1982 - Meatex

By 1980 it was apparent that there was not a suitable UK exhibition for the food equipment industry, as neither Olympia, Earls Court nor Harrogate were deemed attractive to visitors from the industry.

 

In 1981 a new company, Meatex Ltd, was formed to stage such an exhibition, and Herbert & Sons Ltd was one of the founding backers.

 

The very first exhibition was held at the N.E.C. in March 1982, and it was judged to be successful both in visitor numbers and return to shareholders, which was done in the form of a rebate on the cost per square metre of space occupied by each member.

 

Meatex Ltd held bi-annual exhibitions at the NEC, and in 1993 changed its name to Foodex Meatex Ltd to better cover the range of equipment and services then being shown.  Jim Herbert served as a director.

 

In 2005 Foodex Meatex Ltd was bought by William Reed, who publish titles such as The Grocer and Food Manufacture.  The exhibition has subsequently been run in conjunction with Food & Drink Expo and the Convenience Retailing Show.

 

Meatex 1982 was held at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, from 28th to 31st March, and the Lion News reported:

 

'Our major exhibition of the year took place at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham at the end of March.  The new organisation and venue proved very successful and attendances were well up on all previous Harrogate Shows.  Our own display was resplendent with a large silver "Lion" slowly turning on a perch 12 ft above the centre of the stand.  On display were our range of Sovereigns, Monarchs and Indexer systems.  The Monarch range which was officially unveiled at the Show created special interest and the Salesforce is still hard at it following up all the leads generated by the many customers who came on to the stand.'