I returned last night from a cracking two days at the NEC, attending the IOG's SALTEX exhibition.

As I've felt the past few years, the show has really found its feet in Birmingham - and if anything, this week certainly had the feel to me as the best one yet.

I don't know what the organisers are saying about official attendance figures as these haven't been disclosed yet, but walking the aisles, the halls felt packed and buzzing each day during the peak hours of 10-2.30ish. Several exhibitors commented to me during day two that on the first day they hadn't even had chance to look at their watches before 3pm and at certain times several mentioned how they were concerned that visitors to their stands were having to hang around before being able to grab someone to talk to. This is despite the stands being well manned.

Briggs & Stratton's busy stand

So my impression is certainly that most stand holders were pleased with the numbers, and more importantly, the quality of the people coming through the doors. These visitors clearly included key personnel from commercial businesses, be they sporting facilities, amenity workers or contractors. Alongside this there did appear to be plenty of dealers in attendance this year too.

Service Dealer contributor & TurfPro editor, Laurence Gale caught up with several manufacturers around the halls this week. You can view the first above.

We'll have more videos from the show to watch next week.

Many stand holders remarked on how pleased they had been to see so many dealers coming on to their stands. Some they already knew, but also a good number of those they didn't, making enquiries about possibly taking on new franchises - which is an encouraging sign that business might be looking up for some and therefore new avenues are being sought.

Also from Service Dealer's point of view, it was fantastic to meet so many of our readers who popped by the stand or whom we bumped into walking around the show floor. Thanks to everyone who took the time for a chat. It really was heartening to receive such positive feedback about the magazine, this Update and our conference. Like any business, direct responses from the people you're serving is invaluable to make sure you're on the right track and delivering what's required.

Walking around the halls this week, clearly what many manufacturers believe is required for their commercial customers is a strong battery and robotic offering. Similar to what we saw at GIE+EXPO in the States a couple of weeks ago, these technologies were in abundance around the halls.

Mike Hind, UK Field Sales Manager at Husqvarna; Duncan Murray-Clarke, Service Dealer owner; Kevin Ashmore, UK Commercial Landscape & Groundcare Manager at Husqvarna; and Steve Gibbs, Service Dealer editor on the Husqvarna stand

What seemed like a significant and indeed really quite bold statement, was that Husqvarna's stand only featured cordless and robotic machines - not one single petrol item was on show. Kevin Ashmore, UK Commercial Landscape & Groundcare Manager, told me this was of course a conscious decision. This year they were very much wanting to show their confidence in their new technologies, by concentrating on battery, robot and fleet management offerings only. It was move which appeared to pay off with a busy stand across the two days.

The new pro battery mower generating interest on STIHL's stand

STIHL had a mixture of battery and traditional products on show, but the company's business development manager, Steven Greenup, was keen to point just what attention their new professional battery walk-behind mower was receiving from visitors. He said the time was clearly right for a machine such as this to hit the commercial sector. Indeed, everytime I passed the stand, there were always lots of people surrounding the machine, asking questions and giving it a thorough inspection. It did genuinely appear to be gaining a lot of traction.

Ego's stand

Ego, of course, only deal in battery products. Steve Roskell, Director of Marketing (EMEA), told me what a great show they'd had, so different from four years ago when they first attended. Back then the commercial users had a certain cynicism about battery products in general, he said. Now these pro users are seeking out Ego out to see what's new. Steve, as well as a couple of other stand holders dealing in cordless, remarked that the professional users are now not asking themselves if they want battery machines at all, but rather which battery brand should they commit their budget to?

Eco Village area

Reflecting this trend for battery, the organisers had added a new feature this year, the Eco Village. A section placed to one side of the show hall, it was a large area which allowed companies to present and demonstrate their latest cordless technologies. I actually felt this worked really well. During the peak hours the companies presenting gained some good exposure, with large crowds listening and watching. I guess because it was slightly less formal than the regular lecture theatres, where people had to go in, find a seat and put on headphones, the Eco Village allowed people to simply pause on their way past - hence creating quite large groups on occasion. I would imagine the companies who chose to demonstrate here, including Husqvarna, STIHL, Fleet, Infinicut, TP, Allett, Avant and Mean Green, would have been pleased with the attention they received.

That's not to denigrate the lecture theatres mind you. They performed an excellent role, offering plenty of valuable educational opportunities for the turf professionals in attendance. Sessions which I observed dealers listening in to, included talks from BAGMA's Keith Christian and Sara Hey from Bob Clements International.

Keith Christian of BAGMA

Keith gave a very interesting talk on recruiting for the future. He said there were many things which the industry needed to do in order to encourage more people to join the industry and then, vitally, to retain them. Fundamental to this, was everyone working together as one to raise the profile of the industry. There were no simple solutions but it is ever so important to be able to demonstrate to potential candidates just want an interesting, varied and profitable career path the landbased industry can offer.

Sara Hey from Bob Clements International

Sara Hey meanwhile, presented on the subject of motivating employees. She spoke about how in order to keep staff engaged it was most important that business owners need to lead with clarity. Sara said that leaders need to ask good questions of their employees and listen carefully to the answers if they want to keep staff motivated. Three questions she suggested owners could ask of their employees were 'What was the most exciting part of your work this past month?'; 'What could make work more enjoyable?'; and 'Are there any discussions or meetings that you feel you could be a part of, but you aren't?'.

Handy's stand

Elsewhere around the show, there was plenty to interest the many dealers who made the trip to Birmingham. Handy were talking to people regarding the Cramer range of garden machinery which they're now promoting. 

Magic Distribution with the Ambrogio robotic mowers

Paul Chandler from Magic Distribution who distribute the Ambrogio robotic mowers was telling me that many dealers have been asking about the new small model which is ideal for the lawns on new build homes. 

Kubota's David Hart

David Hart from Kubota said they'd seen plenty of dealers come onto the stand who the company had been talking to about opportunities to perhaps deal in other ranges which the company offers, such as ag or construction, which they might not yet be in to.

Of course this is only a snapshot of what was taking place around the halls. I really felt that there was a vibrant, upbeat atmosphere pervading, with a sense of real business and valuable networking being done.

Congratulations to the IOG for organising such a valuable and worthwhile show. We shall feature more about some of the new products seen across the stands in the next issue of Service Dealer magazine.