A one-day annual event that connects Scottish SMEs with key players in the nuclear industry has once again received excellent feedback from attendees and exhibitors.
Held on the 21 June 2017 in Dunblane, the Meet-the-Buyer event is the most popular event organised by the Nuclear Supply Chain project, a three-year programme set up to provide commercial and technical support to Scottish companies operating in, or hoping to enter, the nuclear sector. The project is funded by Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, managed by TWI and delivered in partnership with NNL, Optimat, and Silver Stream Business Services.
Meet-The-Buyer, which offers suppliers unrivalled opportunities to meet senior decision-makers and make real progress within the nuclear industry, continues to go strength to strength. This year’s event was the largest yet, attracting 200 attendees and 45 exhibitors, and 22 representatives from buying organisations hosting one-to-one meetings.
Attendees were drawn from SMEs who are aspiring to enter the nuclear sector, as well as Tier 1 and Tier 2 buying organisations looking to develop their supply chains. The Scottish Government and the project funders, Scottish Enterprise and Highland and Islands Enterprise, were also represented at the event.
A series of presentations followed an opening address from Paul Wheelhouse, the Scottish Government’s Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy. These presentations included those from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Nuclear Industry Association, and Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd. In addition to this, there was also a sold-out business exhibition comprising of 45 separate stands.
The pre-booked one-to-one meetings proved especially popular with a total of 306 appointments taking place over five hours across 22 host tables, staffed by 17 buyer companies including DSRL, Sellafield Ltd, and Magnox.
Comments from delegates included ‘An excellent well organised event with appropriate attendees, good location and facilities’ and ‘Excellent with substantial leads to follow up’.
Other comments included:
'Very useful and expect further discussions and potential opportunities to result.'
'Exceptional opportunity to meet decision makers.'
Presentations from this year’s event will be available to download from the Nuclear Supply Chain project news and events page shortly.
For more information on TWI’s technology transfer programmes, please contact us.