BREXIT and a changing retail landscape were some of the hot topics at the 42nd Lakes Hospitality Trade Show.

More than 100 industry names took up stalls in the exhibition hall at the Junction 36 Rural Auction Centre, Crooklands.

With more than 17 million visitors spending £1.2 billion a year in the Lake District, businesses from across the country were keen to be involved.

As well as the stalls, featuring food and drink, catering equipment, technology and interiors, there was also plenty of visitor workshops to engage with.

Talk topics included best online practices, the opportunities and challenges that the hospitality industry was facing and how to transform a business into a brand.

Kendal-based interior design business the Route ID was able to use its prime position near the show entrance to get its name known.

“This is our first year in trading. It’s our first ever trade show so we’re quite excited,” said director Imogen Royall.

“We came because it has quite a community feel and it’s really great for networking.

“There’s faces that we recognise but there’s also loads of people that we haven’t met before so it’s really great to get talking to those people and support other businesses as well.”

Richard Jennings, of Windermere, the business development manager for Dorset-based House of Sarunds, which provides personalised chocolate bars to shops and holiday accommodation, said that it was the ‘decline of the high street’ that was pushing the business towards hospitality.

Mr Jennings said that a ‘number of retailers’ were closing down because they were ‘being forced out by different styles of shopping.’

“As a trader we have to find different ways to supply people,” he said. “We’ve come here today to look at the hospitality industry.”

For food wholesalers, McClures, which already has an established presence in the Lake District and also owns Parsons, the show provided essential face to face interaction.

Sales manager for Parsons of Kendal, Adrian Myers said: “I think it’s important to be seen by local businesses to try to meet new customers but also to interact with existing customers.”

He added that costs were one of the major challenges for the industry and as the market became more knowledgeable about fresh fruit and vegetables, businesses had to adapt.

“Everybody’s budgets are being squeezed,” he said. “Unfortunately in our market we are weather dependent - you might have seen about the snow in Spain and the continent that drives the prices up.”

And Europe was at the forefront of many of the attendees’ minds. Cllr Ben Berry, who works for family business English Lakes Hotels, said that as Brexit negotiations get underway the industry needed to consider its workforce.

“In the South Lakes, there literally isn’t enough people who live here to do the jobs,” he said. “We need to come up with a system that means that people who want to can come and experience the UK, contribute to our fantastic local economy and get involved with the wonderful hospitality industry that we have.”