What goes into the making of an unmissable event for the UK packaging industry?
Sema Tezel Basbug, Head of Marketing for Easyfairs UK Packaging Portfolio, sheds light on positioning London Packaging Week as a jewel in the industry’s crown.
Anyone attending an industry event asks two simple questions: what will I gain and what is the value to my business?
In today’s climate where opportunities and pressures are accelerating at the same pace, those questions matter more than ever. Time, budgets, and resources are scrutinised and return on investment is a necessity.
Against this backdrop, Easyfairs has shaped its UK Packaging Portfolio, and particularly London Packaging Week, into a commercially valuable, high-impact event that consistently delivers for the industry. The growth since the London Packaging Week brand launched in 2022 reflects both strong demand and clear market positioning as the UK’s leading packaging event.
The leading industry platform
Since Packaging Innovations & Luxury Packaging London first opened its doors at the Business Design Centre in 2010, the event has evolved to keep pace with the industry. More of the market came to be represented on the show floor, exhibitor numbers outpaced the capacity of the original venue, and visitor numbers skyrocketed.
Fast-forward to 2022 and London Packaging Week was born. Under that brand and, since 2023 relocated at Excel, the event has quickly established itself as a central meeting point for the packaging value chain. It is not simply an exhibition; it is the place where innovation, networking, and commercial opportunity converge.
Attendance continues to rise, with more than 5,700 unique visitors in 2025, a 15% increase on the previous year. Visitors come with a broad range of interests, notably around luxury and premium packaging, sustainable options, and smart and intelligent packaging solutions. These interests demonstrate how the event is evolving alongside the needs of the market. Crucially, over 90% of attendees come from the UK, making the event a highly focused opportunity for brands and suppliers targeting British buyers and decision-makers.
Reinforcing the importance of this last point is the strong presence of international businesses among the 200+ exhibitors who make London Packaging Week their home every 12 months. Showing their products and capabilities to an engaged audience of the UK’s brightest and finest packaging minds is a key driver of their commercial success, as well as that of the event itself.
This is one facet of London Packaging Week, which succeeds because it delivers across multiple dimensions. It is a sourcing platform, a learning environment, and a space for strategic conversations that cannot happen in isolation.
The event is structured around four sector-specific areas, one each for the luxury, beauty, drinks, and FMCG markets. This ensures relevance across key markets. The luxury packaging segment, in particular, has become a defining pillar; supporting the UK’s £10.5bn luxury goods sector with a focused environment for high-end design, materials, and innovation. The continued backing of renowned industry bodies such as Walpole and the British Beauty Council reinforce the importance of London Packaging Week to the UK luxury sector.
Couple that with an ongoing partnership with packaging industry organisations such as BCMPA (contract packers), FPA (foodservice), WRAP and INCPEN (circular economy), and the importance of London Packaging Week to multiple touchpoints in the packaging value chain comes into sharp relief.
In reality, strong attendance and representation is only part of the story.
What differentiates London Packaging Week is the quality of its audience and the tangible business outcomes it delivers.
Major brands including Diageo, Unilever, Kraft Heinz, Charlotte Tilbury, Harrods, Boots, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Jo Malone, and Dyson attend each year. Importantly, these visitors are decision-makers, from managing directors and procurement leads to heads of packaging and founders.
Exhibitors benefit directly from this concentration of buying power. In 2025, exhibitors generated an average of 156 leads each, underlining the event’s effectiveness as a commercial platform. This level of engagement is driven by a highly targeted audience: more than 2,600 brands and design agencies attend the most recent edition, with around 70% actively sourcing new suppliers and solutions.
Satisfaction levels reinforce this performance. Over 80% of visitors would recommend the event, and exhibitor rebooking rates remain strong, with many increasing their presence year-on-year.
Growth in context
The rise of London Packaging Week mirrors the increasing strategic importance of packaging to brands and retailers, across promotion, consumer experience, logistics and sustainability. Regulatory changes such as Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) and the forthcoming Deposit Return Scheme are reshaping how packaging is designed, funded, and managed at end of life.
At the same time, consumer expectations are creating competing demands. Shoppers want sustainability alongside premium aesthetics, reduced plastic alongside product protection, and reusable systems that remain convenient. These tensions require collaboration across the entire value chain.
London Packaging Week provides the environment for those conversations. It brings together brand owners, designers, suppliers, engineers, and sustainability experts in a way that enables practical problem-solving and shared understanding.
The event’s conference programme has expanded in line with its growing influence. More than 90 expert speakers now deliver over 20 hours of content across two days, covering the most pressing issues facing the industry.
Sessions address regulatory developments, advances in sustainable materials, and the role of digital technologies in packaging innovation. Speakers from organisations including Nestlé, Mars, Lush, BrewDog, Innocent Drinks, Google, Microsoft, and more share insights alongside consultants and emerging innovators. Government bodies including Defra and PackUK also contribute, offering practical guidance through clinics and information sessions.
Importantly, the content balances sustainability with broader themes. Topics such as accessibility, inclusive design, and smart packaging highlight how packaging must perform across multiple dimensions.
This depth of content ensures that the event is not only about sourcing products but understanding the strategic direction of the industry.
Discovery and innovation
The introduction of the Innovation Awards marks another step in the event’s evolution. The awards recognise excellence in technical development, design, user experience, and commercial impact, providing a platform for breakthrough solutions and emerging ideas.
This focus on innovation extends across the show floor, where both established suppliers and disruptive start-ups present new approaches to materials, formats, and functionality. For many smaller companies, the event acts as a launchpad to connect with major brands and scale their ideas.
This dovetails with what fundamentally fuels the continued success and growth of London Packaging Week: timing and purpose.
The industry needed a place to come together as regulatory pressure, environmental responsibility, and commercial demands intensified. It needed a space where innovation could be experienced directly, not just discussed.
Packaging decisions are often invisible but critical and range from material choices that enable recyclability to structural designs that eliminate waste. These innovations are waiting to be discovered and that is what London Packaging Week facilitates.
This remit will be reinforced in 2026 with the introduction of the Discovery Theatre, a dedicated space for emerging technologies, AI-driven systems, smart packaging, and circular materials. It will act as a focal point for forward-looking ideas and breakthrough solutions.
When London Packaging Week returns to Excel on 16 & 17 September 2026, it does so with a clear identity and proven track record. It is the UK’s leading packaging event, combining a predominantly domestic audience of decision-makers with a diverse international exhibitor base.
It is where UK buyers meet a global supplier base, where innovation is seen and tested, and where conversations translate into commercial outcomes. After four years of sustained growth, strong rebooking, and increasing industry backing, its position is not aspirational, it is established.
Discovery is everything. This year, everything will be discovered at London Packaging Week.
London Packaging Week returns on 16 & 17 September at Excel. Register your interest in the event at www.londonpackagingweek.com.