Show Review : First IRE show attracts high quality visitors
The first International Rental Exhibition (IRE), held in Amsterdam between June 3 and 5, 2008 was a great success according to many exhibitors with around 1500 "high quality" visitors attending the first show.
James Anderson, sales and marketing manager at JCB Light Equipment, said the show had been very successful for JCB; "We sold a total of 390 machines at the show - 350 machines to one customer.” He added, “Beside the sales of a lot of products we have also made new contacts with big players in the rental market – it is not the amount of visitors that counts but the quality.”
CEO of US company SmartEquip, Mr Alex Schuessler, said, “The quality of the traffic has just been absolutely phenomenal. We have met high quality people - the decision makers…Next time we will do more, we’ll have two meeting areas, and a cappuccino maker…”
Gerard Deprez, president of the ERA and managing director of Loxam, said the exhibition had been welcomed by rental companies; “The first edition of this exhibition is truly a success, through the number of exhibitors on one hand: 130 is an amazing figure for a first edition. Then, it is also a success through the range of equipment shown. We are all the more enthusiastic that the staff we are speaking to are dedicated to our industry.”
The partnership between the ERA convention and the exhibition helped generate an international profile of visitors at the show. Frank Vague, export manager of Soroto, said, “We had several good leads from Belgium, Australia, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and the UK, and we met the right people - the decision makers.”
Sales manager at Alimak Hek, Thijs van Woensel, added, “It is unique to meet the most important rental companies within our industry in one place.”
Sagrijs Aelbregt, regional marketing specialist at rental software company Lawson, said, “We are very pleased with the result of this exhibition. We have made contact with the right companies, visitors, and also with exhibitors at the show. We are convinced it will lead to a good sales result.”
French hydraulic hose repair specialist Chrono Flex used the IRE show as part of its European export drive. The company, founded 12 years ago, first moved outside of France in 2005 when it established a business in Switzerland, and now also operates in Spain, Italy, parts of the Caribbean and, since March this year, South Africa.
The company operates a fleet of 250 vans – 200 of which are in France – and Anne Audrain, Chrono Flex’s international development manager, told IRN the company had plans to be present all over Europe; “Our target is to have 1000 vans throughout Europe [within] five years.”
Ms Audrain said the company would be operating in five new European markets before the end of 2008, although these will not include the UK or Germany. She told IRN continental Europe was the main target and that the company was “not yet” ready to enter the UK market.
Chrono Flex says it can solve 98% of hydraulic hose problems on site and aims to reach all customer’s machines within two hours of a call-out; “We need to have a big network of vans to provide customers with a local service, nationally”, said Ms Audrain.
Page 1 of 8 Next >>
