Optrafair 2011: the results

Optrafair 2011 brought a welcome blast of sunshine to the UK optical industry with visitors arriving in great spirits and show results reflecting the positive mood of serious buyers committed to enhance their professional offering and practice image. Independents, who were well researched on what they wanted to see, and who were keen to differentiate themselves, were the order of the day, exhibitors found.

Long recognised as an extremely well presented show in which exhibitors welcome their guests with superb stands, Optrafair 2011 brought a new level of style and a buoyant mood with a renewed focus for suppliers to “go the extra mile” for their customers. The welcome return of contact lens companies enhanced the comprehensive offering of the optical industry’s flagship biennial show. The inclusion of a wide CET programme, innovations in eyewear from the Royal College of Art, a display of the OptraAward winners, caricaturists, Live Optrafair TV, opportunities to win iPads and days out in off-road driving added to the enjoyment for many.

Total visitors through the doors at The NEC Birmingham show, excluding exhibitors, were 7586 over the three days. When repeat visits, made by those attending on more than one day were calculated, the figure was 6647, recording a 2% increase over the 6505 visitor number of 2009. Purchased stand floor space increased by 8% over the 2009 show.

“The FMO is committed to publishing true and accurate figures for Optrafair attendance. Some shows may include revisits in their totals but we prefer to give the two totals so that a comprehensive picture of daily attendance is given,” said Barry Dibble, Chairman of show owners, The FMO.
“The atmosphere and smiling faces of exhibitors, bounced onto the visitors coming through the doors. We are delighted with the commitment that exhibitors make to the show and many were rewarded by the profession.

Tomorrow we start planning for 2013 and looking for ways to encourage more of the profession to attend this important event,” said Malcolm Polley, FMO Chief Executive.
Exhibitors were rewarded with a commitment and focus to invest in shop-fitting, practice management systems, new frames and lens innovations and the technology stars of the show, OCT and fundus imaging. Queues formed at financing companies with Performance Finance and Professional Financial Services recording “outstanding” demand.
Nick Fitrzyk, Managing Director of Carlton, promoting its Canon brand products, and a longstanding Optrafair exhibitor summed up the mood: “The quality of the people at the show has been excellent: they ignored the wonderful spring weather and came here for a reason. There were no ‘tyre kickers’ but people who wanted to invest in technology – practices are updating their instrumentation with OCT, fundus imaging and combi units and they got to see it all under one roof.”He added a thanks to the FMO organisers –“The organisation at Optrafair is always spot on”.

New exhibitors, Bondeye, promoting AMD awareness, and Eterno Vision Contact Lenses, promoting silicone hydrogels and coloured contact lenses reported “fantastic” levels of interest from the high number of decision makers attending the show.
A link to the Olympics and sailing for Bushnell UK, with its Serengeti, Bolle and Cebe brands, for polarising products and golf Range Finders and other enticing accessories, proved valuable market positioning, as Andrew Grose, Bushnell UK Managing Director explained – “We were busy – people were in good spirits. The market may be tough but people are still prepared to buy good quality products, and the Olympic association helps.”

Business and marketing support was also brisk business with queues forming at IT companies for practice management systems, investment in integration to clinical technology and gaining Business Intelligence.
Patrick Myers of Myers LaRoche Marketing Consultants said he had seen more people than ever committed to serious marketing advice – “Pricing policy advice, content of reminder letters and interest in people wanting to acquire optical businesses has been high. This might well be a sign of an upturn across the board. This is my twelfth Optrafair and we have never had so much serious business interest.”
For contact lens company Bausch & Lomb it was “the right decision to come to Optrafair” according to Steve Williams, B&L Technical Support Manager.
”We saw a wide variety of customers, including people from Abu Dhabi, multiples, independents plus Moorfields and Southampton Hospitals.”
Cooper Vision used the show to unveil its re-branding and found the show “delivered many new faces. Customers were very happy to see us and we will be back in two years time for the next Optrafair,” said Galor Dozsa, Sales and Marketing Director.
On the ophthalmic lens front, a ”never ending queue of people” formed at the first ever independent Trivex stand, as Frederic Lefranc, Director PPG Industries Rx Sales, explained – “This is the first time we have exhibited independently at a domestic fair and people queued up to ask questions. New materials take a long time to launch and this was a milestone. We came to Optrafair to see the benefits of getting closer to the profession and this proves that this was right.”
Essilor welcomed the mood of the show and said that people seemed “quite buoyant” and enjoyed the opportunity to socialise. Rodenstock reported “double net sales over two years ago” and used the show to see what the competition is doing.

Nikon Professional Services Director, Kevin Gutsell said practices were certainly investing –“Many have realised that after two years of being conservative they now need to invest and we were particularly pleased to see people from Scotland and Ireland.”
Interest in lens technology also spread to Norville with demand for Polaroid and Polaroid 3D.
“We were delighted to come back to the show and had excellent results with this lens technology and the launch of Barbour Eyewear – the first product that Barbour has ever licensed. People who came were serious about business,” said Norville Sales Manager Mark Truss.

Neal Grimason, Sales and Marketing Director of Continental Eyewear said the economic climate “continued to be difficult”, but similar to MIDO and Silmo, “exhibitors were on a mission and very few visitors came to just browse, and with those who came keeping the Continental sales team busy”.

Smaller exhibitors worked their stand well with plenty of pre-show marketing and efforts were repaid to The EyeBag Company and Coates Optical Supplies – “We took orders at the show that will be shipped to The USA, Ghana and Australia. I had expected the show to be quieter but it has been excellent,” said Managing Director Graham Coates.
SunProof BabyBands enjoyed the results of their marketing activity and an increased spend on sunglasses due to pubic awareness. “We back up our sales with information from Cancer Research UK on the importance of protecting young eyes from the sun – opticians are seeking this kind of support,” said Managing Director Jouko Nykanen.
Simon Wardle Principal of Professional Financial Services summed up the mood for many as the doors closed on Optrafair 2011 – “There had been a lot of reticence leading up to the show with potential doom and gloom on the High Street but it was a simply outstanding show – probably my biggest ever Optrafair.”