Mobility and power saving were the predominant themes from Ingram Micro's Retail Expo this year, with the distributor calling the event a 'sincere effort' to help retailers and resellers cope in a difficult trading environment.A crowd of retailers and resellers swarmed the Islington Business Design Centre, where over 35 vendors pitched up to show off a vast array of goods, many having a strong emphasis on environmental awareness and portability.
While lacking the sheer size of last year's Wembley Stadium location, Ingram Micro's UK commercial director, Bhavesh Patel, praised the practicality of the Islington venue.
"I think this is a very different venue, it's a much more practical venue, and Islington is a really nice area," he said. "The whole show was about making a sincere effort in a difficult time to help businesses.
"I'm really pleased with the turnout. I think the venue's fantastic and the location's fantastic, as it's a very short distance from the station, which allows resellers to get here reasonably quickly.
"We've got over 35 vendors here, and all of them so far have commented on the value of the leads they've generated, which is really what the event was about," added Bhavesh.
"Compared to last year's event, it's a very different venue. But although we were plagued with rain last year, we had a good turnout then, too."
Chris Spearing, former Logitech man and recently appointed OEM sales manager at Microsoft, commented: "It's a great space that we've got here. We've had an interesting mix of people, we've had some larger retail representatives come down as well, which is good to see and also some smaller retailers that we don't often get the chance to speak to.
"That's certainly why I wanted to spend my time down here and hear the word on the street, from the people that are on the street," added Spearing.
Acer's Steve Clark added: "We've had a good time. We've rekindled relationships and strengthened bonds and had a great response for the Aspire One. It's been a good day."
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