jumped on that . There ’ s a big thing around education on installing paving , decking , etc . Lots of companies have set up these training schemes , but rather than having a stand that could be quite boring in terms of a bit of information and some flyers , they have got a famous person in the landscaping world to do a demonstration - like when you get a chef demonstrating cooking and a tasting . Having those extra bits on the floor keeps people there and keeps them engaged . |
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were when we first decided in 2019 , that we were going to move it to ExCeL . It just felt busy , it looked busy . There was lots of opportunities there . Exhibitors were building better stands , everything felt like it was the building blocks of how we perceived it . Jamie : We also added a couple of other features , such |
“ It felt busy , it looked busy . There was lots of opportunities . ” |
as an urban greening zone , lighting zone and a training zone . We had a lot more and bigger demonstrations as well this year . Jim : I think the visitors are more attracted to the exhibitors . Ten years ago they were coming more for the content , but now our exhibitors are spending more time and effort building stands and launching lots of products into the marketplace at the show .
What sort of growth have you seen in activations on stands ? Jamie : We had loads more demonstrations . In the past , people would bring cutting saws and have them on the stand but not working , because they ’ re quite noisy . But these manufacturers realised that as soon as the machine ’ s turned on and there ’ s a noise they drew a big crowd . People really
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What ’ s coming up this year ? Jamie : In 2023 there ’ s going to be lots more demonstrations around plants and soft landscaping . Jim : Lots of things keep changing in the market in terms of the climate change and producing gardens in a in a sustainable way . So in terms of our content we want to make sure we are covering those topics that are key to everyone . We had such a phenomenal renewal rate so we ’ re very excited for this year . Jamie : Yes we got a 90 % rebook . Jim : There ’ s still a bigger audience for us to bring in . For our core 5,000 , the majority felt it gave them value , hopefully they will come back naturally . But it allows us also to spend some time outside of those 5,000 people looking at the audience that didn ’ t come and try and work out why and what we can do to get them to come . Just having that confidence in the show is so good . |
Spring — 31 |