Sourcing City Marketplace has been heralded as a great success again by distributor visitors and supplier hosts alike.
The event featured 96 top industry suppliers each holding individual appointments to discuss the ‘Ten things you do not know about us’.
This invitation only event was attended by invited large distributor companies, each of whom had a turnover in excess of ?500k.
Major distributor VIPs & Guests gathered from around the country, and the collective spend of the distributor companies in the hall exceeded ?328m, which represented over 43% of the entire ?762m UK market spend.
Over the 2 days, 1770 formal appointments took place, in addition to numerous ad-hoc meetings both in the hall and during social gatherings.
Adrian Stephenson of Impression Europe said; “After many years of preaching the advantages of an appointment format, we are naturally huge supporters of ‘SC Marketplace’. Having just completed our second show, and committed to return in 2013, we are still convinced that any other concept that does not involve pre-booked appointments will never enable our company to have the quality time to discuss the individual needs of our customers or explain the benefits that we can offer to them. Our customers and ourselves require and deserve this. Impression Europe admire what David and his excellent team are creating and believe they are a credit to the industry in the way that they present themselves and the show, together with the passion to succeed and improve year on year. It is our belief that the show must be supported and we will continue to do that.”
The difference of the event was evident as soon as you entered the hall. Normal expectations would be to see traditional exhibition stands, however the low level conversation pods create a completely different atmosphere, with the casual seating pod layouts providing an ideal environment for relaxed and in-depth conversations.
Mike Smith of Orb Group commented; “Sourcing City Marketplace was yet again the place to be at this year. I knew what to expect having attended last year and it is simple – let’s talk business, and talk business I did. Orb Group had over 30 appointments in 2 days, and if you are a serious distributor, you need to be there. I met suppliers who I otherwise would not have met in the normal course of business, so it was a great opportunity for me to meet new suppliers, and for new suppliers to pitch to me. I will be back next year!”
At the beginning of the first day, Timothy Andrews, CEO & President of ASI, presented to both distributors and suppliers on; ‘Tips for becoming a great distributor’.
Alistair Mylchreest, CEO at Sourcing City said; “It was a thrill to see so many top industry figures deep in meaningful conversations. The compliments were amazing and we are delighted the event proved of so much benefit for many in the trade.
Sadly, to ensure the correct balance in the hall we have to restrict invitations for SC Marketplace to VIP’s from distributors with over ?500k turnover. However, we are totally focussed on supporting every professional distributor, and we are now looking forward to welcoming professional distributors of all sizes to SC LIVE! on the 16th & 17th January 2013″.
Published on: January 1st, 1970
