According to the NACFB’s Chief Executive Adam Tyler the association has expanded this year’s event to accommodate the growing interest, which he believes is a testament to how far the event has come in six years.
“It was while the market was at the very bottom and we took a risk hosting such [an] event - there were 37 exhibitors at the first event, now there are 100 - which makes it the biggest expo of its kind in the industry,” Adam said.
“The expo has been praised for its atmosphere and experience with people at the NEC, describing the atmosphere as unique, and has been nominated for many NEC awards.
“The last five years [have] seen year-on-year growth in confidence within the commercial community and the growth of the NACFB Expo has reflected that confidence,” said Keith Aldridge of Amicus.
The NACFB has nearly doubled business since the economic crash and last year it held the largest expo to date after it decided to knock down walls in order to accommodate the growing interest which came on the back of many highlights for the exhibitors.
Some patrons also mentioned some of the highlights they have experienced in the past years, where Ultimate Finance Senior Sales Executive, Joseph Hill, remembers one particular exhibitor – Goldentree Finance who found a unique way of driving up business.
“We thought the way one exhibitor attracted visitors to their stand was very creative. They had hired Eric Bristow to challenge people to beat him at darts. To give them a chance, Eric had three darts and they had six! It had the desired result, as there was a constant stream of people at their stand,” said Joseph.
While Daniel Sproull of Devon and Cornwall Securities Limited said that its highlight was celebrating 30 years of continuous non-status lending at the expo in 2013, it praised the expo for the opportunity it gives to smaller lenders.
“As the only truly non-status long term commercial lender, we are a small company without an enormous marketing budget and the annual expo event is one of the best ways for us to ‘get out there’ and maintain our profile.”
Richard Deacon, Sales and Marketing Director of Masthaven, summed up why it makes sure that it signs up for the Commercial Finance Expo as early as possible.
“The quality and quantity of introducers there is simply superb, it is in a great central location, and the team behind the event are a dream to work with,” concluded Richard.
Last year Masthaven managed to generate £5 million at the expo as it saw a wave of business from visiting brokers and the expo has seen plenty of business take place over the past six years, where one lender at one of the expos managed to complete £3 million of trade. One occasion in particular saw the completion of a £750,000 deal.
National Sales Manager of Lancashire Mortgage Corporation, Nick Jones, agrees that the event is a great platform to meet new and existing business partners.
“We find this exhibition an excellent networking opportunity for all aspects of our group and one which we have supported since its inception,” said Nick.
“The event has grown every year and is repeatedly well organised, so I’m looking forward to seeing what this year holds.”
James Bloom of Regentsmead added: "We always do business at these Expos, we find the people attending are serious introducers, obviously with a large number of them being NACFB members and they have a great knowledge and understanding of our market."
Omni has attended [the] Expo every year since 2011 and will be back again this year. Bob Sturges of Omni Capital said: "As a well-established lender, we're beyond the point of using expo events for brand-building purposes. We attend for a double purpose: first, to meet with old friends and partners; second, to build new relationships. CFE scores on both counts.”
“We are particularly looking forward to the Commercial Finance Expo this year having won the NACFB award for Best Short Term Lender 2014 and to having the opportunity to meet and thank the NACFB members on the day for their ongoing support,” added Tomer Aboody, Director of MTF.
Many lenders see the expo as the perfect chance to get their message across to brokers and Amicus’s Managing Director, Keith Aldridge is looking forward to making good use of the expo.
“Last year I attended the three expo events and felt that the NACFB one was the best by some way. Brokers were there to learn about the opportunities that new markets were offering, and not to fill their carrier bags,” Keith said.
"You always learn something interesting there, make good new contacts in the industry and generally pick up ways to enhance your own business,” said Mark Posniak of Dragonfly Property Finance.
“To top it all off, the audience is incredibly knowledgeable and involved, which really makes a difference. All in all, a top industry event."
Karen Bennett of Shawbrook added: “Shawbrook has exhibited at the Consumer Finance Expo for the past four years and have found it to be one of the stronger events across our experiential marketing programme.
“The event programme itself is comprehensive delivering a great deal of relevant, interesting content to attendees over the duration of the Expo - crucial to those taking time out of their day to attend.”
The expo is going from strength to strength after the success of previous events many patrons will be exhibiting at the expo for the first time, including Mike Hartley, Managing Director of Praetura Asset Finance.
“Despite this being Praetura’s first time as an exhibitor - being a relatively new funder – we’ve attended the Expo religiously and are well aware of its reputation for bridging the gap between funders and brokers, which is no doubt why it continues to attract the industry elite year in, year out,” said Mike.
For more information or details on the upcoming expo visit www.commercialfinanceexpo.co.uk
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