A fresh take on the exhibitions wins praise
1,723 people attended Lockex 2016, the pioneering new show for locksmiths and auto locksmiths, which took place in on 16th to 18th September at the Ricoh arena in Coventry, the organisers have announced. The show’s 80 plus exhibitors received high quality leads on their stands over the three days, according to feedback.
“As expected, Saturday proved to be our busiest day overall with 751 visitors, giving us a total footfall of over 1,200 visitors over the weekend alone,” said Lockex organiser, Rob Exley. “We were pleased to see that 60% of attendees had preregistered and we’ll be looking at ways to increase this for the next show in 2018.”
Among those visiting the show were members of the MLA and subscribers to the show’s associated publication, The Locksmith Journal. News about the exhibition also spread far and wide through social media and locksmith forums, as well as selected architectural and specifier magazines, attracting a diverse range of high calibre visitors. The show drew exhibitors and visitors from all over the world, across Europe and even as far as the U.S.A., China and Australia.
“I was told by numerous exhibitors how refreshing it was to see and meet new locksmiths, not already known to them through other industry events,” explains Rob. “It’s encouraging to hear that Lockex appealed to people who don’t usually go to shows and this is great for our exhibitors who are looking to attract new business and make new contacts.”
Over the 3 days of the exhibition, Lockex hosted 68 workshops presented by key figures from the industry, including a key note speech by Neil Vann, Market Region Manager for ASSA ABLOY UK, who talked about changes and trends in the market, with particular emphasis around the move from mechanical to digital and how locksmiths capitalise on that.
“The professionalism of the show, both in how it looked and how it was organised, was a recurring theme of feedback from visitors and exhibitors alike,” Rob continues. “Everyone loved the show’s distinct branding, which was slick and modern and ran throughout the arena, from the entrance of the carpark right through to the exhibitions halls. It was evident that our exhibitors had also invested time and effort into their stands and the Lockex 2016 ‘best stand’ competition was our way of saying thank you by giving something back, in the way of a £3,500 prize!”
Winner of the best stand award, as voted by visitors, was Aldrige Security on stand 51, which made clever use of a Jaguar F-Type to catch the eye of passers-by. Aldridge Managing Director, Ainsley Hawkins, commented, “We are absolutely thrilled to win this award, especially as it’s voted for by the Lockex visitors. We put a huge amount of effort and investment in to the stand build, which we were very proud of and delighted by its success. Thank you!”
Rob continued, “Our exhibitors commented on how well looked after they felt by the organising team throughout the whole process, from booking to the evening entertainment provided, which included catering and a very nice steak and ale pie that was commented on numerous times.”
He concluded, “As with any large scale event, particularly the first one, there are bound to be unforeseen issues that arise or certain aspects that with hindsight might have been done differently. Over the coming months we will be speaking to exhibitors and visitors to find out how we can improve on what we feel was a great start to creating an essential event in the locksmith industry calendar. The overall feeling was that Lockex 2016 gave a fresh take on the usual industry exhibition format.”
