New chair for manufacturing event!

The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) has appointed a new Chair for its Exhibition Committee, which oversees the organisation of MACH, Britain's premier manufacturing technologies event. Chris Pockett, Head of Communications at Renishaw, who has been a committee member for eight years, was appointed Chair of the Exhibition Committee due to his extensive knowledge and experience of international trade shows and event management. The new position also sees Pockett join the Board of the MTA where he will contribute his additional knowledge of communications and international marketing.

Chris Pockett

The MTA is a trade association that represents Britain’s engineering-based manufacturing sector including companies involved in machine tools, cutting tools, metrology and CAD/CAM software. It is also the organiser of the biennial MACH exhibition which is being held from April 9th to 13th, 2018, at the NEC in Birmingham. The Exhibition Committee consists of MTA staff and industry representatives from exhibiting member companies of the association and is responsible for overseeing decisions concerning the exhibition.

He brings a wealth of experience of global exhibitions from his role as Head of Communications at Renishaw. He was involved with Renishaw’s first stand in China in 1993 and has organised and taken part in trade shows across all continents. He has been an MTA Exhibition Committee member since 2008, serving the association through a number of MACH events. As part of his new role, Pockett will be responsible for overseeing MACH 2018, the first event to be located in the NEC’s newer Atrium halls.

“We are delighted that such an experienced communicator as Chris has agreed to take up the Chairmanship of the Exhibition Committee,” explained James Selka, CEO of the MTA. “Chris has made a huge contribution during his time on the Committee and I’m looking forward to working with him to make sure that MACH builds on its position as the UK’s leading manufacturing technologies exhibition and becomes an even more important date in the manufacturing calendar.”

“MACH 2016 saw an almost ten per cent increase in visitors from 2014, giving us confidence that the exhibition and the advanced engineering sector are moving in the right direction,” explained Chris Pockett. “We aim to increase engagement in the event further in order to highlight new opportunities that are impacting the sector, including additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0.”

Pockett joins Stewart Lane, Renishaw’s Group Sales Development Director, who is also a board member of the MTA, where he is responsible for learning and development. Renishaw is committed to supporting the wider industry through active membership of trade bodies, advisory panels and professional groups.

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