Hundreds of independent merchants headed to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on 9 April for the 2014 NMBS Exhibition.
Expectations for the event were high with the change to a new venue and a timeslot earlier in the year, but it certainly seems that on all fronts, the new show delivered.
The exhibition was undoubtedly the biggest in the buying society’s 51-year history with an impressive 300 stands – an increase of 50 on 2013. The exhibition also recorded a record amount of over 650 visitors on the day who received access to more products, more information and more special offers than ever before. Plus, thanks to the change to the much larger and more easily accessible Ricoh Arena, all exhibitors could be found in one hall.
Specific companies exhibiting on the day covered a full range of areas and product categories – from bricks and blocks to landscaping, ironmongery, tools and workwear, plumbing and heating and much more. Exhibitors were running unmissable ‘on the day’ special deals on selected products and services, while offering extra show rebate of between 1% and 12.5%.
These generous rebates, which in the majority of cases are being held for the entire month of April, helped to confirm the NMBS Exhibition as the best buying and selling event for independent merchants and the largest merchants only show in the UK today.
The 2014 NMBS Exhibition also saw the return of a number of familiar favourites. This included a huge number of spot buy offers which were handpicked by NMBS’ commodity committees to ensure maximum relevance and appeal to NMBS members. The NMBS Exhibition promotional voucher book also made a welcome return and enabled visitors to redeem up to a £1000 in free products and services simply by visiting the relevant exhibitors’ stand.
Speaking about the 2014 NMBS Exhibition, Chris Hayward, managing director of the NMBS, said: “The 2014 NMBS Exhibition marked a new chapter in the event’s history. As well as moving the event to the Ricoh Arena in order to accommodate growing visitor and exhibitor numbers, we also decided to stage the event earlier in the year to help NMBS members maximise deals on seasonal products such as those relating to landscaping.
“We’re delighted that the show surpassed all expectations and achieved the difficult challenge of bettering our 2013 event, which was particularly remarkable given it was our 50th anniversary year.”
To view pictures from the recent NMBS Exhibition, click here.
