Achieve rapid growth with entrepreneurialism and innovation

In the last 18 months in the UK Global office alone， Artexis Easyfairs has acquired several leading events in Europe and have geo-cloned some of these into other markets， now the company has ambitious plans to grow and geo-clone the other acquisitions and existing portfolio over the next couple of years.

Strong entrepreneurialism contributes to strong growth

As a leading event organizer and venue manager， the Artexis Easyfairs Group headquatered in Belgium employs more than 700 people and currently organises more than 200 events in about 20 countries including Algeria， Belgium， China， Germany， Switzerland， the United Kingdom and the United States， covering industry sectors like packaging， industrial， transport logistics， oil gas storage， comic con， real estate， and home decoration lifestyle. It also manages 11 events venues in the Benelux and Nordic regions. The Group now operates two stocexpos in China and is in a good position to further venture into the Asian market.

Artexis Easyfairs has been registering strong growth in recent years. According to Matt Benyon， Managing Director of Easyfairs UK Global， an important event division of the Artexis Easyfairs， the continuous growth is due to the reason that the company is a really entrepreneurial company and from the top level to the bottom， the company encourages ideas， creative entrepreneurialism， continuous assessment and improvement to make the events and business the best possible quality， and to keep the existing portfolio growing faster than many businesses enjoy. In addition， the company also has a capable business development team that are looking at new opportunities both within the existing portfolio and beyond on a daily basis.

On the venue side， the company have extended the venue network extensively over the last few years. The teams have also looked at customer diversification not only at trade shows but also other kinds of events including music， sports， and outlet. On the events side， the company is very busy launching new events， cloning strong brands across Europe and globally， and growing new sectors in existing events. The company has made a significant number of acquisitions over the last few years that greatly add to its business， and the company is keen to look at more projects.

As the company grows exponentially and diversifies， the extent of its key markets is expanding too. Asia is increasingly part of the company’s coverage， with a growing number of shows， including Tank Storage Asia in Singapore since 2012 and two recently launched events into Shanghai： StocExpo Shanghai. “The Asia-Pacific region is a growing world market in many sectors， and we’re keen to move more and more into this progressive and growing market. ” Benyon observed.

Continuous innovation at trade shows

Artexis Easyfairs tries very hard on making continuous innovation on improving trade fair quality. Benyon says that the most important is staying close to the market， understanding challenges， and translating that into an event format and content to meet customers demand. Each of the project team speak to at least one person within the marketplace every day， and also builds a ‘Friends Family Network’ ， a network of brands and industry experts that they can turn to for advice on how the shows address industry needs.

The company also uses a wide variety of technologies that either deliver added insight for the project teams understand what the audience want or how to specifically deliver added customer experience. For example， the company uses tools for exhibitors to track their own personal registrations from their marketing activities and also lead generation on visitors at the show. Benyon points out that the key to implementing these technologies is seamless integration so that it is easy and quickly accessible for both visitors and exhibitors. According to him， “If technology makes something more complicated for your customers， you’re implementing it badly. ”

Achieve organic growth through MA

Artexis Easyfairs has made several MA transactions. According to Benyon， organic growth is very important for the business， launches and acquisitions enable the company to take huge strides forward in the growth plans， and are an important way， although not the only means to grow the company. In the last 18 months in the UK Global office alone， Artexis Easyfairs has acquired several leading events in Europe and have geo-cloned some of these into other markets， now the company has ambitious plans to grow and geoclone the other acquisitions and existing portfolio over the next couple of years， viewing the historic revenue growth and profitability of the event， future growth potential and international clonability.“We seek to acquire events that are or will become leaders in the respective markets.” Benyon reveals.

Cultivate next generation leaders

As a multinational company， Artexis Easyfairs lives and breathes key values as a business that include having fun， talent development， creative entrepreneurship and integrity， as well as creating value for communities. The company are very happy to have employed a talented and dynamic team that are encouraged to think for themselves， share and implement new ideas， and take charge of their career development. The company has many schemes in place to encourage staff to take that next step including training opportunities， via its online academy and externally， supplemented by a mentoring programme and an HR framework that recognizes rising stars and high potential leaders of the future， developing the leaders of the future.