The problem is that the costs of attending shows are enormous – and contrary to popular belief the cost of stand space is NOT the major expense for an exhibitor that bring along lorry loads of stock and several staff.

Bear in mind that it's not just wages, it's multiple vehicles and three night's accommodation and subsistence. Then add in several days of disruption before and after the show.

All in all, it's a big investment to bring a large selection of machines a long way and this has to be seen against a backdrop where the internet has made huge changes to the way people shop.

The result is that it is getting harder and harder for companies to justify that sort of presence at a show, no matter how well attended.

Increasingly future exhibitions will be focused more on models than on trade, but with a good presence of companies selling smaller and more portable goods, like accessories, consumables, measuring equipment and cutting tools.

My hope is that new ways can be found of enabling major suppliers to participate in the shows without requiring them to bring along two pantechnicons and most of their staff.

Neil

Oh dear, a real shame. Despite having not the best of experiences with Warco in the past, I was always glad to see them at engineering shows.

As far back as I can remember they always made a huge effort with an impressive display of machinery. With lathes from the smallest upto the 1330 and 1440 sizes, and taking a full range of mills including the Bridgeport type machines.

For me it is the trade stands that interest me most at Model Engineering Shows, especially the ones with machine tools. Although I bought all the machines I really need years ago. On top of all the other costs mentioned by Neil, I wonder if Doncaster is just too far North for them.

So if it is true that they won't be attending, then for me the unthinkable has happened, no more Warco at the show I visit. Together with the absence of Arc, Chronos and Proops, plus a much reduced display by Chester I might begin to find future shows a bit lacking.

Everyone views shows thru their own eys and never looks at the bigger picture in that times change and the way we shop change.
I can remember going to Wembly and standing outside for hours in a queue for two people to exit so they could let two more in.

We all had shopping lists made up over the years, literally because when you got back home you realised you had forgotten something.
Remember having to post a reply off with a SAE and wait for it to come back ?
Ringing up was out of the question because if you had a phone you couldn’t afford the trunk call charges.

Fast forward to today and we have the internet, no waiting, awesome search features to locate something from a supplier half way round the world you had never heard of.

One reason the trade is changing at shows because whilst all those people just walking round looking, they are not buying but back at base they have punters wanting to buy but can’t because the shop is shut.

We are now living in a modern digital world. I’m typing this sat in bed in a hotel room on a tiny phone and when I have done this I’m going to order 18″ of 3″ cored bronze for Monday delivery for a job I got confirmation on earlier today whilst sat in a traffic jam on the M6 for an hour, I’m just grateful that Leeds Bronze are not at a show this weekend 😋

Certainly the internet has transformed the way many people shop (me included) – one thing you can't do online is 'try before you buy' and that is a vital step if you are purchasing an expensive machine tool. You wouldn't purchase a new car before test driving it and I don't think most engineers would stump up £3k on a milling machine having just looked at some pictures on the web. And a machine tool is similar in that a lot depends on how it 'feels' when you use it, do the slides move smoothly, does it have cheapo plastic handles – you can't get that from online shopping.

So for someone who wanted to buy a new machine tool and doesn't happen to live that close to Warco the chances are they might go to Chester or Arc, purely based on location. Or they might not buy at all.

From the suppliers perspective, the other aspect that is lost online is the ability to use sales techniques to talk a potential customer into becoming an actual customer and handing over their credit card details then and there. Car showrooms invest large sums in sales people whose job it is to spot someone browsing the showroom and convert them into a definite buyer. At ME shows it is noticable that there is no real effort from the staff on the Warco or Chester stands to hard sell to all those hundreds of people who come through and twiddle with mills and lathes – they wait for potential customers to approach staff who tend to stand around passively. In fact I would hazard a guess that they don't employ a professional sales person on the stands at all. That could be a reason why they don't see the financial returns on the investment they make attending a show.

Maybe the decision to stop attending shows will prove to be a lost opportunity.

Handy to visit if you live near, as I suspect those saying it is easy do, but it is a 2day trip and overnight cost to visit Warco from the third biggest city in the country, Leeds.

Warco's site dosn't list Doncaster for a visit, thought of changing my mill, but decided to stick with what I have when looking at the cost to visit showrooms.

Many people have posted videos of their machines on YouTube, these vary from superb to appalling. I am sure that a video demo of the equipment that is supplied would be useful to potential buyers. Clickspring videos are excellent in my opinion, they are well planned filmed and edited to produce a very polished product, he may be a professional? but if suppliers could match that sort of quality it would be most helpful. Many of us have a phone in our pocket that could make a very competent film with a few accessories and a professional approach so cost could be very reasonable. It would be interesting to see if the virtual showroom would produce more sales.

Mike

I was at the Yorkshire Show (agricultural show) a few years ago, idly admiring a new massive, state of the art New Holland tractor. The salesman homed straight in on me, and starting talking, while my son had a sit in it – within 2 minutes I was nearly ready to signed a PO for £200k with an idea it would be a useful tool for my 40ft suburban back garden It was only my wife who rescued the situation by enticing me away with a pork pie.

My point is that I have spent time at Warco / Chester stands at a number of ME shows, looking at machines in detail and at a time when I could potentially have wanted a new lathe or milling machine and had money in the bank. No one spoke to me – sales people were there but waiting to be approached. Ultimately the conclusion I reached was that I was better off with better quality 2nd hand stuff – and have been very happy with that decision – but the likes of Warco made no effort to persuade me otherwise and spend my money with them.

As regards driving to visit a supplier I’d bet that if her indoors TELLS you you have to drive to Hull or Southhampton to catch the next cruise ship, you WILL be driving