HILLHEAD
Digging deep Harvey Sugden, event manager of Hillhead, walked StandOut through site developments just under 18,500 unique visitors, W ith Hillhead 2022 proved to be one of
the busiest and best-attended shows in the event’s 40-year history. After a four-year gap, it was important that QMJ Group, organiser of the quarrying, construction, and recycling trade show, blasted out the gates with new developments that would cement the event’s return. “Our last show was in 2018,” explained Harvey Sugden, Hillhead’s event manager. “We were well on with our planning for 2020 when COVID struck. We regrouped quickly and announced dates for 2021 and then that didn’t happen. In 2018, we knew that our 2020 show was going to be bigger, and so we continued with our plans, riding the wave of 2018, which was a bumper show.” Taking place in a limestone quarry in Derbyshire, Hillhead 2022 featured several site developments, including a larger show floor, a level show floor, larger
46 n www.eventbuyerslive.com
exhibitor and registration pavilions [a 20m x 80m structure and a 20m x 75m], new sustainability measures, and sitewide hard-wired fibre-optic broadband. The new solution delivered three times the bandwidth provided at the last event, increasing capacity from 300mb to more than a gigabit. The new moves were essential, especially as construction technology is a growing trend. Richard Bradbury, event director of Hillhead, said that application of digital tools in quarrying and construction was increasingly prevalent. Therefore, it was important that Hillhead enabled exhibitors to showcase the latest technology available to the industry. Hillhead’s investment in fibre allowed exhibitors to book more powerful Internet packages at a lower cost than before and free Wi-Fi hotspots were available around the site for visitors.
“It’s been a big job,” said Sugden. “In 2014, Max Wifi installed a satellite solution for us but then we discovered there was fibre optic in the village down the road. Now, we have fibre laid across the site and we’ve been digging ducts at a rate of knots so that the team could lay the fibre.”
COSTS AND CONTRACTORS
Most of Hillhead’s developments have been “cosmetic” – a reshaped and expanded site has required a new fenceline, and the quarry floor which had a gradient has been levelled. This has made the show’s build easier. Sugden continued: “I have been event manager at Hillhead since 2016 and I inherited a steady ship. We have lots of contractors in place and for a show of this size, you need continuity. Our contractors know our site well, so we don’t change them lightly or quickly but this year we have had to out of necessity.
