Please use the links below to see testimonials for your area of interest:
Fitness Testimonials
Family Attractions & Entertainment Testimonials
Wet Leisure Testimonials
Sports Development Week Testimonials
Facilities Management
Catering
Fitness
LIW is great to catch up with all the manufacturers and see what’s new in the market and this year I saw some rehab equipment we’ve not seen in the UK before, which made the visit very worthwhile. I really enjoyed the keynote presentations in the Sports Arena.
Nick Fellows, Head, BOA OLYMPIC MEDICAL INSTITUTE
We love LIW and brought our management team of 15 to the show this year. We run our own fitness clubs within 19 leisure centres in Leeds. I have personally been for six years running as it’s the only event in our industry where you meet everyone in the market and can see everything that’s new in the market.
Kevin Johnson, Chairman, FITNESS MANAGERS GROUP – Sport & Active Recreation, Leeds Leisure Services
I was investigating fitness equipment, sports clothing and fitness management systems, as well as cardio theatre expertise and general industry learning – and I found it all.
Ms Chris Andrews, Managing Director, PERSONAL TOUCH FITNESS
We’ve had very useful discussions with numerous decision makers. We’ve had a lot of through traffic and held lots of meetings.
Mel Stevens, Event Manager, PRECOR
LIW 2007 was a great show for Technogym. We showcased an exciting 7 new products which our customers loved. LIW is a great event to help us showcase our products and present our latest solutions to the market!
Jemma Baker, Communications & Events Manager, TECHNOGYM UK LTD
LIW was back to its very best and this year’s show surpassed even our own very high expectations. LIW yet again delivered an excellent, quality audience of serious potential buyers. LIW is absolutely key to our sales and marketing efforts as it should be for anyone who is serious about delivering quality products to this industry.
Graham Bertrand, Managing Director, PTE PLC
LIW was excellent this year, and probably the biggest I can remember. The suppliers seemed to have had a much bigger presence this year which is a good sign for our industry. We had a great time, as always at LIW.
Phil Rumbelow, Chief Executive, JUBILEE HALL CLUB
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Family Attractions & Entertainment
LIW has grown noticeably over the last couple of years, so this year I ensured I brought the entire management team to the show. I am glad I did as the team walked away with many new ideas and products to take our business forward over the coming seasons. LIW plays an important role in forward planning for our theme park operation.
Edward Pawley, General Manager Park Operations, DRAYTON MANOR THEME PARKAND ZOO
The show has gone superbly well. I thought last year was good, but this year has been even better. In fact, this is probably the most successful event we’ve ever exhibited at.
Terry Monkton, Managing Director, SIMWORX
This year’s show illustrated how well LIW has listened to the industry and achieved another major step forward in producing a show for the entire attractions sector. The feedback from our members has been excellent.
Colin Dawson, Chief Executive, BALPPA
It’s been a very good show for us. We released another new product – the soft play Quasar – and have had a very good response. We’ve sold units at the show to soft play operators from all over the country.
Tom Ball, QUASAR MANUFACTURING
LIW goes from strength to strength. I found many ideas that I will be implementing next season from not only the attractions side of the show but also catering and facilities management.
Marshall Hill, Owner, FUNLAND HAYLING ISLAND
It’s been a fantastic event for us with a huge response. We took an order on day one and have been besieged by serious enquiries from hotels, leisure centres, local councils, country clubs and holiday parks.
Peter Davis, SHUFFLEBOARD EUROPE
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Wet Leisure
“The quantity of visitors was well up on 2006, and the quality of the visitors was impressive. We were seeing the decision makers with purchasing power. LIW has now really established itself as the UK’s premier commercial pool industry show.
Martin Baulcombe, Sales Director, TOPLINE ELECTRONICS
This was our first time exhibiting at LIW. We were very pleased with the response we received on our stand. The number of people attending together with the quality of leads was very good. This, combined with the excellent wet leisure display area, means that we will definitely return next year.
Patrick Devaney, Project Manager, PLASTICA POOLS
The best LIW we have been involved in, there was a great buzz in the pool section of the show and the underwater filming that was relayed on the plasma screens really added to the spectacle. Additionally, we engaged with more than 200 quality old and new customers and are looking forward to returning in 2008
Mandy Mason, Business Team Manager, AMATEUR SWIMMING ASSOCIATION
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Sports Development Week
Partnerships for Schools were delighted to outline to thousands of visitors how the various commercial sport and leisure sectors may become involved in the Building Schools for the Future programme. The Sports Village workshops were an innovative way to inform key partners and stakeholders about the way PE and sport is being developed and we hope to be represented again next year
Mark Perkins, PE and Sport Adviser, PARTNERSHIPS FOR SCHOOLS
A big thank you to the organisers of Sports Development Week 2007. This was our first year in attendance and I’m pleased that our presentation with Ian Wright was so well received. Our stand has been buzzing for all three days with people interested in supporting our aim to get as many children as possible taking part in our range of activities and promoting a healthy lifestyle. We are looking forward to the Fitter Schools Challenge 2008, which we hope to engage two million children in. Thanks again and we’ll update you next year at SDW 2008 where we’ll be demonstrating more of our initiatives to engage our nation’s children.
