Quality service on show at Irwin’s

Organising a successful trade event is never an easy task, particularly when it’s your first.

Jonny McKenna, Branch Manager at Irwin Electrical Letterkenny and his team took on the challenge recently and, if feedback from suppliers and customers is anything to go by, they’re onto a winning formula.

Held on October 26, in the Clanree Hotel in Letterkenny, over 35 suppliers were on hand to provide over 150 customers with information on new products and services. Live interactive demonstrations showed customers exactly how products worked, while hourly prize draws kept everyone interested until the end of the event.

“This was the first time we held a trade event for customers and suppliers. We were a little bit nervous as to how it would be received but it went extremely well – so much so that we’ve decided to make it an annual event. The thinking behind the event was, why not bring the suppliers to the contractors instead of the other way around?” The event was promoted to contractors across Donegal, Sligo and Northern Ireland. Safe Electric members were also made aware of the event, says Jonny. “We were lucky enough to have representatives from RECI there on the day, including Chief Inspector John Clare, our local Safe Electric representative Seamus Green and Safe Electric Inspector Seamus Smith. To have them there was definitely another feather in the cap for us.”

As well as answering customers’ questions on the day, Safe Electric gave a seminar in the evening. Irwin Electrical had great support for the event from all its suppliers, with a large number in attendance on the day, including Core Electrical, Deta, LED Group, Aurora, Precision Cables, Gewiss, Megger, ABB, AP Haslam, Hellermann Tyton and Interkonnect, to mention just a few. “We’re delighted with how it went and with the numbers in attendance, which we feel was excellent for a regional event. We’ve had great feedback from suppliers and customers and from our own end, we’re very happy with the leads and enquiries we gained from it. It was definitely worth the effort and we’re already looking forward to next year’s event.”