8 per cent increase in visitors plus

re-bookings grow by 33 per cent for 2015.

Crowd shot at Sign & Digital UKSign & Digital UK has confirmed its status as the UK’s leading exhibition for the sign making, display solutions and digital printing industry following a bumper show with more than 6,113 visitors (awaiting audit), an 8 per cent increase on 2013.

The three-day event took place at the NEC, Birmingham from 29 April to 1 May 2014 and featured a host of exclusive national and international product launches, kit demonstrations, new show features and more than 30 daily seminars and workshops.

Following the success of the show, exhibitors moved quickly to secure their stand space for the 2015 event, resulting in a 33 per cent increase in re-bookings compared to last time.

With a third of the floor space already booked for next year, the show organisers have confirmed that in 2015 Sign & Digital UK will move into Halls 17 and 18 at the NEC to accommodate the show’s growing demand. The event will take place on 24 to 26 March.

Rudi Blackett, event director, said: “This year’s Sign & Digital UK has surpassed everyone’s expectations, with an exciting range of product launches and a wealth of sales across every day of the show. There certainly was that great ‘buzz’ in the hall that you get with a very successful event, and we are delighted that the show delivered for our visitors, exhibitors and show supporters.”

Nice to do business at Sign & Digital UK Show visitor Soyeb Ravar director, Ravar Printing, said: “I come to Sign & Digital UK to get new ideas to improve my business, like seeing new suppliers and products, and getting ideas for new revenue streams. Last year I came to the show to buy a new laminator, this year I’ve come to buy an even better laminator! There’s always something to be excited about. Based on the work I do I think I’ll come back every year as I know it will always be useful. Sign & Digital UK is definitely the best show for what I need.”

Exhibitor product launches

Sign & Digital UK also confirmed its reputation as the launching pad for the latest technology and equipment, with exclusive product launches from the industry’s biggest names.

Hmmm, wonder what's going on here! Sign & Digital UK These included the new Jetrix KX7-D by InkTec Europe, the latest Mutoh ValueJet 1638X premiered by Colourgen, Ricoh’s unveiling of the new Ricoh Pro L4100 Series large-format roll-to-roll printer and Roland DG UK’s first ever dedicated flatbed printer, the VersaUV LEJ-640F.

HP also hosted the first European showing of the new Latex 300 printer series, while Atlantic Tech Services showcased the AEG Voyager Pro 2050 UV printer. QPS also launched a brand new digital ink, the Nazdar 202 Series and Epson introduced its new range of high-speed, four-colour large-format SureColor SC-T printers.

Shaun Holdom, business development director for Colorific said: “This has been the best Sign & Digital UK to date! We’ve found customers are educated in what they need and ready to buy, consequently we exceeded out targets on the first day. We’ve sold 25 machines already with one exhibition day left. The support we received from organisers before the show this year has also been fantastic. We will be back exhibiting in 2015 without a doubt.”

Plenty of questions for exhibitors at Sign & Digital UK 2014 Derek Bower, area sales manager for Leeds Laser Cutting added: “This is the first show we have ever exhibited at and yesterday we had 30 qualified inquiries and today we have approximately the same. We have already had two orders out of that and the possibility of at least four more. It’s been absolutely successful and if tomorrow’s as good as the past two days it has been phenomenal. We will most definitely be back in 2015.”

A selling show

Sales were strong across the three days of the show, with i-Sub making a sale in less than 15 minutes on day one. Perfect Colours sold 20 HP Latex 300 series printers, eight HP Designjet Z6200 printers, two Omega 2s and one Durst Rho P10 160.

Exhibitor drinks on the first night of the show Other high performers included Canon, with the sale of Oce ColorWave 900 to Online Reprographics and Standing Stone who sold 14 machines on the first day.

Matthew Perkins, director of Stanford Marsh Group Graphics (SMGG), said: “Our stand was really busy throughout the show and there was a real buzz around a number of the newly launched machines from Mimaki and HP that we had on display. The interest in the 3D printer we exhibited for the second year running at Sign & Digital UK 2014 also garnered significant interest.

“Overall, we were delighted with the footfall at the event.  We made a significant number of sales on-stand and believe that Sign & Digital UK 2014 was well worth attending.  We have already booked space at next year’s show.”

Hybrid - Mimaki stand at Sign & Digital UK Andy Spreag, director, i-Sub Digital, said: "We took our largest ever stand at this year's Sign & Digital UK in order to launch several industry firsts and we were very successful. Just minutes after the doors opened on day one we sold Europe's first Mimaki JFX200-2513 LED UV printer – signing the deal with Graphic Station at 10.15am.

"Our exclusive Digi-Foil hot foiling system, the Dgen Teleios Black dye sublimation printer and the CadCam Technology Contour Cut laser-cutting system for textile finishing all made their Sign & Digital UK debut on our stand, also attracting plenty of interest. We were rushed off our feet and are certainly planning to exhibit in 2015."

MTEX Technologies managing director Stewart Bell also said he was delighted with their success at the show: “We sold numerous printers from across the MTEX direct-to-textile range over the three days and generated a huge amount of interest that we’re now following up. The age of digital textile printing has truly arrived!”

Sign & Digital UK will return on 24 -26 March 2015 in halls 17 and 18 at the NEC Birmingham. To enquire about exhibiting in 2015, please contact the show team on +44 (0)1342 332000+44 (0)1342 332000, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.signanddigitaluk.com

Press release by Fugu PR on behalf of Sign & Digital UK

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