New range of initiatives and fresh look for shows in 2009.
The DIY & Garden Show has been renamed Totally DIY.

The show will have a new look, and a different floor plan designed to focus attention on new products while exhibitors will have the opportunity to put across their views on how they use the show – and, in turn, create a more vibrant exhibition in keeping with the brands featured.

"The show's name – 'Totally DIY' – is created to encompass the huge array of products sold through home improvement retail channels, and to sit well alongside its sister show Totally Tools," Brintex said in a press statement.

The organiser said the changes were prompted following 'extensive' research with visitors, exhibitors and non-attendees to this year's DIY & Garden Show and Totally Tools.

The shows' floorplan will incorporate a dramatic entrance leading right to the heart of the show – a large piazza featuring new products.

"Our research tells us that 85% of our exhibitors come with new products to show, and 80% of our visitors come primarily to find new products and suppliers, so we decided to place new products literally at the heart of the show," explained show director, James Murray.

Mr Murray added that he will be calling on the support of the trade to come forward with new ideas relevant to diy and tools, and to extend the appeal to Europe.

"We hope these new companies sitting alongside the established brands and familiar names will deliver some fresh thinking for everyone involved in the diy industry," he said.

Additional changes

All the show's exhibitors will be asked to take a fresh look at the amount of space they book and how they use it.

Brintex will supply every exhibitor with personalised invitations to send out in combination with a range of incentives to encourage visitors.

To mark the 15th anniversary of the exhibition, Brintex will host a conference that will pick up where its 10th year conference left off – taking a look at what the future holds for diy retailing, and predicting what, where and how diy products will be sold in years to come.

"We want to re-energise everyone's interest in the show and give them a fresh experience of the diy industry when they visit in 2009," said show director James Murray.