The first London Golf Show held at the Excel Exhibition Centre at London’s Docklands has been without question a major success for the golf industry. Over the four days an audience just short of 35,000 golfing enthusiasts enjoyed a “hands on” golfing spectacle covering a broad range of exhibits from equipment to travel.
Direct Golf UK set up the ‘largest golf store in Europe‘ and the statistics make for outstanding reading. The retail shop measured 1,500 sq metres, the largest ever in Europe. A total of 26 lorry loads of stock, covering all the major brands, at a value of £2 million were transported to the Show. Some overnight deliveries were needed to replenish stocks sold out during the Show.
Sixty-five full time employees (of whom 50% were qualified PGA professionals) provided staffing and expert advice. Over the four days10,000 transactions were completed, which equates to 29% of all show visitors making a purchase. Direct Golf UK found the scale of the customer response to be overwhelming and wishes to thank all suppliers whose support made the success possible.
Direct Golf UK were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be part of such a great success story and to be able to capitalise on a consumer hunger for a public golfing event on this scale. Managing director John Andrew commented, “For Direct Golf UK the show was a great example of you get out what you put in. A key marketing requirement for any consumer brand is to get close to its end user, to really understand their needs, and the London Golf Show provided this opportunity on a massive scale. Looking ahead to 2006 there is a fantastic opportunity for leading companies and manufacturers to seize the chance to drive their messages home.”
Direct Golf UK fully endorse the future plans for the 2006 London Golf Show and encourage leading brands from within the industry to commit their support and be part of growing the games profile both in the UK and Europe.
Direct Golf UK www.direct-golf.co.uk
London Golf Show www.londongolfshow.com