London show - your view?

E

EBunting

Group Editor
Joined
7 Jul 2005
Messages
63
Visit site
There have been interesting reactions to the London Boat Show this year and I'm wondering how typical they are.

Have you been to the London Boat Show? If so, I'd value your view on two questions. (Neither is meant to be leading, by the way!)

1. If you've been to ExCeL, what do you think of it, particularly in comparison with Southampton and with any other European shows you've been to recently?

2. If you think the experience could be improved - what would improve it for you?

Thanks for your opinion
Elaine, Yachting World
 
Southampton much better. Better feel, more boats and fewer 'tyre kickers' rounds all the accessory stands. On these these stands the salespeople were too often ignorant and too stupid to admit this thereby wasting truckloads of time. Didn't really seem to be a showroom for all that is new and good about the industry because of the costs of a stand.

To improve.....Have the Guinness stand sell other drinks as well or provide better bars/meeting places. Provide more seating, that place is a killer on the legs (bear in mind the biggest wallets are usually on the oldest legs). More thoughts later I'm sure.
 
Agree about the Guinness tent,
I think it mite be useful to put say the sailing schools near the sail boats and the motor schools near the motor boats, a grouping of areas of interest in a way. this would cut down on the sore legs to a certain extent, also , bench's or eating areas other than in the bars, I liked the fact there was more space and you did not feel as tho you where a goldfish looking out,
If they could do a ticket that say covered for 3 days or 3 visits including cut price parking they would get more peeps in.
 
I have visited both LIBS and SBS for the last 15 odd years. I sail the last yacht I have built and have instructed Sailing all my life. I have given ExCel a chance in the previous 2 years - but not again.
The atmosphere at ExCel is more suited to a railway station. Sailing yachts without masts and sails look sad. Those on the water on a grey day, similarly.
Access was no problem - drove from Somerset, round M25 and parked 200 metres away. But not cheap, although shared costs with a friend.
There are fewer dealers each year and almost no small agencies at all.
All seems glamour and expense, with little for the smaller yachtsman.
Food quality is better in a bus station, as are prices, except for RYA lounge.
I did spend some money, but counting travel and entry, made a loss, despite discounts.
I used to have fun at Earle's Court. A great break in mid-winter !
I was very disappointed and I shall not be going to LIBS again.
See you in Southampton.
Ken
 
Excel - I am one of the few who actually like the place. I find it easy to travel to and its big and well ventilated compared to Earls Court. Earls Court was hot and sweaty and too small - but it had a sort of familiar feel which we had all got used to. Was it like losing a benign but slightly dotty uncle?

The joy of Southampton is the size and the boats. There just don't seem to be the same number of boats at LIBS. Talking to the trade, I understand that its one of the most expensive shows to exhibit at, and this explains why so many big players are missing.

Food is a joke - we just take our own nowadays. More seating would be very nice.

Its expensive to get in - and there don't seem to be many bargains there. I have taken to phoning my local chandler for his price when I am looking at what appears to be a bargain. Last year I got caught by buying a 'special offer' Musto Fleece- it was cheaper in my local chandler at their regular price than the 'so called special price'.
 
Why are we paying to get in, its no more than a shopping centre? I don't pay to go to the local shopping centre, so why am I paying to go here? It's no different, its a place where manufacturers have their wares on show for sale. And I get free parking at the shopping centre. The 'side shows' are of precious little value or interest. I suspect that the only reason there was a full audience for the link up to the yacht in the Southern Ocean was that it provided one of the few seats in the place!
 
I went to LBS last year. It was big and spacious but I think the greater number of exhibitors was simply because they covered a broader spectrum. I'm interested in sailing and therefore the jet skis, inland waterways, wind surfing, whilst being of interest was not interesting to me....if you see what I mean! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I don't think I'll bother going again for some time.

Apart from that SIBS is a little easier for me to get to, though I tend to go every other year these days.

My main problem with any boat show is finding people on the stands who know what they are talking about. When I went to LBS I wanted to find out about some Raymarine gear and I ended up showing the salesman how to work it!!
 
