Stoneleigh Park, located in the heart of England, is the venue for CRE Midlands – 4 and 5 March 2020.

Six miles south of Coventry, between the M6, M40 and M42, Hall 2 is Stoneleigh’s biggest and best-equipped venue, offering thousands of free parking places alongside the hall – ideal for exhibitors as well as visitors.

CRE Midlands will attract key local church leaders, influencers and purchasers from major towns and cities like Birmingham, Coventry, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Worcester, Rugby, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Oxford, Cheltenham, Northampton, Milton Keynes, Derby and Nottingham.

"It’s our first exhibition in the area for five years and while some will go to Surrey for CRE National 2019 the vast majority will not expect to travel more than 50 miles to a venue," explained CRE event director Brett Pitchfork. "For them, it’s Stoneleigh only!"

Richard Shepherd, business development manager at Ecclesiastical and Heritage World (pictured at the magazine's stand at CRE North), is a regular visitor at CRE exhibitions throughout the country. He said: "These events are always worth a visit, even if only for the pleasant and friendly people there. The usual variety of stands all have one thing in common: the Christian spirit and goodwill. My experience is always of very professional and trustworthy experts in their respective fields."

If the exhibition’s visitor profile is similar to CRE North, 50 per cent of an expected 2,500 plus attendees will be at their first-ever CRE – giving exhibitors access to a fresh and engaged audience.

"Stand prices are the same as CRE North 2019, making the exhibition as affordable as possible – and there’s a special reason to respond quickly with a 10 per cent early bird discount available on all bookings," said CRE sales director Carol Malpass. "CRE North sold out with several months to go and with many strategic locations already taken at Stoneleigh, we urge prospective exhibitors to be in touch as soon as possible."

For more information and to book a stand at CRE Midlands 2020 click here.

Over the years the CRE has provided church organisations with a focal point to source goods and products ranging from building solutions and furniture to lighting and sound systems, vestments and plate. Many exhibitors became regular fixtures, acting as a network of service providers. Its many quirky features included a series of ‘Clergy on the Catwalk’ fashion shows of vestments and the unforgettable My Church Needs One of Those competitions – the McNoot Awards.

Among CRE exhibitors offering solutions to practical questions is Fuller’s Finer Furniture, who travel from Weston-super-Mare to demonstrate a range of specialist church furnishing.

The company’s managing director Paul Fuller (pictured right) told Ecclesiastical and Heritage World the shows are a success and an “opportunity to have good conversations with existing and new customers”.

Fullers have been making their renowned height adjustable Canterbury and York Lecterns since 2001. Demand for these popular lecterns continues and Paul puts this down to a number of factors - click here for the full story.

Pictured (right) is Gerry Browne of church lighting specialists, Lighting Dynamics - unusually alone at his stand as every time we tried to get to speak to him he was busy talking to interested visitors and showing them examples of his spectacular church lighting projects.

Indeed, Lighting Dynamics are regularly featured on the front cover of Ecclesiastical and Heritage World including a lighting project at the beautiful St Giles RC Church in Staffordshire. Gerry commented: "I believe that as one of Augustus Pugin’s top UK building projects, there has been a considerable amount of architectural interest in the feature”.

In its 35 plus years of existence, Christian Resources Exhibitions has grown to become one of the most important ecumenical events in the Christian calendar. There is no other exhibition in Europe that features so many organisations from such a broad church.

For more information on either upcoming CRE events, and to book stands, contact Carol on 0161 250 2467 or James on 0161 250 2306.

Furniture makes its way across the sea

This summer saw West Country-based Fullers Finer Furniture complete a number of deliveries across the water in Northern Ireland. The first was to the Salvation Army’s new premises in Larne, County Antrim – just a short distance from the ferry port. The order was placed following introductions at the Christian Resources Exhibition in Manchester. It was for the company’s trademark York lectern, a Holiness Table and, more unusually, three flag stands.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand D16 at CRE Midlands

St Bart’s goes digital

The parish church of St Bartholomew in Horley, a parish covering Horley town and Gatwick Airport, is a Grade One-listed building, mainly of 14th century origin, although a church has been on the site since the middle of the 12th century.

