In a bid to attract more on-trade and independents to the London International Wine Fair, organiser Brintex has changed next year’s show dates to start on a Monday.

The 2013 show will now take place from May 20 to 22, incorporating Monday for the first time.

Following feedback from visitors and exhibitors over the summer, organisers decided to switch the dates to run the exhibition on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, instead of Tuesday to Thursday.

Exhibition director James Murray said: “We have had an overwhelmingly positive response that Monday would be preferable to Thursday. As a result of the change, we are expecting to attract a greater number of the on-trade as well as independents who tend to be quieter on Mondays and more able to leave their businesses to spend time at the show.”

This year’s show attracted 13,431 visitors compared to last year’s 13,754. First-time exhibitors came from China and other emerging producer markets cemented their positions by taking stands again. These included Georgia, Lebanon, Moldova, Russia, Slovenia and Turkey.

Other new events included the International Wine Challenge Discovery Tasting where 1,000 wines tailored to independent, on-trade and multiple grocer sectors were on offer and a selection of 50 industry briefings, seminars and masterclasses.

Companies also tried out new ideas - Tesco took a stand and invited suppliers to come to them for a Dragons’ Den style event, while the Wine Stars comptitions launched - billing itself as an X-Factor for unknown producers looking for UK representation.