Another successful event for Traffex and Parkex 2013

Having welcomed 8,194 attendees, this year’s Traffex and Parkex was considered by many as one of the best exhibitions in its 26 year history. Following three busy days of face-to-face business networking, the leading industry event helped visitors to develop their little black books of contacts and introduced them to numerous innovative products, services and technologies. The two co-located shows, dedicated to traffic management, ITS, road safety and parking, took place at the NEC Birmingham last week bringing together industry experts under one roof.

Each show provided strong seminar sessions, organised alongside the content partners, with prominent speakers from the DfT, Highways Agency, ITS United Kingdom, CIHT and the British Parking Association. Alison Tooze, membership and events manager at British Parking Association, comments: “The seminars have been really well received. The ‘Parkex Power Pitches’ were particularly successful and offered a great opportunity for businesses to pitch to potential clients. Reflecting on our time here, this year’s show has been extremely productive; Parkex improves every year and has exceeded expectations this time around.”

For the first time, Traffex showcased a brand new feature called Lighting The Way in response to the Department for Transport’s Traffic Signs Policy paper ‘Signing the Way”-‘. The large darkened indoor display area in the main exhibition hall presented an array of retro reflective and directly illuminated traffic signing and lining products in street-lit, unlit and dimmed conditions, designed to recreate a life-like environment in which to show exhibitors’ products at work. Louise Turton, marketing comms manager at Clearview Traffic Group comments: “Lighting The Way has been a great way to show off our products, we’ve been able to take visitors there and show them the products in action, it’s been a real highlight this year.”

Now in its 26th edition and with over 350 exhibitors in attendance, Traffex continues to impress both exhibitors and visitors. Mathew Vincent – deputy sales and marketing director at Siemens Mobility says: “Once again Traffex has proved to be an essential and popular date in the traffic industry calendar and a show not to be missed. For Siemens it has been the ideal and obvious platform to unveil both our new intersection controller and cloud based traffic control systems.”

Adam Scriven – chief engineer in traffic infrastructure at TfL comments: “Traffex really works; it is a great opportunity to meet the suppliers you’re already working with as well as meeting those you may not have been aware of or those with new technology.”

The show is also renowned for leading the way in new developments and innovations. Richard Hein, parking and concessionary travel manager, Winchester City Council, says: “A highlight of the show has been finding out about new technology or products which the council can benefit from as well as being able to network with colleagues and new potential clients.”

Peter Plisner, transport correspondent, BBC Midlands, comments: “Traffex/Parkex is a good barometer of where things are going; years ago we saw the first speed cameras introduced here, so if you’re in search of new technology launching in the industry then this is the place to be.”

Live demonstrations and networking have also been a highlight for this year’s show. Matt Carroll, business development manager at EA Group comments: “The show provides a great opportunity to see everything in one day, in one central place; you will learn more at Traffex in a day than you will sitting in the office over several days.”

Bill Butler, event director, comments: “In today’s modern world, where individuals are usually chained to their desks and forever dealing with email, it’s great to be able to provide a platform where people in the industry can take time out to meet others face-to-face. This year’s show has been a great success and we’ve witnessed visitors coming and going from all areas of the industry including many Local Authorities, private sector contractors, The Highways Agency, TfL, and many more. We’re already looking forward to our next show in 2015 and welcoming other new faces within the world of traffic management, ITS, road safety and parking.”

The next combined Traffex and Parkex event will be held at Hall 5, NEC Birmingham, 21-23 April 2015. For more information, please visit www.traffex.com or www.parkex.co.uk