Regards, Harry Mason Managing Director Aquafax Dear Sir, The Windsor location of the British Marine Trade Show is an essential part of its success and I think history bears this out considering the decline of the Esher show and the poor result at Wembley.

The resurgence of the show in its current guise and location is nothing short of remarkable and National Boat Shows is due the credit for this considerable achievement, however if the move to ExCeL proceeds I am just as sure they will be responsible for its demise.

As South-coast based exhibitors we set-up on the Tuesday, man the exhibition and pack up on the Thursday night all whilst living at home and commuting back and forth, by Friday morning we can be following up the leads from the show.

Due to the distances you mentioned, ExCeL would require hotel accommodation, probably an additional day on the Friday to knock down and the inevitable increase in costs may cause many exhibitors to reconsider.

The East coast visitors will of course benefit, however I wonder if there are enough people interested to compensate?

One of the things that struck me at SEAWORK, was how few of the exhibitors were also exhibitors at the British Marine Trade Show! Since reading the BB article I have also wondered how few of the exhibitors at BMTS were exhibiting at SEAWORK?

I am sure there are more companies than Vetus who attend both events, but suppose we think the unthinkable? What if these two events were put together?

With exhibitors covering the entire spectrum we would have a Trade & Working Boat Show to be proud of and truly representative of the whole marine industry, not just a small part of it.

The Canary Island Fruit Terminal location seemed to be well regarded by those who attended, and Southampton and the Solent is in the heart of our Commercial and Leisure Sea borne trade.

The possibility to remove one show from an already crowded Annual Show Calendar would surely be welcomed by most visitors and exhibitors? Some exhibitors who do both shows might even put on a better display and still reduce their total costs!

We need only look across the Atlantic to see what a mess can be made of myriad shows all competing for the "Trade" event. When financiers talk of joining two entities with only a small overlap I believe they call it "Synergy". I sometimes wonder if the objective is to create a successful British Marine Trade Show or a NBS Trade Show?

We must stop this from being the death-knell for the trade show and think of the fun we can have with a competition for the name for the new event!

Given the industry's love of acronyms I'd go for The Workboat And Trade Show.

Cynical? Who me?

Best regards Richard Winter Sales Director Vetus Den Ouden Ltd.

Dear Sir, I am very concerned that National Boat Shows is about to kill off the Marine Trade Show, just as it is recovering from the last two BMF "improvements".

There is no doubt Sandown was not ideal, but when I first exhibited there 12 years ago it was the best attended trade show I had been at for many years.

Similar exhibitions in the footwear and clothing markets were very poorly attended by comparison.

It was right to look for a move, but the concept of Wembley with seminars was a killer. The alternative, as part of the London Boat Show, was no better and we thought the show was finished.

But someone at the BMF had the great idea of trying again at an easy-to-get-to, and park at, site on the West of London.

Windsor was born and after three years we have almost got back to Sandown levels of attendance.

But for each of those three years there has been talk of moving, to places like the NEC or, incredibly, Telford, and it proves there is still a massive misunderstanding about what the show is for.

We have a strong marine retail sector in the UK, but no stronger than France or Germany, and they can no longer raise a trade show. So we have done well to make one work, but it is fragile and only works as a domestic show close to the main customer base.

Air links with the rest of the UK are a factor, but the most important thing is easy access for the majority of the UK marine customers. And they are mostly South/South West based, as the show's visitor lists show.

Our good customers in the North and Scotland grit their teeth and make the journey, and we are glad they do, but I have never heard them argue for a move North.

It would be good to have more overseas visitors too, but we should never re-site with this in mind.

The MTA's policy is that the show should be a service to members for as long as they want it, and providing it does not lose too much money.

This is a difficult concept for a boat show business geared to making money from the two big shows and run by professional exhibition people.

NBS is itching to make the show bigger, better, more international and more profitable. But this is not what it's for.

A move to ExCeL would ignore the painful lessons we learned from Wembley. Our customers want to leave home early, find a parking spot close to the hall, spend an easy half day reviewing what the industry has to offer and get away before the traffic coming out of London builds up.

The cost of the infrastructure is high, but probably no higher than showing at most of the proper exhibition venues. Maybe we should move it. But not to a site East of London that is difficult to get to and will add hours to the travelling.

Let's wait to see if the ExCeL move for LBS works. If everyone loves going there, we can think about it for 2005 but, in my view, another location West of London would be better. But I have yet to be convinced it is necessary to move from Windsor, and Windsor is working!

It's good to have our famous international brands alongside the man who sells bobble hats, or those scarves that tie in 57 different ways. It's a great show for gossip, for customers to moan at, or occasionally congratulate, senior people, and for a trade get-together once a year.

We will go on supporting it as long as our customers want to come, but at a sensible location.

Yours sincerely, Brian James Managing Director The Chatham Clothing Company