Who We Are

APF 2024 was a huge critical success and a fantastic showcase for the forestry, woodland, arboricultural, fencing and grounds maintenance sectors. There were more displays, competitions and events to take part in than ever before. We had great feedback from exhibitors and visitors.

Planning for APF 2026 is already underway. The show is our Golden Anniversary and will represent 50 years of the APF show from our first event in 1976 at Longleat. We want to make our Golden Anniversary show unmissable with even more exhibitors, events and competitions. We will be opening for bookings for returning 2024 exhibitors on the 1st June, giving them the opportunity to book the same site they had in 2024 and then for new exhibitors from 1st August. To encourage early bookings we will be offering the opportunity to pay just 50% of your site fee on booking to secure your site with the balance being paid by 31st March 2026.

If you would like to increase your company’s profile at the show even further, we have some fantastic sponsorship opportunities available including tickets, gates and entrances, British Lumberjack Championships, four wheel driving course, UK Loggers Competition, tree climbing competitions, the Arb Zone, the Forestry Worker Zone, Axe throwing, Woodland Crafts areas, our Schools & Education programme and our Seminar tent. We are always very happy to discuss other ideas for events with potential sponsors. Benefits include your logo on all our advertising, website, dedicated social media posts, flags, banners, machine placement and editorial in the show catalogue. If you would like to get involved, please get in touch.

The APF Exhibition is the UK’s largest forestry, woodland, arboriculture, firewood. fencing, trees and timber trade show. It attracts over 320 exhibitors and 23000 visitors The APF Exhibition is the UK’s largest forestry, woodland, arboriculture, firewood. fencing, trees and timber trade show. The show for the forestry, woodland and tree care industries but is also of significant interest to the farming industry with a dedicate fencing village and a lot of machinery and equipment designed for small woodlands and adding value to small parcels of timber and individual trees. Producing and utilising timber as woodfuel, whether as firewood or woodchips is also strongly featured, as are biomass boilers.

Over 320 exhibitors and 23000 visitors, 95% of whom are trade professionals, are expected to attend APF 2026. The visitor numbers reflect the importance the industry places on the show as the event to check out and buy new equipment. With exhibitors from as far afield as Japan and America the APF Demo has truly become a major international event. A conservative estimate puts the value of machines on show at around £80 million!

There will more competitions and events than ever before including the World Poleclimbing championships, the European Chainsaw Carving championships, the British Open tree climbing competition, the McVeigh Parker UK Open Fencing championships and the popular return of the UK Forwarder driving championships. The Forest Worker and the Arb Workers zones will have a wide variety of daily practical demos and workshops as well as many others focusing on training. There is also the UK’s largest and most varied demonstrations of traditional woodland crafts, horse logging Axe throwing!

To book your stand so to the exhibitor section of the website, useful documents and download booking form, maps and a host of other information.

You can follow APF 2026 on Facebook, Instagram and on Twitter. For full details or other information on the exhibition please contact info@apfexhibition.co.uk or ring 01428 723545.

What do the letters APF stand for?

When the first exhibition took place at Longleat in 1976 it was run by The Association Of Professional Foresters (The APF).

Around the year 2000 the APF merged with other member organisations to form Confor and the full name of the Association disappeared, however, most people in the industry referred to the Exhibition as The APF so we kept the initials as our trading name and, at the same time, formed a separate limited company, The APF International Forest Machinery Exhibition Ltd, whose sole shareholder is Confor. This was to keep the trading nature of the exhibition separate to the representative role of Confor.

Who are Confor

Confor represents almost 2000 members from all parts of the UK timber supply chain including growers, woodland managers, suppliers, contractors, harvesters, primary and secondary processors and students.

Confor provides the industry with a strong voice in the market place and at all levels of government – international, UK, country and local.

Confor is first and foremost a members organisation, funded by and accountable to businesses in the industry. Its aim is to promote the market for wood, forest products and forest services, and to help improve the industry’s competiveness.

Confor aims to build the market for timber, timber products and forest services, create a supportive policy environment for the forest industries and to help members become more competitive and successful. The APF Exhibition is a wholly owned subsidiary of Confor.

Confor Trade members get discounted rates for APF Exhibition stands and Confor individual members get free access to the show.

For more information about Confor and to enquire about membership please visit www.confor.org.uk or ring 0131 240 1410.