Earl's Court was a day out amongst the crowd. Fun travelling by train to the show maybe via lunch in Soho with friends.

Excel is a dull airport for me, and even though I'm encouraged to attend and expense the day, I'm just not tempted.

Southampton gets my vote, but why on earth can't they organise pass-outs at the shows? What I'd like to see:

1) Seating areas for when my wallet and I just want a break

2) Pass-outs so I can lug purchases to me car then return for more feverish shopping (big thanks to the CA for looking after my bags last year)

This month I've bought 2 new fire-extinguishers, a new RORC flare pack, new gas alarm, 2 new lifejackets, loads of re-arming packs, charts portfolios, clothing (including new boots), first aid kit, signal flags, books. All heavy and mostly bought from Marine Superstore because I can shop at my convenience and get a hand carrying the gear to my car.

Still to buy Raymarine E series screen and a few other goodies, I know where to get discounts beyond the show offerings.

Just my 2p
 
As Doris said "Didn't really seem to be a showroom for all that is new and good about the industry because of the costs of a stand."

Very true, due to the high costs of attending shows with little incentive for genuine marine related innovative products, we were not there.

We did attend the Barcelona show and that was far better in that it covered a wider range of boats and users. We now focus on commercial shows like Seaworks, as reaching boat builders and operators who have large fleets (and larger vessels) has greater emmediate returns when you introduce new products.

At least it wasn't busy, if you were interested in looking around some boats, there were no ques.
 
I have heard from an exhibitor that attendance is down 34% on last year. Maybe they need to look at the ridiculous pricing. I went Thursady evening - late night opening and only £6 to get in. Do that all day everyday instead of just the once and you will get them flooding in.
 
First time I've missed in a couple of decades.

As said before too much like an airport. Too pricey. Public transport a mess (I have no intention of driving after drinking and have always found visit to show thirsty work) at least with Earls Court once on the Circle Line there was a chance of waking up at the correct main-line station eventually.

Boring and bland.

A great shame as Earls Court was a trip I looked forward to and I invariably ended up buying stuff. This year could not be ar$ed. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif
 
I've been to every London Boat Show since 1967. I must say that I was much happier at Earl's Court. It had a friendly atmosphere which just does not exist in the Excel Centre.

I also think IPC made a very bad mistake lumping their magazines messily together especially in such a pole position. This was probably the poorest stand design I had ever seen by them and suspect that "marketing" had a big hand in it - you could hardly tell who was what and the "stage" appeared to be a disaster.

When I saw that the next item was to be about "ecologically sound" antifouling I just took a break on one of the alloy chairs, had a quiet read and ate a Mars Bar! If an antifouling is to do its job properly it must destroy something, even if only weed and barnacles. I say bring back TBT!

I must congratulate YBW.com when I found their stand. Helped me solve a major problem I had been having with the site. I found them by accident despite they're not being in the Exhibitors list. Do they want to keep their excellent service secret?
 
I find Excel too clinical...it was set out as an exhibition hall and nothing else.. it lends itself to everything being in sections whereas Earls Court was always a bit looser with more atmosphere and character. Because of the season its never going to compare to Southampton, but this years show seemed to be sadly lacking for the true practical boat owner - everything was prepacked and completed.. dolled up.. where were all the earthy boats?

To improve it? Certainly de-sectionalise the show... mix all the sections up. other than the big boat manufacturers.
Encourage the chandlers, brokers and smaller companies back to get the atmosphere and buzz back... Encourage us to get our hands down in the bilges again, rather than leaving it for some maintenance contractor to sort out while we sit back in our gin palace...
 
As discussed elsewhere, number of sailing boats was down, with some significant manufacturers not there. Also, the manufacturers there tended to be offering quite samey products, so there wasn't as much variety as there once was.

Despite all the geegaws and gizmos, it is a boat show, not a chandlery one. No boats, no show.

