Trade fair camaraderie to rescue as Robert James Hull realises he forgot something important
There’s always a risk of forgetting something when packing ready for a trade show but Rob Hull’s Top Drawer oversight was pretty obvious – he had no trousers!
The creative mind behind Robert James Hull’s greeting card designs was stranded on his stand at Kensington Olympia on opening day, Sunday, 14 January, with only his paint-splattered jogging bottoms from set-up to his name until the famous trade fair camaraderie came to his rescue.
“Thankfully Lee Pryke over on Mr Pickles’ stand opposite me had some spare ones here,” Sheffield-based Rob told PG Buzz, “of all the things to have on your stand! He saw me and asked what size I was, I said 32”, he said ‘I’m a 32 too, here you go’!
“I’d packed everything and thought that preparation for the show had gone so well, then at nearly midnight on Saturday in my hotel room I checked and realised it was true, I had no trousers!”
It just so happened that Lee had come to exhibit his unique soft toy brand at the show straight from his travels around Hong Kong, Cambodia and Bangkok so hadn’t unpacked his bag, which still contained holiday essentials such as hand gel – and spare trousers.
Lee laughed: “It was a random morning! I came straight here with my holiday bag. Originally our flights meant we’d have got back on Saturday, but that was too tight for the show set-up so we changed them to Thursday but I still felt like a zombie with the jet lag.”
When a pal arrived at the show on Sunday Rob sent her straight out clothes shopping so was able to give Lee back his trousers the following morning, all neatly folded.
Having made a great impact at PG Live last year with his dog illustrations topped by a party hat and stuck-on pom-pom, Rob added: “I was texting my girlfriend Belle on Saturday night and said I had no choice but to wear my old joggers unless I was in my pants as the nearest Zara clothes store didn’t open til 12. Belle told me not to point it out to everyone, and here we are in PG Buzz!”
And it’s not such a rare phenomenon as fellow Top Drawer exhibitor Ricicle Cards’ David Nichols-Rice admitted: “I’d been messaging Rob on Instagram about it because I’ve driven to at least two trade shows where I’ve done the same thing.
“I drive down in my painting trousers then find I haven’t packed any jeans to wear at the show. I did it at PG Live, I had no jeans or socks and had to do a click and collect Amazon order for the next day!
“It’s got so bad, I’ve now added an extra line to my checklist for everything I take to a show, I’ve put jeans on the list and now tick it off when I’ve packed them. I now have people reminding be on Instagram to pack my jeans – it’s the top advice I’d give to any exhibitor.”
