The vote of confidence in the viability of the show follows growing speculation that the event was at risk of being cancelled due to the fact that current exhibitor numbers, which have been hit hard by the economic climate, are a third of what they were in 2007.

However, according to IIR, pre-show visitor registrations are roughly in line with those of 2005.

"The message is that there are still deals to be done, printers haven't given up the ghost on investing and we want to carry on and do our bit to show our support for the print industry," said IIR Exhibitions managing director Nicky Mason.

"While there is no doubt that some suppliers are going through challenging times… it will still feature the full spread of technologies and topical seminars to make it an important destination for printers."

As well as a range of soon to be announced Printing World seminars, featuring Mellow Colour's Alan Dresch on colour control, GI Solutions Patrick Headley on transpromo, CW Print's Gary Best on smart marketing and BPIF business briefings, IIR is also laying on a free lunchtime bar during the show's three days to "help celebrate all that is great about the print industry".

Leading exhibitors confirmed to attend the show include Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Presstek, Duplo, Morgana, Watkiss, X-rite and Tharstern, with more exhibitors expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

The market is still active and Northprint is the place for suppliers to provide solutions and visitors to the event will be able to take advantage of the many value building applications and technologies on display, said Mason.

Northprint runs from 21-23 April at the Harrogate International Centre. For more information visit: www.northprintexpo.co.uk

Also see:

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