Leading industry trade association, the Independent Print Industries Association (IPIA), recently held its ‘Meet the Trade Buyer’, ‘Meet the Trade Supplier’ event at the FA’s new prestigious headquarters at St. George’s Park in Burton on Trent, with the event being heralded a “significant success”. 

The event was held on 3^rd October, 2013, and was attended by a mixture of leading representatives from both the Buyer and Supplier community, who throughout the day held personalised one-to-one meetings, with the aim of providing networking opportunities and helping to establish new business relationships.

A total of 52 buyers and 48 suppliers were in attendance for the day-long event, with each buyer having around a 20-25 minute sit down meeting with a key supplier they had asked to meet. A lunch break during the day also provided further networking opportunities.

Following the event, the IPIA held its Black Tie Gala Dinner, with excellent after dinner entertainment provided by sporting personality, “The Voice of Manchester United”, Mr Alan Keegan, who provides both the pre and post-match announcements at Old Trafford, as well as for a variety of other leading venues. The guests enjoyed hearing Alan’s anecdotes and tales from Manchester United, with two guests also experiencing what it’s like to announce the teams prior to a match. A game of stand-up bingo was also then held for guests, with half the proceeds being donated to The Printing Charity. Guests then retired to the bar for more networking and socialising late into the night.

Commenting on the success of the event, IPIA Chief Executive Andrew Pearce, stated, “Myself and the IPIA team are really pleased with the success of this year’s event, the 504 appointments that took place between 0915hrs and 1715hrs stimulated a lot of purchasing activity both on the day and following the event“. I would like to thank all the suppliers and buyers who were involved this year – they made it one to remember!” 

Those who attended, with the aid of their planned meetings, were able to have meaningful dialogue with both key trade buyers and suppliers, enabling them to establish new long-term business relationships, all under one roof in one day.

Angie Francksen, Sales Manager for Ryedale Print Group said, “So far I have two confirmed appointments following my meetings, one to be confirmed, six quotes and 13 follow-ups!”

Barry Browne, Procurement Manager for Pierce Communications stated, “It’s been a very good event, with a good variety of people for me to see, together with a lot of specialist products, which is what I was looking for. I imagine I will be doing business with some of them.”

John Prior, Production Director for Printing.com added, “It’s the first time I have attended anything like this, and I found it really valuable. The fact that they (suppliers) are scheduled to come and see you has made it more focussed, and we saw some fascinating products and several new faces.”

Other attendees including Andy Bleasdale of Office Depot and Paul Clarke of Mosaic Print Management both rated the event “Outstanding”, and “very good for the effectiveness of the event format for meeting new contacts.”

The suppliers who attended the event were drawn from the following specialist areas; Trade printers, data specialists, paper merchants, 3D printing, trade finishers, direct mail service providers, equipment suppliers, social media and cross media specialists amongst several others.

The event was supported by the dma, whilst the media partners were Print Solutions magazine.

For more information about the IPIA and its services, please contact the IPIA team on 0844 90 20 214 or email: [email protected]. You can find out more about the IPIA by visiting www.ipia.org.uk