Latest to confirm its attendance is the General Optical Council, giving delegates to the show the chance to quiz Council Members including
GOC Chairman Rosie Varley and Registrar Peter Coe.

“I am delighted that the GOC has the opportunity to attend Optrafair. This is a critical time for the optical professions and the industry, and it is important that we keep talking to all our partners and stakeholders. I am looking forward to meeting registrants and finding out more about their concerns, as well as explaining what the Council is doing, and why,” said Rosie Varley.

The GOC has not attended Optrafair as an exhibitor for several years but GOC Communications Manager, Kate Fielding, is keen to make it a regular feature.

“Optrafair is a key event for optics, so it is important for the GOC to attend. Both staff and Council members will be on hand to meet and talk to delegates. We hope to be able to answer practitioners’ questions, from registration and CET queries through to more in-depth policy matters,” said Kate Fielding.

View OptraFair Website

James Anderson, Group Events Director of NEC Managed Events, said: “The show had a great turn out and people were impressed with the layout and the range of products and services available. Feedback from the exhibitors has been extremely positive with many of the leading manufacturers running low on stock due to the public demand. This response has given us a great foundation for developing the show for 2007.”

Gary Alliss, Head Golf Professional at the De Vere Belfry, and his team were inundated with people wanting to take advantage of the free lessons offered on the short game course. Show-goers also donated over £3,000 to the show’s chosen charities, Macmillan Cancer Support and Heart Care.

Covering over 10,000 square metres, The UK Golf Show visitors took to the driving range with leading brands including PING, Wilson, TaylorMade, Cleveland Golf and Callaway and embraced the show’s many interactive features. The chipping nets, hole-in-one and longest drive simulators, seminar theatre and fashion shows all proved very popular.

The 2007 UK Golf Show will be held from Friday 30th November to Sunday 2nd December. For further information and show updates, visit
www.theukgolfshow.co.uk.

The show will encompass everything needed for any type of party, from invitations and catering to entertainers and party gifts as well as balloons and costumes, two of the biggest areas of the party industry. There will be regular fashion shows with the latest fancy dress costumes on display from manufacturers including Smiffy’s and Rubies Masquerades.

The British Costume Association will support IPS for the first time by holding its own event within the show to further benefit its members. The BCA will have its own sponsored area at the IPS and BCA members will have the opportunity to use the dedicated members lounge for meetings and networking. Those members wishing to exhibit also receive a discount on the cost of a stand subject to availability.

Peter Denton, Chairman of the British Costume Association, said: “We have decided to work with the IPS as organising an exhibition takes a lot of hard work, especially when it is undertaken on a voluntary basis. IPS has the administrative and support mechanism in place to organise and promote the show to its fullest extent. We believe that joining forces with the IPS will allow retailers to attend one exhibition with all aspects of the trade under one roof.

IPS has grown considerably over the past ten years with visitor numbers increasing by thirty-nine percent in 2006, and ninety-five percent placing orders or planning to buy within one month of the show. The International Party Show has guaranteed its popularity by continually delivering what visitors have said they wanted to see.

The renowned annual IPS Dinner Dance is the Industry’s biggest networking and social event, offering a unique opportunity to meet and network with fellow suppliers, manufacturers and producers in a relaxed and enjoyable environment. This year’s International Fiesta theme will see attendees travelling around the world in one evening, enjoying a three-course dinner and dancing until the early hours. Plus, all exhibitors are invited to the Opening Night Fashion Show for a preview of 2007’s latest costumes and the chance to meet with existing contacts and make new ones!

Companies and individuals wishing to enquire about exhibiting at the International Party Show should contact sales manager Daniel Sansom on 0121 767 2771 or email daniel.sansom@necgroup.co.uk. Those wishing to attend the show as visitors should pre-register at www.partyshow.com or call 0121 767 2439.

Their sentiments were echoed by costume designers Make Believe, who benefited from being in the British Costume Association (BCA) Area. Owner Linda Miller explained: “Being in the BCA section, we felt more integrated with the show and certainly reaped the rewards. We took loads of orders and had plenty of interest in our new designs. Other exhibitors that were close by also said they had similar success and it was great to see such support for the show.”

