UK Construction Week
( UKCW ) aims to bookend the year for the building sector , by providing two editions six months apart .
Describing the key features of the show and its clone , event director Nathan Garnett said innovation in construction technology is growing so rapidly that they hope to be able to benchmark growth within the sector across their exhibitions .
Garnett said : “ The London show will stay in May going forward and Birmingham will be going back in October . Innovation in construction is far speedier now than it ’ s ever been . So doing two shows a year does make sense for the sector and there ’ s plenty of growth in London and Birmingham .
He said : “ The shows are similar . The exhibitor profile is probably 75 % matched . The content in London was focused on culture change and will be in Birmingham too . But it ’ s great because some people come to both , so
Constructing a clone
Media10 ’ s UK Construction Week landed in London for the first time in May . Following seven years of success in Birmingham , event director Nathan Garnett says replicating a successful show can be successful in geographies closer to home
we can see how the sector ’ s changed in six months . We can be the industry benchmark .”
With less than 150 miles between the two locations , the journey time might not seem huge , but Garnett said they hope to capture those reluctant to travel .
“ With the pandemic it has made people more time conscious .,” he said . “ Perhaps 10 years ago we would have had no issue travelling three hours each way to trade show . Now they might think ‘ I can have 10 meetings a day on Zoom – should I drive to that trade show or go
Nathan Garnett
nearer ?’ We have to go to the people now more than we did previously . Doing a show in London we are catering for a London audience that wouldn ’ t necessarily travel to Birmingham and vice versa .
“ But because of the size of it , people could go to both to see anything they missed .”
Running since 2014 , UKCW
is the UK ’ s largest built environment event – with more than 300 exhibitors .
Garnett says the demand for the London clone was apparent from the start .
“ Registration for the launch show in London , even 10 days before doors opening was tracking higher than the Birmingham show which has been running seven years . It shows the market wants it .”
Garnett says there are some easy wins when cloning , but it is vital to create differences between the events .
“ What you don ’ t want to do is completely carbon copy the show . There has to always be new content .
“ From a sales perspective it is easier . We can say to people ‘ come to us we ’ ve got the year sewn up for you – we ’ ve got a London show , a Birmingham show , webinars , newsletters – we can do that full service ’.
“ Content-wise though we do have to evolve . The speaker progamme in Birmingham will be almost completely different .” EN
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