With a year still to go, sixty eight major industry suppliers have already signed to attend Sourcing City LIVE! at FIVE in Farnborough on 16th & 17th January 2013.

Major industry names, such as PF Concept, Senator Pens, SPS, Bagco, Carole Group, Desktop Ideas and Essential Embroidery Design are just a handful of the instantly recognisable names that will be in the show hall.  The current list of sixty eight confirmed exhibitors continues to grow on a daily basis.

Sourcing City LIVE! is a promotional merchandise industry event exclusively for professional distributors.  Visitor admission is strictly by invitation, and a strict visitor criteria applies for any distributor company to qualify for an invitation.

David Gold | Carole Group said: “We are fully in tune with the innovative philosophies of Sourcing City Live. The Sourcing City team re-invented how effective an event can be with SC Marketplace, and we see SC Live as being just as exciting and rewarding for our business.”

Sourcing City have made it clear only recognised promotional merchandise distributors will be invited.  To qualify for an invitation, each distributor company must demonstrate a dedicated and professional approach to the sale of promotional merchandise.  Companies not meeting the Sourcing City visitor criteria, or those considering selling promotional merchandise as a minor add-on to their existing core business will not be invited. 

Alistair Mylchreest, CEO of Sourcing City commented: “We are totally focused and committed to the professional distributor sales channel in all that we do.  Suppliers also recognise the real value in focussing in on professional distributors, and we are excited to provide a perfect opportunity for dedicated professionals to do business with each other. We fully expect in excess of 100 suppliers to join us.”

Sourcing City have announced that the principals and senior directors from 166 distributor companies have registered themselves as ‘Supporters of Sourcing City LIVE!’.  Each have confirmed that they intend to attend Sourcing City LIVE!, along with the key players from their team.’  Sourcing City stated that they called a cross section of industry distributors, from which 96% confirmed their support for the new event.

Steve Nash, Managing Director of Easy Gifts said: “We are proud to be exhibiting at Sourcing City Live as we believe in the values and concept behind the exhibition.  Spending our money on a stand to talk to professional distributors simply makes perfect sense.”

Sourcing City have also said that Sourcing City LIVE! will have a number of innovative surprises, many of which have yet to be revealed.  One such innovation was announced in October 2011, that was the policy of ‘No Distractions’.

Tanya Cooper, Event Sales Manager at Sourcing City explains: “We appreciated that everyone is investing valuable time and hard earned money to attend our event, so nothing else will be happening to distract anyone whilst the show hall is open. We believe in giving everyone the maximum return on their investment, and that means making sure everyone has the maximum time to have quality conversations with each other.  However, we do believe professional business seminars benefit growing the industry. So, we will have seminars with renowned business speakers, but only at a time when suppliers can also attend along with distributors.”

Sourcing City LIVE! will also feature the opportunity to make appointments.  This concept was successfully launched at Sourcing City Marketplace, which was a unique networking & learning event for VIP’s & large industry players in September 2011.  The ability to make appointments prior to attending really makes meetings more focused and mutually beneficial, it also removes the lottery of not getting to speak to the people you wish to.

Phil Roberts, Director at Fanela said: “The whole concept of Sourcing City Live focuses on giving us quality time with quality visitors. SC Marketplace provided us with a magnificent return, and a great opportunity to spend time purely focused on professional distributors.  Knowing how cutting-edge and creative Sourcing City always are, made joining the event a simple decision for us.” 

The concept of Sourcing City LIVE! revolves totally around the quality of distributor visitors from across the UK & Ireland.  Sourcing City believe that by having only professional distributors in the hall, this will create an ideal environment for relaxed and in-depth valuable conversations for all involved.

Finally, Alistair Mylchreest, CEO at Sourcing City said: “We are very grateful for the phenomenal support we have received from the distributors we have spoken to so far, and the enthusiasm of the suppliers makes us very excited about providing an event that is so warmly welcomed by the trade. Our aim is to create a new event that every professional distributor company wants to visit and truly benefits from.”

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…….STOP PRESS……… Monday 13th February: 72 Suppliers now signed up for SC LIVE!