‘The majority of our business comes from SALTEX’

By Alistair June 18, 2018 06:17 Updated

Since SALTEX 2017 took place at the NEC, Birmingham in November last year, a number of exhibitors are still generating business as a direct result of the show – re-affirming that the exhibition is the must-attend event for any company involved in the grounds care industry.

Fivesquared, a brand of Earlsmere, is a leading vibration management provider to the grounds care industry. After exhibiting at SALTEX 2017, the company reported a 15 per cent increase in stand enquiries compared to the previous year with a number of significant leads coming from professional sports clubs, schools, universities and colleges.

The company now boasts a number of prestigious clients such as English Heritage, Southampton FC, Manchester United FC, Tottenham Hotspur FC, Manchester City FC, Wimbledon (The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club) and Merchant Taylors School – all of which were a direct result of exhibiting at SALTEX.

“Predominantly I would say that the majority of our overall business comes from exhibiting at the show,” says director Jeremy Hoyle.

“We have been exhibiting at SALTEX for about eight years now and since it moved to the NEC we have found a location that we are really happy with. In my opinion you can’t just exhibit at a show like SALTEX the once and not return. You need to establish a presence year-on-year because that is when you see an upward increase in business.

“It is not just after the show that you see the results – business continues to come in throughout the year. In fact, we are still getting enquiries from people who visited our stand – literally on a weekly basis.”

A SALTEX 2017 exhibitor survey found that over 95 per cent of exhibitors generated new sales leads while 83 per cent took direct orders on the show floor.

Market-leading machinery manufacturer, Kubota UK, used last year’s SALTEX as the ideal platform to showcase its latest range of innovative and high-performance compact tractors and ride-on mowers.

“SALTEX is a great platform to showcase new solutions to greenkeepers and turf professionals,” says Adrian Langmead, business development manager for Kubota UK’s groundcare division.

Charles Neale, event sales manager, says: “The show continues to grow and we are receiving new enquiries every week alongside existing exhibitors investing in bigger stands. Demand at this period in the sales cycle has never been higher.”