FENSTERBAUFRONTALEREVIEW
Fensterbau Frontale
2014 - FIT on steroids!
Clearview directors Steve Sidebottom and
Robert Exley were among the many UK visitors
to this year’s Fensterbau Frontale in Nuremberg.
Here, Steve outlines his impressions of this major,
international event where the array of products
exhibited is matched only by the incredible
and lavish hospitality throughout the show.
This was my second visit to Nuremberg,
but this year, both myself and my business
partner, Rob Exley, decided to go along –
partly to check out product innovations
for the Clearview Group, but partly also
because we are planning our first-ever
Exhibition at the NEC in September 2016,
and as this will be our first venture into the
Exhibition arena, we wanted to absorb some
of the ideas behind these well-established
and successful events.
Admittedly, o ur first Exhibition
– Lockex 2016 based around
our successful publication, The
Locksmith joiurnal, will not be on the
grand scale of Fensterbau, but we found it
very useful.
Fensterbau Frontale announced increased
overall numbers [108,000] and increased
visitors from the UK, clearly showing that
even when the major UK industry event,
The FIT Show at Telford in June, and
Fensterbau Frontale, were scheduled for the
same year (for this time only) they are still
very successful.
The major exhibitors at Nuremberg
seemed to stick to the ‘tried and tested’
approach of wall to wall hospitality, with
the Bitburger freely flowing. There were,
however, many examples of innovative
products – if you looked hard enough.
‘Worth making the effort’
So back to the hospitality,
after-show parties were in full
swing: we were only there for
two days, but we managed to
fit in the VEKA, REHAU, and
UK networking events hosted
by Vision publications, GGF
and The Building Centre. The
consensus of opinion seemed
to be that it was definitely
worthwhile making the effort
to attend, even in the face of
difficult travel and access to
Nuremburg from the UK - and
sky-high hotel prices.
Andrew Scott of Purplex
Marketing, a regular Clearview
contributor and a first time
34
MAY 2014
visitor to Nuremberg commented, “The
ROTO traditional German evening, which
they run for three nights for 450 invited
guests each night in a nearby restaurant
marquee was a great night, thanks must go to
our generous German hosts.
“The products on show were both
interesting and different with the emphasis
clearly on the EU market, and not
particularly the UK. But then that’s what
the FIT Show is for - and we are certainly
looking forward to being at Telford in
June.”
“I was particularly interested in the NEW
Rehau GENEO Inovent, marketed as the first
‘breathable window’ - a self-ventilating and
intelligent heat recovery window designed for
complete comfort. Most impressive.”
To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com