PRESS RELEASE
NEC, Birmingham – 2nd May 2012
The first day of Multimodal 2012 – the only event for all sectors of the UK and Irish transport and logistics industries – saw a 24% increase in numbers attending, with over 2,000 visitors and exhibitors through the doors.
Many exhibitors reported visitors flocking to their stands, and several commented that it was the most effective event of its kind they had attended. “This is certainly the most popular Multimodal event we have been to”, said Zoe Arnold, UK Strategic Sales Manager for global transport and logistics operator DSV. “Multimodal always gives us a very good mix of visitors – not just potential new customers, but existing ones with whom it’s important to cement relationships. Multimodal provides an excellent forum for both.”
This year’s Multimodal has attracted a strong contingent of exhibitors from overseas, and from emerging markets. Aztek International and Austria-based Cargo Partner, who provide a comprehensive door-to-door freighting service to and from Eastern Europe, Russia and the Ukraine, said the rate and quality of enquiries had been excellent, and even on the first two hours of day two, many important new contacts had been made. Also picking up new leads for business to Russia were Vnukovo Cargo, based at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport, which they were promoting as Moscow’s new cargo gateway.
Closer to home, several port and transport operators from France had a strong presence at the show, including the Ports of Calais and Boulogne, the Port of Normandy Authority, and Dunkerque Port, as well as Ubifrance, the French Trade Commission. Dunkerque Port was one of the founding exhibitors at Multimodal, and has been at the event every year since. Dunkerque’s Inland Transport Manager Guy Bourbonnaud sees Multimodal as a key element in the port’s marketing: “The UK is our number one market, and with so many UK interests in the port, it is essential we have a strong presence in the UK. Multimodal has gone from strength to strength every year, and is now vital for us in acquiring new and consolidating existing business.”
Another founding exhibitor is the UK’s PD Ports, who operate portcentric warehouse logistics in the Teeside area, importing goods for distribution in the north of England. PD Ports have been at Multimodal every year, and have already booked their stand at next year’s exhibition. Business Development Director Geoff Lippitt saw Multimodal as a good opportunity to promote PD Ports’ activities to new and existing customers: “We’re refreshing our portcentric business and are using Multimodal to launch our brand new website. We’ve enjoyed a very successful period over the last four years, and we now have 4 million square feet of portcentric warehousing in the UK – a message we want to communicate to the freighting community.”
Multimodal is also a popular forum for bringing new technological innovations to the market. Fargo Systems for example have launched a major extension of their intermodal rail software, with new versions of their ‘TOPS’ container transport and ‘CYMAN’ container terminal management programmes. The company says that both systems aim to promote the use of rail freight and take intermodal management to a new level.
During day two of the event, the Shippers’ Voice held well-attended seminars on a variety of subjects. The morning began with the environment in mind, starting with a seminar by the Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) on decarbonising the maritime supply chain, followed by Green Freight Europe (GFE) on CO2 benchmarking in road freight and the green-carrier shop. The afternoon sessions concentrated on cost savings for logistics and transport; recruiting, training and staff retention in the supply chain; and the need for getting the right insurance in the expanding logistics services market.
Trade Extensions’ Briefings proved very popular with Multimodal visitors too. Subjects covered included a case study in the use of the Trade Extensions e-sourcing programme by Franҫois Zehr of Cabot Corporation Ltd; Keeping Your Transport Contracts Current by Peter-Paul Mulder of Mars Incorporated; the Connected Carrier (integrating and exchanging data) by Jo Godsmark of Labyrinth Logistics Consulting; and an examination of container shipping market outlook, freight rates and index-linked contracts by Philip Damas of Drewry Shipping Consultants.
“From the very positive feedback we’ve had from exhibitors, visitors and presenters alike, it’s fair to say that the fifth year of Multimodal has proved the most successful ever in terms of bringing members of the transport and logistics communities together and promoting business”, commented Multimodal Director Robert Jervis. “Today has seen even more visitors through the doors, and I’m confident we are going to end up with a record attendance by the close of the show. It is a credit to all the organisers and exhibitors who have worked hard for the success of the event.”
ENDS
To find out more about Multimodal 2012 please visit www.multimodal.org.uk
Join Multimodal on the Twitter site at http://twitter.com/multimodal
Also read the latest Blogs and News at http://www.multimodallive.org.uk/
About Multimodal:
Multimodal is taking place from 1st to 3rd May, 2012 at Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Multimodal has attracted 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 2012 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.
We look forward to welcoming you to Multimodal 2013 at NEC, Birmingham from 23-25 April.
Media Contact:
Robert Jervis, Event Director,
Clarion Events Limited
Tel: +44 (0) 207 370 8373
E-mail: robert.jervis@clarionevents.com