A few months ago when we last spoke to Chris Coker, managing director of Coker Exhibition Systems, the company had helped one of its clients to double turnover.

The firm had seen this particular customer receive enough orders at a show to increase takings twofold and Mr Coker insisted at the time that this showed the value of exhibitions even in a downturn.

He also said that Coker Exhibition Systems had been pushing on with a range of new products, including gantry systems.

These plans have recently moved another step forward as the company becomes a major player within this niche market for duo, trio and quattro exhibition gantry systems.

It is starting to supply the trade with its new gantry systems, which will also be offered at trade prices, 30 per cent less than the retail cost.

"That's a big thing for us, a big thing for the industry really," Mr Coker said.

He explained that getting to the current stage of being able to supply the exhibition gantry systems to the trade has taken a long time, with the manufacturing process and supply chain a key factor in this, but they are now ready to go.

"We're at this moment shelving out our warehouse to hold all the gantry," he commented.

Along with that, Coker Exhibition Systems will be looking to ramp up its advertising strategy to make sure people in the industry are aware of the new products it is offering.

Among the strategies the firm will be using is advertising in trade magazines so that people within the industry become aware that Coker Exhibition Systems is now a gantry stockist.

He insisted that the products would be attractive to trade people, so the company is expecting some good sales to come out of that.

"We're also creating a system of walling that goes inside our gantry, our lockwall system," Mr Coker revealed.

"These new products, we're expecting them to be in a unique place really," he added, explaining that the competitiveness of the offering should help the company to do good business.

Things seem to be looking up in the events industry currently and Mr Coker said that the company itself was emerging from the recession.

"We are already noticing an improvement in the situation and we believe that's because we're connected directly with advertising exhibitions, we're right up the sharp end of the recession," he continued.

Mr Coker added: "We're first to know when there is a recession or a difficult economic climate and we're also first to say we seem to be coming out of it and I believe that's where we are."

"I still think it's a difficult climb up," he acknowledged, but stressed that unless the firm has some really bad luck, it should continue to move onwards and upwards as it is doing at the moment.

"We are as a company expecting to have quite a good year really and we're looking forward to expanding," Mr Coker concluded.

marka