On Thurs 18th June 2015, Check-in @ Stansted, a business, travel and careers event took place within a unique and stunning venue – the hangar itself at the Diamond Hangar London Stansted.
Surrounded by private jets, the event welcomed 400+ visitors on the day and the unanimous response from exhibitors and sponsors was that the event far exceeded their expectations in terms of networking, business to business opportunities, brand exposure and of course the surroundings.
2015’s event doubled in size, doubled in visitors and doubled in respect of offering. The organisers are proud of what was achieved on the day with many businesses already committing to 2016.
Taking off at 10 am, the day delivered networking opportunities, entertainment (provided by OMG Entertainment, It’s your Gig and Funky Casinos), meet and greet with Essex Fire & Rescue Services and Essex Police, a Fawlty Towers Impersonator, and a celebrity visit from former British and World Featherweight Boxing Champion - Colin McMillan. Refreshments to purchase were provided by Premier Crew Catering (www.premcrew.co.uk) who also kindly provided the tea and bacon butties to help the exhibitors get a good start to the day ahead!
A VIP lunch reception was catered for by local restaurant, The Lemon Tree and on the day help was provided by students from Epping Forest College who thoroughly enjoyed working in a ‘real live’ environment.
Seminars by Ryanair, easyJet and the Stansted Skills Academy were also on offer. Those who attended even got to view private planes and VIP passengers being escorted in and out of the hangar – you don’t see that often.
Sponsor Matthew Court from Eye Airports said “Personally, I was impressed with the event and it fulfilled my brief for us for the day. The range of organisations both exhibiting and visiting was beyond what I was expecting and I feel it has helped us increase the visibility of what we can do for businesses local to the airport. The team put on what I feel was a great event and I can’t see any reason why we wouldn’t be back next year."
Richard Swain, Commercial Director from Force36 who exhibited on the day added "An incredibly worthwhile event which generated leads from businesses both on and off the airport providing a rare opportunity to network with outstanding businesses. We are very keen to book our space for 2016!"
There is a huge amount of time and effort that goes into the preparation of such a large event, especially one that took place in Europe’s largest hangar. Planning a year in advance, the organisers were keen to ensure that Check-in @ Stansted was like no other exhibition and that everyone who attended – exhibitors, sponsors, staff, suppliers and visitors reaped the benefits of what such a day could offer.
Julie Budden, Chair of the Stansted Chamber of Commerce and founder of the exhibition said “I live and breathe the airport and have done so for many years. Running a Chamber, my role is to help businesses do business within the region. Stansted and the region as a whole is a flourishing area. It’s a great area for local and national companies to network and do business with local suppliers and is also a superb area to relocate any business. Those who exhibited and sponsored this year’s Check-in @ Stansted event were carefully targeted, as we didn’t want this to be like any other exhibition. For us, we wanted to put on a successful show, a show that would benefit many organisations – and that’s exactly what we delivered".
Don't take our word for it, take a look yourself Tunnel Shark Productions and HNE Media.
Nicola Wisbey, Director of Marketing at The Sowerby Group Limited added “Working in the creative industry, we wanted to bring a little creativity to this year’s event. We like to do things differently and taking place within the hangar we certainly delivered on that. So much time and hard effort from the team went into organising such a fantastic day. Although organising events is hard work with long hours being worked especially during set up, when you hear positive feedback it’s extremely rewarding”.
The team at Check-in also ensured that they did their bit for charity. Appointing The Dream Factory, a charity that grants dreams for children and young people aged 3 – 25 years with life threatening and life limiting conditions, or those with severe disabilities, the event helped raise over £3,000 on the day. The organisers planned a blind auction with prizes as follows:
* easyJet flights for 2 – won by Amy Sowerby
* Afternoon Tea at the Down Hall Hotel – won by John Head
* 1 night stay for 4 including dinner & wine at the Hilton London Stansted – won by Paul Gardener
* Bumper to Bumper Car Valet – won by Christopher Burton
* Flybe tickets x 2 – won by Jimmy Russo
* 1 night stay at the Radisson Blu London Stansted – won by John Head
* Hamper kindly donated by Aerofloor Ltd – won by Sue Sowerby
* Harrods Collectable Teddy Bear – won by John Head
For more information on Check-in @ Stansted, please visit www.check-in-stansted.com If you would like to join the journey for 2016, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for details.
"We enjoyed the event last Thursday, got some good leads and liked the venue! Well done!"
Helen Quinnell, Enterprise Project Officer, Essex Innovation Programme
"It was a really great event in a stunning venue and we picked up some top leads. Being our first exhibition we were a little unsure of what to expect, however it far exceeded our expectations and we really enjoyed the day - we will definitely be returning again next year!"
Luke Drewer, CEO, Digital Pie
"Thank you so much for the Exhibition last week. I thought it was great and really well organised. I am sure a lot of hard work and stress goes in to organising this and I certainly will be speaking highly of it at my next networking meeting and suggesting people book in for next year."
Jo Hart, Business Development Manager, Mantle Business Centres
"We had a fantastic day at Check-in @ Stansted and networked with many businesses - both exhibitors and visitors and have already booked meetings. We’re a start up business and the day has brought us plenty of opportunities and proposals which we are already working on.”
Faye Brownjohn, NX Professionals
"A great event and well organised in a venue with a difference. The backdrop of the aircraft gave it something unique, no doubt a topic of conversation for weeks to come. A good range of exhibitors and plenty of networking opportunities – well done!"
Simon Curran, Director, Precise Fire and Security