“TransWorld was pleased at the quality of visitor and the amount of business transactions conducted during the three days of the show,” stated Eileen Oswald, Vice President of Business Development. Samantha Hartup, Organising Manager of the event, further stated, “In this celebration of the 10th Anniversary of IPS, we saw many new exhibitors, product lines, educational seminars as well as a heightened excitement in the presentation of the Balloon Competitions and the opening night Costume Fashion Show. We will carry this enthusiasm into the marketing of IPS 2008.”

Unique Party also had a successful show despite having reservations about exhibiting. President of Unique UK & Europe Tim Peters said: “The show had a refreshing feel to it this year, probably due to a couple of mainstream suppliers deciding not to attend. The quality of potential buyers was far better than it had been in previous years and we were encouraged by the high attendance on Sunday and Monday. The introduction of more costume/dress up associated exhibitors was a benefit and it was great to see that a few US based companies exhibited.”

The Balloon competition had some fantastic entries with Marc P Summers and Jo Uddin from Another Balloon Company winning the large sculpture section with their tree sculpture. The Ruby Wedding themed balloon delivery competition was won by Amanda Hill from Dreams2Go and the best table centrepiece for a summer garden party was Margaret Thompson and Lucy Hennessy from Capel Manor. The costume competition was won by Mardigras while Alistair Cullen from Riverside Cards Ltd won a travel package to TransWorld’s International Halloween, Costume & Party Show (www.HCPShow.com) to be held at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas, March 16 – 19, 2008.

IPS 2008 will be held from 30th March – 1st April 2008 and those wishing to exhibit at the show or attend as visitors should visit www.partyshow.com for updates or call 01525 403330.

Industry stalwart, Frank Norville, Chairman of the Norville Group summed up the mood of many: “We have found it to be a very busy show. We are very pleased, particularly with the opportunity to meet so many of our customers and friends. Optrafair is the ideal opportunity to communicate new products and trends. It was a wonderful arena with no effort spared by the industry to create an attractive ambience. If we didn’t have Optrafair to serve that purpose we would have to invent it!”

Chris Tyler, Birmingham Optical CEO, who had 55 staff at the show, commented: “It has been the best Optrafair in our 50 years of trading. The average transaction value has doubled in 2007 from the 2005 show. Since our MBO we have positioned the company as a technical supplier, rather than an equipment supplier, and the results have paid off at Optrafair.

Tony Ellison, Marketing Manager of Topcon agreed: “It was a very good show and we were busy on all three days with interest across the board for our fundus imaging and emerging technologies.”

SEIKO Optical also benefited from pre-promotion: “It was an excellent show, but we did have new lenses and frames to launch. We did loads of pre-promotion and it certainly paid off,” said John Conway, General Manager, SEIKO Optical UK.

Robert Morris, Managing Director of William Morris Eyewear, and winner of the Women’s Frame of 2007 Award, also enjoyed a “highly successful” show: “I didn’t leave the stand for three days. We had a target that we achieved by Saturday and had record sales from a mix of new and existing customers. We have a party on the stand, create an atmosphere and make people want to come and see us,” he said.

Newcomer to Optrafair, Sibit, which took a small stand was delighted with the interest in their IT support services – “The show was excellent, and the organisation fantastic. The quality of the visitors was outstanding and the number of new enquiries that we took far exceeded our expectations. The UK optics community made us feel very welcome and we met enthusiasm from both visitors and other exhibitors,” he said.

Pennine Optical Chairman, Peter Cowan, commented: “Our Oliver Goldsmith Collection had a very strong show, aided by the designer’s presence and we had a very positive response to our children’s collection. As well as home customers we attracted new export customers from Africa and the Middle East.”

Ron Mulholland, Rodenstock Franchise Co-Ordinator, said there had been strong interest in the franchising scheme, with many practitioners coming to explore the opportunities available and others to see the ImpressionIST dispensing tool, which had been “demonstrated constantly”.

