Exhibitors and Visitors Hail Cleaning Show 2017
Almost 6,000 visitors from the cleaning and hygiene sector passed through the doors of the London Cleaning Show last week, making it the most successful show yet.
Attendance was 5% up on the last London show in 2015, with overseas visitors up by 9%.
More importantly, this year’s visitors had real spending power, with some 17% of attendees having an annual budget of over £1 million to spend on cleaning equipment and services.
Exhibitors reported making sales directly from the stands, as well as taking a number high quality leads. Many of them have already booked space at the next London show in two years time.
It was also a very successful show for the British Cleaning Council, who was celebrating its 35th anniversary with a larger stand than normal.
BCC Chairman, Simon Hollingbery, said: “after a long winter the sun finally came out, and so too did the cleaning industry! We were blown away with how many people there was in the hall, particularly during the second day. Our members where very busy engaging with visitors as they passed by our stand, and I’d like to thank everyone who helped out.”
The BCC had put a lot of preparation into this year’s seminar programme and were delighted to leran it had attracted over 1,000 people during the three days.
It was a special occasion also for the CSSA who held their inaugural awards during the show. The awards ceremony, held at the Bridge Restaurant at the Excel, was extremely well attended, with a number of worthy winners announced from across the UK cleaning Industry.
Many exhibitors booked stand space straight away for the Excel show in 2 years time, but the next cleaning event to look forward to will be next year’s Manchester Cleaning Show at Event City, 11-12 April 2018.
All Eyes On London For The Cleaning Show 2017
After the success of the Manchester Cleaning Show earlier this year, the BCC is now looking forward to the London show, which is being held at the Excel 14-16 March 2017.
The previous London show in 2015 exceeded everybody’s expectations, and hopes are high that the forthcoming event will be even better.
BICSc CEO, and Deputy Chairman of the BCC, Stan Atkins, said: “the last London show in 2015 was more vibrant than the previous show in Birmingham, there were far more visitors from Europe, and this bodes well for the event next year”.
Industry observers praised the 2015 show, not just for the ingenuity and creativity of the exhibitors’ stands, but also for the quality of the product demonstrations. This lead to a lot of business being done on the stands, which is one of the reasons almost all the exhibitors signed up straight away for the 2017 show.
The British Cleaning Council co owns the event with partners Quartz Business Media and will be organising a stella list of keynote speakers who will debate industry issues throughout the three days of the show.
With the Excel being one of Europe’s top conference venues, there is a multitude of food outlets catering for every taste imaginable, and being on the Docklands railway and a stones throw from City Airport, organisers are confident visitor numbers will be the highest yet.
Visitor Numbers Exceed Expectations at Manchester Cleaning Show
Organisers Quartz and the BCC admitted they were ‘blown away’ by the crowds at the inaugural Manchester Cleaning Show.
Attendance over the two days was confirmed at just under 2,500, which is many more than originally anticipated and exceptional for a regional trade show on its first outing.
The national media took a lot of interest in the event, and BBC Breakfast presenter, Steph McGovern, did her live business slot from the floor of the show on the first day, which included an interview with BCC Chairman, Simon Hollingbery.
Exhibitors were quick to praise the quality of the visitors, saying their sales staff had been kept extremely busy over both days.
Senior buyers from most of the major contract cleaning companies had travelled to Manchester and a lot of business was done right from the stands.
Craig McKay, sales and marketing director at Karcher UK said: “It’s been a fantastic show, attracting a number of high quality visitors to a great location. We’re now looking forward to the London show in March next year.”
In addition to the exhibits, the BCC ran a hugely successful seminar programme over the two days which attracted large crowds, and generated a lot of interest.
With so many BCC members in Manchester, the Council decided to hold its quarterly meeting at the show. Members heard a presentation about the Golden Service Awards from Suzanne Howe, and also from Tracey Hamilton from the HSE, after which BCC members agreed to get involved with their ‘Helping Great Britain Work Well’ campaign.
Event organisers have confirmed that the success of the Manchester Cleaning Show means it will now become a regular feature in the cleaning industry calendar and is returning to Event City in April 2018.
The Cleaning Show a big hit in the capital!
For organisers Quartz and the BCC, moving the Cleaning Show to London was essential, but there were still many in the industry who were questioning the move right up to the 11th hour.
But as soon as the doors opened on that Tuesday morning in March, all doubts were cast aside, as it became abundantly clear that the event was now in the premier league.
People commented straight away that they felt the layout of exhibitor stands was better, and the lighting in the hall, much brighter and warmer than the previous show.
BCC Chairman, Doug Cooke, said he’d been impressed by the sheer ingenuity and creativity of the exhibitors’ stands, and added that there was a real buzz inside the hall that lasted throughout the 3 days.
That view was backed up by BICSc CEO Stan Atkins, who said the show was more vibrant than the previous show in Birmingham, and there were far more visitors from Europe this time.
The BCC stand was situated right in the centre of the hall, and members who shared the stand this year: BICSc & BBS, BTA, ABCD, The Building Futures Group and CSSA, were kept busy with visitors keen to hear more about their services. At the recent BCC meeting, members expressed thanks to the BCC for sharing the stand, and said there had been significant savings made with this arrangement.
Doug Cooke said there was more business done on the stands and more quality leads gained than at the previous show 2013, and this proves that the show is now a real industry event, rather than a day out of the office, which the Birmingham show was starting to become.
Another fascinating thing was that visitor numbers remained high throughout the whole of the three days, with people still milling around late in the afternoon on the final day, which, again, is something that didn’t usually happen.
The product demonstrations on the stands, and the presentations, in the purpose built lecture theatre, meant that visitors were never stuck for something to do, and with Excel being one of Europe’s top conference venues, people didn’t go hungry; with food outlets catering for every taste imaginable.
The BCC is delighted that feedback from both visitors and exhibitors has been positive, and many exhibitors have already booked stand space for the show in two years’ time (2017) which will also be held at London’s Excel.
The Council is now in a position to offer grant funding for new projects, as a result of having such a successful show.