NMBS – the UK’s largest buying society for independent builders, timber, plumbing and heating, and hardware merchants – has staged another successful annual exhibition.
The 2017 event, which was held at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry on 5 April, saw record attendance levels and attracted over 900 visitors (2016: 850) from across the full spectrum of NMBS’ 1000-plus merchant members.
NMBS suppliers exhibiting at the show totalled over 275 across 375 different stands.
Keen to make the most of the event and to ‘do business’, exhibitors were offering extra rebate on all orders placed on the day. This extra rebate will continue to be offered throughout the entire month of April for members who placed orders with suppliers at the exhibition. In addition, many exhibitors were offering further trading incentives such as exclusive NMBS Exhibition promotions and spot buy opportunities.
Visiting NMBS members were also able to benefit from additional discounts and deals as well as free product giveaways thanks to initiatives like the ever-popular NMBS Voucher Book.
To help attract NMBS members onto their stands, many exhibitors had gone to particularly impressive lengths – and none more so than Dickies. The workwear manufacturer’s innovative and interactive use of point of sale, which included a person dressed as a clothing mannequin that would occasionally come to life, led to the business being presented with NMBS’ Stand of the Year Award.
Speaking of the 2017 exhibition, Chris Hayward, managing director at NMBS, said: “Every year the NMBS Exhibition continues to go from strength to strength, setting new and higher records for visitor and exhibitor numbers as well as the value of deals done on the day. The 2017 event was no exception and fully maintained this impressive track record. We’re delighted the show was so well attended and so popular with our members and suppliers alike."
