Hello, hello, hello, is there anybody out there? Please excuse the Pink Floyd reference, but on the eve of the JEC World, the show looks set to ‘comfortably’ break its attendance records again, and in the process make our feet ‘numb’ from the amount of walking around its many aisles.

The Paris Nord Villepinte location is far easier to navigate than the previous location’s three-floor fiasco. This will be my ninth year attending the show and I still come back for more. JEC’s organisers are really doing something very right in getting almost everyone to attend.

The majority of exhibitor stands are always buzzing, and those I visit year on year are just so incredibly busy. “Look Mike, I'd like to stop and chat, but I've got too many customers to deal with,” has, whilst not exactly said out loud to me, been implied on many occasions.

And it’s interesting to gauge the importance that various countries and their governments, organisations and industries place on this year’s JEC World. Blink and you’ll miss it, the UK Pavilion’s collaboration between the Department for International Trade, the Welsh Government, Composites UK and the National Composites Centre is there to promote UK excellence. With 22 companies onboard, it seems small in comparison to some of the other countries nearby.

In my attempt to build a ‘mind map’ of the UK’s involvement, whilst some of its SMEs, R&D, consultancies and organisational bodies arguably lead the world, there still seems to be a lack of exhibitor support from home-grown, British-owned companies willing to put themselves in the JEC spotlight.

Expensive? Well yes, but what better way is there to win more business than on the industry’s world stage? So, what are you waiting for – hello, is there anybody out there?

Mike Richardson, editor