Everything was on the up at this year’s Subcon show, with visitor numbers up 30%, 280 exhibitors and a positive atmosphere of business being done.
Subcon 2009, the UK’s dedicated national and international showcase for subcontract manufacturing services, ran from 9 to 11 June at the NEC Birmingham. Flying in the face of headline stories about a recession in manufacturing, buyers turned up ready to do business and looking for new suppliers.
The total spending power of visitors to the show came to over £1.8 billion of outsourced work per year, with over half of them directly making purchasing decisions. 60% said that they had come specifically to look for new suppliers – with 94% of them looking for UK subcontractors and 35% also looking for overseas suppliers.
The representation from UK exhibitors was particularly strong – with some already reporting positive results from the show. And the growing importance of the event to UK manufacturing was highlighted by some of the bodies supporting Subcon for the first time this year.
These included the National Skills Academy for Manufacturing, MAS, Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Sandwell Council – as well as trade organisations that that included SBAC, the society of British aerospace companies.
Reflecting feedback from buyers on their requirement for global sourcing options, visitors were also pleased to see that this year’s Subcon had a strong international dimension. There were national pavilions and individual exhibitors from countries including France, Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Slovakia, The Czech Republic, China, Taiwan, India, Pakistan and Thailand.
Underlining the high added value requirements of UK manufacturing, a significant proportion of visitors said they were active in high technology sectors that included aerospace – with 34%, defence with 20%, medical with 15% and electronics with 20% (visitors may come from companies that are active in more than one sector). And showing that there is still activity in the automotive industry, over 30% of visitors were active in this sector.
Event Director Jon Hughes said: “Despite the gloomy background this was one of the most successful Subcon shows of the past 20 years. Not only was there a buzz of activity wherever you went, but people were doing real business, sharing drawings and asking for quotes on current projects. We are looking forward to building on this in 2010, adding even more value for our visitors and exhibitors.”
Subcon returns to the NEC next year from 8 to 10 June alongside the MACH, Drives & Controls, IFPEX, Plant and Works and Airtech exhibitions.