Business Continuity Market Comes of Age as 2008 Event Better Than Ever

Event for Risk, Resilience and Recovery Finished With 6 Percent Increase in Numbers of Visitors Attending

(02.05.08) - The Business Continuity Expo, event for risk, resilience and recovery, finished on a high note with 6 percent increase in numbers of visitors attending. The conference & exhibition attracted 2457 visitors (pre- ABC audit) from top level positions across a wide range of industries including local government, the forces, pharmaceutical, finance, telecoms and aerospace. The majority of these being directly responsible for their companies risk management and business continuity plans.

As a result of the high calibre and purchasing power of visitors, the exhibitors were delighted with the event, with many of them already re-booking for the 2009 event.

The on-floor seminars were especially popular this year, with standing room only in almost every session. The seminars gave visitors the opportunity to pick up the advice of other business continuity professionals and learn about the most cutting edge solutions and technologies available. One senior executive from a major retailer said "I scheduled my visit so that I could meet with the companies that I knew had the solutions I was looking for, but I also made the time to attend 4 of the sessions which turned out to be well worth the time and effort as they were incredibly informative and beneficial."

The Conference, which runs alongside the exhibition, also attracted a wide range of high level delegates and speakers drawn not only from the UK but also across Europe. The panel discussions were particularly well attended, and included speakers such as Bruce Mann CB, Director of Civil Contingencies Secretariat with Gerald Corbett, Chairman, SSL International and Brett Lovegrove, Head of Counter Terrorism, City of London Police, Stephan Shakespeare, CIO and Co-founder, YouGov and Gary Locker, Permanent Liaison, ACPO and The Cabinet Office. Of special interest were the end-user sessions which included speakers such as: Colin Clark, Head of Corporate Business Control, Somerfield Supermarkets and Jeremy Quick, Deputy Governor, Guernsey Financial Regulator.

Anna Campagnoli - Event Director for Business Continuity Expo said, "A few years ago the Business Continuity Manager was an almost unknown entity, the title just didn’t exist. However, at this year’s event we saw almost 1500 visitors with this title, from some of the largest companies in the UK, which shows it is very much a thriving profession. Judging by the attendance levels in the 50+ seminars, there is clearly a real thirst for knowledge and we were glad that the combination of seminars and cutting edge products and solutions created an ideal event for them." (Business Continuity Expo: ra)