Welcome to the 1st May Warehouse & Logistics News.  As spring arrives at last, it seems confidence is returning to business too. In this issue we review the recent IMHX 2013, the UK’s largest warehousing and logistics event. We hear from event co-organiser BITA’s Secretary General James Clark, who says visitors were upbeat about prospects and are ready to re-invest, good news for everyone in the industry. We also have a feature in this issue on Warehouse Flooring, including floor preparation, maintenance, mezzanines and area markings.

chazThe International Materials Handling Exhibition 2013, to give the three-yearly mega-event its proper name, took place over four days at the Birmingham NEC last month. As our review in this issue confirms, IMHX featured a host of impressive stands, thousands of innovative exhibits, informative seminars, a variety of entertainment and plenty of serious business.

You need good shoes and lots of time to get round the show, because of its vast size: that doesn’t change. The last IMHX was in 2010, when the economic atmosphere was gloomy. The noticeable difference this time round was the increased optimism among the exhibitors and the visitors. Confirming the positive mood, IMHX’s co-organiser, the British Industrial Truck Association, was delighted with the show. As quoted in our review, James Clark, BITA Secretary General, told WLN: “Many of our members said they enjoyed many serious and positive discussions over the show’s four days. Visitors were upbeat about business prospects and are ready to re-invest.” Which is good news for all concerned.

Before we went to press, Baroness Thatcher’s death and subsequent funeral dominated the headlines. Whatever else people might have thought of her, there’s no denying that Mrs T and her colleagues did a great deal of good to promote the spirit of boldness and enterprise that still characterises much of British private industry, including warehousing and logistics.

As featured on our front cover, one such enterprising British company, Filplastic, is celebrating its 20th anniversary as one of the UK’s leading storage and display equipment suppliers.  Filplastic has a wide range of shelving, racking, parts bins and display equipment. But it is best known for its durable wire baskets, perfect for warehouse and logistics businesses. In recent times these have been popular with clothing companies for pick, pack and dispatch fulfillment warehouses. As our love of on line shopping grows, here’s to more good news from Filplastic – who are marking their milestone anniversary, appropriately enough, by launching a new website, which is already proving a huge success.

Comments are closed.