Mike Monk has taken stands at countless exhibitions and is now drawing on his experiences, good and bad, to create a brand-new event - the Brighton Business Expo, on October 20th. He tells Ian Trevett what exhibitors and visitors can expect…
How did you start out in business?
I started in the marketing business about 34 years ago. I worked for many companies, starting off working for a printed t-shirt company based out at Brighton in the early 1980sand then went on to work for sourcing companies with a lot of time in the Far East before starting my own business about 16 years ago, called Monk Marketing. We have over 20,000 products on our database.
I've always had a passion to run a business-to-business expo because I’ve exhibited at many exhibitions across the UK, Germany and France and I’ve always felt that with the right people I could do better. I have recently exhibited at B2B Expos in Hampshire and I have found their exhibitions to be first-class – really very good. They do everything that an exhibitor wants; they get the people through the door, it’s a well-run expo and it has a good vibe about it.
The company behind the shows is Memo Events, and they run three very successful shows in Hampshire. I have taken the franchise for Brighton & Hove, which is great as I’m a Brightonian, born and bred.
