By all accounts, the 2008 Printwear & Promotion Exhibition was a good place to do business. Most of the exhibitors I spoke to during the three days felt that the quality of enquiries was particularly high and many had taken orders to the tune of thousands of pounds. In total we had over 4,000 visitors through the doors, which is on a par with last year, and over 80 exhibitors. Compared to many other trade shows at the moment, which certainly can't boast such visitor numbers, that is a very impressive figure. What's more, 77% of those had not visited the show in the previous year, making them potential valuable new customers.

Schoolwear and workwear specialist Blue Max Stag has launched a new system that tracks stock from the moment it enters the warehouse, to the time it is despatched.

BTC Group has become a full member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) - a unique achievement for a company specialising in promotional clothing and general merchandise, it says.

Promotional Clothing Supplier Tomato Source Limited has successfully achieved registration to the internationally recognised internal quality management standard ISO 9001:2000.

ASD, the owner of promotional leisure and outerwear brand Ayers Rock, says it plans to take the brand into the premium marketplace for 2009.

The BPMA's Dragon Boat Race is back by popular demand this year, and takes place on July 17 at Eton College Rowing Centre, Dorney Lake, Windsor.

Get your skates on

A member of M&R's sales and service team is swapping the print shop for the racetrack this August to take part in a charity skating marathon.

Screen printing machinery supplier MHM Direct and dryer manufacturer Adelco used this year's Printwear & Promotion exhibition as an opportunity to launch their new partnership.

Fruit Of The Loom has completed a redesign of its European Website to reflect the new branding that will run through all of the company's marketing communications in 2008.

Bag manufacturer Westford Mill has launched a new product brochure for 2008 in the style of a wall chart.

Organisers of the International PROMOTA Show 2008 claimed that attendance levels reached their highest point at this year's event.

The British Promotional Merchandise Association (BPMA) will contribute to a series of key marketing seminars at the forthcoming Promotional Marketing Exhibition in collaboration with other leading marketing services associations.

Specialist designer and manufacturer of high-quality promotional bags, Keepme Bags has been selected to provide the official visitor bags at this year's Promotional Marketing Exhibition in April.

A new product has been launched that claims to help save the planet and cut energy bills by up to £50 a year.

Now under new ownership, the Fun Transfer Factory, which produces a range of transfer lettering, has launched a new animal alphabet.

Pace Network, a global transport provider in the sales promotion industry, has introduced several environmentally friendly initiatives to help it cut down on CO2 emissions and pollution.

Beechfield has launched a new 28-page brochure for 2008, representing its new range of headwear. The brochure, which will also be available in six European languages, has a contents listing flagging up the eight new styles so users can flick directly to the appropriate pages.

Sportswear brand Coolactive, which uses the perfomance fabric Coolmax, has launched exclusively through distributor UKL.

Myrtle Beach has launched a new range of headwear for Summer 2008, incorporating caps with new materials, colours and styles.

Quadra has launched a catalogue for 2008, with simple layouts to focus attention on this year's 60 products.

Promotional teddy bear brand Mumbles has launched a new website for 2008, incorporating information about suppliers, distributors and a history of the company.

The new Marketing Association Alliance will make its debut at the Promotional Marketing Exhibition (15 - 17 April, Olympia London).

BTC activewear has produced a new 32-page Schoolwear brochure in a handy A5 format. Presented in a fresh, easy-to-use layout, the mini-brochure is packed full of the distributor's most popular schoolwear brands including Jerzees Schoolwear, Fruit of the Loom, Gildan and Regatta. At just 40p postage it is a very cost-effective marketing tool for decorators to target customers, says BTC activewear.

De Montford University's TEAMnet (Textile Engineering & Materials Network) is running a free event to help local textile businesses combat everyday industry problems.

Many people in our industry are daunted and often confused by these various concepts, their true implications on our products and how we market them.  An environmentally friendly product might not always be ethically sourced and vice versa. A fair trade product is not necessarily a 'Fairtrade' mark accredited product.  All companies want to uphold the best practice surrounding their products and need to be clear on all the terminology so that they have precise knowledge of the sourcing, manufacturing and delivery of the product they specify for clients and campaigns.

With more than 10 years experience in environmental business gifts Evan Lewis set up Everything Environmental in 2005 to fill a gap in the market, providing distributors with a one-stop shop for a full range of recycled and eco-friendly business and promotional gifts. 

Most blue chip companies in the UK today have their own ethical policies. However, there is still a worrying number of businesses who are willing to buy, trade and source products without considering the ethical ramifications of their dealings.  Where have these products come from and under what conditions were they manufactured?

Those who have a long relationship with the promotions industry will recall that during the last financial downturn many major brands turned to cost-effective below-the-line promotional products and solutions to retain and build market share. With the predicted tightening of belts in the business economy, it looks as though the promotions industry will again be flavour of the month.

Your hands go clammy; your pupils dilate; your heart-rate jumps and you feel an uncontrollable urge to go to the bathroom. Yes, you've been asked to do a presentation.

With over 4,000 visitors across the three days, this year's Printwear & Promotion certainly bucked what many see as a downward trend in the exhibition marketplace, securing its position as the definitive event for the garment decoration industry.Visitors came from around the world and across the country to see the latest in garment, machinery and software technology, and once again were treated to a colourful, vibrant show, packed with new product launches and on-stand demonstrations.

Showcased on the Prestige Leisure stand was Jerzees Colours' latest ‘story', the Original range - a collection of retail-inspired casualwear garments, which reinforce the brand's aim to produce garments that people will value and actually want to wear.

"The Printwear & Promotion Show was an unprecedented success for us this year", said Frank Jheinga of Absolute Apparel.

OYO Instruments showcased its new direct to screen system - Diablo, which can image a screen in less than two minutes.

Printwear & Promotion 2008 was "the best show ever" for Kwik Tapes, which launched its new iron- and sew-on labels and mini laptop printing package, securing £25,000 worth of sales.

Drew Brady & Co Ltd experienced a 17% increase in visitors to its stand at this year's Printwear & Promotion Exhibition.

RSK Tech said it had double the number of serious enquiries for the RSK Net Shirt product in comparison to last year's show.

The Awdis Just Hoods stand located just inside the exhibition entrance proved to be the perfect vehicle for accelerating what has become a seemingly unstoppable tide of hoodie sales, said AWDis.

Prestige Leisure had a very successful Printwear & Promotion Show 2008 and would like to thank all visitors to its stand.

Wilcom International, a leading developer of embroidery and decorations technology, and Corel Corporation, a leading developer of graphics, productivity and digital media software, used the exhibition for the European launch of their new software solution for multi-decoration design.

Sharon Lee received a great response to its new Lucifer Cap during the exhibition, hailing the show "the best ever".

New brand Oro Toro launched four styles at the show, showcasing the brand's focus on a fashion-inspired colour range across a select number of carefully designed styles.

Blue Max reports having had a record breaking number of visitors to its stand this year.

Section A: Best Screen Print

Judged by Stuart McCarthy from Top Banana

GOLD: 040 Certnfase Limited

"Excellent print. Good seps and arts and screen"

The winners of the first ever Printwear & Promotion Excellence Awards were revealed to over 180 guests at the glittering Awards Ceremony and Gala Dinner on March 3 at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham. The enjoyable night began with a champagne reception followed by a four-course dinner, and of course, the awards ceremony. There was also entertainment from magician Roy Davenport and side-splitting humour from professional after-dinner speaker and comedian Ian Irving. Congratulations go to all the winners and runners-up.

Screenprinting equipment manufacturer M&R makes a wide variety of textile presses, dryers, flash cure units, and ancillary systems. Outlined below is a selection:

John Potter, director of the UK MHM dealer MHM Direct, outlines the key features of MHM machinery and equipment, and the benefits of using MHM Direct:

Dave Renton, a one-stop-shop for screen printing machinery and supplies, manufactures his own 18" x 18" black heat Spot Cure Units and universal Cap attachments for carousels. He can also offer, usually from stock, pre-owned manual and automatic carousels, gas and electric dryers, as well as a full compliment of consumables.

A chemical engineer and M.B.A with over 13 years' experience in the industry at senior levels, Manas Deb set up Leicester-based Textile & Graphics Solutions Ltd. nearly a year and a half ago, and chose several high profile international companies making sustainable, eco-friendly products to come on board.

Some of the most common garments to be used with the heatseal process are sportswear. A wide variety of fabrics exist in this category, such as cotton, polyester, polyamide and nylon.

As an industry we are increasingly seeing more and more businesses in the UK moving towards online interaction when doing business, as it is a business tool that is seen to be cheap, quick and easy to use. This is in sharp contrast to our European counterparts who seem to prefer face-to-face relations when conducting business.

• New BPMA Awards - New categories announced
• The BPMA Entrepreneur of the Industry Award 2008 - the 2008 search begins
• Hot Product Zone - A showcase of the industry's latest innovative products
• Advanced Membership - highlighting the key benefits
• BPMA website - see the latest developments
• Survey -The BPMA links with Source-e survey

With the growing demand for cheap, fashionable clothing in the UK market, companies are falling over each other to provide the latest trends at rock bottom prices. Women's clothing prices have fallen by a third in the last 10 years, and 40% of all our clothes are now being bought from value retailers1. However, in their eagerness to make a stylish saving, these consumers are failing to look at the reality behind how their clothes are produced.

