But the verdict is that the challenge paid off. It was the consensus that the exhibition had to change and move forward to reflect the evolution of the timber processing and furniture components sectors it served. The feedback from visitors and exhibitors was that W6 turned out to be the right direction to go in.
The visitor total was around 12,000. This was a fall of around 250 on the last Woodmex in 2004, but the figures showed that more individual companies were represented.
“We had a 7% increase in the number of businesses attending – so we had more companies sending slightly fewer people,” said John Smith-Bodden, chief executive of W6 organisers the Wood Machinery Suppliers’ Association.
Initial anecdotal evidence from exhibitors was that more visitors were there either to make a purchase or make detailed enquiries. As one company said: “We had far fewer time-wasters and tyre kickers”.
“In particular there seemed to be a perception in what was previously the ASFI section of the show that business was better,” said Mr Smith-Bodden. “As we, rather than the NEC, are now organising the event, we’re in a better position to do detailed analysis of the level of sales secured at the show – and we’ll be doing that in the near future.”
Visually the centrepiece of the show was the timber frame house from Benfield ATT, used as the backdrop for the Furnicom Innovation Award for the best new furniture component or accessory. The presence of the house underlined the ambition of W6 to spread its net to catch more specifiers and especially architects.
“We’ve got to look at the visitor analysis to get the complete picture,” said Mr Smith-Bodden, ”but reports from exhibitors were that there were a fair few around.”
The Furnicom Innovation Award, and particularly the presence of designer and TV personality Linda Barker as judge and presenter, drew the crowds – and inspired the organisers to develop the initiative next time.
“It’s early days, but we’re thinking about an innovation award that takes in the exhibition as a whole,” said Mr Smith Bodden.
Other innovations at the show, the Learning Zone, providing training information to small- to medium-sized businesses, and the TRADA/FIRA-run seminar programme were also reported to have gone down well. And companies on the W6 Timber Trail (a new initiative to attract more timber and wood products suppliers) said the show had been a worthwhile exercise.
The event also attracted new exhibitors in other sectors, including Toyota Industrial, DeWalt and Fiat – which raffled one of its Ducato vans on its stand.
“We knew that we weren’t going to be able to do everything we wanted to do with the exhibition this time around – you can only undertake so many developments in one go,” said Mr Smith-Bodden. “But in W6 we created a strong platform for further development. We learned a lot that we can apply in the future and, through our website and newsletter, we’ll be staying in touch with both exhibitors and visitors, keeping our new brand in the public eye and maintaining the momentum we’ve built up to the next show in two years’ time – W8-Working with Wood.”
