What were you doing twenty years ago? Phil Reynolds was busily planning a new kind of vending event; one that, from modest beginnings, would become a staple of vending commerce in the UK.
Phil’s association with vending goes back even further: ‘My background was in consumer magazine publishing’, he says. ‘I saw what was being produced representing vending and thought ‘that’s too dull, we can do something much better.’ We launched Auto Vending in September 1991, with the use of full colour. The Editor, Amanda Roberts, would go out producing articles, doing something different with the aim of representing the industry in a better light.’
The timing was apposite. ‘At that time, the vending industry was heavily into machines being branded’, Phil says. ‘I’m thinking back to the days of Nestlés Gold Blend and the emergence of machines with decals. Vending was moving away from that dull beige machine in the corner, to something that was really point of sale.’
In 1993, Phil got together with his vending machine magazine counterparts in Europe and formed the European Vending Press Association, with members from Germany, Spain, and Italy. The alliance facilitated the sharing of intelligence and stories, broadening the whole platform.
20 years of Vendex
Then, in 2003, Phil launched ‘a little vending show.’ ‘We called it NIVEX’, Phil says. ‘The idea was that it would be a simple table-top show, which would be held in between Avex years. The first was at Rockingham Raceway International in Northampton. The event went down really well and the consensus was that, rather than every other year, we should hold it every year. So, in 2004 we went to Northampton County Cricket Ground. Again, it was a table-top show.’
For 2005, Phil needed somewhere bigger, to accommodate demand. ‘We went to Old Trafford, in the International Suite. For the first time we introduced shell-schemes, and thirty-five exhibitors took part.’ Once again, space was an issue. ‘We needed somewhere even bigger’, Phil says. ‘There was another suite at Old Trafford called ‘The Manchester Suite’. I viewed it when it was empty, and it looked so huge that I thought ‘there’s no way we’re going to be able to fill that’ – but we did. We ended up with about 100 shell-scheme stands. We ran the show there for 12 years.’
The success of Manchester allowed the show, re-branded as Vendex, to go regional. ‘We brought it down south, first of all to Newbury Racecourse, then to Twickenham for two years, followed by the National Motor Cycle Museum for five years and now it’s morphed into Vendex Midlands, with its home at the MK Dons Stadium in Milton Keynes.’
And so the event that was designed to happen every two years became two shows a year. ‘We introduced a third one in Scotland, but we weren’t too happy with the venue’, Phil says. ‘We haven’t been able to find a venue in Scotland that’s just right for the event. The logical place to take it would be the Scottish Exhibition Centre, but the prices there are eye-watering. We’re keeping an open mind in terms of the future.’
The success of Vendex lies in its ability to attract large numbers of vending operators and specifiers. It is known as the show ‘where the trade buys’, be it machinery, ingredients, products or goods and services.
20 years of Vendex
These days Vendex attracts many visitors and the aisles are full of business owners and senior management from vending operators; contract caterers, service providers and facilities managers, from start to finish. Vendex has also achieved international importance, attracting exhibitors and visitors from overseas.
‘Vendex remains a low-cost event and in The Centenary Pavilion at Elland Road in Leeds and the MK Dons Stadium in Milton Keynes, we have venues that have proven to be very successful for visitors and exhibitors alike, with easy access, free parking and Wi-Fi’, Phil says. ‘Exhibitors can set up the day before or on the morning of the show, opening hours are 10am to 4pm. We always aim to make attending the show, as either a delegate or as an exhibitor, as easy and as hassle-free as possible.’
So don’t expect to see any changes in the format of Vendex any time soon. As Phil says: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’
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Here is the Vendex North 22 edition of Spotlight.
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