Public Procurement and Property

How to prepare for Meet the Buyer National 2025

March 27, 2025 by Teigan Kelly No Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement

Start preparing for Meet the Buyer National

With less than three months to go to Meet the Buyer National, at Murrayfield Stadium on Wednesday 4 June 2025, this is the perfect time to get you and your team ready to attend. Read on to discover the early preparations you can make for a successful event.

Find your role at the event

Meet the Buyer National is perfect for suppliers who are looking to grow their business, buyers who are looking to strengthen their supply chain and business support bodies who can facilitate both of these things.

Buyer and supplier positioning

The layout of the event sees buyers and business support bodies stationed at stands throughout the venue, with suppliers walking around stands, stopping to talk to experts and discuss their opportunities.

In some cases, businesses act as both suppliers and buyers to different parties at Meet the Buyer National, such organisations are encouraged to take a stand at the event, to increase their visibility and ensure they are not overlooked by key contacts.

To prepare for Meet the Buyer National, first decide whether you are sponsoring, exhibiting or visiting the event.

Exhibitors and sponsors must then register a ‘buyer’ account on the Supplier Development Programme Website, and speak to the SDP team to book a package through the SDP website.

Visitors must also register on the SDP website, listing themselves as either a buyer or supplier to book their free place.

Select your dream team

Once you have decided how you’d like to get involved in Meet the Buyer National, you then need to decide who to take with you.

Last year 1,585 people attended Meet the Buyer National, and this year it looks to be just as busy. Whether you are a sponsor, exhibitor or visitor, you are going to want reinforcements on the conference floor, to ensure you don’t miss a thing!

Buyers, consider the business categories you work with that have live or pipeline opportunities, then decide who is best equipped to talk about them – this is the person or team you should bring!

Suppliers, perhaps your business has a product whizz, account manager or marketer who can reel-off case studies to demonstrate your unique selling points – these would be great people to represent your team on the day.

Get your props ready

Once you’ve assembled your dream team, you’ll need to ensure that you have your exhibition props ready for the day.

Update business cards

Ensure you have either printed or digital business cards ready for the day, which contain your  own contact details, so that your connections can easily reach you after the event. Try to avoid those containing generic inbox addresses or phone numbers that may lead your connections to a dead-end.

Refresh marketing collateral

Sponsors and exhibitors, you are also encouraged to update your marketing collateral (such as pop-up banners, flyers and e-flyers) with information or QR codes that lead to intel on your latest pipeline opportunities. This will allow suppliers to quickly identify the opportunities that are relevant to them and to have succinct discussions.

Download The Event App

Don’t leave it until event day, download The Event App by EventsAIR now, so that you have it on your phone ready to use in the run up to the event! Likewise save the event code ‘10DR’ in your notes, as it will be the one you use to log in to the App.

The app will go live in May,  and it will be the place to gather pre-event intelligence. Buyers and suppliers, you can use the app to discover what team members will be on each exhibition stand, and so who to talk to on the day. The app will also contain a floorplan of the event to help you navigate the crowds, as well as an Event Guide and Keynote Section.

Plan your questions

The Keynote Section of the app will not only have the speaker agenda for the day, it also has the functionality for you to submit questions via the Live Q&A.  On the day, this will be your space to ask procurement leaders and buying teams for advice on working with them or any clarification you require.

Suppliers, this is your chance to get pointers that can help you win contracts, and buyers this is your time to gather best practice tips from your peers.

Don’t wait until event day to type up your questions. Once the speakers are confirmed, consult your team, collect your queries and save them on your phone. Then when the day comes you can copy and paste them into the app!

Get in touch

Event days can be daunting, and at the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) we want to help you have the best experience possible, so if you need more information on how to get Meet the Buyer National ready, please contact us!

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For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement

Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot

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Tags: buyers, Meet the Buyer National, Suppliers

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