PrintIT Reseller - issue 67

01732 759725 32 EXHIBITIONS Visitors gather to take part in a Q&A sessions with Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE on the opening day of The Print Show 2019 The fifth edition of the Print Show took place from September 17-19 at the NEC in Birmingham. Total attendance figures for this year stood at 5,445, with exhibitors reporting steady footfall on their stands across the three days The Print Show 2019 attracts high quality visitors visitors. Explorer and adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, boxing legend Chris Eubank and celebrity chef Gregg Wallace were in attendance, chatting with and signing autographs for visitors. Sir Ranulph entertained visitors and exhibitors with anecdotes of his incredible career, including an interesting tale involving explosives and a famous film. Eubank gave an emotional account of his unforgettable bout with Michael Watson, while Wallace gave an insight into his journey from the market stall to running his own business empire. “It was such a privilege to be able to welcome three famous faces as part of the celebrations for our fifth year anniversary,” Davies said. “It’s something we’ve not done before but it proved to be a huge success, with visitors and exhibitors alike able to chat with the celebrities and have their photo taken with them.” Widespread praise A number of major exhibitors have come forward to praise The Print Show 2019, with many paying tribute to organisers for bringing in high quality visitors from a range of backgrounds. Exhibitors have been busy going over the leads they took at the show and following up with visitors who placed orders at the NEC. Hybrid Services had a busy three days, staging UK, European and worldwide Mimaki launches on its stand. Chief Operations Manager Brett Newman, said: “There was terrific interest in the Mimaki SWJ-320EA super-wide format solvent printer and the Mimaki JV300Plus series printer and CJV300Plus printer/cutter which were debuted at the show, as well as the other latest printing technology from Mimaki that was featured on the stand.” Elsewhere, Soyang Europe and Blue Castle Group used the 2019 edition as a launch platform for the new PVC Banner Recycling Scheme. Kerrie-Anne Moore, Sales and Marketing Manager, Soyang Europe, said the show was the perfect opportunity to showcase the initiative to the market. She said: “The interest in PVC recycling has been incredible and we are still working our way through all the leads. We were not surprised at all that there was so much interest from printers, print management companies and even competitors of ours to discover more about how we have managed to get to this stage.” Ben Crosby, Business Development As was the case with previous years, the floorplan included some of the biggest names in global print. HP, Epson, Vivid Laminating Technologies, RISO and Morgana Systems all had their own stands at the show, while Mimaki was represented by Hybrid Services, Xerox by Xeretec, and Ricoh with Smart Print. Event Director Chris Davies said: “We’re delighted with the success of this year’s show. It's been a difficult 12 months for everyone in the industry, with ongoing uncertainty over Brexit having an impact on confidence. “However, seeing so many visitors speaking with exhibitors from right across the print market, shows there is still plenty of activity and confidence in print. There was also plenty of business done on the show floor, which shows that visitors still have enough demand from their own customers to warrant spending money on new kit.” Q&A sessions This year, many eyes were on a brand new feature, which saw three celebrities take part in special Q&A sessions with Seeing so many visitors speaking with exhibitors from right across the print market, shows there is still plenty of activity and confidence in print