According to Alex Dalton of machinery supplier Daltons Wadkin, the immediate re-booking of its stand for W14 following a highly successful exhibition at W12 was an easy decision to make: “Our experience at the W12 event convinced us of the vital importance of a UK national exhibition for the woodworking machinery sector.
"We had a lot of new machines and technology to show at W12 and the opportunity to do this in a convivial, face-to-face environment and the importance of this can’t be over-stated. Difficult economic times mean that manufacturers are increasingly looking for flexible, affordable production solutions and the Daltons Wadkin range is geared exactly for this purpose.
“While we constantly market and communicate our activities and products to our customers through the trade media and other avenues, we find that many of our customers will put off final purchasing decisions so that they can see and experience the machinery.
“Just before W12 we sold the first Nimac beam saw into a company in Nottinghamshire but this also gave us the opportunity to order a second machine from our latest manufacturing partners in Greece for exhibition at W12 – for this we had to book an additional stand!
“It was a great success and we were able to demonstrate how manufacturers can invest upwards and significantly increase production at a very affordable cost. W12 proved to be a brilliant shop window.
“One important thing we noticed was that the quality of the visitors was exactly what we were hoping for – serious companies looking to equip for their futures and ensuring they had key decision makers at the exhibition.
“We’re sure the concurrent running of the Working with Design show alongside was an important extra draw for the industry and initiatives like Presentation Theatres for free seminars etc will be an opportunity we will look to avail ourselves of in the future. I hear that at W14 a new award will be introduced – the Innovation in Technology Award – which is something we would definitely be interested in when we know what products we’ll exhibit closer to the time.
“It seems like early days before October 2014 but having secured our booking and position of preference in the halls, this allows us to plan ahead carefully to maximize the opportunity of what will undoubtedly be the UK industry’s most important event.”
The organisers of W14 stress that bookings are coming in fast and space becomes ever-more a premium. They are operating early booking discount incentives and the floorplan can be seen on the website.
