December 16th 2010 - Technology World in partnership with UK NanoForum, hosted by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and held at London’s ExCel, 7-8 December, saw almost 700 UK science and technology organisations meet with 455 international investors from 50 countries, holding in excess of 3000 one-to-one meetings. As a result of the show, more than 45% of UK business attendees expect to generate revenue in 2011 from international trade through contacts established at the show.

Mark Prisk MP, Minister for Business & Enterprise who visited the show on day two, said: “UK technology entrepreneurs have met with hundreds of international investors, which will help open doors to new markets.
“Innovation and technology are among the industries at the heart of UK economic growth and I’ve seen incredible examples of both at this event.”

More than 1,000 visitors poured through the doors on each day of the show. Dan Fleetcroft, Design Director at exhibiting company Bromley Technologies Ltd, an extreme sports product business with a high performance design engineering consultancy, said: “This event is a really unique opportunity – it enables ambitious businesses like ours to meet face-to-face with hundreds of international investors. We have generated a lot of interest and made some very useful contacts.

“We’ve also been able to secure some invaluable practical advice about the best way to enter new markets. We already do a significant amount of business in the US, Japan, Russia and Canada, but, for instance, we’ve learnt an awful lot here about doing more work in the Baltic states; what partners we might work with and how we’d go about setting up manufacturing sites abroad to protect our sustainable business model. It really has been brilliant – I can’t think of anywhere else we would have been able to make so many useful contacts, learn so much and introduce our innovative business to a fantastic calibre of delegates – all in just two days.”

The event also enabled R&D led organisations to form vital links with other high-tech firms to boost product innovation. Jo Finch, Events Manager at The Bloodhound Project – a mission led by Richard Nobel OBE to motivate the next generation to use science, technology, engineering and mathematics to overcome 21st Century challenges, which is currently developing a car capable of 1000mph – said: “Technology World has been very useful in several ways. We’re here thanks to UKTI and are delighted to have had approaches from three of their embassy advisers from around the globe, looking to use Bloodhound SSC to showcase British technology abroad.

“We’ve also met with two SMEs that have offered support to the project in critical areas; that of metal composites to resolve stress and yield issues and a possible telemetry partner to bridge the gap between our on-board data and Intel/Siemens hardware/software.”

Technology World in partnership with UK NanoForum attracted in excess of 2000 decision makers and the largest international delegation in the show’s history. Edward Oakden, Managing Director UKTI Sectors Group, commented: “This year’s Technology World in partnership with UK NanoForum has been a phenomenal success. The calibre of speakers has been excellent and the exhibition was a fantastic showcase of British innovation and skill. However, our real defining success factor is that we were able to attract 455 international investors, and feedback from UK delegates suggests business transactions worth £118 million are expected as a result of the one-to-one meetings. This is a fantastic result for the UK’s burgeoning science and technology sector.”

Due to demand, dates for next year’s Technology World in partnership with UK NanoForum have already been announced. The event will be held on 16-17 November 2011 at London’s ExCel arena, to register your interest in next year’s show click here http://www.technologyworld.uk.com/2011/.

Ends
Press contacts:
Kate Macnamara, Grayling:
Tel: 0121 265 2760, 07714 222793,
Email: kate.macnamara[at]grayling[dot]com

Rebecca Bannister, Grayling:
Tel: 0121 265 2760, 07740 732884,
Email: rebecca.bannister[at]grayling[dot]com

Editors’ Notes
Technology World in partnership with UK NanoForum 2010
For 2010 the UKTI brought together two previously successful events, Technology World and UK Nano & Emerging Technologies Forum, to create one major two-day event that showcased the best of UK science and technology to an international audience. Last year the two events jointly attracted over 1,700 visitors, facilitated more than 3,000 meetings between UK and overseas companies, and generated an estimated £118 million of potential business transactions. This year, the event was held at the impressive ExCeL Convention Centre in London.

UKTI
UK Trade &Investment (UKTI) is a Government organisation that has a global network of market specialists offering a wide range of services to support UK based companies to succeed in the global economy, and to assist overseas companies in bringing high quality investment into the UK. As part of the delivery of these services, UKTI runs a series of events and seminars each year to promote UK capability, disseminate market information and offer access to key overseas decision makers to help UK companies gain positive exposure in new markets.
Distributed on behalf of Grayling by NeonDrum news distribution service (http://www.neondrum.com)