Seawork 2011 Gears up for Success

The Seawork 2011 Steering Committee met in November to discuss next year’s event. This year the committee includes David Nickolls (UKTI), Nigel Smith (Centa Transmissions), Martin Jackson (Marine & Industrial Transmissions), Julie Allen (Gardline), Gerry Herman (Conidia Bioscience), as well as Seawork representatives Andrew Webster, Fay Reeve, Jane Anderson and Capt Stephen Taylor.

Headline news arising from the meeting included:
Record sales 75% of stand space for Seawork 2011 is sold or reserved, a 12% increase on the same time in 2009. In addition, half the high profile sponsorship opportunities have been snapped up and the pontoons are almost fully booked, with strong representation from Wind Farm Service Vessels.

Focus on Renewables Reflecting the increasing opportunities Renewables offer the commercial marine industry, Seawork announced an extended Renewable Energy Pavilion & Trail, supported by RenewableUK. In addition, The Crown Estate will host a full day conference on Wednesday 15 June, including papers on wind, wave and tidal technologies and emphasising the importance of developing efficient and cohesive supply chains to meet contractual targets. The Carbon Trust will also be an active participant at the exhibition.

UKTI & UKTI DSO To Consolidate Seawork Presence
Seawork International is the only UK event where UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) and the Defence Security Organisation (DSO) come together to serve the commercial marine industry. The MoD is also well represented and regards Seawork as its annual ‘meet the industry event’.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) works with UK-based businesses to ensure success in international markets, while UKTI DSO helps UK companies to export and works with industry to build and maintain relationships with overseas customers, providing essential government-to-government interaction. UKTI DSO provides specialist export advice and practical assistance, working closely with both industry and the Ministry of Defence and other Government departments and agencies.

UKTI, UKTI DSO and the MoD are actively working together to provide a visitor- and exporterfriendly public sector face at Seawork in 2011.
Unique visitors

The Visitor Survey from Seawork 2010 revealed some very interesting facts including:
• 68% of last year’s visitors were categorised as either Company Director, Owner Proprietor or Marine/Operations Manager, Harbourmaster, Pilot
• 50% were categorised as either Vessel Owner, Operator, Manager or Vessel Builder
or Repairer
• 55% of visitors to Seawork do not attend other commercial marine exhibitions such as
SMM, Oceanology International, Europort, Nor-Shipping or Ocean Business.
• 83% of visitors rated their Seawork 2010 visit as good or very good.
CPD certification

The Seawork International Conference has been certified as meeting the stringent standards
required by CPD (Continuing Personal or Professional Development). The CPD Certification
Service acts as a point of contact for those seeking to obtain certified CPD material. The
commitment to CPD is growing in significance as an increasing number of professionals recognise the benefits of adopting a more planned and structured approach to professional development. The full conference programme will be available at www.seawork.com in January 2011.