Glee is abandoning its return to Sunday opening and as of next year will run from a Monday to Wednesday.
The garden trade exhibition reverted to Sunday opening in 2013, saying that research had suggested that a Sunday show day would allow more independents to attend. Following the show, opinions were divided on the success of the decision, but this year's event stuck to the Sunday-to-Tuesday format, and tried to boost visitor numbers on the first day by dubbing it Super Sunday and creating new features.

Now, however, organiser i2i Events says that following consultation with suppliers, retailers and trade associations Glee 2015 will take place from Monday to Wednesday, September 14 to 16, at Birmingham's NEC.

After several years of falling visitor numbers, this year's event put several new initiatives in place and was deemed a success. But i2i says there is a widely supported view that Sunday is no longer an essential day for those attending the show, and that a weekday-only format offers greater flexibility and a stronger platform for business to be done for both exhibitors and visitors.

Said event manager Matthew Mein: "Glee's opening days have been a part of an ongoing discussion regarding the best possible format for the event for many years. In 2014 we tackled a number of vital aspects, and believe that the changes that were made have kick-started a period of regeneration for the show, whilst also creating a vibrant and revitalised platform for business.

"The change to a weekday show provides the opportunity to deliver a number of additional benefits, most notably the potential for an increase in visitor numbers, and additional flexibility for those that visit - including when they attend, how many team members they can bring with them, and how long they stay at the show.

"This latter benefit was certainly a trend which emerged in 2014, in that more people were staying at the show for longer. Over 400 more people revisited the show on the Tuesday compared to 2013 figures, whilst attendance on the Monday was also up year-on-year. I've no doubt that an additional weekday will enable this trend to continue to grow in the year ahead."