Highway to sell
Road planning exhibition Highways UK has reported that last month’s show was the best-attended edition in the history of the event. In total, 9000 visitors were recorded across the two-day event, breaking all attendance records and indicating that face-to-face trade exhibitions are more popular than ever.
Like all exhibitions, Highways UK saw a hiatus in 2020, replacing its physical event with a virtual exhibition in line with the social distancing restrictions at the time. Its return to the NEC in 2021 has seen the show gradually increase in prominence, culminating in its most successful edition to date since its launch in 2015.
“Exhibiting is the best part of the job for me – even more so following the pandemic,” says Chris Spinks, managing director of Highways regular Westcotec. “Our Smart Display stand has become part of the Westcotec identity, and having the team on hand to install and dismantle it at all of our shows makes our lives so much easier. We wouldn’t want to exhibit without Smart Display.”
Westcotec was one of seven stands installed by Smart Display at this year’s event, and the stand builder is already preparing its return to the 2024 edition, which is scheduled to take place on 16-17 October. Brands looking exhibit at the event can take advantage of a full, in-house designs service, followed by extensive project management that takes care of everything from liaising with the exhibition organiser in the lead up to the event to dismantling the stand on the last day.
“Smart Display communicated everything to me at every step of the way so that I never missed a deadline,” says Messagemaker’s marketing executive Kelly Spear, who was new to the team this year. “Smart Display has built this stand for us several times but, because I had some ideas of my own, everyone was really helpful in adding in some new elements to align with the new message that we wanted to send out.”
Smart Display has availability to bring further brands on board for the 2024 event. The company can even take care of swapping an existing booking for a space-only arrangement on behalf of brands who have already committed to a shell scheme.
It’s a decision that proved to be the right move for MJ Church, the engineering specialist that made the move from shell scheme to a bespoke build at this season’s Highways.
“Our footfall on the first morning alone spoke for itself,” says Aidan Boyle, head of civil engineering at MJ Church. “Our stand was the first thing everyone saw, and it did the job of attracting visitors to our brand. We will definitely be re-using it next year. ”
If you are looking at exhibiting at next year’s Highway, come on board with Smart Display. Get in touch today to see our inspiring portfolio of past designs and request a no-obligation quote.
