Brityrex International – Welcome to G-MEX

Next year’s Brityrex International exhibition (1-3 May 2007) will be breaking new ground, as the show will be taking place for the first time at the G-MEX Convention Centre in Manchester.

The show is being supported by the NTDA, who have arranged their AGM and Annual Dinner for 2 May, to be held at the Palace Hotel. In mid-July, the NTDA held an Executive Council Meeting at the hotel and got together with ECI International, the organisers of Brityrex, and members of the press to arrange a familiarisation day.

The G-MEX building used to be Manchester’s Central Station, until it was closed down in the late 1960s. It was not until 1982 that it was realised that the vast building – the floor area covers more than 10,000 square metres, with no pillars or columns to get in the way – would make an ideal exhibition and events centre. Refurbishment took four years and G-MEX was opened for business in 1986.

Surrounded by hotels, bars and restaurants, G-MEX is centrally-located and yet has ample parking facilities on-site. It is a few minutes from the two railway stations, which have links with all major UK cities. London, for example, is two hours away by train, with services every 30 minutes. Plus of course, Manchester is at the heart of the UK motorway network.

Those coming from further afield are well catered for too; Manchester International Airport is the third busiest in the UK and is only 20 minutes away from G-MEX by road. An express train service also runs regularly.

Paul Farrant, managing director of ECI, believes that G-MEX will prove the ideal home for Brityrex, saying: “Past experience has taught us that, for the tyre industry, the social side of an exhibition is almost as important as the show itself; when the exhibition closes for the day, the meetings still go on, which is why Harrogate proved so popular. G-MEX has the same intimate feel, but combined with a first-class exhibition venue.”

NTDA Director Richard Edy said that those members of Council who had not been to the Palace Hotel – which will effectively be the NTDA’s HQ during the show – were impressed with the facilities. He added: “Our Council members came from all over the UK and a number of them made a point of saying how easy their journey to Manchester had been.”