Dean Horridge, MD, FIT FOR SPORT LTD / FITTER KIDS CHALLENGE
The Sports Facilities Group have had a successful three days and are looking forward to having an even greater presence at Sports Development Week next year
Alan Hodgkinson, SPORTS FACILITIES GROUP
We’ve seen a large number of key buyers and sporting bodies who were very interested in the Mondo brand and which we know will convert into new business. As the official supplier of the athletics track and basketball courts at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, next year is a very important year for us and Sports Development Week will be a very important event in our calendar to promote our partnership at the Olympics. We’ll definitely be back at next year on a bigger stand!
Craig Jack, MONDO UK LTD.
The co-location of Sports Development Week is a unique opportunity for those dedicated to increasing participation to catch up with best practice and learn from each other to capitalise on the fantastic opportunities for sport and leisure that lay ahead.
Richard Millard, Client Relations and Sports Development Director, DC LEISURE
Sports Development Week 2007 provided us with an excellent forum to meet with our target audience and recruit a substantial number of new members. The Association for Physical Education will be looking to secure a stand for next year’s exhibition as soon as possible!
Simon Leach, ASSOCIATION FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION (AfPE)
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Facilities Management
Our company has been established for twenty five years and this year we have a new product devised in the US. Our US MD has been over and he has been very impressed. I’ve been to LIW as a visitor on many occasions and so I know it as the place to launch a product. LIW is so well organised and so exhibiting here is hassle-free. You just turn up and do business.
David Batchelor, Contract Services Ltd.
Just a note to thank you for an excellent show - in terms of leads and networking perhaps the best I have attended for a long time. I look forward to being with you again in 2008.
Bill Timson, Sales & Marketing Manager, Medoc Computers Ltd.
LIW goes from strength to strength. I found many ideas that I will be implementing next season from not only the attractions side of the show but also catering and facilities management.
Marshall Hill, Owner, Funland Hayling Island.
As a specialist in corporate insurance for the fitness and leisure sectors we have found our attendance at LIW extremely beneficial. The opportunity to meet with existing and potential clients over 3 days is invaluable. As the industry becomes increasingly aware of the importance of specialist cover for specialist risks the demand for face-to-face contact grows. The amount and the quality of the leads generated ensured we will be attending LIW in 2008.
Stewart Machonachie, Business Development John Ansell.
Exhibiting at LIW 2007 allowed CheckFree to showcase our club management software to the decision makers in the European health & fitness industry. The CheckFree Health & Fitness stand enjoyed steady traffic throughout the show.
Matt McKernan, SVP and GM, CheckFree Health & Fitness, Ann Cave PR Checkfree.
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Catering
This is our first time here and it’s been brilliant! We weren’t sure what to expect. I thought it might be too fitness-focussed and it would be tough to generate leads. But we’ve been inundated. On the first day we generated 20 good leads and we’ve already had 6 more this morning. It’s been surprisingly impressive and we’ve been blown away – real genuine people on our stand, none of them time-wasters.
Nico Khalifey, Director, Metropolitan Coffee Company.
The Live Kitchen has been extraordinarily busy – we’ve had a terrific response and not one of our demonstration sessions has had a poor attendance – with the demonstrations concerning pub lunches and creative catering for kids, in particular, being most popular.
Jack Walker, Equip Line.
The Malted Waffle Company has been exhibiting for 20 years and after a recent two year sabbatical from exhibiting has returned with the first show being LIW. After LIW 2007 we realized that that we should have continued with their year on year success of bringing in the right visitors and that we will not miss another LIW.
Georges Barrett, Managing Director.
The primary reason for my visit to LIW was to visit the refurbishment and secondary spend markets. Tighter budgets have made it crucial to preserve a high level of maintenance within our centres and also capitalise on increasing vital food, beverages and related product sales. We ended up placing a considerable order in the vending and computer systems sectors.
Martin Chisholn, Business Development Manager West Norfolk.
It’s been a very profitable visit; I’ve seen lots of things that we could use, and I will be following up on these over the coming weeks.
Natalie Lloyd, Food & Beverage Manager, Thorpe Park.
We were very impressed with the quality of the visitors who were there to do business. We also tapped into new markets such as Health & Fitness, Museums and other types of visitor centres who were looking for catering solutions. One of the best shows we have attended and already seeing sales as a result.
Peter Hatter, Director, Black Rock Grill.
After visiting LIW in 2006 and returning again this year, “I’m very satisfied with my visit to LIW, after seeing my target list of vending machines, inflatables and synthetic surfaces.
Alan Burns, Manager, North Country Leisure.
