Optrafair 2011 brought a welcome blast of sunshine to the UK
optical industry with visitors arriving in great spirits and show
results reflecting the positive mood of serious buyers committed to
enhance their professional offering and practice image.
Independents, who were well researched on what they wanted to see,
and who were keen to differentiate themselves, were the order of
the day, exhibitors found.
Long recognised as an extremely well presented show in which
exhibitors welcome their guests with superb stands, Optrafair 2011
brought a new level of style and a buoyant mood with a renewed
focus for suppliers to "go the extra mile" for their customers. The
welcome return of contact lens companies enhanced the comprehensive
offering of the optical industry's flagship biennial show. The
inclusion of a wide CET programme, innovations in eyewear from the
Royal College of Art, a display of the OptraAward winners,
caricaturists, Live Optrafair TV, opportunities to win iPads and
days out in off-road driving added to the enjoyment for many.
Total visitors through the doors at The NEC Birmingham show,
excluding exhibitors, were 7586 over the three days. When repeat
visits, made by those attending on more than one day were
calculated, the figure was 6647, recording a 2% increase over the
6505 visitor number of 2009. Purchased stand floor space increased
by 8% over the 2009 show.
"The FMO is committed to publishing true and accurate figures
for Optrafair attendance. Some shows may include revisits in their
totals but we prefer to give the two totals so that a comprehensive
picture of daily attendance is given," said Barry Dibble, Chairman
of show owners, The FMO.
"The atmosphere and smiling faces of exhibitors, bounced onto
the visitors coming through the doors. We are delighted with the
commitment that exhibitors make to the show and many were rewarded
by the profession. Tomorrow we start planning for 2013 and looking
for ways to encourage more of the profession to attend this
important event," said Malcolm Polley, FMO Chief Executive.
Exhibitors were rewarded with a commitment and focus to invest
in shop-fitting, practice management systems, new frames and lens
innovations and the technology stars of the show, OCT and fundus
imaging.
Queues formed at financing companies with Performance
Finance and Professional Financial
Services recording "outstanding" demand.
Nick Fitrzyk, Managing Director of Carlton,
promoting its Canon brand products, and a longstanding Optrafair
exhibitor summed up the mood:
"The quality of the people at the show has been excellent: they
ignored the wonderful spring weather and came here for a reason.
There were no 'tyre kickers' but people who wanted to invest in
technology - practices are updating their instrumentation with OCT,
fundus imaging and combi units and they got to see it all under one
roof."
He added a thanks to the FMO organisers -"The organisation at
Optrafair is always spot on".
New exhibitors, Bondeye, promoting AMD
awareness, and Eterno Vision Contact Lenses,
promoting silicone hydrogels and coloured contact lenses reported
"fantastic" levels of interest from the high number of decision
makers attending the show.
A link to the Olympics and sailing for Bushnell
UK, with its Serengeti, Bolle and Cebe brands, for
polarising products and golf Range Finders and other enticing
accessories, proved valuable market positioning, as Andrew Grose,
Bushnell UK Managing Director explained -
"We were busy - people were in good spirits. The market may be
tough but people are still prepared to buy good quality products,
and the Olympic association helps."
Business and marketing support was also brisk business with
queues forming at IT companies for practice management systems,
investment in integration to clinical technology and gaining
Business Intelligence.
Patrick Myers of Myers LaRoche Marketing
Consultants said he had seen more people than ever committed to
serious marketing advice -
"Pricing policy advice, content of reminder letters and interest
in people wanting to acquire optical businesses has been high. This
might well be a sign of an upturn across the board. This is my
twelfth Optrafair and we have never had so much serious business
interest."
For contact lens company Bausch & Lomb it
was "the right decision to come to Optrafair" according to Steve
Williams, B&L Technical Support Manager.
"We saw a wide variety of customers, including people from Abu
Dhabi, multiples, independents plus Moorfields and Southampton
Hospitals."
Cooper Vision used the show to unveil its re-branding and
found the show "delivered many new faces. Customers were very happy
to see us and we will be back in two years time for the next
Optrafair," said Galor Dozsa, Sales and Marketing
Director.
On the ophthalmic lens front, a "never ending queue of people"
formed at the first ever independent Trivex stand, as Frederic
Lefranc, Director PPG Industries Rx Sales,
explained -
"This is the first time we have exhibited independently at a
domestic fair and people queued up to ask questions. New materials
take a long time to launch and this was a milestone. We came to
Optrafair to see the benefits of getting closer to the profession
and this proves that this was right."
Essilor welcomed the mood of the show and said
that people seemed "quite buoyant" and enjoyed the opportunity to
socialise. Rodenstock reported "double net sales
over two years ago" and used the show to see what the competition
is doing.
Nikon Professional Services Director,
Kevin Gutsell said practices were certainly investing -"Many have
realised that after two years of being conservative they now need
to invest and we were particularly pleased to see people from
Scotland and Ireland."
Interest in lens technology also spread to
Norville with demand for Polaroid and Polaroid
3D.
"We were delighted to come back to the show and had excellent
results with this lens technology and the launch of Barbour Eyewear
- the first product that Barbour has ever licensed. People who came
were serious about business," said Norville Sales Manager Mark
Truss.
Neal Grimason, Sales and Marketing Director of
Continental Eyewear said the economic climate
"continued to be difficult", but similar to MIDO and Silmo,
"exhibitors were on a mission and very few visitors came to just
browse, and with those who came keeping the Continental sales team
busy".
Smaller exhibitors worked their stand well with plenty of
pre-show marketing and efforts were repaid to The EyeBag
Company and Coates Optical Supplies -
"We took orders at the show that will be shipped to The USA,
Ghana and Australia. I had expected the show to be quieter but it
has been excellent," said Managing Director Graham Coates.
SunProof BabyBands enjoyed the results of
their marketing activity and an increased spend on sunglasses due
to pubic awareness.
"We back up our sales with information from Cancer Research UK
on the importance of protecting young eyes from the sun - opticians
are seeking this kind of support," said Managing Director Jouko
Nykanen.
Simon Wardle Principal of Professional Financial
Services summed up the mood for many as the doors closed
on Optrafair 2011 -
"There had been a lot of reticence leading up to the show with
potential doom and gloom on the High Street but it was a simply
outstanding show - probably my biggest ever Optrafair."
See live footage from the show at
www.optrafair.co.uk
Issued for Optrafair 2011
By Janice English
01372 465265
14.4.11
