Logo of the last show
The Midpex Organising Committee has recently been told that the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre is being sold and will no longer be available for Exhibitions. Plans were in hand for an event in 2027 but, given this situation, the Committee has decided not to go ahead with the event.
MIDPEX has been a biennial exhibition, first held in 1995 and attended by stamp collectors from across the UK. In recent times it has proved much harder to recruit enough dealers to make the show a financial success. This is partly due to the fact that other major stamp fairs in York, Stafford and Kempton Park are now all held twice a year, and Swinpex is also a major Fair, filling the existing needs of collectors. In addition, Midpex brought together Specialist Societies covering all aspects of Philately. Now that most major Societies promote themselves via websites and other media, the need for a promotional event for Societies has also lessened.
The Committee has decided that the remaining funds will be distributed equally to ABPS, Stamp Active and the Midland Philatelic Federation. Both the ABPS and Midland Federation have a small grant scheme that is available to Societies who need finance to continue or to facilitate promotional activity to encourage new members. Stamp Active, of course, undertakes a programme to encourage a new generation of collectors including the free postal club, Kidstamps.
Chairman of Midpex, Clive Jones, commented “I am extremely grateful for all the efforts by the Organising Committee over the years to enable Midpex to take part. I think it has made a major contribution to the promotion of philately over that time. Given that the venue is no longer available it is with regret that it is no longer practical for both financial and organisational reasons for Midpex to continue at this time.”