Businesses in Derby will have the chance to market their services and products to some of the leading players in the manufacturing industry at a special trade show next month.
The Global Manufacturing Festival is a rare opportunity for industrial suppliers to talk directly to decision-makers from major blue-chip companies including Jaguar Land Rover, HS2, Siemens Energy, GE Oil and Gas and Airbus.
It’s also seen as an important networking event for the large number of engineering businesses in the Derby area, many of whom have links to the rail and aerospace industries.
Organisers of the annual event say this year’s Festival, on June 25, will be the biggest and best yet with more than a third of 150 stands already snapped up.
Co-organiser Richard Wright said: “We have the best speaker line-up for the biggest trade show to date and we’re already experiencing a lot of interest.
“Businesses don’t often get to talk directly to the right people from prime contractors, but this event gives them that valuable opportunity.
“Derby is traditionally a hotbed of engineering and this is the perfect chance for companies based in the area to meet new people and create links that can have mutual benefits.
“The Festival has grown from a local show to a national event in five years and has quickly become a key date in the manufacturing calendar. So anyone in the engineering supply chain for high-tech markets, particularly those involved in special materials, should make sure they come along.”
Senior figures from rail project HS2 will be available to talk specifically about accessing its procurement processes, while Siemens Energy will discuss supplier needs for a new £160 million turbine blade factory. Visitors will also be able to chat to a key sourcing executive from GE Oil and Gas.
Derby-based Rolls-Royce and thermal engineering firm Carbolite, in Hope Valley, are among many companies already lined up to take part in the event, to be held at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre with Boeing in Rotherham.
Mr Wright, Chief Executive of Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, added: “Delegations are booked in from China and the mining sector in Canada, while we also have exhibitors from all over the UK attending.
“It shows there’s already a great deal of interest from a wide range of companies of all different sizes, backgrounds and locations, but we’re keen to get even more involved.”
For more details of the Festival, along with instructions on how to register for a place at the event and book a trade stand, go to www.globalmanufacturingfestival.com or see a video preview at www.globalmanufacturingfestival.com/gmfsheffield-2014
