September marks the official one-year countdown to The W Exhibition 2021 (September 26-29th, 2021). And since announcing its new 2021 NEC fixture, the industry has thrown its support behind the UK’s flagship event for the furniture manufacturing and joinery industries.
The organisers, who have reported sales of over 80% of stand capacity in recent weeks, have been inundated with messages of support from its cohort of loyal exhibitors. MD, Nickie West commented: “As we mark the one-year countdown to The W Exhibition 2021, I am delighted to be able to say that we have received extremely positive support from every corner of the industry.
“In particular, we have been overwhelmed by the support of our stakeholders, who have all endorsed our date change announcement. We will be working as closely as possible with each and every one of them to ensure that we deliver the best event next September.
“There are some really exciting changes which are being developed behind the scenes. The campaign for The W Exhibition 2021 represents our biggest investment to-date which is why we have been so determined to move the event over to the right timeline to do all of this work justice. We want to deliver the best possible ROI for our exhibitors and visitors alike.”
Amongst the exhibitors to voice their support of the new W21 dates is Alex Dalton of Daltons Wadkin. He said: “We’re disappointed to have to wait a further year, but it is completely the right decision to postpone the show to 2021. The W Exhibition provides a shop front for us to connect with the market and allows us to go toe-to-toe with our competition. You can’t quite beat the energy and thrill that you get from a show - it is second to none.
“The new dates provide a positive milestone for the industry to look forward and work towards. The extra time should also allow for the further development of new equipment and products, which can only be a good thing for W21 visitors.”
Matt Pearce, managing director, TM Machinery & TM Services said: “Moving the exhibition dates to September 2021 is the correct call in the current climate. We also believe that the UK’s furniture manufacturing industry will benefit from the show following Ligna, as visitors will be able to experience the very latest innovations to enter the market sooner.”
Shaye Chatfield, international area sales manager (UK & Ireland), Lamello commented: “The W Exhibition is the only trade show in the UK to represent the furniture manufacturing industry as a whole and it needs to take place when both visitors and exhibitors can benefit from such an important event. The move to 2021 is a must for this to happen and we’re looking forward to presenting our very latest innovations to the UK again next year.”
Martina Schwarz, international sales and marketing, CAD+T: “The UK furniture design and manufacturing industry is an extremely important market for CAD+T. We completely agree with the exhibition moving to 2021 and we’re looking forward to showcasing our CAD/CAM software solutions next year.”
Biesse’s Andrew Baker commented: “We fully support the move of the W20 show and appreciate the effort made by the organisers to secure a date that is realistic in terms of future show success as well as for the industry as a whole considering the added complications with showing machinery in a noisy environment and respecting the social distancing within a short planning window.
“This also allows us to focus on our short- to medium-term business plans without having the additional pressure of organising participation at a show.”
David Thomson-Rowlands of RW Machines added: “We fully support the new 2021 dates for The W Exhibition, as announced by the organiser. In essence, it was a no brainer. We need this industry platform, but not within a year where the uncertainty and restrictions surrounding COVID-19 will still be in force. We’re very much looking forward to getting back to The W Exhibition in September 2021.”
JJ Smith MD, Guy Stanley commented: “Whilst it is disappointing that we won’t have the show this year, we fully support it being rescheduled to September 2021, by which time we hope all our customers will be looking forward to attending what should be one of the biggest and best W events to date.”
The W Exhibition has over 40 years of heritage, and continues to grow. It will return to the NEC for its bi-ennial four-day showcase from September 26-29th, 2021. The show brings together some of the world’s leading suppliers of woodworking machinery, materials and tooling.
Editor’s comment:
As part of our on-going media partnership with Montgomery, the W Exhibition organiser, Furniture & Joinery Production will once again be producing the official show catalogue – further details to follow in due course.
