If you were one of the exhibitors at the NEC last month, count yourself lucky. Even though the size of the show in terms of floor space and number of stands was noticeably lower than in the last few years, the footfall of visitors was about the same as last year. That means those of us who were on duty had the pleasure of spending a little more time with the right people, and especially the smaller exhibitors had the chance to show off their wares with competition bother from larger competition.

If you watch the news you might have caught a glimpse of the Labour Party conference a couple of weeks back when Aniera Thomas proudly told the floor how delighted she was at being the first baby born under the National Health Service. At midnight her mother was in the last throws of pushing, when midwives in Amman Valley Hospital, Carmarthenshire, west Wales asked her to ‘hang on' for one more minute.

It's all systems go at Cologne this month and the show is bigger than ever before. With increasing size and number of exhibitors, there will be no holes bars as all the major names in the nursery trade and many smaller ones, impress and entice you to take on their new baby ranges. See our preview pages on page 27 for more.

Despite the downward economic trend, there is one startlingly wonderful piece of news that will please everyone who reads Nursery Industry - the UK birth rate is rocketing! In fact the number of babies born in England and Wales has reached the highest level for more than 16 years on the back of rising immigration.There were 691,013 births in 2007, a three per cent rise over the year before and the highest level since 1991. In recent years over 1.8 million women of child-bearing age have come to live here, and they tend to have large families.

I hope you've all recovered from that Wimbledon men's final by now - what a match, what a contest and what steel from both players. I couldn't help noticing how large the entourage for Nadal was; uncle, parents, coach, fitness guru and so on all grimacing and exulting with each swing of the racket. It's expertise and support that makes the difference when you feel under pressure, and that's what I'm hoping the team at Nursery Industry can bring you with our expanding team.

In this issue I'd like to introduce you to the first members of our new expert panel. All will be contributing to the magazine on a regular basis, ensuring the features and comments on a wide variety of issues concerning the industry, are up to date, valid and of course grounded in fact. And we've more contributors to come, so watch this space next month.

In this issue you can catch up with what's going on in the realm of car seats on p19, and make sure you and your staff are well up on advice cots and mattresses, see p29. It's always useful to be as informed as possible and parents appreciate that extra information surrounding these major product buys.

I think I can be forgiven for finding the sheer number of stands with wheeled goods quite astonishing - you have to remember that I haven't been to Harrogate for two years. The competition between brands is evident in the amazing amount of thought that's clearly gone in to most of them, which can only be a good thing for shoppers.

It's very fitting for me to emerge back into the world of baby equipment in springtime, when manufacturers can barely hold back their enthusiasm for their new product lines. Will there be a surge towards bright colours and funky patterns in 2008, or will that slighlty serious beige and black still hold on to the top selling spots?

Hello, yes I've jumped back into the world of wheels, baby carriers, feeding equipment, toddler toys and so on, but this time with a view to helping you, the retailer make the most of your business. Some of you might remember me from Baby & Toddler Gear magazine and previously Mother & Baby, Prima Baby and others. Well, now I've infiltrated the very core of the baby equipment industry, and I'm going to be editing Nursery Industry.

And, of course, I was there to see the Gold, Silver and Highly Commended Awards being handed out. Some of the winners were obvious to those of us guessing from the various shortlists; some were more difficult, but all of them were well deserved. It won't be long before the M&B Gold Award logos start appearing on the various products but to give you a head start, the winners are listed on page 8.