The great thing about sport on the TV is that you get those fantastic slow motion replays and stills and all those lovely close-ups that give the ladies a chance to gloat at a "real pair of legs". There is, however, a very good business reason why you should be interested.

Part two. With the fast paced nature of embroidery production, many people come into contact with an embroidery logo from its inception right through to the post production finished article. This can cover designers, digitisers, buyers, embroiderers and sales people. Duncan Yarnall from embroidery thread manufacturer Robison Anton gives a definitive list of embroidery terms to act as a point of reference for new embroiderers. Part three follows next month

Anyone who's had to prepare themselves for the imminent arrival of a newborn will know that with a baby comes a whole load of paraphernalia, most of which you'd never even considered when you were young and child-free. I certainly got a shock when, with two months to go, I realised I didn't even know the difference between a bodysuit and a sleepsuit, let alone know how many of each I'd need once the baby was born.

BTC activewear offers a number of garments for the ever-growing baby and toddler wear market.

The Hanes 2008 catalogue features the Playwear range - a collection of T-shirts, creepers and bibs that caters to all tastes from ages 0 to 4 years.

When babies start to explore the world they need clothes that are hard-wearing, yet comfortable to wear and easy to clean, says James & Nicholson. It claims to offer both with high-quality fabrics that are functional and trendy at the same time.

The Larkwood Baby and Toddler Collection offers the cutest collection of baby and toddler wear around, says Larkwood, using the softest fabrics and the gentlest styles with product detailing to set the clothes apart from the rest.

UKL's exclusive Baby Basics is one of the first brands to enter the distributor market offering quality babywear for re-branding.

PenCarrie stocks the full Larkwood range of baby and toddler wear. David Abrahams, marketing manager for PenCarrie, says: "The Larkwood range, which caters for tinies aged 0-36 months, offers every style that any nursery could want. The range is also perfect for on-pack competitions and loyalty-building giveaways in the highly competitive babycare market."

Prestige Leisure has added 10 new styles to its Baby and Toddler range for 2008.  The full range of products can be viewed at www.prestigeleisure.com.

Increased media attention to ethical concerns in recent years has raised consumer awareness to the fact that their purchasing decisions can have an environmental and ethical impact on the planet. 

Mantis World is a company that understands the demands of the printwear and promotion market. Since the company first opened in 2000, the PROMOTA member has witnessed many changes in the market.

With the year started and, as usual, passing all too quickly, many of us have seen that the level of enquiries in 2008 has been great, and business in general has been extremely buoyant so far. 

Two Gildan Heavy T-shirts - a present from my Mother this Christmas.Nothing wrong with that, a perfectly decent pair of T-s lovingly wrapped in sparkly red paper, with all the care and attention only a dear old Mum can give. I'm sure as she was carefully applying the ribbon she felt she was doing her best for me, just as she did 30 years ago when she shot at me in the garden with my own air rifle for being cheeky. The fact of the matter is that giving a T-shirt printer the gift of T-shirts, is not dissimilar to proudly presenting a farmer with a bag of soil - and it got me thinking... promotional gifts... what do you get that you actually want?

• simply upload up to 51 of your favourite photos
• 2MB of memory
• features slide show function, phone book, to do list, shopping list and calendar
• USB 2.0 compatible
• 1.5" LCD Display

Three Choirs Variation Aromatic 2005, Gloucestershire, England (x3 bottles)

A delicately spicy white wine with an aromatic rose petal character on the nose and palate. This medium-dry wine is an ideal partner to Chinese cuisine and cold meats.

Photographic images can be printed directly onto the product using jpg files.

Web: http://www.non-stoppromotions.com/

Small compact desk set consisting of stapler, notelet holder and post-it index tabs. Available in a number of colour options.

Web: http://www.non-stoppromotions.com/

The F16 presentation binder is a multifunction binder with storage pockets and pen loop. The unique capability is the facility to introduce (and even change) a printed show-card, which allows high quality graphics at short notice and sensible cost.

• Six brand new versions for 2008
• DK brand appeals to a wide target audience: children, adults, families
• Proven formula for success - previous DK CD Roms have been used successfully by Nestle Worldwide, Walker Crisps, The Times, Daily Mail, Canon and many others
• Different packaging options available - Cardboard wallet, DVD case, plastic wallet etc.
• Products can be used as single-title promotions, or together as a complete series of collectables