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The first national, dedicated automotive trade show to take place in the UK for many years created a refreshing buzz at the NEC Birmingham 7-9th June, bringing the whole automotive industry together over three days to showcase the plethora of OE and aftermarket products and services available.
The event exceeded all expectations, with over 12,000 visitors attending the show over the three days and stand bookings for next year’s event already overtaking the scale of the first, firmly establishing itself as the annual automotive event uniting the UK automotive trade industry.
Standing room only
Throughout the three days, the attendance of visitors steadily climbed, with many crowding the feature areas, ‘Workshop of the Future’ and ‘The Great British Manufacturing Stand’ and a full seminar programme throughout the show. Hundreds of technicians and workshop owners gathered at the Technical Theatre which included autotechnician magazine’s technical presentations, with James Dillon, Frank Massey, Peter Coombes, Neil Pattemore and sponsors TecRMI presenting talks on the challenges of the connected car and opportunities for independent garages.
Autotechnician’s team of experts drew the biggest crowd to aftermarket seminars
Event director Simon Albert, said: “We are delighted with the success of Automechanika Birmingham. We listened to what the exhibitors and visitors wanted, and with significant investment in the marketing campaign, we delivered an all-encompassing event that exceeded all expectations. We have something unique here that the industry needed, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the overwhelming support of the exhibitors, visitors and trade partners. Next year the event will continue to go from strength to strength with 35% increase in stand space, a supply chain specific area and will be co-located alongside Reifen, the world leading tyre exhibition.”
SMMT Chief Executive, Mike Hawes, commented on how the industry has shown this is a much needed event for our industry, saying: “The UK automotive supply chain and aftermarket are among the world’s most competitive and productive and Automechanika Birmingham has provided a platform to highlight the growing strength and importance of two sectors contributing £16.5 billion to the UK economy and supporting 423,000 British jobs. The huge number of visitors to the NEC over the past three days shows this was the right event, at the right time and in the right place.”
It was fantastic to see so many of our readers, colleagues and supporters in one place – we look forward to being back in Brum next year, but in the meantime, for those who missed out on the fantastic seminars, keep Saturday 3rd September free in your diary for our Big Day Out event which promises to be an entertaining and informative day out for techs at Tool Connection in Southam. Full details are available in the July issue of autotechnician, which publishes on June 27. Click here to subscribe to the mag and ensure you receive your free copy over the coming year.
