The first East Midlands Exhibition took place on November 12th, at the iPro Stadium, Derby in response to the demand from Made in the Midlands members from Derby, Nottingham and Leicester to create an exhibition that would generate vast interest within their region.
The East Midlands Exhibition included 30 stands from some of the most successful and diverse companies in the region. Made in the Midlands were extremely happy with the high quality, professionalism and friendliness of all of our exhibitors.
East Midlands Regional Manager, Abigail Leachman: The East Midlands exhibition just goes to prove that manufacturing goes much further than the traditional Black Country. From design to electronics and aerospace to renewable energy, the variety is endless, and we are continuing to fly the flag for industry as a whole.
MP for Derby South, Dame Margaret Beckett spoke at the event and discussed the importance of manufacturing to the UKs economy. The former Labour party leader was originally trained as an apprentice engineer, prior to her move into politics. Dame Beckett acknowledged the importance of the East Midlands Exhibition, with regards to bringing the manufacturing community together to network.
Ian Harrison, UKTIs Regional Director also spoke at the event to raise awareness to their Exporting is Great campaign. The Great campaign presents live export opportunities to businesses, with this particular version in the form of a mobile seminar. The campaign is designed to get 100,000 additional companies exporting by 2020.
Harrison stated: This event was a major part of our Export Week programme, which aims to inspire businesses of all shapes and sizes to set their sights on trading overseas, perhaps for the first time.
Our brilliant Exporting is Great roadshow truck was on site at the iPro Stadium, and people were able to come inside and find out lots of useful information about doing business abroad - with one to one advice and drop in sessions available.
The East Midlands has so much to offer the rest of the world. We have a fantastic array of interesting startups, small companies and growth businesses filling much-needed gaps in the international market.
The East Midlands exhibition epitomized the communal spirit of the East Midlands, as exhibitors were able to network throughout the day. The exhibition also provided companies with a great opportunity to promote their company to all of the local engineering apprentices in attendance.