BRITANNIA AS SALESWOMAN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 8 January 1935, Page 2

BRITANNIA AS SALESWOMAN

THE BRITISH INDUSTRIES FAIR (By Harold Mitchell M.P., Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of the Department of Overseas Trade) In anticipation of a greatly enlarged British Industries Fair in 1935, British manufacturers are busily preparing many new products which overseas buyers will be glad to buy because it will pay to buy them. The Fair of 1935 will be held .is usual in London in February next, except that the Engineering, .and j Hardware Section will take place in Birmingham in May. It is-'clear already that the Fair will greatly exceed in size and scope any of its predecessors., Months in advance of the opening date, more space has been applied for by prospective exhibitovs than was actually available at the' last Fair. Not only have firms who have exhibited for years asked for larger exhibiting areas but a considerable number of manufacturers who have not been represented at the Fair before are coming in now. ■, .mil As one result, the Fair will be representative of almost the entire range of British manufacturing industry. Side by side with United Kingdom manufacturers >vill be a greatly enlarged display of products from other parts of the British; Commonwealth. Canada, ' T New Zealand, South: Africa) ’ thu Irish-Free - State, India and: tlje various, Cdlqniesj are all contributing characteristic examples of what their rich and varied economic resources have to offer the world’s buyers—to the advantage no less of the buyer thait iof ;the seller. The first Fail- was held at the Agricultural Hall in London, in 1915, when exhibits representing the products of 591 firms occupied some“ 88,000 square feet. The 1935 Fair will be ten times that size with exhibits.gt London and Birmingham occupying not much short of ij million square 'feet. Steadily throughout its useful life, the Fair has grown, until to-day it is the largest national trade fair in the 1 world, a remarkable achievement in-twenty years. . . • \ There is real reason for pride in this, for , the Fair has gone forward from success to success in face of unprecedented obstacles which have seriousjy retarded both home and international trade. Obstacles, problems and difficulties have indeed proved spurs to new efforts and greater so far as the British Industries Fair is concerned.

BRITAIN’S WAR BABY The Fair owes its inception to a problem; that of providing British manufactured articles to replace products formerfy obtained from abroad but no longer available under the war conditions of 1915. It was organised to demonstrate now only that sucii products could be made within the Empire, but that they could be made at least as well as those they were designed to replace (and often better) and at.competitive prices..

•In 1915 .it,was not expected- that the Fair would continue after its A immediate purpose,,had been seryed^but before the.', first. .Fair was oyer ''t the value of an annual, display" of a representative selection of British manufactures was realised, such a display being of value to buyers no less than sellers, silice it would enable the 'former to compare, different goods quickly and conveniently under one roof and would keep them acquainted with' the latest developments in industry. Accordingly, business men appealed to the President of the Board of Trade —then, as now, Mr Walter Runciman —to arrange an annual Fair of this nature. The Department of Overseas Trade was instructed to continue the work it had begun, and it has remained in chai-ge -of the work ever since. The Department is very appreciative of the . support which it has received since the first Fair from a large number of firms, a substantial proportion of whom have exhibited in each Fair since 1915. They have given the Fair their whole-hearted support throughout whether times were good or bad. Year by year new firms are coming into the Fair and in paying a special tribute to those who have supported the Fair since its very inception, the Department Welcomes these new exhibitors who are coming into the Fair in increasing numbers". The Department has had the valuable assistanceof the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce who are responsible for the organisation of the Engineering and Hardware Section of the Fair- which is held in Birmingham under the auspices of the Department; while a Committee of which Lord Derby is president, representing the textile industries of the country, undertakes, in conjunction with tile Department, the organisation of the textiles section of the Fair, under the title of the British Textiles Exhibition, at the White City in London'. A SCHOOL FOR SALESMANSHIP That- the Fair, even in these days of intensive international restrictions, is a powerful and practical means of facilitating and'promoting the interchange of goods and commodities, was once again convincingly demonstrated last February, when substantial orders were booked and a large volume of promising enquiries were received from overseas buyers., Moreover, since the 1934 Fair closed, exhibitors have continued to report enquiries from abroad as a direct result of it, a substantial proportion maturing into actual business.

Tlie Fair has the special value of bringing overseas buyers and British manufacturers into personal contact. In this way they are able to exchange ideas, and an important result is that the British manufacturer has become increasingly adaptable in producing goods specially designed for overseas requirements-. This development will be in greater evidence than ever at the 1935 Fair.

In some ways the depression itself has been a stimulus ,to new efforts directed to the improvement >of products; to the adaptation of industrial methods to the changing needs of the times, whether in quality or in price; and to the provision of entirely new goods which tier well worth buying because they create their own profitable markets. Anyone who visits ;the Fair will admit that the exhibitors have made the most detailed study of their customers’ requirements.

It pays manufacturers and producers whether from the United Kingdom, the Dominions or other parts of the Empire, to display their wares at the Fair —and it pays home and overseas buyers to visit it. We have testimony from exhibtors and buyers aliko ■ to

prove this. Perhaps the most striking proof of the value of the Fair is that it continues every year, through good •times and bad, attracting to its stands an ever increasing number of buyers from all parts of the world. ;: