INTERVIEW MARK BIRCHALL
30 www.technologybusinesstoday.com April 2019 SHOWCASING
WHY TECHNO
IS GREAT
There has never been a greater need to promote the great
work produced by British tech businesses. In this interview
Mark Birchall, MD of TradeFair, explains why.
As Brexit continues to rumble
on, you would be forgiven for
being concerned for the future
of British businesses.
But although chaos that engulfs
Westminster, walking around Mobile
World Congress, it’s hard to ignore
the ‘Technology is Great’ branding
promoting over 200 IT companies from
the UK in Barcelona thanks, in part, to
TradeFair.
Although you may not have heard of
it before, TradeFair has been promoting
the best of the British technology sector,
providing them with opportunities to
get branding seen by thousands of
executives, directors and investors at
just shy of 20 trade shows and events
around the world.
TradeFair works on behalf of
TechUK, the main trade association
for the technology sector in the UK
supporting over 900 members spread
out across start-ups, SMEs and FTSE100
members, as well as the Department of
International Trade.
“Our role as trade challenge partners
is to raise awareness of opportunities
for UK companies in International
markets” started TradeFair Managing
Director Mark Birchall, “We identify
the right events for our industry and
help companies prepare for the events,
offer contacts and useful information
and we are there on site to make sure
everything is in place for them.”
Tradefair marks its 30th year in
operation this year. Created in 1989 by
Jolyon Potter, a former foreign office
worker in Egypt and Eastern Europe
assisting UK companies to grow
exports, TradeFair Support LTD was
formed and managed the program of
government supported events from the
Computing Software Association, now
known as Tech UK.
Six years later Birchall joined and has
been managing director since 1999, he
says that the appeal of the job was the
travel, but his job satisfaction comes
from the success of the UK tech sector.
“The appeal of TradeFair for me really
was seeing different parts of the world,
but also it was the great satisfaction in
seeing these small companies grow in
various markets around the world.
It’s also great to see the respect that
a lot of British companies, the British
industry and certainly the British tech
sector, receive around the globe because
of the quality of our products and
services.”
COMPETITION
Success stories for TradeFair include
SwiftKey, who were acquired by
Microsoft for a reported $250 million
in 2016, Stream, acquired by ARM last
year, and Imagination technologies who
turned over just shy of £80 million in 2017.
As part of the package, TradeFair
LOGY
offer the aforementioned ‘Technology
is Great’ branding on the stands of
exhibiting companies which, according
to Birchall has helped the UK tech sector
stand out at each show.
“I think people respond well to the
banners and I think it needs to be done.
We have a lot of competition from
other countries, the French tech always
has a significant presence at shows,
as do the Germans and if you go to the
Middle East you will see the Bahrain
pavilion is very well branded.
So it is important that we are visible
at these events and to show that the UK
is open for business. If we are not there,
we are not visible, and businesses go to
someone else to buy from.”
However, Birchall insists that the tech
sector is one of the strongest markets in
the UK and even in the world.
“The UK Tech sector remains more
upbeat than the rest of the UK
economy and is expected to remain
that way throughout 2019 ”
MARK BIRCHALL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, TRADEFAIR
/www.technologybusinesstoday.com