David Long
UK – With great sadness, Sourcing City regrets to announce the passing of David Long. The founder and Chairman of the British industry service provider passed away on December 22, 2025.
Long significantly shaped the British and international promotional products industry for decades as the visionary behind Sourcing City and also in other leading roles. In 1990, he became Managing Director of the Dowlis Group, which established itself as the biggest independent company in the British promotional products trade under the twelve years of his leadership. Long also served as Chairman of the industry association, Promota, for several years, during which membership reached a peak of 1,000 companies and the Promota Show established itself as one of the leading trade fairs within the industry.
In the year 2003, Long leveraged his long-standing experience from the promotional products trade and founded Sourcing City, UK-Farnborough, as a forward-looking, digital industry service provider. Since then, the company has introduced many innovative services over the course of the years and established itself as a market-leading, digital information and trading platform in the UK industry.
In 2007, Long compiled and published the first Promotional Merchandise Industry Market Report. The report that has been published annually since, contains the only comprehensive national statistics and analyses on the haptic advertising market in Great Britain and Ireland.
In 2017, Sourcing City launched Merchandise World together with the BPMA (British Promotional Merchandise Association). The trade show is staged twice a year, in January and September, and is now considered to be the biggest and most important trade show and networking event in the British industry.
As co-initiator of the “Promo Alliance”, a joint initiative with the PSI (Promotional Product Service Institute) and the ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute), Sourcing City also promotes the international exchange within the promotional products sector.
In 2007, Promota recognised David Long with the Roger Saunders Award for his outstanding services to the industry. In 2011, he was distinguished with the Hampshire Life Recognition Award for his charitable work outside the industry.
Long was widely known and deeply respected within the promotional products industry, not only for his leadership and vision, but for the person he was. He approached his work and his relationships with integrity, kindness, and a genuine desire to support others, according to Sourcing City. “Those who knew David will remember him for his generosity of spirit, his warmth and his sense of humour. He was a mentor, a colleague, and a friend to many, and he took great pride in helping others succeed. His influence extended far beyond the business itself, touching countless individuals across the industry. David leaves behind a lasting legacy through the people he inspired and the community he helped build. He will be greatly missed.”
