The NEC’s halls were once again alive to the sound of deal-making, where visitors came to take in the latest product launches and the many show features and opportunities. The show was a resounding success giving weight to the renewed optimism in the market. Building on the success of last year, Sign & Digital UK affirmed its place as the premier visual communications show in the UK. With the show aisles active with movers and shakers from the industry, the volume of business done at the show was testament to the optimism and opportunities this market offers.
Rudi Blackett, event director comments: “This year’s show played a vital role in helping to generate business and move the industry forwards and we were delighted to play host to many new products and showcase demonstrations of a wide range of products and services. I would like to give a big thank you to all of our exhibitors and visitors alike, who contributed to the success of Sign & Digital UK 2010.”
Many exhibitors were delighted with the show’s attendance and the flow of visitors interested in learning more about their products and actually placing orders at the event.
Mimaki’s exclusive distributor, Hybrid Services, enjoyed unprecedented sales in the week of the show, with orders placed across all market sectors and key products selling out. John de la Roche, Hybrid’s national sales manager, said “we’re in the fortunate position of having our April and May order books absolutely full. Our resellers had an excellent show and we’re working hard to fulfill the machine orders as quickly as we can.”
John Clements of Boldscan had this to say about the show “we were delighted once again with very good attendance numbers at this year’s Sign & Digital UK show, where we introduced several new products and handed out over 750 of our new Product Guides. The Show remains our flagship event for launching new products and introducing our new product guide each year and has once again delivered for us as promised.”
Similar sentiments were echoed by James Carpenter, managing director at Doro Tape UK Ltd, “We have been coming to Sign & Digital UK, or Sign UK in its former life, for the best part of 20 years now. I have always found the show to be of paramount importance in serving as a shop window on the industry, a job that it does better than anything else out there. As usual the show has been very well organised, and we have seen fantastic levels of footfall to the stand.”
Ivaylo Vladimirov, project manager at Mouse PS comments, “Having exhibited at Sign & Digital UK 2010 for the first time, we found it to be a fantastic show that provided a great many opportunities for making new business contacts. We have come here specifically to build our brand and reputation with sign making companies in the UK, and have taken considerable steps to achieving this aim.”
Dean Carpenter from Laserite summed up the success of the show “We had an excellent show this year. For each of the three show days we had a steady stream of good quality enquiries, some of which have already resulted in sales of our Lotus laser systems. Bookings for our on-site demo vehicle are the highest that they have ever been. We’ve already re-booked for 2011’’
Visitors to the show were also impressed. Mark Gordon, owner of Flash Signs commented, “This is my third time visiting the show, and this year I am here specifically to source a digital printer. One of the standout things for me at the 2010 show has been the significantly increased number of new products at the show, and as a result of my visit, I will definitely be buying in the coming months.”
Alan Caddick, marketing manager for the show adds, “There were numerous features that received great feedback from visitors, such as the Manchester United competition sponsored by Hybrid Services, the Grafityp F1 wrapping competition, the incredible wealth of new product launches, the Adobe and Corel seminars, the new Signmakers Workshop, as well as the Ibiza Angels at the massage zone. We are already planning our features programme for 2011 and would welcome any suggestions as to what visitors would like to see at the event.’’
Sign & Digital UK 2010 overall attendance, subject to audit, was 6,114 with over 5,500 of these being unique visitors.
Visitors came from a wide range of companies including: Adidas Group, Arcadia UK, Augustus Martin, Balfour Beatty, Bezier, Birmingham City Council, British Airways, Butterfield Signs, C3 Imaging, Cadbury, Carillion, Cornwall Signs, Ebbsfleet Screenprinters, Fastsigns, Fenwick, Hampshire County Council, Harrisons Signs, Harrods, Hawes Signs, IKEA, JC Decaux, Legoland, Linney Group, Manchester Airport, McKenzie Clark, Network Rail, Ringway Signs, Service Graphics, Sign A Rama, Signs Express, St Ives, TTC Signs and West Midland Fire Service.
Over 30 stands have already been booked, with many more to follow in the coming weeks, for next year’s show which is being held on 12-14 April 2011, in Halls 17&18 at the NEC, Birmingham…Already booked include the likes of William Smith, Graphtec, IGS, Plex Display, Ultima Displays, Signwaves, Inktec Europe, Expand International, Mouse PS, Global Erecting Sign Services, Fairfield Displays & Lighting, Laserite, and ITC who took the opportunity to get in early and secure prime stand positions for this very popular annual event.
For further information on exhibiting at Sign & Digital UK 2011, visit the show website www.signanddigitaluk.com or email signanddigitaluk@fav-house.com
