ILM Features Editor, Tamsyn Cox, spoke to Martin Sylt

The Scientific Laboratory Show and Conference took place on 10 June and saw members of the scientific community from home and abroad descend on the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham to see
new product presentations and techniques from over 60 leading industry manufacturers. The Scientific Laboratory Show was co hosted by Scientific Laboratory Supplies Ltd (SLS), and Sigma Aldrich Ltd, (SIAL) and The United Kingdom Science Parks Association (UKSPA) ran a conference and debate programme coupled with a topical series of workshops, making the day a serious event of real scientific value.

ILM Features Editor, Tamsyn Cox, spoke to Martin Sylt, Marketing Manager, Scientific Laboratory Supplies, on the show’s success and future plans.

When asked about the evolution of the show, Martin Sylt, Marketing Manager, for Scientific Laboratory Supplies, explained that it developed from a bi-annual supplier fair that SLS had been running for some years, which was focussed on providing their suppliers with an opportunity to train the sales force on the new products listed in the new catalogue. For the last catalogue, they decided to extend the 2008 event to include a customer day where their key customers were invited to a gala dinner with SLS employees and an exhibition/UKSPA organised conference programme: “It is at this point that we decided to brand the event as the Scientific Laboratory
Show. The 2010 event was an evolution of the 2008 event with the key additions being the partnership with Sigma and a gala dinner for 360+ customers, suppliers and SLS staff on the Wednesday evening at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Nottingham.”

Although there were more exhibitors at the 2008 show, the SLS 2010 still attracted 62 exhibitors and an impressive 658 visitors on the day.

Tamsyn: with a number of more established shows struggling in recent times, what is your formula for success for a newer show like SLS?

Martin: I think our sign off on e-mails prior to the show summed it up: much more than a day out…an event of real value for scientists and purchasers alike! The focus on new products through our suppliers combined with an independent UKSPA organised conference programme and the Sigma workshop programme means there was something for everyone and our customers could justify their need to attend the show.

T: What makes SLS unique and stand out from other UK lab shows?

M: Our focus wasn’t on having a good day out but delivering an event of real discernable value for our customers in the form of products, training, seminars and debates.

T: Are your show co-host companies likely to change for the 2012 show?

M: This was our first year with Sigma and our second with UKSPA. The event was such a success that we have already re-booked for the 14-16 May 2012 for the next one. Will we be working with both partners to present that event? - Positive initial discussions have been held based on booking the 2012 event but it is very early days. We will of course be looking for support from our current core exhibitors with the addition of any new ones that we bring through the next SLS Catalogue and that is some way off (thankfully!).

T: What are you’re reasons for having SLS as a bi-annual show – are you looking to hold it annually in the future?

M: The show has always been a bi-annual event because it is the launch vehicle for the new SLS catalogue, which, like our competitors, is printed bi-annually. Looking forward, would we run an annual event? That’s a big question that we can’t really answer at this point, the degree of organisation behind the event is significant and it would be major commitment if the event were to become annual.

T: Can you account for why there were substantially more exhibitors in 2008?

M: You are correct, there were substantially more exhibitors last time and a number came from outside the supplier base that SLS distributes for including insurance companies that specialise in our market, etc. We made a conscious decision to make the 2010 event a more focussed one based on feedback from our suppliers and believe that this decision paid off. Is this a model that we will stick to going forward? – too early to say at this point.

Martin added that so far comments on the shows success have been encouraging: “We will be looking for detailed feedback from our suppliers and customers shortly but initial feedback is very positive. A number of customers took the opportunity to complete a paper based feedback form on leaving and, out of ‘poor, average, good and very good’, the worst rating we received was good across all elements and in many case very good, which we are extremely pleased with. Comments we have had back from suppliers post event have also been very positive.”