Excel (not short for excellent) is certainly more humane than EC, but not as characterful. For many (me included) it's more difficult to get to and the entrance fee is getting serious at £14. OK for a single visitor but if you were taking a family you might think twice.

What could be done to improve it? Apart from other suggestions here, how about moving it from Essex back to London? Shouldn't be beyond the wit of mankind to put up a temporary exhibition hall in Hyde Park, fr'instance.
 
I like Excel and so did most of the exhibitors I spoke to yesterday. It has more room that Earls' Court and much better ventilation. The latter is of some relevance to visitors, but even more important to exhibitors who have to spend 10 days there.

The Andark stand is a cut above the others selling clothing as it is the only one with such a wide range of display items and stock for them all in their overhead storeroom

I could have done with a few maps of the stands on boards to save the cost of buying a programme.

The posters who want a temporary exhibition site forget that one of the main reasons for the high cost of Southampton is the need to erect and dismantle the site each year.
 
Clearly you were at the wrong stage, it has been packed everyday and today (sunday) is the busiest so far
 
Wandering down 'Magazine Alley', as the area reserved for Europe's premier yachting publications was affectionately known, at Earl's Court, I always had the sneaking suspicion that I was about to be product-mugged by some appalling rattle-snake serum salesman with halitosis. Such was the antiquity of the stadium which had adjuncts filled with MFI tables left-over from the Ideal Home Exhibition, rogue dog hair from Crufts, and puddles of Watney's Red Barrel (Yes, you could get drunk on it but only after 150 pints). But all that, thank goodness, was yesteryear. Now at ExCel - my third visit - I feel as though I am part of the new. The Time-Warner, IPC Media, Yachting Monthly, Practical Boat Owner, Yachting World, Classic Boat, Motor Boat & Yachting, Motor Boat Monthly podium is a bit of a standful, I admit. But the sheer professionalism of the staff I met there today has made my visit an utter joy (despite the aroma of hot-dogs wafting across the magazine racks every time the automatic doors at the west entrance let in another 1,600 visitors).
Well done and keep up the good work.
 
I will not be visiting the London Boat Show ever again at Excel after my last excursion and by all accounts it seems I was justified in staying away again.

Last year it cost me a fortune in train/cab/food costs I live in Essex so it's not that hard to get to however, the ubiquitous London transport system ensured it was.

The food inside is awful and very expensive (I normally take sandwiches however, we foolishly didn't).

Nope, I miss Earls Court it had a charm about it that Excel just obliterates with it's bright lights and high ceilings. There were many more stands where you could rummage and get a bargain and for some reason I found it better laid out.

Excel for me represents the ruthless cash extracting machine that sucks you in and spits you out that's so typical of the UK nowadays (Christ I sound old and I'm only 35!).

Southampton, excellent boat show, lots of yachts, good stands and for some reason it seems you get more of a crowd who actually like boating as opposed to the London "Its a day out innit" crowd.

I will be doing my annual pilgrimage there as well as the big one in La Rochelle.

Ps. Did you know the money I spent on the LIBS (Getting there and food) could have bought me two tickets and entry fee into the Dusseldorf boat show held around the same time of year. Makes you think doesn't it.
 
I found it quite fun. I have never been to the show at Earls court though.
I booked my ticket online for £12.60 (not £14!) caught the early morning shuttle from Edinburgh to Heathrow (£25 +tax) and the Tube cost me £6.50 and since the Picc' line was closed for maintanence I got to use my ticket on the Heathrow express (another saving). Two tubes and the DLR from Padington and I was through the door spot on 10am.
I spent a good few hours looking at all the boats, bought some charts and a Jacket for the missus. I ate in the restaurant upstairs behind the Dufour stand which was good value and half empty (loads of free seats).

If you already own a boat then I can understand some of the grips, but if you are actually looking to buy (not necessarily at thr show) then it is usful to have most of the makers underone roof (where ever that might be).

To top it all the nice lady from BA let me catch an earlier flight home despite have a non-changeable ticket.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

W
Downsizing to your boat.
2
Replies
28
Views
729
Wansworth
W

Share this page

Top