News
A HIGH FOR THE SOCIETIES The end of January witnessed another annual Societies Convention at the Hammersmith Novotel in London, topped off on the Friday night by its regular awards giving. Though ostensibly an event to celebrate the artistic achievements of its photographer membership, the evening also included a section of awards given out to the trade for products and services. The prize giving came towards the end of the Trade Show element of the Convention, which ran Thursday to Saturday and saw a commendably busy show floor on the Friday afternoon we visited. Attended by hardware manufacturers including Canon, Nikon, Panasonic, Rotolight and Elinchrom, print was also represented by PermaJet and PhotoXport, while Cameraworld was among those offering the inevitable show deals.
On the night the award for Best Professional Lighting went to Elinchrom while Best Professional Lab was won by Digitalab, who also received awards for Best Professional Customer Service and Best Professional Frame. Best Professional Paper went to PermaJet (see also page 12), while Best Professional Camera went to the Canon EOS 5D. That wasn’t the only award for the exhibitor, as it bagged Best Professional Lens for the Canon 70-200mm and Best Professional Printer for its imagePROGRAF PRO-1000. A new category of Best Professional Retailer was won by Wex Photo Video, while theimagefile bagged Best Professional Website and One Vision Imaging took Best 2020 Convention Stand. The next annual Convention is scheduled to take place from Wed 20th to Saturday 23rd January 2021, with the Trade Show element again running Thursday to Saturday. www.thesocieties.net
New openings for Wex Photo Video Bucking the general high street trend of late, Wex Photo Video has announced it’s planning to open a brand new 3000-square foot store in Milton Keynes this spring (with a grand opening scheduled for April 4th), while, as of the beginning of February, it has also relocated its Birmingham outlet to larger capacity premises at 100 Hagley Road (right), which now boasts a 3,752 square foot floor capacity. Not only does the retailer plan to use the extra space to stock an even greater volume of equipment; it’s also planning to extend its customer demo areas as well as host exhibitions, talks and workshops during the year – much like its flagship London branch. “We see a healthy future in multichannel retailing (see our business feature on page 28 – Ed) and have
ambitious plans for 2020 and beyond,” reveals Wex Photo Video CEO Louis Wahl. “We successfully refitted and integrated the Calumet Photographic shops with our Wex ecommerce operations to create significant like-forlike growth. We are confident in the strength of our retail model, combining the widest possible range of photographic products, extra support services and our award-winning customer service. We will continue to seek suitable new locations around the UK.” www.wexphotovideo.com
BPI News is your mouthpiece to the photo trade, so use it! Send your press releases and news items direct to: info@bpinews.co.uk 30 February / March 2020 | BPI News
www.bpinews.co.uk
