January 2009

Some of the top names within the world of retail display came together on 21 January for the annual ‘Meet the Buyer' event organised by the Shop and Display Equipment Association (sdea).

This fast moving day gave top shopfitting and visual merchandising buyers from major retailers the opportunity to meet up to 20 suppliers in a ‘speed-dating' type event at the Holiday Inn, Hemel Hempstead.

Each supplier was allocated a set time slot to present their company's products and services to the buyers of their choice.

In all, 50 supplier companies took part. sdea members pre-selected the buyers that they felt would be most likely to purchase their products and presented their ranges to them in one-to-one meetings over the course of the day.

Tony Moscrop, Chairman of Dufaylite Developments said “The Meet the Buyer event is the most productive day of the year for our Sales Managers”.

Mark Ellis of Metal Craft expanded further “Meet the Buyer is the ideal opportunity to come face to face with decision makers from national companies.  We at Metal Craft always come away feeling positive and upbeat.  Further networking occurs naturally and it’s good to chat with new and old acquaintances alike.  After the difficult task of assembling these people, on one day under one roof, the sdea need congratulating in another fine ‘not to be missed’ event.  The sdea have done their bit – it’s now down to us.”

Peter Thompson of Image Holders summed up the event perfectly “The dragons den of the display world.  A great concept and very well orchestrated.”

Retail Buyers were equally impressed with the day.  Lucy Engwell, Head of Visual Retail at Habitat felt “The Meet the Buyer event was a great opportunity to meet various suppliers and focus on our business needs while keeping up to date with new products on the market.  I receive many cold calls which invariably I do not have time to take and certainly can’t meet with all the suppliers out there…it’s a mine field!  This event gives ‘the buyer’ the comfort of knowing they will not be faced with a hard sell, but a great insight into various resources and suppliers.  A great event for any buyer!”

Andy Potter, Procurement Manager at Asda Retail Development said “It’s the second year Asda have attended the Meet the Buyer event.  We've found it a good chance to meet some new suppliers and also a great chance to network with other retailers”.

sdea looks forward to holding similar events like this very soon.