A business exhibition held for the first time in Central Suffolk earlier this year will be back again in March 2019.

Bookings for the “second edition”, are already well ahead of the first one and there are already four sponsors signed up.

The first Mid-Suffolk Business Exhibition was organised by Stowmarket and District Chamber of Commerce at The Mix, Stowmarket, with the intention of holding it in alternate years in the future.

However, even before the first exhibition was over, SME exhibitors were asking to be able to book again for the next year.

Chamber vice chairman and exhibition organiser Danny Cuff said MSBE 2 would be even better then the first one: He said: “We learned a lot from our first effort and have made a few changes that should preserve the buzz but make life a little easier for everyone exhibiting.”

MSBE2 will return to The Mix, Stowmarket, from 9am to 1pm on March 27, 2019.

Stands have been revamped to give everyone a little more elbow room than last time and floor area has been expanded from just the lower hall to include a small number of stands in the Youth Hall at the café level as well.

Since Early Bird bookings were opened to non-member businesses at the start of November they are matching bookings for MSBE1 with a mixture of returning businesses and with newcomers making up a third of the bookings so far.

Members-only bookings during October were 40% up on the first exhibition, with a waiting list of applications for a stand held in reserve in the interests of balance.

Main sponsors are all on board much earlier than for the first exhibition.

They are Andrew Bingham Funeral Directors (breakfast), Chicane Internet (lunch), who are both repeat sponsors. New sponsors are Suffolk Chamber (business talks) and Stowmarket Town Council (photography).

Allan Scott, chairman of Stowmarket and District Chamber of Commerce said: “We’re delighted with the response to the second Mid-Suffolk Business Exhibition, and I particularly welcome the strong support from Stowmarket Town Council and the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce. We’re keen to show the breadth and variety of enterprise in and around Stowmarket, so we’re very pleased to welcome our new exhibitors, as well as the many who are returning for a second year.”

For more information about the event and to book a stand at the early bird rate which ends on November 30, 2018, visit the website https://msbe.biz/exhibit-now/ and click on the Book Now link.