Gardenex has applied for Government funding to enable British companies to exhibit their products to international markets at overseas in a cost-effective way.
Gardenex is also planning a series of its ‘Meet the Buyer’ days. The first of these is on 28 February, and details of this and other initiatives will be outlined in the Federation’s full programme due to be announced early in 2013.
The first of the international trade shows is the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas in May 2013, where the Federation will be organising the British pavilion for the eighteenth time.
According to the Gardenex director general Amanda Sizer Barrett, next year’s show could be a key event for British exporters. She said: "With the housing market now stabilised, employment situation improving, and growth in the region of two per cent, America appears to be on the mend. While the eurozone remains in the doldrums, America’s revival suggests that our members should be looking across the Atlantic to increase overseas sales. Without question there are markets displaying much higher growth rates, but few can match the opportunities in the USA for suppliers in the garden and leisure sectors."
Spoga+gafa in Cologne in September also appears on the 2013 Gardenex schedule. In 2012, the Federation received an award from the show’s organiser to mark its 40 years of continuous exhibiting, during which time it has been responsible for taking around 1,000 British exhibitors to the show.
Gardenex has applied also for Government grants for British firms wishing to exhibit at Gardex, Extepo and Ifex, Japan’s leading garden trade show being held in Tokyo in October 2013.
With the yen having been at favourable levels for Japanese importers in the past two years, increasing numbers of key buyers have attended shows such as Gafa, Glee and the National Hardware Show this year, making the Tokyo fair another contender for British exporters.
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