Organiser Datateam Business Media's choice of London's ExCeL as a venue was significant, and helped to draw in more than 3,000 visitors over the course of the three-day exhibition. While catering to the high concentration of business taking place in the south, the new venue also made the show more accessible to international guests, leaving exhibitors impressed with both the quantity and variety of the visitors.

Attendees were able to explore thousands of products on offer from market-leading companies, with the show providing an inclusive hub for all refrigeration, air conditioning, ventilation, heating and heat pump requirements.

The exhibition also offered unmissable knowledge, with over 20 highly-attended CPD accredited seminars and the brand new Industry Insight Series, which allowed individuals from across the RACHP sectors to engage with a panel of experts on key topics, including well buildings and the future of refrigerated transport.

In addition, visitors were able to show their support for the next generation of engineers at the SkillFRIDGE Competition Zone, and attend the annual IOR conference on the third day of the exhibition.

First time exhibitor Conex Bänninger was impressed by the audience drawn to the venue. UK business unit director Bill Barlow said: “The footfall has been great, and we received a number of international enquiries as well as leads from the shipping industry.

“The number of visitors was impressive, but more so the quality of the visitors; they were exactly the kind of people that we were hoping to meet. We met serious buyers which has really made the show stand out from other exhibitions that we’ve attended.”

Managing director of Business Edge, Mike Creamer, echoed this sentiment: “We’ve been busy talking all the time – it’s been great! I’ve not had an opportunity to leave the stand for the whole three days.”

Many exhibitors saw the show as a unique launch pad for new products and brands. Fujitsu Air Conditioning took up a large stand at the show to support the launch of an array of new products over the past year. Product marketing coordinator Kelly Bullivant commented: “The show has been really good. We had one of our distributors on the stand next to us, so we had a unique opportunity to feed off of each other. We’ve launched so many products in the last year so we’ve had a lot of interest!”

Parcel Holders used the show as an opportunity to introduce its fast and cost-effective PickUp/DropOff (PUDOs) to HVAC engineers. A company representative said: “We have been in this sector for a while, but our stand at the show was our ‘official launch’, if you like. Some people were here specifically to see us; we didn’t have to track them down, which is a first in any sector!”

After the success of the 2018 event, many exhibitors stated that they were already making preparations for the next show in two years’ time.

David Cowood, sales manager for Pole Star Products, stated: “We’ve had a good number of enquiries at the show, so based on this experience we would definitely come back.”

The HVAC & Refrigeration Show will return to London’s ExCel from Tuesday 21 to Thursday 23 January 2020. With the growing success of the exhibition, companies are encouraged to secure their stands early to avoid disappointment.

For more information, contact Karena Cooper on 01622 699150 or at kcooper@datateam.co.uk.