THE huge buzz that surrounded this year's BETA International was reinforced by the huge effort many of the exhibitors had made with their stands.

Bigger stands, high-tech designs and minimalism was the order of the day with many exhibitors having new stands this year.

Sponsored once again by Forest Wine and Hamper Company the Best Stand Awards provided a difficult task for the judges.

Winners:

Best Large Stand Award - Caldene

Runner-Up - Joules

Best Small Stand Award - Cloakrooms

Runner-Up - Tolga-Univers Selle

Neville Lawrence of Matchmakers International said: "We are delighted to win the award.

"The relaunch of the Caldene range has been a major success and we are very pleased to win the Best Large Stand Award.

"We were looking for a fresh modern approach, that displayed the clothes well and was inviting."

John Gregory of Nottingham-based Cloakrooms said: "This is the third year that we have exhibited at BETA International and we wanted to design a stand that made the most of the space available and showed off the products to their best."

A delighted Tom Joule said: "In deciding to develop a new stand for 2004 our aim was a bright eye-catching look that allowed us to show off the clothing.

"We wanted a few booth-style areas where people could conduct business and in a relaxed atmosphere."

At Belgian-company Tolga-Univers Selle, Tolga Aksoyek was overjoyed to receive the award and couldn't believe he claimed the runner-up position in the Best Small Stand Award.

www.beta-uk.org

.