Care Show Hits the South West with Brand New Inventions
Hundreds of care providers and carers came together at the Westpoint Arena in Exeter for the first business show dedicated to the care industry to be held in the region since 2008.
The Innovative Care Exhibition (ICE) saw a sell out of around 100 exhibitors showcasing new products and services – from infection control products to elearning services to healthcare professionals – to key figures in the care sector.
The event was organised by the Paignton-based care managers network, Care Network Group Ltd, which covers the whole of the south west and is headed up by directors Katrina Green and Chloe Stark.
There was a strong emphasis on innovation in helping to bring new technology and ideas to the region.
Katrina said: ‘The south west provides community based services to an estimate of 121,230 people so the show was great way to showcase opportunities to improve how things are done in the industry.’
The exhibition was the latest in a long line of successful initiatives in which Katrina has been involved. Previously she has co-founded Outstanding Care Awards in Devon and Cornwall and Somerset, as well as currently acting as chair for the Care Managers Network South West, the largest care network in the region. It was her background in networking in the care industry that lead to the idea for ICE.
She added: ‘Feedback from the exhibitors at ICE has been brilliant with many saying they’d picked up more quality leads than they get from appearing at national shows. And as for the visitors, they said they’d been left buzzing with the innovation and information they were presented with.’
Such is the success of the event that Katrina and Chloe are planning to double the number of stands in 2020 and they were thankful for the support of their sponsors, inbound and outbound communication specialists Phoneta who handled the sales of the stands.
Richard Woods, sales and marketing director at Phoneta, said: ‘I’m super proud of not only my team for all that has been achieved with this sell-out event but also Katrina and Chloe. This is their brainchild, founded out of a passion for providing people with the very best care across the board.
‘I’d just like to say thank you to all the people who supported their vision and exhibited at this year’s show. We made some new connections and can’t wait to get started with the 2020 event.’