Hi Peter and all.As you know, we will be at the MechanEx Donington (3rd & 4th March) and again at Sandown Park in November, however, we will not be at the 'ATS' this year.
As members of the G.E.A. (Garage Equipment Association) we have always attended the Automotive Trade Show at the N.E.C. but sadly we felt that the last two shows were poorly attended, maybe because the automotive vistitors too felt it was an 'Automotive Side Show' or 'Bolt-On' to the CV Show. Love'em or loathe'em, Finelist (R.I.P) and Partco used to bus hundreds into the show, which made the attendance figures outstanding. This obviously doesn't happen now in the numbers of the past.
When AutoExcel was announced, we were very keen to attend, due to it being a dedicated Automotive Show and the fact it was somewhere else other than the N.E.C. Sadly as you know, this was cancelled.
I rarely make my next comment public knowledge but it may put things into perspective.. for the 3 days at the N.E.C. the floor space and stand costs us £50,000 and with the attendance figures for the last two shows as they were, we felt that this money would be better off being used for regional roadshows which will be organised by us later on this year.
I too would love to see the equivalent of 'AutoMechanika' or 'Equipe-Auto' over here, but is there some apathy creeping in from potential visitors in the U.K.? Has the concept of trade shows become stale?
Your views and comments would be appreciated.
Kind regards
Andy Amor
U.K. Sales Manager
Facom U.K.
http://automechanika.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/home.html