Electric avenue: on June 11 many of the big names in the UK industry will gather in a small corner of North West London for the annual Park Avenue open day. ab:UK looks at this year's crop of exhibitors.(Focus)

THERE are many ways for manufacturers and distributors to do business in the UK, from gruelling road tours, visiting regular and potential customers individually, to the largest show of all--the ATEI. There are smaller shows and shorter site visits, of course, and then there are distributors' open days. These events aren't just sales events (although, of course you won't see any of the hosts turning away orders), they are social occasions, giving the hosts the opportunity to thank regular customers for their business and woo targets with a few glasses of wine and some food.

The Park Avenue open day has grown to be one of the larger industry events, built around the geographical proximity of some of the distribution sector's biggest names in a small close near the notorious London traffic-blackspot, the Hangar Lane gyratory system. In years gone by there were more firms in the area, but even now the combined …