Behind The Scenes at PATS 2026
The T.Forrest team are back in our Preston-based headquarters fresh off the back of PATS 2026. The Pet & Aquatics Trade Show (PATS) is an annual event allowing businesses through the pet and aquatics sector to meet up, showcase their products and build connections across the UK and internationally.
This year, PATS took place between the 27th-29th September and was the first ever time that we have attended the event. PATS allowed us to connect with top brands and retailers across the country, whilst showcasing our ever-growing product range and a brand we are proud to display in stores nationwide.
Our Time at PATS 2026
Our first PATS was a fantastic experience for the team. The three days gave us the chance to meet a wide range of businesses within the pet trade and perhaps our favourite part, finally meeting people in person who we’ve spoken to over the phone and email for years!
Trade shows provide an opportunity to have those conversations face-to-face, which is something that can be difficult to replicate through day-to-day business communications. It's also a chance for us to hear directly from the people stocking and selling our products and understand what matters to them when choosing products for their customers.
Around our stand, the atmosphere was fantastic! Meeting both new and existing customers, it was great to talk through our range, including our new £3.99 RRP pouches. For us, PATS was about much more than simply putting products on a stand. It was an opportunity to introduce T.Forrest to new businesses, strengthen relationships with existing customers and get a better understanding of where we can take the business next.
We hugely appreciate every customer who continues to support T.Forrest, whether you've been buying from us for years, have only recently discovered our products or came to speak to us for the first time at PATS.
Tina's verdict
We asked our Financial Director, Tina Wallbank, about the PATS experience:
1. How did you feel PATS went this year and what did you enjoy most about the show?
PROUD!!! Sooo PROUD! T Forrest is not work to Shaun and I, it is our LIFE along with our family and so having the 2 together, just makes me ultimately PROUD!
I enjoyed catching up with old contacts, meeting the Bestpets team, and chatting to our Pet Shop customers and Wholesale customers.
2. What does it mean to you to meet both new and existing customers face-to-face at events like PATS?
Existing Customers - It was an amazing feeling after chatting for years to finally meet in person – it was like meeting your pen-pal finally 😂 Youngsters won’t know what a pen-pal is!
New customers - There are so many natural treats around and at the NEC – mainly imported! To finally show them our Indian factory on the screen, display our own manufactured products, again, I was just bursting with pride and felt like I can help them save costs… The proof was on the stand - where a telephone call does not portray this fact!
Showcasing Our Latest Products at PATS
Our latest range that we were excited to showcase at PATS 2026 was our new £3.99 RRP pouches available for a range of products, including:
- Chicken buffalo sticks
- Chicken feet
- Chicken necks
- Buffalo spleen
- Mini chicken sausages
- Mini black pudding sausages
- Buffalo tripe sticks
- Buffalo trachea
- Chewy lamb sticks
- Buffalo lung
- Buffalo ears
- Rabbit ears
Having the products physically available on our stand meant visitors could see the range for themselves and discuss individual products with our team. This led to conversations around everything from product suitability and pricing, to stock availability, margins and ordering.
The reaction to the new range was one of the highlights of the show. It was particularly useful to hear direct feedback from retailers and other businesses about the products they would be interested in stocking and the types of ranges that work for their customers.
For us, this kind of feedback is invaluable. While online sales and customer enquiries give us plenty of information about what people are looking for, speaking directly with businesses within the trade gives us another perspective that can help shape future products, ranges and offers.
BTS designing our PATS stand
Of course, the work for PATS didn't start when the doors opened. A lot of preparation went into deciding how we wanted the T.Forrest stand to look and, more importantly, how we wanted visitors to experience it.
Charlotte designed the stand ahead of the event and, with help from the rest of the team, spent the day before PATS putting everything together and getting the stand ready for the opening morning. The design needed to do more than simply display our products. We wanted visitors to immediately recognise the T.Forrest brand while still being able to browse our products easily and understand what we offer.
We also wanted to make sure there was enough space for our team to actually have conversations with visitors. With customers asking questions about individual products, trade pricing, stock and logistics, having an organised and accessible stand was important.
Seeing the stand come together the day before the show was such a rewarding part of the process. And it wasn’t just our team who liked the stand! It received plenty of positive comments around the T.Forrest branding and our signature forest green tone. It was great to see that the work that had gone into the design was noticed by visitors and helped the stand attract attention throughout the show.
Charlotte’s thoughts on our stand
We asked Charlotte, our Head of Marketing & Design, about our stand:
- You designed the PATS stand - what was your thinking behind the design and how did it feel seeing everything come together at the show?
We used a great company to build our stand, who shared their ideas, so I used some elements along with my own to create our final design. Most importantly, I wanted the stand to be welcoming and friendly and I think it really portrayed this. I wanted to steer away from walls and any elements blocking people from seeing who we are and what we do and make it more inviting so that people could just walk on and chat to any member of our team. I also used our branding throughout the design which, I might be biased, but I just love and think it looks amazing and fits us as a family business so well. We actually had a couple of ladies taking photos of our stand and saying they loved it so much and really like our branding, which is so nice to hear! Also taking it further with the packaging on the stand that I have also designed, hearing customers say how much they love the packaging and can't wait to stock them is something else, especially when self taught in all aspects. It wouldn't have looked as good without the help from our amazing team the day before and it was such a special feeling walking up to the stand every morning, it felt like us, and that's what I hoped to achieve.
Looking ahead after PATS 2026
If there's one thing we took away from our first PATS, it's that the event was just as much about people and relationships as it was about products. We met a huge number of new businesses, existing customers and had the opportunity to strengthen and build long-term relationships with the businesses who choose to stock our products.
But now, the real hard work starts! The feedback we received will help us as we continue developing our product range and looking at new ways to support our trade customers. We'll also be following up with the businesses we met, continuing conversations around our products and looking at where some of these new opportunities could take us.
Most importantly, we'd like to say thank you to everyone who visited the T.Forrest stand at PATS 2026. Whether you were a new contact discovering us for the first time, an existing customer coming to say hello or someone who has supported the business for years, we really appreciate you taking the time to speak with us.
We're proud of what the team created for our first PATS and excited about what comes next.