Toby Wand has announced the acquisition of Scotland’s ScotHot and Northern Ireland’s IFEX exhibitions via 365 Events Ltd – a company co-owned by Wand and events specialist, Billie Moore – from London-based Montgomery Group.
Billie Moore, Co-Director of 365 EventsIFEX is one of NI’s longest-standing trade exhibitions and is home to 6,500 visitors every two years. The show hosts NI Chef of the Year and the ChefSkills competitions which see over 200 student and industry chefs compete over three days.
Regarded as Scotland’s premier showcase for food, drink, tourism and hospitality, ScotHot welcomes 5,700 industry professionals to the SEC in Glasgow, with the event featuring the Scottish Culinary Championships and Scottish Chef of the Year.
Previously owned and managed by the Montgomery Group, Toby Wand – a former MD of Fresh Montgomery – has a wealth of experience, successfully directing both events, and many other major food, drink and hospitality events, over the last decade.
Toby Wand, Co-Director of 365 EventsThe last IFEX took place in 2018 at the Titanic Exhibition Centre, when the show was a sell-out with record visitor numbers. For 2020, the event was well on track to exceed expectations before the arrival of the pandemic, when everything came to a halt. As the pandemic took hold, IFEX was postponed and then cancelled. Now with the re-building of industry, and particularly hospitality businesses, IFEX will return with strength in 2022, and ScotHot will return in March 2023.
Commenting on the acquisition, Toby Wand, Co-Director of 365 Events Ltd adds: ‘’As the world of hospitality recovers and realigns post-pandemic, vibrant business events like IFEX and ScotHot will provide vital meeting places for the industries to reconnect, uncover new learnings and discover relevant technologies to improve their businesses and customer focus.
“These are hugely important events for the hospitality and foodservice industries in both Northern Ireland and Scotland, and I’m proud that 365 Events Ltd will now be well positioned to drive these events forward.”
ScotHot is scheduled for March 2023 at SEC Glasgow, with IFEX’s dates for Spring 2022 to be announced next month.
For details of the shows Toby Wand can be contacted by email via Toby@365-events.co.uk
