London, England: Four sold out halls, record figures for education and unrivalled networking opportunities were just some of the highlights of BIGGA Turf Management Exhibition (BTME) as BIGGA announced a return to five halls for next year’s exhibition.
The Continue to Learn education programme broke all records – at the last count, an initial figure of 2,900 delegates had travelled from across the United Kingdom and the world for the diverse range of seminars and workshops.
A total of 4,692 visitors also attended the three days of the exhibition at the Harrogate International Centre with the halls particularly busy on the first day.
A report in Golf Business News said with key decision makers from sports clubs, authorities and associations present, deals were struck throughout the week.
In a packed week of news, BIGGA’s annual general meeting saw the reign of a new Chairman begin – Master Greenkeeper Les Howkins, Course Manager at The Richmond Golf Club.
Meanwhile, BIGGA CEO Jim Croxton signed a deal confirming Bayer as the latest BIGGA Partner – and the BIGGA members who are joining the first ever delegation to TPC Sawgrass met on the stand of the programme’s sponsors John Deere.
During BIGGA’s annual meeting, a special resolution to amend the Articles of Association was unanimously approved. This will ensure the association has a more dynamic, modern and transparent structure.
Croxton said: “It’s been another fantastic week and it’s featured record numbers attending our Continue to Learn education programme which is at the heart of what we are trying to do.
“This year we’ve featured 215 excellent hours of education. The programme is going from strength to strength and this really drives quality visitors to the exhibition.
“We’ve had four sold out halls this year and as exhibitor demand continues to increase, BTME 2016 will feature a fifth exhibition hall. We’re already focusing our minds towards next January.”