For daily news go to www.prw.com 13 April 2012 PRW 5

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UK exhibitors give NPE seal of approval

particularly in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East,” he said.

Kirby said the majority of approaches had been from companies looking for staff rather than job candidates, while a quarter of the en-quiries at his stand in the South Hall of the conven-

tion centre had concerned non-US projects.

“NPE is a gateway for US companies looking to get people for either their local operations or facilities overseas. Many US recruit-ers don’t have the neces-sary connections, but we do,” he said.

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Hamish Champ020 8253 9610UK companies exhibiting at NPE in Orlando, Florida, gave the four-day show the thumbs up and reported good business.

Richard Brookes, mar-keting director at Boston Matthews, the Worcester-headquartered extrusion and recycling equipment firm, said NPE had met his expectations, boosted in part by a more positive mood among attendees.

“There is a sense that the economy in the US, where we do a lot of business through our New Jersey office, is get-ting gradually better. Certainly many of the conver-sations we are having with people here at NPE support that view,” he said.

In comments echoed by a number of exhibitors Brookes said the move to Orlando meant his company was fielding ap-proaches from more Latin American businesses, par-ticularly Mexican.

“We’ve been getting a lot of enquiries and we would expect to turn a fair pro-portion of them into busi-ness,” he said.

As with many exhibi-tors PRW spoke to – both from the US and the UK – Brookes said the build-up

process and been “easier [than Chicago] and very well organised”.

Nigel Flowers, manag-ing director of Sumitomo Demag in the UK, said the show was a key NPE for the injection moulding ma-chinery group, its first US event as a “true joint brand including new machine sales and after sales”.

“From my perspective as a UK and Eire supplier, the show provided a unique opportunity to meet with senior staff from our US

subsidiary customers, and great opportuni-

ty to start to build relationships.

“As always, the measurement of

success will come once we have complet-

ed the show enquiry follow-up actions, but my feeling now is that it was a success-ful move,” he added.

The growing popularity of in-mould labelling (IML) in the US was helping Witney-based Meech Inter-national appeal to visitors at NPE, said David Rogers, the electrostatic equipment group’s business unit direc-tor – static control.

“One-use products, like yoghurt pots, are using IML more and we’re get-ting approached by people who have clear needs and want us to help them solv-ing the issues they have,”

NPE ‘delighted’ with move to Florida

he said.Rogers said many visi-

tors to Meech’s stand had requested the company vis-it their facilities and mem-bers of the Meech USA team, which is headed by general manager Matt Fyffe, would meet such re-quests.

An NPE event might not be the obvious place to find a UK-based recruitment firm specialising in placing

experts in polymer.But Ryan Kirby, inter-

national projects director at Stratford on Avon-head-quartered Listgrove, said his company was able to use the show to highlight what it can do for US-based firms.

“We’re here to help US companies either place staff in the domestic mar-ket or with their operations in international markets,

NPE in Orlando attracted 54,000 visitors

NPE2012 organisers, the Society of the Plastics In-dustry (SPI), said the de-cision to move the event from Chicago to Orlando was “one of the best we’ve ever made”.

Exhibition chairman John Effmann added: “We were comfortable in Chicago but we think the decision to move to Orlando has paid off.”

Observers at the trien-nial event commented on the problems working with unionised labour in NPE’s former home, contrasted with the ease of setting

up stands for the show in Florida.

Bill Carteaux, president and CEO of SPI, said he was “thrilled” to be putting on NPE in Orlando. “The city has been very good to us and the response to our being here has been great,” he added, noting that SPI was committed to holding the next NPE in Orlando in three year’s time.

Carteaux said his or-ganisation was keeping its options open for 2018 but believed in the right circum-stances the event could be in Orlando “for the long term”.