Boots’ Franchise Implementation Manager, Deana O’Dare, said there had been “a real buzz on Sunday with some good quality interest from people wanting to work with us”.

Specsavers Director of Professional Recruitment, Chris Howarth, reported fewer students in attendance but with an estimated 20% increase in interest for joint venture partnerships, and many enquiries for people wanting to set up a Specsavers franchise in Spain.

Another Frame of 2007 Award Winner, Neal Grimason, Sales and Marketing Director of Continental Eyewear, had a “fantastic show” and said there had been a “significant bearing on the frame that won the award”.

Like many other successful companies, he had done a lot of work before the show through advertising, PR and letters to opticians informing them about new models to be launched, particularly to the Jaegar and award winning X-eyes collections – “I am a very keen exhibitor, and I think that this is reflected in the reaction that we get. The stand is open and inviting,” he said.

Optovision National Sales Manager, Bruce Richardson, reported “a string of new leads and interest from dormant accounts to be revitalised.”

Another new exhibitor, with a small stand, Emily Heurlin, Marketing Manager of Two Tower Optics, which launched the Safegel 1 day lens, again reaped the benefit of pre-show publicity – “The show was very good. A lot of people had seen our pre-show publicity. Being near the restaurant helped the flow of passing traffic too. It exceeded our expectations by a long way,” she said.

Another contact lens company, and seasoned exhibitors, Bausch & Lomb, offered many specific promotions, receiving one order for £32,000 from a single customer.

“We did a lot of pre-promotion and that paid off. We also offered lunch, food and drinks on Sunday with a room set aside with Playstations and a kiddy area for drawing. We had initially catered for 80 people but topped 500 who wanted to sit down and rest during the show,” said Craig Goodison Bausch & Lomb Marketing Manager.

Daysoft Managing Director, Mark Hegarty, said the company had made a lot of new contacts whilst also seeing existing customers – “We don’t run a sales team, and everything is done by referral and by coming to exhibitions.”

Drew McDonald, Managing Director of Bluesky which promoted Oscar and Fitch frames and Loops for children on one of the show’s most eyecatching stands, said the show had been “a rip roaring success”.

“We launched Oscar and Fitch at the last Optrafair and we had customers coming to see us from the US, Germany, New Zealand and Australia,” he said.

Party stand was Marchon – “We like to party and our customers love it. We want to give our customers a good time with Nike Street dancers, hip-hop dancers and rugby stars. We smashed our 2005 show records,” said Sarah Williams, Marchon Marketing Manager.

Brulimar Sales Director, Alexander Harris, said the quality of the visitors had been “superb”, with Saturday’s orders exceeding those of the entire previous Optrafair. Launching Hooch frame for girls and extending the Bench collection, he felt that pre-show teaser advertisements had helped with visitors to the stand.

Some exhibitors wanted to see changes with a vision for it to become more creative and the introduction of other events around the main arena of the show.

Explaining the link, chocoholic Charlie Jordan, Late Show Presenter from 100.7 Heart fm said “With our new Feelgood Campaign launched this year we feel that there is a natural synergy with The Chocolate Show. I’m a huge chocolate fan and, as everyone knows, endorphins are released when you eat chocolate making you feel good and happy – what more of an excuse do you need?!”

100.7 Heart fm will have a dedicated area within the show called the ‘Feelgood Zone’ and Heart presenters and ground patrol will be present throughout the event.

This really is the ultimate day out for any chocolate lover. You will be able to see and try chocolates from all over the world, see demonstrations by top chocolatiers, enter exciting competitions with fabulous prizes and even join in one of our interactive workshops and try your hand at making your very own chocolate truffles. With over 150 exhibitors there will be chocolate galore!

The Chocolate Show brings chocolate to life and offers you the chance to submerge yourself in all things chocolate for the day.

Advance tickets will go on sale in the near future, keep checking the website for more details and to secure your place at the UK’s ultimate chocolate event.