Lab Innovations, the UK’s only trade show dedicated to the laboratory industry, has won the prestigious ‘Best Trade Show’ Exhibition News award. One of the key awards of the exhibition industry.
Recognition by the Exhibition News (EN) Awards underscores the value of attending Lab Innovations for visitors and exhibitors alike. Lab Innovations beat a strong field of 12 shortlisted shows, including the Farnborough International Airshow.
Alison Willis, Divisional Director, Easyfairs, who accepted the award at the recent ceremony in London, said: “We have always strived to produce an event that answers the needs of the scientific community and offers a platform for education, networking and discovery. The annual growth that Lab Innovations has seen since its launch is testament to the quality of the event.”
The show’s evident success, achieving significant annual growth in both exhibitor and visitor numbers since launching in 2012, is a key reason for Lab Innovations’ receipt of this major award.
Independent research shows a 43% increase in lab managers, a 53% increase in lab technicians and a 125% rise in procurement managers attending the 2018 show.
Attendee satisfaction scores are also up year-on-year, with 80% of visitors and 92% of exhibitors also seeing Lab Innovations as being important to their business and 76% immediately rebooking for 2019.
The broad mix of relevant visitors and exhibitors at Lab Innovations are among the drivers for such remarkable exhibition growth and attendee satisfaction.
Simon Mortimer, Area Sales Manager, Veolia, noted of the 2018 show: “It’s been a very busy and lively show. We’ve had a really enthusiastic response and have been talking pretty much non-stop with laboratory decision makers from organisations ranging from universities and pharma companies, to the MoD and BP.”
Stephen Dey, Operational Marketing Director, Eppendorf UK, added: “Lab Innovations is one of the only places where we get to see this breadth of customers. You get everyone here…and it gives us an opportunity to engage with a huge range of people.”
Also core to the event’s success is its vast array of laboratory products on show, along with its wealth of networking and educational opportunities, with four scientific lecture theatres with daily keynote speakers. In 2018 this included science broadcasters Maggie Philbin and Steve Mould who were sourced with support from the show’s partnership with The Royal Society of Chemistry and publication Laboratory News.
Alongside these and other leading UK science-focused institutions, the show’s 15-strong advisory board, also helped to deliver highly relevant and compelling content for the show floor, as well as CPD-accredited conference streams.
As in many sectors at present, sustainability is the catalyst for innovation, so this new topic area generated excitement and great interest at the 2018 event, with post-show research highlighting this as a top reason for 10% of visitors attending. The new sustainability feature included a functioning laboratory on the show floor which showcased case studies of sustainable equipment and projects undertaken by leading universities in the field.
Lab Innovations returns, with these key features and more, to the NEC, Birmingham on 30 & 31 October 2019.
