and locksmithery firms. Hand tool, protective gear and construction supplies firms were in Hall 3. The organisers of


FerroformaBricoforma had engaged in an intensive promotional campaign to attract visitors, especially purchasers, from at home and abroad.


International groups represented at the event included Kingfisher, Eurocraft (which includes Socoda, Luna Verktyg & Maskin AB, Necomij, and E/D/E) and Eurobrico, some of the top distributors and purchasing groups in the industrial supplies, hardware and DIY sectors. The programme of delegations, one of the mainstays of the campaign to attract visitors, brought almost 300 purchasers to the Bilbao Exhibition Centre from 40 countries, including Germany, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Colombia, the USA, France, Italy, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, UK, Turkey and the Ukraine.


End users took centre stage this year with students from numerous vocational training centres attending the exhibition for the first time. International Networking Visitors had the chance to arrange meetings directly with exhibitors of interest to them through a new application posted on the Ferroforma website weeks before its opening. Bilbao Exhibition Centre supports the use of applications such as this because they maximise the potential for doing business at trade events, and their multiplier effects are felt before and after the event itself. Seminars & Forums


FerroformaBricoforma had a programme of seminars and additional activities aimed at hardware merchants and end users presented as a side event to the fair itself.


10 of the best hardware businesses in the country explained their success to retail hardware merchants and distributors, and presented the business models that have enabled them to increase their market shares during the recent downturn. Logistics were also discussed and new information technology in relation to avoiding inefficiency, revitalizing the market and achieving savings. Around 20 exhibitors signed up for the live demonstrations area, featuring a rotating area and a fixed area for showing off the work of all types, from duplicate car keys checked on the spot, vacuum packing equipment, demonstrations of shelf strength, noiseless, vibrationfree non explosive demolition cement, to individual protective gear for work at heights, etc.


This exhibition gives an interesting overview of International Business Markets.. how the recent downturn in trade gives us all a chance to rethink our strategies whilst continuing to move forward.


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