Show of strength

Across the spectrum of workplace services roles continue to overlap and merge – Chris Fountain makes the case for unifying industry shows to provide the sort of high quality expo the sector deserves

18 November 2005

The UK’s FM market is now worth in excess of £106 billion, according to research recently published by brand marketing and research agency MBD. This represents growth of 25 per cent since 2001. The Total FM market – which accounts for 9 per cent of the whole sector – is expected to rise by 30 per cent in the next five years.

Given the health of the industry, it was disappointing for visitors and exhibitors alike to see the level of support the industry gave to the recent Total Workplace Management event. The industry needs a strong annual exhibition promoting all aspects of workplace management. Organiser CMP Information, in consultation with the BIFM and FM World which make up the exhibition development board, this year repositioned the event from the FM Expo days to encompass all aspects of the working environment.

Building controls, building management systems, environmental management systems and energy suppliers came up in research as the hot topics. October 2006 will see them come together as part of a major event, with the co-location of Sustainable Energy and Energy Efficiency Expo (SE&EEE) and the M&E Show alongside TWM and Context, the office interiors event. 

The reason for the change came from extensive research carried out after FM Expo 2004. The clear message was that lines were blurring between traditional FM roles and those of the health and safety manager, security manager and fire officer. FM Expo had been held in tandem with the Securex and Managing Safety and Health events, but little had been done to promote the benefits of attendance at these other events to FMs. However, when asked post-show if the co-location of these events had been beneficial to visitors the answer was a resounding ‘yes’, with the indicators being that the FM Expo brand was restricting the breadth of audience that the event should be attracting.

The concept behind TWM recognises the fact that FMs come in all shapes and sizes. Some require multi-million pound strategic solutions while others leave content at having sourced a cheaper water supplier; the expo must encompass a range of suppliers servicing interests across the FM spectrum. This led to the idea of dividing the event into the four sections – Boardroom, Work, Front of house, and Back of house – to help visitors to determine who they should talk to and convince potential exhibitors the event was tailored to their audience.

As with all new concepts, some exhibitors adopted this idea straight away and this was certainly reflected in some of the
on-site feedback CMP Information received at the show. Andy Carr, managing director of Total Move Solution commented, “The quality of visitors at TWM05 has far outweighed that of previous years. The show now provides more targeted visitors knowledgeable about what they are looking for.”

Rentokil Initial’s marketing manager, Chris Bagnall said: “This has been the first time Rentokil Initial has exhibited as a group, showing the breadth of our services, and we've had an excellent show. The quality of delegates at TWM was extremely high and we found the show a real benefit.” 

My overall view is that the total visitor numbers for TWM05 were disappointing, despite what we felt was a visually-strong campaign targeted at the right people. Early analysis of the visitors shows that we maintained a similar profile and number of attendees compared with FM Expo 2004. It was the security and health and safety visitor numbers that were down, perhaps confirming our view that it was these markets that failed to buy in to the TWM concept.

The shift from FM Expo to TWM was a big step, undertaken with valid aims based on sound research and consultation with the industry. The success of this transition will be borne out by the post-event analysis underpinned by our ABC audit set to be completed by mid-December. At this point we will begin to understand what worked and what didn’t. Beyond the audit, we are currently carrying out exhibitor and visitor research into their understanding of what the event was about and what we were trying to achieve. We still believe this is the right way to pitch the show, as it reflects the growing reality of how workplace services and products are purchased, but we will, of course, listen to the market and adapt the event accordingly.

TWM will move from three to two days next year to bring it in line with SE&EEE and the M&E Shows. Shorter more targeted events are becoming the norm in the exhibition world, as exhibitors are less keen to spend long periods ‘out of office,’ preferring a concentrated event that attracts the right people.
October 2006 will see an event to address the complete life cycle of a building – from conception and planning to maintenance, from restoration and refurbishment to decommissioning. The evolution from FM Expo into an event that incorporates all of the issues is what the industry deserves. I hope we will receive your support.

We would welcome comments from anyone who attended the TWM event, or who has an interest in making next year’s show a real success.

Chris Fountain is event director for Total Workplace Management