Taking place from September 18th to 20th at the NEC in Birmingham, The Print Show 2018 will be the fourth edition of what is now regarded as the UK’s leading print event.  

A host of major brands have already signed up to exhibit, including HP, Hybrid Services (Mimaki), Duplo, Vivid Laminating Technologies, Morgana Systems, Renz, Ashgate Automation, Premier Paper and CMYUK. This exhibitor list has been bolstered in recent weeks with the addition of Printers Superstore, Smart Print, Vpress, Lion and Active Data Metrics.

Epson also joins this growing list of exhibitors having confirmed that it will have a presence at The Print Show for the fourth consecutive year. Epson was at the debut event in 2015 and again in 2016 through reseller partner Colourbyte, before taking on its own stand last year.

Phil McMullin, sales manager of Epson UK, described the company’s attendance at The Print Show 2017 as a “big success”, with the firm able to raise its profile in the signage, point of sale and textiles print sectors.

“Although we enjoyed the Telford location, which is close to our UK ink manufacturing plant, we are pleased that The Print Show will this year return to the NEC which, with its central position, will draw in more visitors from London and the south-east,” McMullin said.

“For the first two years of The Print Show we attended in partnership with one of our value added resellers, Colorbyte, and were impressed by the number of leads and sales generated, so much so that Epson exhibited in its own right last year and we will do so again in 2018.

“We want to show the breadth of our inkjet solutions and the quality of print that is possible for dye sublimation, textile, label, photographic, POS and signage applications. We expect some of our commercial partners to be exhibiting also, demonstrating an even wider range of applications printed with Epson technology.”


Epson has told visitors to expect a “modern and eye-catching display” on its
stand at The Print Show 2018

With this in mind, McMullin offered an insight into what visitors can expect from Epson at the Print Show 2018.

“For the first time at The Print Show, we will demonstrate some A3 and A4 printer-copiers that are right for cut sheet commercial printing applications,” McMullin said. “This is in addition to a comprehensive range of wide-format inkjet models from our signage (S series), photography (P series) and textiles (F series) SureColor range.

“Expect a modern and eye-catching display to reflect the diversity of products that can be handled from textiles and décor to wraps, posters, signage, POS and promotional applications.”

McMullin added: “We hope to generate a sales pipeline and to close a significant number of deals at the show. There is an opportunity to educate our customer and potential customer base and to show the rapid Return on Investment and profit potential of our products.”


Smart Print returns after “fabulous” 2017 show

Another familiar face at The Print Show this year will be Smart Print. Paul Stead, head of production print sales the company, says the main aim at the event this year will be to speak with visitors about the solutions that matter to their own businesses.

Stead said: “The Print Show represents the only real opportunity in 2018 for mass audience interaction. Returning to the NEC should ensure a healthy footfall enabling us to share our message with maximum impact. We are looking for a healthy return on investment and are confident that the Print Show will provide this.

“Last year we had a fabulous time, securing many orders at the show and a long list of prospects. As Smart Print has grown, so has our ability to deliver a competent and relevant exhibition.

“We have seen the industry faith in The Print Show increase, reflected in attendance and the professional flow of the event. We like how ‘easy’ it is to work with the organisers and enjoy their enthusiasm. This is a very positive event, we like positivity.

“Deciding on the most appropriate solutions for our stand is by far the hardest part. With such a wide range it would be easy to select our best selling products and explain why people buy them, but that is not really the Smart Print way. We look for a combination of relevance, growth and affordability.”


HP aims for further success at The Print Show 2018

Meanwhile, having been one of the first companies to commit to The Print Show 2018, HP has now spoken out over its hopes for this year’s event, with the aim of building in the success it enjoyed in 2017.

The company exhibited for the first time last year on one of the largest stands at the show in Telford, showcasing some of its leading large-format print products.

HP will be back at the show this year at the NEC in Birmingham, with the aim of speaking to visitors about what its technology can do for their print businesses.

Anne Sharp, large-format print marketing manager for UK and Ireland at HP, said: “The Print Show 2017 was our inaugural show and it was a great success for HP so we were pleased to sign for the next show in September 2018.

“We felt that The Print Show 2017 delivered everything we set-out to achieve. When we attend trade shows, it’s always with the objective of being able to meet and interact with our customers and showcase the best of our technology and applications and enable our customers to come and talk to us about what they need and how we can work together.

“We felt that we met these objectives at the show and we are looking forward to working on the next one.”

Sharp also spoke about some of the areas that HP will focus on at The Print Show 2018, including large-format print, which proved a hit with visitors last year.

“HP’s mission is to engineer experiences that amaze and nowhere is that more true than in the world of graphic solutions and large format print,” Sharp said.

“We want to enable our customers to accelerate their growth and expand to new markets with breakthrough technology for all large-format markets.

“You can expect some new developments from HP at the next show in September and as always, we will be showcasing a range of end applications to inspire and educate our customers to the opportunities for business growth.”


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