This year’s PPMA Show has been hailed by visitors and exhibitors as one of the best ever attended events

The PPMA Show returned to the NEC in September and brought together the manufacturing industry as never before while also promoting UK PLC in an impressive light. This leading UK processing and packaging machinery exhibition has once again been a triumph, with thousands of visitors filling hall 5 at the NEC Birmingham, ready to scale up their businesses.

The exhibition hall was busy every day, showcasing the latest in processing and packaging machinery, robotics and industrial vision systems.

“From the very first day of PPMA Show 2023 it was clear that our visitors were attending with a solid purpose; to make contact and to purchase equipment,” said Peter Williamson, ceo of the PPMA. “The fact that several of our exhibitors were selling straight from the show floor demonstrates that.

“Of course, this is great news for our members and for us as an organisation,” he continued. “We can confidently say that PPMA Show 2023 was a massive success and has once again proven itself to be the premier processing and packaging machinery event in the UK.”

The reputation of the show for being at the forefront of innovation attracts an ever-increasing number of visitors from around the world. This year was no exception with visitor registrations exceeding those of previous years.

This sentiment was reinforced by PPMA chairperson James Causebrook who said, “It looks like we’ve had a good show in terms of footfall and quality of leads.

“Well done to the PPMA staff and the exhibitors on yet again setting the benchmark on how to do an industrial exhibition.”

And PPMA Show director Richard Little could not have been more pleased with the event’s success. “As Show director I am delighted that the PPMA Show was as good as it’s ever been, in fact since well before Covid,” he said. “The fact that so many visitors stayed on until later in the day illustrates how much there was to see and talk about.”

Exhibitors at PPMA were quick to reap the benefits of the high footfall and keen to help the visitors find the right solution for their needs.

Visitors to the show had an opportunity to meet up with leading companies in the sector and many came away from the NEC, delighted with the experience. For instance, Mike Weaver, engineering lead at Unilever said he would definitely visit again. “We saw some suppliers that we don’t get to see face to face, so perfect,” he said.

“If you only talk to your suppliers by email, come here,” he said. “See them face to face.”

For other visitors it was a chance to scope out new innovations that could improve their business process. “Fantastic day here at the PPMA Show,” said Aaron Moore, asset maintenance manager at Nestlé. “Some really innovative solutions, and a lot of relatable things for us, so we are taking lots of lessons home.”

Scott McKenna, interim coo and exhibitions & membership manager at the PPMA felt that we surpassed ourselves again this year, with an exceptional turn-out of visitors who had live projects and were ready to invest in the incredible array of innovative technologies that our exhibitors manufacture and supply. “Congratulations to everyone involved in one of the best exhibitions this industry has hosted for a number of years,” he said.