Another stellar year for Facilities Show

Facilities Show 2016 reaffirms its place as the leading global event for FMs

Posted by Stephanie Broad | August 05, 2016 | Events

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• #facilities-management
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Facilities Show, organised by UBM EMEA, reported another hugely successful year for the leading global event for the facilities management industry, hosted at London’s ExCeL from 21-23 June. 

Facilities Show once again delivered an exceptional experience for FMs and solutions providers, attracting 11,353 attendees - a whopping 18% increase in visitors over the first two days. 

The event continued to attract visitors from over 40 different countries, with 4,181 visitors responsible for a facilities budget of over £1 million. The seniority of those attending Facilities Show also rose, with 4,756 visitors in positions where they head up departments and teams within their companies. 

Facilities Show was also very pleased to be working again in association with BIFM (The British Institute of Facilities Management), the leading facilities association, who hosted their Careers Zone once again, and delivered 26 seminars across the three days. Heavily involved within the programme were award winners Tanya Horscroft (Rising Talent in FM), Alan Russell (FM of the year) and McFarlane Telfer (Learning and Career Development). Sessions included ‘Negotiating Skills for a Pay Rise’, ‘FM Qualifications’, ‘Managing Remote Teams’ and more. 

Providing their support of the event were also leading TFMs; Mitie, who were Official Show Partner, alongside Sodexo as Gold Partner. Key association to FMs, RICS, also joined as Gold Association partner, joining CIBSE as supporting association and official magazine partner, FMJ. Endorsement from such respected organisations is key to the success of the event, allowing Facilities Show to continue to deliver the very best seminars and solutions on the show floor. 

Heather Beach, Event Director for Facilities Show said: “Even wild weather and a referendum couldn’t keep us down this year, with a significant increase in visitors across the three days and a great deal of fun. I was particularly pleased to see the new conference style content going down well with visitors – thank you to those who spoke – and the new Facilities Societies Fair busy too. Thank you to all those who worked with us to create such a great event – it is always a partnership. See you next year!” 

Teresa Higgins, Sales Director, Barbour EFM said: “Barbour EFM hadn’t exhibited at Facilities Show for a few years, but we decided to return in 2016 and I must say we were very pleased that we did. We gave 48 really good presentations to clients who were walking by and generated over 100 leads. Our aim was to promote the Barbour brand as the official BIFM information service provider providing a workplace management tool that helps to remain compliant and stay ahead of legislative changes. It was fantastic to speak to so many senior FM professionals and we are really looking forward to next year’s show.”

This year, Facilities Show seminar programmes included more speakers and informative content than ever before with more than 300 suppliers showcasing their products, and over 130 speakers delivering first class, case-study led presentations via three new theatre locations located around the show floor. The three theatres consisted of the Facilities 2020 Strategy Summit, sponsored by Planon, FM Operational Excellence Arena, sponsored by Stannah and FM in the Real World sponsored by Barbour EFM. Key issues within Facilities management were examined by industry experts delivering key insight within FM, aided by real life case studies, including Red Bull, Adobe and more. 

Facilities Show also continued to benefit from the co-located fire, health & safety, security, service management and workwear and uniform events, which as a total saw over 45,000 visitors at the ExCeL over the three days, a four per cent increase on 2015

With networking at the heart of the Facilities Show community, this year saw the audience of 11,000+ meet with service suppliers, as well as discussing common challenges amongst the FM community with their visiting peers. The Facilities Societies Fair created a core new area of this year’s event, where visitors could meet with those organising networking groups for FMs, to ensure that the thought-sharing atmosphere of Facilities Show is continued year round.

The Inspirational Speaker Series continued to attract large crowds this year from across the FM, security, safety, fire and service management industries, filling the 400-capacity theatre each day. Speakers included Colonel Tim Collins OBE, Kate Adie OBE and James Cracknell OBE, sharing key insights on how they have overcome adversity and challenges in their extraordinary careers in order to achieve their goals, from everyday tasks of getting children to school before work, to overcoming traumatic events to ensure a continual strive for progress. 

The SHE1000 networking masterclass concluded the show on day three, with hundreds of women involved in protecting and managing premises gathering to take part in the session delivered by expert Heather White, CEO at Smarter Networking Ltd. The audience were split into groups and, using interactive technology from Green Hat People, they were able to make a commitment going forward about the things they would like to do differently in the future. Kizzy Augustin, Senior Associate at Pinsent Masons LLP said: “The SHE1000 event was fantastic – Heather White did a great job of helping the huge group of women (and a few men!) to understand the importance of good networking, but she did it in a fun and interactive way.” 

Facilities Show also continued to benefit from the co-located fire, health & safety, security, service management and workwear and uniform events, which as a total saw over 45,000 visitors at the ExCeL over the three days, a four per cent increase on 2015. Across the series, visitors were able to benefit from meeting their needs for fleet management, fire integration, health & safety legislation, uniforms and more. Core to exhibitors at Facilities Show were the crossovers from these co-located events, FIREX, IFSEC, Safety & Health Expo, Service Management Expo and Professional Clothing Show, leading to higher show-floor visits. 

IFSEC International welcomed 27,052 attendees across the three days in line with 2015. A key highlight for IFSEC this year was the Home Automation House on display, a complete home environment was created to demonstrate the latest tech for home safety and security automation.

FIREX International welcomed 16,290 attendees across the three days in line with 2015. A key highlight for FIREX this year was the Passive Protection Zone which offered the opportunity to develop knowledge around passive fire protection and they offered a one stop show with ASFP members surrounding their zone. 

Safety and Health Expo welcomed 13,800 attendees across the three days which represents a nine per cent increase from the previous year.

Facilities Show 2017 takes place from 20th-22th June at ExCeL London.

www.facilitiesshow.com