2016 Exhibition Season Comes to a Close

That’ll be the end of another Exhibition season then!

My legs hurt, my feet are sore and I’ve lost a toenail on my right foot, even though I’m careful to wear comfortable shoes.

I’m sitting here in the business lounge at Nuremberg Airport and feeling that the relative comfort is fully justified, while the Airmiles account is, once again, at a healthy level and I’m BA Gold for another 12 months at least.

In recent weeks I’ve attended Taitronics in Taipei, the Hong Kong Lighting Fair, IAS in Shanghai, Electronica in Munich and now SPS-Drives in Nuremberg.

I’ve visited potential suppliers in Taipei, Taiwan and Shenzhen, China and narrowly avoided having to go to Guangzhou, China for the third time this year.

Why do I do it? I often ask myself that question as does my wife, who is also our Financial Controller. Don’t get me wrong, she doesn’t mind my travels, she actually enjoys full control on the TV remote, she just can’t see the justification for the costs.

Salesmen and Accountants never see eye to eye on finance. However for the past 18 months I’ve been elevated to the lofty heights of ‘Global Sourcing Consultant’ for our biggest (by far) customer who is a Global Distributor. My Mission, to source and supply Low Voltage control gear and automation products to their requirements. Having supplied them with three products for over 20 years, the past 30 months has seen that rise to 300+ products with more in the pipeline.

And that alone is justification that Mrs G cannot possibly argue with!

So it’s home now for more sales activities in the UK followed by the Christmas Season. My next scheduled exhibition is the Canton Fair in April and factory visits in China and… (don’t tell Mrs G) – a probable trip to the Far East in January as well.

Now where’s the phone number of my Chiropodist?.....

Malcolm Greenhill