In all aspects of business, companies are having to transition to new aspects of “digital” - from Industry 4.0 to virtual networking and more - and Made in Group is encouraging its members and the manufacturing sector to embrace this change.
This is particularly important for the trade association to have embarked on, as the B2B market is ever changing and manufacturing is now selling more online. This is backed up by PwC’s recent claim that “Manufacturing is ready for eCommerce”, with “some industries now hav[ing] in place plans to go from virtually zero online sales to 60% of all sales over the next several years”.
Backing Britain 3.0, Made in Group’s upcoming hybrid exhibition (April 26th-28th 2021), is the latest in a long line of projects which have aimed at supporting members to thrive within the digital landscape. In the advent of social distancing, 2020 saw Made in Group develop their own virtual exhibition with “Backing Britain Live 2020”.
However, Backing Britain 3.0 will serve as a brand new format, utilising aspects of virtual reality technology with the online exhibition, alongside in-person “fringe” events. This event is a “hybrid” exhibition as it will allow for Silver and Gold members of Made in the Midlands and Made in Yorkshire to return to the in-person, “real life” physical events that have been sorely missed over the course of the pandemic, whilst still maintaining the productivity-boosting and digital marketing elements of “virtual”.
Ultimately, Made in Group aims to engage with 300 people over the course of the live, “in-person events”, and then 3,000 people through the exhibition’s digital aspect.
Looking at the physical aspect of this exhibition, Wolverhampton, Derby and Leeds have been handpicked for three consecutive days of members networking and socialising. These locations allow for the most number of members possible to be able to attend at least one venue, whilst not needing to travel too far. Therefore, this “Backing Britain 3.0 Expo” also aims to far reduce the environmental impact which has been seen in previous exhibitions.
There will be 3 celebrity speakers and 3 industry speakers in total, with one of each at every one of these in-person "fringe" events. So far, industry thought leaders and celebrity speakers Robert Llewellyn and Felicity Aston have been confirmed as keynote speakers - with the remaining 4 speakers yet to be confirmed, so watch this space. (Janet Mui from Brewin Dolphin - Senior economist has been announced as the industry speaker for leeds)
Contact [email protected] to find out more about exhibiting at Backing Britain 3.0