Click here to read the full story and visit Cunnings on Stand D15 at CRE Midlands

Lighting developments have evolved into new LED product ranges

Over recent years, West Midlands-based Lighting Dynamics UK has continued to develop as one of the UK’s premier companies specialising in the interior and exterior lighting of cathedrals, churches and other places of worship, across all Christian denominations.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand C12 at CRE Midlands

Lighting specialist looks forward to a welcome return

One of the companies that had reason to be glad they exhibited at the last CRE in Manchester five years ago is Anthony J Smith (Glos) Ltd. They have a long history of designing and installing bespoke lighting systems within churches and since that last show they have been fortunate to have been involved in a number of church projects in the North West – including at Standish, Ecclestone, Preston and Oldham. They also have a small number of other projects in the region at the planning stage.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand P11 at CRE Midlands

Collaboration brings stunning results

Nestling in the heart of the historic Norfolk market town of Swaffham, the beautiful Grade Two-listed Methodist Church has recently been renovated to offer state-of-the-art resources to people of all ages and interests in a bright and welcoming building.

The transformation has been accomplished in no small part through the collaboration of two specialist church suppliers – Cunnings Recording Associates and Fullers Finer Furniture – in conjunction with the building contractor H Smith and Sons of Honingham.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stands D15 and D16 at CRE Midlands

Grade One-listed church is latest masterpiece in heating company’s portfolio

The Church of St Lawrence in North Wingfield, Derbyshire, is a Grade One-listed building, part of which dates from the 12th century – although mention is made in the Domesday Book of a church and priest there.

Click here to read the full story.

Get the latest church AV – without the visual impact

Churches, understandably, provide numerous challenges which need to be faced when installing an audio-visual system. The complexity and feature set of the system – although important – can often take second place to aesthetic concerns: where the building’s décor cannot be compromised under any circumstances.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand S152 at CRE National

New church building is an award-winner

On 12 May 1894 a parcel of land on Elizabeth Road in Caterham – now Francis Road – was purchased at a cost of £32, for a new church building to be called Oak Hall. The church building was completed during July and August at a cost of £206, and opened on Thursday 13 September of that year.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand S108 at CRE National

CAVS install new AV system 'seamlessly' at St James Church, Trowbidge

Creative Audio-Visual Solutions (CAVS) are a dedicated church audio and visual supplier working throughout the UK.

The Hertfordshire-based company were recently commissioned to install a new audio and visual system into the Parish Church of St James in Trowbridge. The brief was to ensure that that all new equipment fitted seamlessly into the environment whilst providing the latest technologies for full range worship and advanced multimedia display.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand S152 at CRE National

Church heating specialist spans the Midlands

The Parish Church of St John the Baptist in the village of Somersham, near Huntingdon, stands on a site which is thought to have been used for Christian worship since the second half of the 7th century.

Earlier this year the heating system in the church was completely upgraded by Stoke-on-Trent church heating specialists Mellor and Mottram. The previous system was over 20 years old and had become very inefficient and costly to maintain. In a news article the church noted that in 2016 it had cost over £2,000 to have the boiler serviced for the following winter.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand FC13 at CRE National

Hymnal Plus - the leading worship music solution

Whether you have trouble finding good, reliable organists (or other musicians), have no instrument or simply want good music available for outreach, the Hymnal Plus is the solution.

As well as churches, the Hymnal Plus is widely used by Schools and Colleges, Chaplaincies in the Armed Forces, Prisons and Hospitals, Retirement Homes, Retreat Centres, Christian Holiday Centres, Cruise Liners, Crematoriums and private individuals – all of whom find the Hymnal Plus provides their complete worship music needs.

Click here to read the full story and visit Stand F2 at CRE National

The non-invasive system that’s at the Core of damp treatment

Belmont Abbey, just outside Hereford, is a Roman Catholic Benedictine monastery which also serves as a parish church for the local community. The abbey church is a Grade Two*-listed building dating from 1860. It was designed by Edward Welby Pugin, son of the celebrated architect Augustus Welby Pugin, and is noted for the quality of its sculpture and stained glass.

As with many buildings of it age, the abbey had various dampness problems that required constant attention – rising, or structural, damp being just one of them. Specialist damp treatment company Core Conservation were engaged to survey the building and proposed the Aquapol non-invasive system.

Click here to read the full story

Best-Selling Crematorium Furniture

Rosehill are often the contract furniture supplier of choice for the bereavement and crematorium sector. We’ve been supplying quality furniture to funeral directors across the UK for over 3 decades offering a wide selection of seating and bespoke sanctuary items.

This blog post covers our best-selling items for crematoriums making it easier for you to choose and order your furniture with Rosehill.

Click here to read the full story

New audio system for St Nicholas’ Church, Burton in Wirral

St Nicholas’ Church, Burton in Wirral, is located in the village of Burton, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Cheshire. It is designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building and is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Wirral South.

The parochial church council’s set audio, lighting and control systems specialists, Richard King Systems, the brief of upgrading and modernising the audio system, for the reproduction of both speech and live performances.

Click here to read the full story