Glowing reviews for DIY & Garden Show and Totally Tools
The DIY & Garden Show/Totally Tools has drawn praise from exhibitors and visitors after its three-day run at Earls Court in early January.

According to exhibitor, and DIY & Garden Show regular David Gill, senior brand manager of Akzo Nobel Decorative Coatings visitor numbers to the stand were impressive.

He said: "We had good footfall on our stand from both UK and international visitors this year, which gave us a good opportunity to clarify where Crown Paints is heading for 2008 and confirm our commitment to our brands."

Another show regular, Nigel Dibbo, md of Big Wipes (Sycamore UK) commented: "We continue to meet people we didn't know existed at this show, all of whom represent good sales opportunities."

Kevin Shaw, general manager of Rolson Tools said Totally Tools has helped his business grow. He added: "This is the only dedicated tools show in the UK and deserves to be supported. We use it to attract new customers and develop relationships with existing ones and this year was a very positive show for us!"

New companies to the show also felt they'd made good contacts; Martin Breen, national sales manager for Group55, said he was 'delighted' with the quality of visitors, while David Hill of Shield Innovations which was showing its Freehand range of decorating accessories, said it was the 'best decision we ever made' to exhibit.
"The quality of leads was truly astounding!" he added.

Opportunities

Visitors such as show stalwart Geoff Baker, owner of W C Baker & Son, a general ironmonger based in Fleet, Hampshire also heaped praise on the show.

He said it is hard to beat the face-to-face opportunities that the DIY Show offers.

And Richard Newman, DIY buyer for Gardiner Sons & Co Ltd in Cirencester found plenty of diy, hardware and tools that took his eye.

Terry Fox, buyer for the Taskers Group, based in Liverpool found the show very useful for contacts.

James Murray, exhibition director of Brintex reacted to initial comments on the show saying: "We ask a lot of our exhibitors; we want them to invest in the show, commit early and know what they want to achieve so that we can really help them get value for their booking. We saw some great cases this year of companies gaining excellent results as a direct consequence of their pre-show activity.

"As always, all aspects of the show are back into the melting pot for next year, and I urge all exhibitors and visitors to respond to our post-show surveys to let us know what would suit them."

One of the plans already underway for 2009 is to stage a high level industry conference alongside the shows to mark the 15th anniversary of the DIY & Garden Show.

The dates for the 2009 shows are confirmed as January 18, 19, and 20 at Earls Court 2, London.