STRONG LAUNCH FOR FUTURESOURCE, EUROPE'S NEW SUSTAINABILITY EVENT

The Futuresource 2009 conference and exhibition has been hailed as a success by show organisers the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and the Environmental Services Association (ESA).

High attendance figures, top level speakers and plenty of innovation from a wide range of exhibitors all contributed to a strong launch for Europe's new sustainability event, according to CIWM chief executive Steve Lee.

“We are delighted with our first Futuresource,” said Mr Lee. “The move to London has been a great success and it allowed us to secure the participation of H. R. H. The Duke of Edinburgh, who described the show as ‘big and impressive’.

“The new venue also helped attract key politicians such as Environment Secretary Hilary Benn MP, Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert MP, all of whom made major policy announcements at the show.”

Attendance at Futuresource 2009 was 30% up on the 2008 figure for its predecessor, the long-established CIWM show in Torbay, according to initial figures. Many exhibitors were also impressed with the new event, and over a third have already signed up for the 2010 show.

ESA chief executive, Dirk Hazell, says: “We have been really encouraged by exhibitors’ overwhelmingly positive feedback about Futuresource. It was also a terrific boost that H. R. H. The Duke of Edinburgh visited the UK’s new world class sustainability conference and trade show on its first day and we look forward to planning an even better event next year.”

There has been a very positive response from many of the Futuresource exhibitors, with both the quality of the visitors and the event organisation being singled out for particular praise.

“We were overwhelmed with the number of visitors who came on to our stand.  This truly was our best exhibition to date.  The combination of our latest Power Suite developments, the excellent London location and the obvious hard work of the Futuresource team really paid off,” says Phil Garvey, managing director of Whitespace Waste Software.

Mike Snell, General Manager - External Affairs for Waste Recycling Group, adds: “WRG have been delighted with the high levels of interest expressed in our activities at this year’s Futuresource event. Our enlarged stand allowed us to showcase some of our most successful partnership working – including the re3 Project (with Reading, Wokingham and Bracknell Forest Councils), the Allington Energy from Waste Project in Kent, and our development of state-of-the-art household waste recycling centres – to a very wide audience.  For us, Futuresource has been a dynamic and unmissable opportunity.”

Confirming that his firm had received a confirmed order for 14 bin weighing and ID systems at the show, Julian Glasspole, managing director of Applied Vehicle Weighing Solutions, says: “The Futuresource show was an excellent international forum for us to exhibit. The quality of the delegates and the exhibitors was very high and we have booked a bigger stand for next year.”

Planning is already well underway for Futuresource 2010, which will take place on 15th-17th June 2010 at ExCeL London. Further information can be found at www.futuresourceuk.com

ENDS