A quick reminder that SALTEX takes place at the NEC on Wednesday and Thursday next week.
The team from Service Dealer and our sister title for commercial turfcare end-users, TurfPro, will be attendance. We have a stand at D030 so do drop by and say hi - although the likelihood is we'll spend most of our time up and down the aisles, speaking to the industry movers and shakers, checking out what's new..
It will be fascinating to see how many of our valued dealer readers choose to make the journey to Birmingham this year. Is SALTEX still as high on everyone's agenda as it once was? There are undeniably several key manufacturers who our readers will stock in their showrooms not taking stands in 2026. Will this put dealers off from leaving the workplace? Also, will coming shortly after a GroundsFest that was genuinely busy have an impact? The same question can be asked of the professional practitioners who the GMA aim their event at - will they be there in their droves?
The impression that we've started to get these past few years, when these two shows have run within a few weeks of each other, is that maybe it's more landscapers and contractors that head to Stoneleigh, whilst the higher-end sports facility custodians visit the NEC. Will next week continue to play out like that? It will be interesting to see.
This year the show has made a real effort in the run-up, promoting itself across traditional and social media, highlighting the fact that they are celebrating the 80th staging of the event. They are leaning into their storied heritage, whilst at the same time pushing the innovations, forward-looking learning opportunities and chance to network with industry peers that SALTEX affords. We will see on Wednesday how that message has landed.
Dealers of the year
Talking of innovations and forward-looking, I was lucky enough to hear plenty of stories with these ideas at their heart on Tuesday this week, as I had the privilege of forming part of the judging panel for our magazine's Dealer of the Year Awards.
L-R: Duncan Murray-Clarke, Service Dealer owner; Keith Christian, Service Dealer contributor; Laurence Gale, TurfPro editor; Steve Gibbs, Service Dealer editor
I feel confident in saying that the caliber of entries we received across the board this year, was absolutely remarkable. In what has a been a challenging season for multiple reasons, it's clear that out there in the network are businesses not just surviving, but utterly thriving. To me this was encapsulated by the tales we heard across the nominations in the Best New Initiative category.
Not only did we have more submissions for this Award than ever before, but the levels of entrepreneurship, of innovation, of progressive thinking and action, were off the charts. We're not talking about companies putting up some new shelves and doing a Twitter about it here. These were some major projects that dealers have undertaken this year to further their businesses. We're looking at concepts along the lines of whole new branches, special events, ways of communicating or new departments offering new services. And all of these are, of course, geared toward enhancing and nurturing customer relationships. It really was quite something to hear and super difficult to judge.
As were all the awards to be fair. The responsibility we have as judges is not lost on any of us. We all appreciate how fairness and impartiality is incumbent upon us all, with every nomination receiving an equal hearing. Businesses and individuals alike impressed us from start to finish. However, in the end I am satisfied that we have an incredibly special cohort of winners for us all to celebrate come December 3rd.
If you haven't yet guaranteed your place for the Awards evening or the Conference that precedes it, there are still a few tickets left, I believe. If you've not attended before, the gala dinner where the prizes are handed out is a truly joyous occasion and the Conference this year has an absolutely stellar line-up of speakers. So do check-out the options that are available still.
Until then, enjoy SALTEX if you go next week and tell us what you thought of it - and we'll look forward to welcoming you to Stratford-Upon-Avon in a few week's time.
