6TH April 2011
Today, (Wednesday 6th April 2011) has proved to be the busiest ever for the UK and Ireland’s premier event for the transport shipping and logistics industries, Multimodal 2011.
Hall 4 at the NEC in Birmingham was host to over 200 exhibitors from all sectors of the industry, and 15% more visitors through the doors by 12 noon compared with last year. Dr Andrew Traill, The Director of Shippers’ Voice which provided a series of seminars throughout the event, was delighted at the level of interest.
“The sheer size of the audiences our seminars have attracted is proof of the need many people in the industry have for good quality information – and they know they can get it at Multimodal. We’ve had many requests from members of the audience to have individual meetings with speakers, which suggests the information they have to give is right on the nail.”
One seminar which attracted a lot of attention was the morning’s session on security – a look at the latest security drives in the wake of last year’s Yemeni bomb plot and advice on what shippers and forwarders need to be aware of and need to be doing. Panellists included air cargo security trainer Ivor Llewellyn of IL Solutions and Marcus Hallside of Innovative Compliance, who highlighted the lack of consistency in security regimes between different EU states, and the failures of regulatory authorities to work with transport operators to address the problems of reconciling security with the needs of commercial operations. “It’s clear that the industry and the regulators need to work much more closely together on this issue”, stated Llewellyn.
On the floor of the show, exhibitors were dealing with a steady flow of visitors and enquiries. Redler, who were demonstrating their new automated container loading system for bulk materials, were impressed by the quality of the visitors they were getting. “The enquiries we’re receiving are serious. Multimodal has done a great job targeting their audience.”
From as far afield as Dubai, RHS Logistics was aiming to attract European business to its planned fourth logistics centre in the Gulf state. “The important thing for us is to get our name and our business known in the European market, and Multimodal is certainly the place to do it”, their spokesman said.
One firm for whom Multimodal never fails to score is road haulage, warehousing and logistics provider Malcolm Logistics. Proudly displaying their newly-acquired state-of-the-art Volvo VN truck, made to Canadian specifications and smartly finished in the firm’s own livery (picture attached), Group Chief Executive Andrew Malcolm said, “We’ve had a very busy show, made some lucrative contacts and had a lot of support. The organisation at Multimodal is excellent, and this is a great venue. It’s an absolute must for anyone who’s serious about growing in this business.”
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About Multimodal:
Taking place from 5th to 7th April 2011 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Multimodal aims to attract a large group of exhibitors and visitors from across the whole spectrum of freight transport, logistics and supply chain service providers than it ever has before.
Multimodal 2011 is the only UK event that brings together all sectors of freight transport under a single roof. The Seminars and Briefings which are an integral part of the event, have scheduled an enlightening and thought-provoking range of topics, tackled in an interactive fashion by panels of experts or as briefings presented by representatives from centres of excellence. Topics range from insight into the media, customs, container shipping trends, container swaps, security, reducing empty loads and ports’ role in adding value, to e-sourcing, collaborative logistics, supply chain optimisation, key performance indices (KPIs) and logistics data analytics.
For further information about Multimodal 2011, please contact:
Robert Jervis, Event Director, Clarion Events Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 207 370 8373
E-mail: robert.jervis@clarionevents.com