Susanne Chishti of Yes Superbaby was also enthusiastic about the fair. “I want to thank you for sponsoring the Launchpad. We had a great time and are still shipping the orders and following up on the leads. It is such a good idea to have a community of new companies as it is so important to talk to each other to exchange experiences and advice. We really had a great community spirit! Thanks for organising it all.”

The Launchpad is just the beginning for many companies. One of last year's exhibitors was Cuddledry, and this year they were at the show again. Helen Wooldridge found it hard to believe it was only a year ago that Cuddledry were on the Launchpad! “In the year since then, we've won several awards including the FQ Top Gear Award which particularly pleased me because the Cuddledry was inspired by a Dad. Now we are moving into the international market!”

Praise for the show came from all quarters. “Yet again the BPA managed to deliver an industry leading professional trade fair,” Luke Burns, Commercial Director at Britax, commented. “Whilst Sunday continues to be the busiest day, the footfall on the Britax stand remained steady throughout. What was most pleasing though was that the sales team were rushed off their feet because all visitors were serious players looking to place orders. This is good news for suppliers and makes trade fairs increasingly valuable places to be.”

“There remains no better platform to showcase a brand's latest innovations and award winning products - a presenter is no substitute for a trade fair. It certainly paid off for Britax as our order book was nearly double that of 2006. The BACRA awards night also continues to grow from strength to strength and was enjoyed by all. Britax were proud to win the prestigious award of Safety Product of the Year for the new Explora STS. It was great to celebrate all the team's hard work.”

Attendance at the show was slightly down on last year, but this is inevitable in an industry where the buying power is becoming more concentrated. Peter White of the BPA told me “we are actively discouraging 'tyre kickers' - those people who come to an exhibition without any real purpose - and concentrate on getting quality buyers.”

The quality of the visitor is the most important criteria for a successful show. Jenny Burrows, Events Manager told me “Looking at the attendance data, we can see that the majority of the major buyers were represented as were most of our established independents and there were also a good number of retailers about to open stores.” This is echoed by Simon Russell of Cheeky Rascals. “

This year we felt that it was quality not quantity. The majority of visitors to the stand were serious buyers. They were placing orders and using the show to their benefit, for training and seeing our new products. We were very pleased with our new Splash About product line which we were able to demonstrate for the first time at the show. After a successful show, it is important to acknowledge that this is all down to the hard work done by Jenny and her team. So thank you one and all - and keep it up for 2008!!

BPA Baby & Child 2008 Sunday 12th October to Tuesday 14th October

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---