The UK’s largest trade show for the entire laboratory industry, Lab Innovations, returned to the NEC, Birmingham, earlier this month to drive sustainability and innovation in laboratories and celebrate its tenth anniversary. The show’s numbers were at an all-time high, with 4,213 attendees flocking to network with 192 exhibitors, listen to keynote speakers and celebrate the latest innovations in the lab industry. Following the success of this year’s show, 98 per cent of exhibitors have already signed up again for next year’s show and ensured Lab Innovations 2023 will be another unmissable event for the entire lab community.

192 exhibitors attended Lab Innovations 2022 on 2 and 3 November, 2022, with a record breaking 98 per cent rebooking for next year’s show. Exhibitors at this year’s event included Analytix, Avantor, Beckman Coulter, Cole-Palmer, IKA, Randox, SciMed, Shimadzu and Scientific Laboratory Supplies, to name a few. Once again, the show was co-located with the UK’s largest annual gathering of engineering and manufacturing professionals, Advanced Engineering, which also had its highest ever rebook percentage with 85 per cent of exhibitors having already secured their stand for next year.

Simon Osborne, President at Analytix, commented during the show, “The volume of people we’ve seen has been unbelievable and even bigger than we imagined. We’ve met lots of people that we haven’t met before, which is unusual for an industry trade show, and we have been able to establish personal connections. We’ve already booked for next year.”

Emily Hatfield, Marketing Team Leader at Network Scientific also remarked “Lab innovations is extremely important to our business, it’s where we see our clients and build new relationships. It’s the one time of the year where we can talk openly and honestly with lab professionals and offer support to grow their businesses. We always enjoy seeing friendly faces from across the sector and spending our time seeing what’s at the forefront of laboratory design, instrumentation, methodologies and more. It’s a fun-filled two days that we look forward to every year.”

This year, 4,213 attendees visited Lab Innovations, which is a 35 per cent increase on 2021’s attendance and the highest attendance for a Lab Innovations show to date. Visitors were treated to keynote talks by Steven Rannard, professor of chemistry at University of Liverpool, who discussed innovations in nanomedicine, and Alok Jha, science correspondent at The Economist, who focused on the theme of water chemistry.

One of this year’s visitors, Teslime Arikan, R&D Facility Manager at Jaguar Land Rover, commented during the show, “This is my first time at Lab Innovations, and we’ve had great conversations with the exhibitors and attended insightful conference sessions. Lab innovations is a fantastic opportunity for the industry to meet.”

Visitors could also listen to world-renowned speakers in four free-to-attend theatres during the show, and attendance was at an all-time high this year. Nearly 900 laboratory professionals attended the seminar programmes in the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) theatre, the Cleanroom Hub, Live Lab and the Insights and Innovations Theatre, which was sponsored by My Green Lab and had a key focus of sustainability in the lab industry.

Raj Patey, business development director at My Green Lab, explained, “My Green Lab was pleased to work with the Laboratory News team to bring a program focused on more sustainable labs and lab supply chains to this year’s event. Seeing speakers from pharma and academia, alongside innovative lab suppliers, provide insight into how to accelerate progress in reducing industry-wide environmental impact was great to be a part of.”

Sustainability was a key part of the agenda at Lab Innovations 2022. The show featured The Sustainable Laboratory, hosted by Andy Evans, director of Green Light Laboratories, and the sustainability trail, which was new this year and highlighted the exhibitors, such as Haier Biomedical Grenova and Labcon, leading the way on lab sustainability.

The show also hosted the Lab Awards, in collaboration with Laboratory News and sponsored by Mettler-Toledo, at the Insights and Innovation theatre. The Lab Awards celebrates the best and brightest in the laboratory community and, this year, had more entries than ever before, highlighting what a year it has been for innovation in the lab industry. Category sponsors at the awards included Red Swan Partners, Innovate UK, Kimtech and MiCo BioMed.

One of this year’s winners, Andrew James, managing director at Ellutia Ltd, commented during the event, “We picked up the Lab Automation award at this year’s Lab Awards event at Lab Innovations. We are really proud to have earned the recognition of the Lab Awards with this prize. It will help us raise awareness about our innovative new system throughout the lab industry and also gives us a chance to celebrate with the industry’s leading figures.”

The show also hosted a special celebration after the Lab Awards to mark its tenth anniversary, which was sponsored by Analytix. It presented an extra opportunity for this year’s attendees to come together, talk face-to-face and do business, while also providing an excuse to raise a glass in the evening.

Another visitor, David Armitage, Senior Visiting Research Fellow at De Montfort University, added, “I’ve come to Lab Innovations for every edition that has run so far and am impressed every time – the 10th edition is no exception and has been brilliant. I really enjoy networking with my peers and seeing which companies are exhibiting and what equipment they bring to the table.”

Exhibitor bookings for next year’s show, taking place on 1 and 2 November, 2023, are now open. 98 per cent of this year’s exhibitors have already signed up for next year, so book now to ensure you secure your stand at the UK lab industry’s biggest gathering of the year. To book your stand, visit https://www.lab-innovations.com/ and you can also register your interest to visit next year’s show at https://www.lab-innovations.com/register-your-interest/.