§ 57. Mr. GILBERTasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Overseas Trade Department what has been the total approximate cost of the British Industries Fair at Shepherd's Bush; whether his Department regard it as a trade success; the number of British, Colonial, and foreign buyers who visited the same; can he make any general statement as to the business done there; and whether it has helped to revive trade for British manufacturers who exhibited there?
§ Sir P. LLOYD-GREAME (Secretary, Overseas Trade Department)The total cost of the London section of the British Industries Fair was approximately £35,000. The cost is covered by the payments made by the exhibitors, and the Fair involves no charge on public funds. Taking into consideration the present trade conditions, the Fair is considered by my Department to have been an unquestioned success. The total number of visitors to the Fair, exclusive of re-admissions, amounted to 49,998. A considerable volume of business was transacted, but it is impossible to give even an approximate figure, as firms do not make any return of orders booked, and further, it has been found by experience that a large proportion of the orders secured by exhibitors are not actually placed until after the close of the Fair. There can be 37 no doubt from the statements made by exhibitors that the Fair has stimulated their trade.