BAU 2017 – An inspiration
January 2017

The English exodus to BAU 2017 in Munich this January was as large as I can ever remember. The queuing to get in, the general buzz from 250,000 visitors (80,000 from abroad) and the overriding positive vibe and comments made about the UK market left much for many of us to consider on the popular Friday night return flight to Birmingham.

While we will never match the scale of this huge ‘Euro- Hub’ show in the UK, we can definitely look to be inspired by the spirit, ambience and positivity of the whole exhibition. The awesome scale of so many of the aluminium and glass products definitely made visitors ‘think big’. This happens to be one of the key strap lines for the UK’s FIT Show, but despite only filling 3 Halls of the NEC, the exhibition still has very good reasons for using these words.

CAB’s first Aluminium Pavilion at the Show is growing by the week at the moment with 10 member companies already secured with the Pavilion and interest from almost as many again. This is in addition to the 20+ CAB members who have booked their own stands within the Show. The timing is good in so many ways as we have a great number of new aluminium products being launched at the Show and many members keen to highlight their focus on this sector - there is a growing perception simply that the FIT Show is THE place to launch new products. The material’s increasing share of the domestic sector is very likely to continue with clear evidence (including results from the CAB State of Market quarterly surveys) that investment in the year ahead in new product development and machinery is set to grow.

I believe that the Show will have a greater focus on Aluminium than I can remember since my first ever exhibition, Interbuild 1980, where I was ‘helping out’ distribute literature on the Glostal stand.

There is still time to join the CAB Pavilion and exhibit alongside members such as Adshead Ratcliffe & Co, AkzoNobel Powder Coatings, Alpro Hardware, Aluminium Bending Specialists, Howells Patent Glazing, HW Architectural, RAICO UK, Valspar Powder Coatings and VINCI Technology Centre UK.

We look forward to announcing more leading brands as part of the Pavilion very shortly. If you are interested in taking part then please email me immediately at justin.ratcliffe@c-a-b.org.uk or contact me on 07970 735689. The opportunity is open to all CAB members.