Floodex UK, the National Drainage Show and the Waterways Management Show are due to take place at ExCeL, London, on the 27th and 28th November. Water Magazine met up with the event organiser, Eddie Milton, to find out what visitors can expect to see at one of the last major water industry exhibitions in 2024.
Speaking about this year’s offering, IME Director, Eddie Milton, said:
“The events are seeing some fantastic exhibitors and industry support for 2024. The Canal and River Trust, Inland Waterways Association and The River Restoration Centre will be supporting the Waterways Management part of the show, whilst Aquamaintain and The British Hovercraft Company will both have craft on display.”
Back by popular demand, The Future Water Association is once again organising and hosting the Water Dragons, a popular show feature that allows people to present innovative ideas to a panel of experts, and be judged. Water Dragons is a Future Water initiative aimed at supporting and developing the creative entrepreneurs of the water sector.
This year United Utilities will be exhibiting and presenting, along with some very notable speakers, with support from the Environment Agency and CIWEM. CIRIA and susdrain will once again be curating the two-day SuDS Theatre, as well as a dedicated Waterways Management Theatre, with the main theatre covering flood and drainage.
Eddie adds, “The show is coming on leaps and bounds, with a record number of visitors in 2023 and already 20% up on advance visitor registrations for the same time last year. We’ve added more stands to the floor plan, to accommodate increased levels of enquiries and expect to see nearly 100 companies represented.
“We are also delighted that the Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC), will be supporting the event. The SLCC is the professional body for local council clerks and senior council employees for over 5,000 local councils in England and Wales.”
The event also plays host to the National Drainage Awards, organized by the NADC, which takes place alongside the show on the first evening. The awards bring together around 450 of the drainage industry’s finest to honour achievements and take in the exhibition next door.
This year, footballing legend Harry Redknapp will be the host for the evening, and John Conteh, who held the WBC light-heavyweight title from 1974 to 1977, will be hosting an auction of boxing memorabilia to raise money for charity.
Since the inaugural Floodex UK event in 2016, the desire of the organising team has been to create an event that takes a more holistic approach to flooding and water level management. It’s one of the reasons why the National Drainage Show was launched as a natural co-location and the Waterways Management event after that, which partly covers the catchment issues as well as the health and management of the waterways themselves.
The event organiser, IME, has also recently announced the launch of The National Civils Show, which will run alongside the existing three events in 2025.
“It’s something that has been on our radar for some time, but we were already involved with another construction and concrete show, organised by another event company, so expansion wasn’t possible whilst we worked on that. Myself and Paul Shelley, who has a long history in successful construction related events, sold our interests in the other construction event to enable us to focus on the natural expansion of Floodex UK and all its co-located elements. Since we announced the launch we’ve had some fantastic feedback from the industry, with support in place from the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, Construction Equipment Association, Construction Index and Plant Planet.”
