Materials and Finishes Show a success for organisers

Organisers of Materials & Finishes Show (formerly W Exhibition) are celebrating after the hugely successful return of the UK’s trade show for the furniture manufacturing and joinery industries (Birmingham NEC 19 – 22 May, 2024.)

Over 6,000 visitors attended Materials & Finishes Show marking a conversion rate of over 55% from pre registrants.

Visitors had over 160 brands to choose from on the show floor, with running machinery displayed alongside the latest materials, components, software, tools, fixtures, finishing products and innovations. Over 45% of the exhibitors were overseas brands who had recognised the opportunities that having a presence at the UK’s trade show for the furniture manufacturing and joinery industries presented.

Visitor Josh Hudson, furniture lead for Rycotewood Furniture Learning Centre, said: “It’s great to be able to meet so many people in one place. You’ve got everybody here which means you’re not trekking around the country to meet everybody and it’s the perfect place to make connections with the industry.”

New features, such as the Live Demo Zone and CPD certified learning programme proved a big draw for visitors who were able to participate in over 40 hours of live demonstrations from brands including AMS, Leitz Tooling, The Joinery Network, Lamello, GreCon, Trend Tool Technology and Rubio Monocoat, as well as panel debates and seminar sessions.

Event director, David Todd commented: “We’re absolutely delighted with the success of Materials & Finishes Show 2024. We set out to deliver an engaging event, with a broad lineup of brands showcasing thousands of the latest products and innovations for the UK’s furniture manufacturing and joinery industries – and Materials & Finishes Show did just that!

“The feedback we have received from the industry has been hugely positive. The new features that we developed, including the Live Demo Zone, CPD certified learning programme and networking bar, were all really well received by exhibitors and visitors alike. Over 115 people turned up for the first seminar session with Robin Clevett – his involvement as a brand ambassador in the run up to and during the show was invaluable in helping us to curate a programme that would resonate with joiners and carpenters specifically.

Owen Dare, joinery consultant for The Joinery Network, delivered a live demonstration of the end-to-end production of a timber window frame utilising an AMS distributed Wadkin Bursgreen woodworking machine and Lignum tooling supplied by Leitz Tooling.

Owen said: “Our demo was designed to help joiners become more efficient so that they can make more profit with a very low investment model to grow their business portfolio.

“Materials & Finishes Show provided an ideal platform for joiners to see the latest products and innovations, as well as stay abreast of the latest legislation and regulations for the industry.”

Event director, David Todd concluded: “I’d like to extend my gratitude to our stakeholders, including our exhibitors, visitors, media partners, content creators, speakers and the trade associations who threw their support behind Materials & Finishes Show 2024.

“We’ve set extremely solid foundations in place to build on and deliver an even more successful event when Materials & Finishes Show returns for its next instalment in 2026. We’re increasing the footprint of the show by 60% for 2026 and have already secured a high percentage of re-bookings which we’ll be announcing over the coming weeks!”

https://www.materialsandfinishesshow.com