The fact that we got this far at all, after the high profile withdrawals that began in the summer of 2012, is of massive credit to organiser IIR and the Ipex team because, frankly, no one would have thought any less of them if they had thrown in the towel.

However, after the initial panic subsided and the domino effect finally stalled, looking at the final line-up of exhibitors there should still be plenty to see. Yes the two big ‘H’s will be absent, but plenty of the usual suspects will be in attendance.

More than that, in glass half-full mode, the absence of HP and Heidelberg et al should give visitors more time to take a closer look at some of the products and companies that they’re perhaps less familiar with. And, based on past experience, it’s more often than not these that turn into the real head-turners.

Of course, no one is pretending that the exhibitor footprint of this year’s show won’t be smaller than that of Ipex 2010, but in terms of visitor attractions then IIR really has pulled out every single stop it can think of.

With around 130 seminar sessions across the event’s six days, boasting 230 speakers ranging from senior print buyers and brand owners to leading printers and industry experts, it’s arguably the UK’s largest ever print conference – never mind this year’s largest print show.

So if you’re still weighing up if you should make a trip to east London in a couple of weeks, then make sure you don’t just think about who won’t be there – instead you need to start seriously thinking about who will be.