National Funeral Exhibition Dates Announced
Following the success of the inaugural National Funeral Exhibition and in response to exhibitor and visitor feedback, the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) has announced that this major national event will be held every two years.
The next show will take place at Stoneleigh Park from 12-14 June 2009 and the NAFD has also booked the venue for 2011 – the dates for your diary are 10-12 June 2011.
“NFE 2007 proved beyond doubt that the UK funeral sector is capable of putting on a dynamic exhibition which is supported by the majority of funeral associations and more than lives up to the standards set by long-established shows such as Tanexpo and Funeraire,” says NAFD chief executive officer Alan Slater.
“We asked companies how often they would wish to exhibit and there was an overwhelming demand for a two-year cycle. Our aim is to support an increasingly diverse market by maintaining continuity and ensuring that the National Funeral Exhibition establishes itself within the global funeral exhibition calendar, so staging the event in 2009 and 2011 will meet everyone’s requirements, including the minority of companies whose preference was for a show every
four years.”
The exit survey conducted at NFE 2007 underlined that funeral directors relish the opportunity to find out about developments in the marketplace, as 94% of visitors came to see the variety of new products available, while 83% wanted to meet up with existing suppliers. Importantly, 55% of visitors said their reason for attending the National Funeral Exhibition was to purchase or to plan their buying decisions.
The NAFD also conducted a post-event exhibitor survey, which revealed that the main reasons for attending NFE 2007 were ‘to see existing clients’, ‘to launch new products’ and ‘to increase our client base/market share’.
The survey also highlighted that 71% of exhibitors had attended previous conferences and exhibitions – underlining the value of the National Funeral Exhibition as a platform from which to launch new products and services – while the number of new exhibitors is testament to the changing market and pace of development.
Exhibitors acclaimed the National Funeral Exhibition for providing value for money, high visitor numbers, the level of interest shown in their products and the number of leads generated, while the survey also commended Leisure Expo for its excellent organisation of the show.
Now that the dates for future National Funeral Exhibitions have been released, Leisure Expo will be getting in touch with all the companies that exhibited at NFE 2007 to discuss their plans for 2009 and beyond. If you would like to register your interest, please contact David Hyde on 01926 815597.