IRE - A quality event

The first ever International Rental Exhibition (IRE), held in Amsterdam between June 3 and 5, was a great success according to many exhibitors. The general consensus of opinion was that the quality of visitors was very high. In total more than 1500 of the industry's top professionals from all over the world attended the inaugural show.

Commenting on the show, James Anderson, sales and marketing manager, JCB Light Equipment said, "It has been very successful for us. We sold a total of 390 machines at the show - 350 machines to one customer.

"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," he added.

CEO of US company SmartEquip, Alex Schuessler, echoed that sentiment saying, "The quality of the traffic has just been absolutely phenomenal. We have met high quality people - the decision makers."

Running alongside the IRE was the European Rental Association's (ERA) annual convention and the first ever European Rental Awards organized by the ERA and International Rental News magazine. Top honours at the awards went to Cramo and KDM Hire.

Cramo was awarded Rental Company of the Year (10 depots or more) and KDM Hire claimed the prize for Rental Company of the Year (less then 10 depots). Other winners included Speedy Hire's chief executive Steve Corcoran (ERA/IRN Rental Person of the Year), Hewden (The Rental Environmental Award), Komatsu's PC26MR-3 2,5 tonne mini excavator (Rental Product of the Year), GenSet PLC (After Sales Service Award), MVS Zeppelin (Best Rental Promotional Campaign) and GAP Plant (The Rental Safety Award - Promotion of Safe Work Practices).

The ERA convention, which attracted more than 350 delegates, was also a great success. Subjects covered over the three days of the conference included equipment theft, transportation, financing, sustainability and much more.

Gerard Deprez, president of the ERA and managing director of Loxam, said the first show 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 strong partnership between the ERA convention and the exhibition helped generate a very 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 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."

Pieter Jansen, European sales executive at Brendon Powerwashers summed up the positive feelings saying, "We have had a good show and have met the decisions makers of important companies. We also sold 80 machines during the show."