You are in:
On The Road Again
2010 saw the first ever PEA6 Roadshow, which proved to be very successful, but was it a one hit wonder? Well the answer is a resounding NO because 2011 not only saw a repeat run of the show but it travelled the highways and byways with two more members and visited 11 locations.
Travelling from the south of England to Scotland and from Ireland to East Anglia the organisers carefully selected the venues to enable most visitors to make the trip without having to spend too long in the car and most feel that this was one of the key reasons for the success of the shows. This localisation combined with the variety of products and techniques on show served visitors very well indeed giving them information not only related to their core business but also to allied industries. Steve & Sally Wilson at Topline Workwear said “It was such a well thought out and organized event – we received a very hospitable welcome and had a really good opportunity to speak to exhibitors at some length. My reason for visiting the show was to examine some ideas I have been trying to quantify about how to develop the future plans and actions for Topline Workwear. We were able to not only do this, but were also given food for thought about other new products and processes, that to date we were not even considering. The companies involved gave a great opportunity for us to examine a number of potential ideas, and get lots of answers in a very short space of time. Very important to small businesses like ourselves.”
The shows were originally named PEA6 to signify the Print, Embroidery and Apparel trades together with the 6 companies taking part but this year there were actually eight companies involved with Wilcom and Nova Chrome UK joining the original six. So why not rename the shows PEA8? The answer actually lies in the popularity of the roadshows themselves. 2010 proved to be so successful that the original name became well known in the industries it serves. John Paul Burton (Sales Director of Your Embroidery Services Ltd) said “Having Wilcom and Nova Chrome UK join us this year was great. For the visitors it filled a couple of gaps and also added to the expertise on offer. We thought about changing the name but decided against it as we didn’t want to detract from the success of 2010. The shows have become quite well known across the industries and a name change could be confusing”.
Once again this year, as in 2010, the idea was to take product to the customers saving them vital time and travel costs. Although not a big show in comparison to the fixed exhibitions, PEA6 offered a good spread of products and techniques and certainly proved attractive to visitors with attendances up over the previous year. The format goes against the standard of past roadshows which have tended to be one or two product/company orientated thereby limiting what was on show. With PEA6 the visitor can look across a spread of products in a more leisurely environment. Glenn Hyams of BTC activewear commented “These shows are great for both the exhibitor and the visitor. Although visitor numbers were beyond our expectations, it is not like a national show where you can be in undated with visitors. At regional shows the flow is much steadier so you can dedicate more time to each person. They have more time to ask questions and get the level of information that will help them make an informed decision.”
|
So what happens next year? Will the show run again? In short, YES! In fact preparations are already underway for 2012 as can be seen by visiting www.pea6.com where prospective visitors can suggest venues for next year. All in all PEA6 seems to have carved a regular place in the show calendar and if 2012 is anywhere near as successful as this year’s events then it will be a welcome fixture for the coming years.
Individual web sites for the participating companies are YES Ltd – www.yesltd.co.uk BTC - www.btcactivewear.co.uk Madeira - www.madeira.co.uk Target Transfers - www.targettransfers.com Grafityp UK - www.grafityp.co.uk Sharon Lee - www.sharonleeltd.co.uk Nova Chrome UK – www.novachrome.co.uk Wilcom - www.wilcomdiscovery.com
|
