Monday Mar 29, 2004

The last few weeks have seen even more successful shows at ExCeL London with larger than anticipated numbers of visitors.

Says Jamie Buchan, ExCeL London Chief Executive: "We are delighted at the success of the events which have taken place at ExCeL London so far in 2004. We have seen a 48% increase in visitors for the Boat Show, a 29% increase for Business Continuity and huge successes for The Homebuyer Show, Hotelympia and Oceanology. These achievements confirm our beliefs that ExCeL London is a world-class venue that can host, transfer and launch new shows successfully."

The Homebuyer Show

This year's Homebuyer Show, held over the 5 to 7 March, was visited by nearly 20,000 people, despite it being the first year the organisers have charged for tickets.

The number of exhibitors in the show was the highest ever, with over 200 different companies on show and 80 speakers leading seminars on a range of subjects from auctioneering to buying overseas.

Nick Clark, Managing Director of Homebuyer Events who organise the show commented: "This year's show was a phenomenal success. Many exhibitors have already booked for next year's event, due to the fantastic response.

I'm delighted with the reaction to this year's show, especially since it's the first year we have charged the public entrance fees. Exhibitors have welcomed this as the visitors have all been genuinely interested in the home buying process."

David Waddington, Marketing Director of Crosby Homes commented: "During the show we took reservations for £7 million of apartments at various schemes in the Leeds area. This is a fantastic instant result from our first show with the medium and long term benefits still to come. In three days we have achieved sales, which normally takes us at least a month."

Andy Collett, Director of South African specialists Pam Golding International, said: "We take part in a lot of shows and this is without any shadow of doubt the premier property marketing event in the UK. The interest in South Africa was phenomenal and the show has been a spectacular success. The level of interest was fantastic and we were blown away by the quality of the visitors who were all committed and focused. Of course we will be back!"

Business Continuity - The Risk Management Expo 2004

IMP Events' flagship event has placed business continuity planning and disaster recovery firmly on the map with the overwhelming success of this year's event at London's ExCeL London, with a full 29% over target in visitors.

At a time when the possibility of a terrorist attack has been confirmed as a real threat and businesses are seriously having to consider putting business continuity plans in to place, last week's event in London saw nearly 2,000 industry representatives including over 200 conference delegates, fill the conference halls and seminar theatres over the course of the two days.

The expo incorporated over 70 market-leading exhibitors including Hewlett Packard, SunGard, The Neverfail Group and Marsh and was supported by many industry trade organisations such as the Business Continuity Institute (BCI), British Standards Institute (BSI) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA). In addition, already 90 percent of the floor space has been pre-booked for next year.

Graeme Howe, Event Director of Business Continuity - The Risk Management Expo 2004 comments, "The event has been a fantastic success both in terms of visitor numbers and exhibitor feedback. Business continuity and disaster recovery have really come into the limelight in the past eighteen months or so and this event has provided people in the industry with a one-stop-shop of the latest business solutions and educational training."

Exhibitors and visitors alike were enthusiastic about the overall focus and outcome of the show: Steve Stobo, European Sales & Marketing Director of The Neverfail Group said, "The level of visitors has been extremely focused and I believe this will become the de facto event for this industry. All the people we spoke with came here with specific requirements and there were none of the usual 'tyre-kickers' that mar the exhibition experience at most trade shows."

Similar responses were echoed around the show floor. Business Continuity exhibitor Jeff Charlton, Managing Director of Hasmat Response said;"People that have attended the event are some of the highest levels of management in some of the biggest companies in the country. I have been very impressed with both the organisers and the visitors."

For more information, please contact Gemma Parkhouse at ExCeL London on 020 7069 4739 or email gemmaparkhouse@ExCeL-london.co.uk