IPIA's one day event 'Meet the Trade Buyer, Meet the Trade Supplier' at the Football Association’s new headquarters in Burton-on-Trent attracted 52 buyers and 48 suppliers.

Chief executive Andrew Pearce said the key draw of the event, head-to-head appointments between buyers and suppliers, totalled a record 504 meetings, each lasting around 20 minutes. One of the most popular exhibitors was 3D Creation Lab, which showed off 10 3D printers.

"The good news is there are a lot of people buying print out there," he said. "There's a definite swing from email communications, especially from a corporate perspective. Print was the poor relation for for a while but that has changed and it is now recognised as a crucial part of the mix again. Visitors were cautiously optimistic about the market – more so than last year."

Pearce added: "We are really pleased with the success of this year’s event, the 504 appointments between 9:15am and 5:15pm stimulated a lot of purchasing activity on the day and following the event. One company gave 30 quotes."

Ryedale Print Group sales manger Angie Francksen said she had two confirmed appointments following the event, six quotes and 13 follow-ups. Meanwhile, Pierce Communications' procurement manager Barry Browne said he went to see specialist products.

Other visitors included Printing.com production director John Prior, Andy Bleasdale of Office Depot and Paul Clarke of Mosaic Print Management. Suppliers included data specialists, paper merchants, trade finishers, direct mail service providers and social media and cross-media specialists.