap Game Fair

“We have had some interest since we made our statement and we have written to those groups who have expressed an interest to ask for more details,” said Shane Brennan, external affairs director at the CLA.

“We have made our position clear. The CLA will no longer run the Game Fair. We are not selling the event, but we are willing to help any credible organisation that is willing to take it on.”

The CLA said it expected to receive details from the groups on how they planned to finance the event, as well as any help needed to take it over “within the next two weeks”.

At that stage, the CLA could identify an organisation it is willing to help to take on the running of the Game Fair.

“We will do what we can to help those companies if they have a suitable proposal,” said Mr Brennan.

Countryman Fairs, which organises other countryside events in the UK, including the Midland Game Fair, and Blaze Publishing, the publisher of several shooting magazine titles, have both expressed an interest in taking over the Game Fair event.

It is understood that the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) is not interested in taking over the running of the event, but would work closely with whoever takes it on.

The CLA scrapped the Game Fair, which was first held in 1958, after it failed to generate enough income over the last few years. Company accounts show the event made a loss of £376,000 in 2014 alone.

Falling ticket sales and a packed calendar of similar countryside events were blamed for the decision. However, the CLA hopes the fair can live on in some capacity, managed by another organisation.