3rd & 4th June 2026 | Bolton Wanderers Football Stadium | Free tickets — final call
Whether you’re running a one-van operation, a five-decorator firm, or a contractor with twenty-plus operatives across multiple sites, the question about any trade event is the same: what does the business actually get out of two days off the tools?
Here’s the honest answer for Trade Decorator LIVE.
Built for the professional end of the trade
Trade Decorator LIVE is the UK’s only event built specifically around professional decorating contractors. The programme reflects it. Pricing, margins, lead generation, kit investment, supplier relationships, the safety and welfare of the people on your team. The exhibitors, the seminar theatre and the conversations on the floor are pitched at firms that take the craft and the business seriously, whatever their size.
Seven free seminars worth the trip on their own
Included with your ticket. No booking, just turn up.
- Jon Mears — What’s the Best Pricing Method for Decorators? Survey data from 300+ UK decorators on how the trade prices work and where profit leaks out.
- Tony Preston — It’s Not What You Know. It’s Who Knows You. 40+ years in construction and one of the first UK painting contractors to achieve ISO 9001. Positioning the business beyond price competition and turning reputation into higher-value work.
- Ben Dyer (Powered Now) — The Hidden Cost of Later. Data from 500 UK trade businesses on late payments, unpaid invoices, and the cashflow drag that hits firms of every size.
- Gary Marsh — How I Actually Get Work From Trusted Decorator. Real lead-generation results from a top-performing decorator on the platform.
- James Wildish (UKSA) — From Chancer to Spray Specialist. How spraying is opening up new revenue streams for decorating firms.
- Frankie Williams (Stolen Tools UK) — Tool Theft in Construction. Van and site security, tracking technology, and exactly what to do if you’re hit — a growing issue for firms running multiple vans and sites.
- Andy Stevens (The Build Network) — Mental Health in Construction. Lived experience and what actually works — a topic increasingly central to what any responsible employer needs to be engaging with.
Kit and training for decorators at every level
The LIVE Spray Zone on Stand 45, run by Abode Academy, is a working booth where you or your operatives can trigger the latest spray kit before the business commits the spend. Mirka, Repair Care and Fresco Harmony are running hands-on training with capped numbers and real materials. These are proper sessions, not demos watched from the back of a crowd. Bring the team; they’ll leave with techniques that go straight into the next quote.
Thousands of pounds in prizes across the two days
Seventeen exhibitors are running competitions on their stands, with the prize pool comfortably into four figures. Headline draws include a Mirka DEROS II 750CV, a FLEX ORE 5 150 18 EC sander, an INDASA PRO X orbital sander bundle worth £600+, a £500+ UKSA prize bundle, a £300+ Brewers Dash Cam Bundle, and £250+ product bundles from Polyvine, Ultratape and Ciret. Plus MyPaintbrush’s now-legendary ‘Guess how many Freddos in the jar’ — winner walks away with a signed and framed Paul Gascoigne 1990 England shirt. Worth a lap of the floor with a competition slip in your hand.
The trade in one room
8,800+ UK decorators sit behind Trade Decorator LIVE on the Trade Decorator Forum, and for two days a year those conversations come off the screen and onto the floor. Manufacturers, merchants and specification contacts on the stands, ready to talk trade terms, training partnerships and supply directly, the kind of conversations that move faster face to face than they do through a rep’s diary.
The practical bit
Free tickets. Free lunch. Free parking. Bring the team, bring an apprentice, bring the office manager who handles your quoting. Most contractors who’ve been before will tell you the day pays itself back several times over in better decisions, better suppliers, and ideas brought back into the business.
Register free at www.tradedecoratorlive.co.uk
See you in Bolton.Trade Decorator LIVE takes place on 3rd and 4th June 2026 at Bolton Wanderers Stadium, Bolton. Entry is free for professional decorators, contractors and apprentices, including complimentary lunch and free parking on site. Register at tradedecoratorlive.co.uk and join over 1,000 painters and decorators at the UK’s only trade-specific decorating show.
