Manchester Central Redevelopment Ready for October’s Brityrex Show

ECI International, the organiser of Brityrex, says a new-look venue will greet exhibitors and delegates at October’s show at Manchester Central (formerly known as the G-MEX. The venue has spent £30 million over the past two years completing a major redevelopment programme. The most striking result of the investment can be seen by the addition of the new Charter Foyer and the new and extended Central Foyer, which have added cohesion to the venue’s facilities and offer greater ease of access within the Manchester Central site. The new Central Foyer is much larger than its predecessor and has added additional event space.

The third and final phase of the redevelopment will be complete by the time Brityrex opens its doors on Tuesday, 5 October. “Visitors to Brityrex will notice a major difference in the venue since the last show in 2007. The new foyer is very striking on arrival and that favourable impression is continued throughout the venue,” says Paul Farrant, managing director of ECI.

Among the new exhibitors taking advantage of the improved facilities will be Dutch tyre wholesaler Interstate, which will be sharing a stand with its Irish distributor Armagh Tyres. Interstate vice president Theo de Vries, says: “We are delighted to be exhibiting a Brityrex and will be working closely with our colleagues from Armagh Tyres. In particular we will be focussing on the brand new Interstate ECO Tour Plus tyre and our expanded Ultra High Performance range.” Interstate, established in 1973, now has a sales and distribution network in 63 countries worldwide. The company will also be using the exhibition to make contact with new and exclusive distributors for the UK market.

Martin Parkinson at Pang UK is taking a different approach to his company’s presence at the event. “We will have two stands at Brityrex this year,” he confirms. “One for our range of workshop consumable products, including repair materials, balance weights and tools, and a second stand to showcase or Chem wheel balancers and GSBoxer tyre changers.” The company has added nitrogen fill units to its offer since the last Brityrex in 2007 and this service will also be on display in Manchester.

New Tyre Pressure Monitoring System legislation expected in 2012 will stipulate OE fitment of these systems by car manufacturers throughout Europe. In advance of this there is growing aftermarket interest in the technology which will be reflected by two first-time exhibitors at Brityrex.

SteelMate Automotive and TyreSensors.Com both offer retrofit TPMS products, which they believe will prove popular with the tyre retail sector. Barry Luff from SteelMate explains: “We’ll be at Brityrex to test the market for our systems and gauge the level of interest from tyre retailers and other trade distributors. We think many consumers will recognise the safety and economy benefits of knowing that their tyres are correctly inflated and running at the right temperatures.”

Entry to Brityrex is free to bona fide trade visitors; advance registrations can be made to avoid waiting on the day, via the exhibition website at www.eci-international.com.