Coventry’s Ricoh Arena was the place to be for carpet and window cleaners on 27 and 28 March this year as Quartz Publishing & Exhibitions Ltd staged Carpex Windex 2008 – the first time it has been located at this Midland’s venue.

The venue, which is part of Coventry City’s football ground and which includes a hotel, restaurants and function rooms, was superb. Everyone involved in the show – organiser, exhibitor and visitor – was extremely impressed with the venue itself and, equally, its location. Richard Johnson of Cleanfix said: "This was a thoroughly enjoyable show at which to exhibit. The venue was superb, and the very high quality of visitors made it extremely worthwhile. In 30 years of attending and exhibiting at trade shows I would say that this has been the most enjoyable and rewarding yet."

And his comments were echoed by exhibitors and visitors from both the carpet cleaning and window cleaning sides of the business. Mike Egerton, managing director of Host von Schrader, said: "Carpex surpassed our expectations by a country mile! We were overwhelmed at times by the number of people visiting our stand. There was great interest in the new Aridex upholstery machine and the Host carpet cleaning system. Quartz had obviously worked extremely hard to get the right people there in the right numbers - from an exhibitor’s viewpoint this was great value for money."

The audited attendance figures are hot off the press – an impressive 2178 visitors attended the show over the two days. Importantly, visitors were there to do business. James Anderson, managing director of Anderson Electrical, said: "This was a really fantastic show. After a steady start our stand was crowded out with people genuinely looking to do business. If we don’t sell at least 30 machines as a direct result of exhibiting at Carpex I will be amazed."

Ettore’s Fessy Jaye agreed: "There was something unique about this event – it had a very relaxed atmosphere making it a real pleasure to be here. The visitors have been very focused on what they are here to achieve, ensuring that every enquiry is a real sales lead. We have not seen a single time waster which has been the major plus point of exhibiting at Carpex."

The marketing efforts of Quartz, led by show director Martin Scott, clearly worked, attracting key buyers from both industry sectors. The venue, too, played a big part in the success of this year’s event. Derek Wick, sales director of Contico Manufacturing, said: "It’s been a very busy show for Contico. Numbers are definitely up from 2006. I’ve noted a higher number of interested buyers and we’ve received good feedback on products. We are in the traditional window cleaning business and have managed to pick up a good quantity of quality leads due to the high number of traditional window cleaners who have attended. The new Coventry venue is far superior to the show’s previous London location. It’s central so easy to get to, facilities are better and accommodation is superb. All in all, a very positive outcome."

John Sobucinski, general manager of Unger UK, concurred: "During my 25 years in the cleaning industry I’ve never been to a better venue! The Ricoh Arena is a great improvement on both Excel and the NEC. The standard of the exhibition itself and the stands is also very high. The quality of visitors at Windex is probably the best ever. They are real professionals, highly focused and clearly not just out for the day. The amount of interest shown in our products at this show has far outweighed that in previous years."

In addition to a busy exhibition, the Federation of Window Cleaners and the National Carpet Cleaners Association both staged seminar programmes that were free to attend. Both seminar theatres were busy for each session, with some topics leading to a hot debate led from the floor. Andrew Lee, safety officer for the Federation of Window Cleaners, said: "The seminar programme has been very well attended. The seminar regarding ladder use and work at height regulations was particularly popular. With lots of questions and passionate comments it was quite clear that a genuine passion exists within certain areas of the trade to continue to use traditional window cleaning methods. There is also a notable concern within the industry to access the latest training and technology. The fact that our new waterfed pole and ladders training course is almost fully booked evidences this."

Brian Dolby, chairman of the Federation of Window Cleaners, went on to say: "As far as the Federation of Window Cleaners is concerned our main focus for Windex was the seminar programme and this was a big success. In recent times we have tackled health & safety issues and our next challenge is to develop a training course for window cleaners."

June Frankum, president of the NCCA, added: "Carpex was my first official engagement as president of the NCCA.
The show was tremendous; all the exhibitors seemed to excel this year and there was a real buzz in in the exhibition hall that seemed infectious.

Comments made by exhibitors were all positive - from setting up, the visitors, the venue, business done, through to packing up.
The NCCA stand was always busy and the number of enquiries was fantastic. The gala dinner went down a real treat.

The meal was splendid and the entertainment had us all in stitches!" Pawlo Woloszyn, chief executive officer of the NCCA, continued: "Carpex 2008 was the best ever.

Quartz really did their homework and it all came together excellently.Bookings for 2010 have already started and the new addition of a floor cleaning area at the next show will just top it all off.

A show not to be missed." The visitors also found that the show, and its location, ticked all the right boxes.
Martin Stainsby of Wipe Clean said: "As someone interested in both window and carpet cleaning this is perfect. It was nice and easy to get here and I prefer the layout this year too. A good show."

Jenny Clark of J S Wadeson Cleaning Services, continued: "It’s my first time at Windex and I’m really enjoying it.

It’s great for new ideas, to update systems and to meet old friends." So what does the future hold for Carpex Windex? Martin Scott, the show’s sales director, said: "We have already confirmed that the 2010 event will return to Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, a decision that has proved extremely popular with all our current exhibitors.

We will be adding a hard floor cleaning area to the next event, which has also been well received by the exhibitors and visitors we have surveyed this year. I am delighted that Carpex Windex 2008, and the new venue, worked out so well for all who attended the event.

Quartz is now very focused on ensuring the event in 2010 takes another step forward to reflect the specific demands of the carpet, window and hard floor cleaning sectors." The final word goes to the exhibitors.

Lorna Osborn of Envirodri said: "As always, this was an extremely well organised event. The visitor numbers were just right – we were never rushed off our feet but always busy. The quality of the visitors has been excellent – we will definitely be back."

Jackie Bromley, national account manager of Vax Commercial, was equally pleased with the outcome: "This is our first year at Carpex and it’s been great! Extra manpower had to be brought in to cope with the amount of traffic on our stand.

We launched the VCW-01 carpet washer and the VCW-02 portable spot washer to the carpet cleaning industry and have had a fantastic response.

We’ve got a large pile of forward orders and have been offered cash and cheques galore!" Finally, Shaun Bradbury, managing director of Dry Fusion UK, said: "As the MD who signs the cheques, Carpex has ticked all the boxes for me.

We’ve had fantastic sales with people coming from locations as diverse as Inverness, Dublin and Southampton. I think the new Coventry location has had a lot to do with this. The show has been perfect for building brand awareness, meeting customers both existing and new and for launching new products.

There’s been a constant flow of traffic and business has been great. Yesterday we booked our space for 2010!" The dates for the 2010 event are 18 & 19 March – see you there!