100% Optical moves from May 2021 to January 2022

The organisers of 100% Optical (Media 10) have today announced the postponement of the 2021 event.  

The 2021 event was due to take place 8-10 May at ExCeL London, having already been pushed back 4 months in a bid to ensure the sector could meet this year. 100% Optical will now take place in its normal month, on 29-31 January 2022.  

The situation with the pandemic has made the possibility of restrictions this spring look more certain. Whilst the Government may still stick to an April restart date for events, it now looks certain that restrictions will be with us until the vaccine roll out reaches its conclusion.  

Nathan Garnett, Director for 100% Optical said: “With restrictions likely to stay with us for longer than we had all hoped and anticipated, we feel it would be better for all of our loyal and supportive delegates, clients and partners to postpone the event.  

We want to come back with a bang, we have the backing now of all the major optical bodies, so I can assure you we will all be pulling together to make 100% Optical 2022 a truly effective trade show for the industry to help recover from this terrible pandemic.  If we staged an event with limited attendance, and travel restriction in place for our overseas exhibitors and visitors, we feel we would not be best serving our clients. 

We have been busy whilst in lockdown, and have exciting plans to share with you on virtual events and digital products to keep the sector as connected as it can be in these challenging times.”  

Henrietta Alderman, chief executive officer of the AOP, said: “We are very disappointed not to be able to deliver the event in May as planned, but we know this is the right decision for visitors and exhibitors. Our continued focus this year will be to work with Media 10 as the official event partner, to ensure education content still delivers in May, to support members in getting the points they need in the final year of the CET cycle. We know that the year ahead will still challenge us, but through our continued partnership we are confident that the next event will be our best yet. My hope is that 2022 will deliver as a celebration and will allow us to come together in person to discuss the challenges, opportunities and advancement of our profession.”

Stuart Burn, chairman of the FMO commented: “The FMO fully support 100% Optical decision to postpone the event until next year. Whilst it’s disappointing not to be able to meet up this year we now have the time to build an even more exciting and engaging conference and exhibition. 100% in Jan 22 is shaping up to be the most exhilarating optical event the UK will have ever seen and we can’t wait to see our friends, colleagues and customers there.”

General Secretary to the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, Sir Anthony Garrett CBE HonFBDO says, "Whilst it must have been a difficult decision to move 100% Optical from May it is clearly the right one. The sector can now concentrate on January 2022 and make sure that the show is a huge success. We at the Association of British Dispensing Opticians look forward to fully supporting it."

100% Optical will now take place in the original month for the show in January 2022, at ExCeL London. It is now expected to be the largest staged in the UK for decades.  

There will be a one-day virtual event in May, which will offer the opportunity for opticians and optometrists to network and meet suppliers as well as gather essential CET points. More details will be announced in the coming days.  

Finally, Mr. Garnett summed up the feedback from visitors and exhibitors alike; "One thing we know for sure – the appetite for a live exhibition experience has grown every day this pandemic has gone on. We all long for the chance to meet colleagues and have the adrenaline of seeing stands full of opticians and optoms, learning, sharing and celebrating this wonderful industry. It will be worth the wait, 100% Optical 2022 is going to be a very large celebration indeed!"

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