Ian Small, industrial tooling manager of Trend Machinery & Cutting Tools, explains why W14 is such an important date in the company’s marketing calendar: “Trend enjoys exhibiting. Not only that, we find the activity very beneficial to our business, which is important, considering we participate in 10 main shows across the UK every year.
“Of course, nothing really compares with the size of W14, stretching over three halls at the NEC. Having a national exhibition for the joinery and furniture manufacturing sector is a really valuable event and we are pleased to see the way it has grown in recent years, even throughout the difficult recession period.
“Trend has been exhibiting its range of industrial tooling products at the NEC since the range was launched in 2004. Our products are very hands-on and they sell by demonstration and face-to-face explanation of their multiple uses, which we have the opportunity to do at W14.
“W14 is a well market targeted show, so we know that almost everyone coming through the NEC doors is a potential customer for Trend. That’s important as we can resource our show stand to match the expected demand. Our products sell at the show, but we have to take account of the fact that exhibition generated sales leads can be ongoing for many months after the event.
“An added advantage is that we can meet a lot of our existing customers. No business can just assume that it has customers for life anymore, and it’s nice to exchange a few words with our customer base in this sector and of course show them the latest innovations.
“The big manufacturers attend the show as a matter of course but, for us, the strength of the show is that it also reaches out to the smaller business, which is increasingly important in UK manufacturing.”
