Builders merchant buying group the National Merchant Buying Society reported that business was brisk at yesterday’s annual NMBS exhibition in Telford.
Some 200-plus exhibitors reported good order levels.
“We’re delighted with the attendance,” NMBS marketing communications manager Dean Hayward told buildersmerchantsjournal.net. “Suppliers have taken big orders, and the Pallet Alley display has been very busy.”
Special points of interest included the first UK showing of DeWalt’s new Lithium Ion cordless range, designed to combat Makita’s strong presence in this sector, and a first NMBS appearance for Stax Trade Centres, newly appointed as a preferred supplier – a move which extends NMBS’s offer into product sectors like garden tools, chemicals and fertilisers for the first time.
The gala dinner on the evening before the show was attended by more than 400 guests, and featured rugby player John Bentley as guest speaker. Responding to an appeal by John Poore of Poores of Acton, the guests raised more than £4,000 for the two nominated charities, Rainy Day Trust and CRASH – and Poore surprised NMBS managing director Chris Hayward by presenting him with a certificate marking NMBS’s appointment as an Honorary Partner of the Rainy Day Trust.