Fife Council’s Trade Development Programme has supported six Fife based businesses to visit the annual Space-Comm Expo.
It’s the first time that Fife businesses, which included Semefab, Eurospray, Raytheon, Fifab, Cerebral Ape and Contract Solutions, have visited this significant event dedicated to showcasing the significant commercial opportunities available within an industry worth £14.8 billion to the UK economy.
The businesses, who were able to travel to Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre for the event held at the beginning of June, described attending the event as a “positive learning journey.”
Designed to encourage growth across the highly innovative space sector, Space-Comm Expo brings together business, government, defence and space agencies, and aerospace experts from the entire space community. Suppliers working in this field included engineers, technicians, systems integrators, and contractors, together with buyers & procurement professionals.
Commenting on attending Space-Comm, Drew Smith from Cupar based Contract Solutions Scotland Ltd, said, “We thank Fife Council’s Economic Development Team for their support in enabling us to take part in this year’s Space-Comm Expo event. It was fantastic to meet companies with whom we currently do business with, and to establish what other areas we could perhaps engage further, was just great.”
“We’ve had really strong enquiries since attending the show. Most importantly, we have learned so much about other companies and the products they design and manufacture, and to what context this is relevant to us. It was really helpful to meet the other Fife businesses attending the event, and to see how we can potentially all work together moving forward,” continued Drew. “Overall, it has been a positive experience to enable us to introduce our services to the main players in this highly lucrative space sector.”
Wenting Dang, from Semefab, a semi-conductor supplier based in Glenrothes, said; “We found attending this show extremely useful, particularly being able to watch significant new technology demonstrations.”
“We too have returned with solid leads to follow up on and have now met with potential industry partners. We’d like to thank Kieran Hunter at Fife Council Economic Development who leads the Trade Development Programme for all his help and encouragement in making the trip happen.”
Jim Fairnie from Eurospray, also located in Glenrothes, echoed this sentiment, saying, “To go down to Farnborough and experience this event has been incredible, and we would certainly be keen to return in future years. We've got a few things to look at following our attendance and hoping to convert more enquiries into orders in the next few months. It has helped us in nurturing existing customer relationships and establishing new connections and customers.”
Pamela Stevenson, Service Manager, Economic Development, Business & Employability at Fife Council, said:
“Fife businesses have a great deal to contribute to this growing sector, and as such, it’s vitally important that we are able to support them in being seen and heard at what is the UK’s largest space event. We are very pleased to hear that the businesses attending came away with positive leads and feedback, setting them up for future engagement with the main players in the space sector.”
“Supporting businesses in attending conferences and exhibitions like this is what our Trade Development Programme is all about – it’s just one of a number of ways we can help businesses grow and prosper, right here in Fife.”
