Some of the automotive industry’s top suppliers, distributors and technical experts gathered at Event City, Manchester, in May for MECHANEX, the regional aftermarket trade show.
Following a successful north London show earlier in the year, the eagerness for garage owners and technicians to further their skills and knowledge was evident once again.
Visitor numbers were up 11% on the previous year at Event City and the show proved to be very beneficial for both visitors and exhibitors alike.
MECHANEX Exhibition Manager Emma Renphrey was keen to thank all who attended, she said: “It was great to see to so many new faces in Manchester. It really goes to show how serious technicians are about training and enhancing their skills.
“Once again it was standing room only at all of the technical seminars and to have an increase in visitor numbers from last year means the show is going from strength to strength.
“We’d like to thank all exhibitors for their support and hope visitors were able to benefit from what was on show. We look forward to doing it all again at Donington in October”
Below, exhibitors share some of their experiences and success stores from Event City.
Alldata
MECHANEX has always been a fantastic platform to reach a wide customer base in the UK. This latest exhibition was no exception, with a huge amount of interest and desire in the Alldata Repair tool. Since we provide repair information directly from the Vehicle Manufacturer, this was a very new and fresh concept to most in attendance. It’s time to make a change!
Euro Oils
As our first exhibition experience we found the event very useful for building relationships with both existing and potential customers. Our main goals for the exhibition were to make people aware of the Euro Oils brand, get people talking about us and to show off our new Precious Stones range.
We took with us an array of promotional items, pens, keyrings, air fresheners and t-shirts but the items in highest demand were the Euro Oils branded sunglasses which gained quite a lot of attention.
Ingersoll Rand
We had over 200 registrations with us at the Ingersoll Rand stand to receive marketing updates and news from us as well as a free t-shirt! Once again the mechanics loved both the range of air tools, 20v & 12v cordless we had on display, especially the W7150 and the W5330/W5350 which they were able to demo on our mud flap and car wheel demo stands. The team were very busy referring qualified leads of around £20,000 in total to our key channel partners during the show. Orders for some of those leads have already been placed to the value of £3,000.
Another great result of attending this fair is that we were able to partner up with a few local colleges and arrange talks with the students to showcase our product range and advance our communication with the mechanics of the future.
Launch UK
Dave Richards, Managing Director of Launch UK, said “MECHANEX Manchester was a great vehicle for us to preview our very latest products, which included new air-conditioning service stations, the PAD II diagnostic tool and, Ozone vehicle interior hygiene machine. These products offer numerous opportunities and touch all aspects of a garage business, from the diagnosis of faults on new vehicles, the ability to offer air-conditioning servicing and, the opportunity to drive business into a workshop with a new service such as Ozone.”
Randstad
Randstad Sales Director, Phillip Dowd, commented “We received a number of enquiries from garages looking to join the TerraClean network and take advantage of the support available to them to drive business into their workshops.”
TRW
Kevin Price, TRW’s Marketing Manager, said: “Attracting more than 150 visitors, TRW’s seminar was well received. MECHANEX provided the perfect platform for us to demystify EPB technology and explain how through our free, on-line resource ‘Tech Corner’ we can support garage technicians working with TRW parts.
“Our presence really tapped in to the “thirst” from garages for technical information and to work with TRW’s Corner Module solution to offer motorists a vehicle service and repair experience of the highest quality and that offers peace of mind.”
Valeo
Benoit Girard, Valeo Service UK Marketing Director, said: “The Valeo “demo car” once again proved a hit with mechanics and provided a much better understanding of the complete range of Valeo OE products and services.
“The event also provided us with an excellent opportunity to demonstrate our complete range of air-conditioning refill stations, which meet every requirement for a modern garage, such as the entry level ClimFill® Easy or, ClimFill® Pro, which is the most advanced refill station available in the automotive aftermarket.”
WD-40
Technicians were able to enter WD-40’s ‘Be My Mechanic’ competition, for which PMM is a trade media partner, by changing a wheel on the WD-40 Sun Rally Team’s Ford Fiesta R5 WRC, against the clock.
With £500 in cash up for grabs, as well as a chance to be part of the supporting crew as the team head to the legendary Welsh forests for the final round of the 2015 WRC in November, it was no surprise to see plenty of visitors wanting to take part.
There is still time to enter the competition, click here for more details.
The next show takes place at Donington Park, near Derby, on October 6th and 7th.
To register your FREE place, visit http://www.mechanex.info or call 01923 237799. For all the latest news and info on upcoming shows, follow @MECHANEXShow.
