| Intersec has been a key fixture for many BSIA members who exhibit year-on-year |
Members of the British Security Industry Association (BSIA) have returned from Intersec reporting a successful exhibition for UK exhibitors.
Expansion into the Middle East market
The three day show – held at the Dubai World Trade Centre over the 17th – 19th January – is seen by many as the most important security exhibition in the Middle East region and it plays a pivotal role in enabling UK companies to meet with potential customers, existing distributors or partners and as a platform to launch new products into the Middle-Eastern market.
Intersec has been a key fixture for many BSIA members who exhibit year-on-year and it continues to attract new exhibitors who are keen to take advantage of the opportunities the show presents.
One BSIA member company, RGL Electronics Ltd, has already been active in the Middle East for a number of years and attended Intersec 2016 as an exhibitor for the first time this year. Geoff Jones, Director of RGL Electronics, said: “By exhibiting at Intersec this year, we had the opportunity of getting in front of the people that really matter and we were able to build upon what is already a major marketplace for the RGL brand. We showcased our range of access control products and a Disabled Toilet Alarm, all of which attracted a good response from visitors to the show. The quality of the contacts we have made has been very high and I anticipate that some of these contacts will develop into orders over the coming months. Something that struck me during the show, was just how much larger the scale of the projects in the Middle East are compared to those in Europe; the size of the developments in the Middle East offer promising opportunities for RGL and other UK companies.”
Much of the interest in UK security products in the Middle East comes from the long history of excellence in design and innovation and this was certainly evident at Intersec. Storm Interface – another BSIA member – launched the Storm S60 range of mullion format readers at the show, which received a fantastic response from prospective customers. Peter Jarvis, Senior Executive VP at Storm Interface, commented: “The response to the Storm S60 was absolutely astonishing. When developing the product, we found that there was a real need for a product that would not affect the aesthetics of landmark buildings where typically you wouldn’t want to drill into the building materials to affix a traditional reader. The S60 has been designed so that it can fit into a door frame, thus removing the need to attach it to glass, marble or other similar materials. We’ve found that there is a real demand in the Middle East for products that meet the design specifications of landmark buildings, especially in Dubai. Our attendance at Intersec has been particularly successful; we have been able to talk to all of our target contacts including existing distributors in the UAE and the regional managers of recently agreed distribution partnerships.”
Attendance of international visitors
“By exhibiting at Intersec this year, we had the opportunity of getting in front of the people that really matter and we were able to build upon what is already a major marketplace for the RGL brand," says Geoff Jones, Director of RGL Electronics |
A large part of the attraction for UK companies to exhibit at Intersec, is the variety of international visitors to the show, from the wider Middle East and further afield. John Davies, Managing Director of TDSi Ltd and Chairman of the BSIA’s Export Council said: “TDSi had a highly successful appearance at Intersec 2016. We gained 30% extra visitors compared to the previous year, some of which came from a wide range of countries including: UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Turkey, as well as further afield from Angola, India and Sri Lanka. The overall quality of visitors at the show was excellent, the majority of people we spoke to were working on active projects, so we had productive and substantive conversations on all three days.
“Our integration to wireless access control products from ASSA ABLOY and Simons Voss created a lot of interest on our stand, along with our new Time and Attendance software packages. Visitors were also drawn to our new reader range, both for the aesthetics and functional multi-technology capability. As always, our strength in offering open platforms for security integration proved very popular with visitors to the stand.
“We were delighted to receive confirmation of a project win in Abu Dhabi at Intersec 2016 and expect to close projects in Kuwait, Saudi and Qatar within the next few weeks as a result of conversations at the show.”
Remsdaq also experienced an uplift in validated leads, estimating that they recorded approximately 25% more than last year. Alan Hardy, EMEA Sales Manager, commented: “It was an extremely satisfying exhibition with unprecedented numbers of good quality contacts visiting our stand. There was an extremely positive reaction from all our visitors to our EntroWatch, EntroStar and EntroPad range of access control solutions and considerable interest shown for StarWatch, our enterprise product range, and Sabre our fibre optic perimeter intrusion detection products. We are confident that our business in the region will increase significantly as a direct result of our participation in the show.”
“TDSi had a highly successful appearance at Intersec 2016. We gained 30% extra visitors compared to the previous year, some of which came from a wide range of countries," says John Davies, Managing Director, TDSi |
Electronic security solutions from Texecom
Texecom found the show to be a great platform to demonstrate their professional electronic security solutions – including the Premier Elite Series - to the Middle East and beyond. Clym Brown, Marketing Director, explained: “We see themes from Intersec that resonate with global market challenges – the proliferation of advanced wireless security devices, home network and smartphone connectivity for users taking control of their own security, and increased connectivity and integrated features for commercial and security applications. At Texecom, our product range caters for small, low-risk applications, right through to high-risk, high-value, complex installations. At Intersec, we found our breadth of system offerings, using the same architecture and programming structure throughout, was really well received by visitors looking to provide the highest levels of security for a wide range of applications.”
73 UK companies took advantage of the many benefits that come with exhibiting as part of the UK Pavilion, which was organised by the BSIA. Benefits included a prominent stand position in the main section of the show, logistical and on-site support, hassle-free stand design and build and increased exposure to visitors through a strong UK brand presence. Peter Jarvis, Senior Executive VP of Storm Interface, said: “We’ve been really impressed with the level of support that the BSIA has provided both before and during Intersec. Association with the BSIA is absolutely essential at these types of exhibition. The BSIA’s excellent organisation of the UK pavilion this year, has freed us up to come here and do what we need to; meet with target contacts, promote our products and make valuable sales.”
The BSIA is also organising UK Pavilions at Security Essen and IFSEC South-East Asia, both taking place in September 2016.