The first trade show of the year, EAG, began yesterday at ExCeL London, UK, showcasing a number of the newest products.

EAG

Photos from the first day of the event can be viewed here.

A new recruit to Elaut’s international team made her first appearance at the show.

Laura Verstraeten, daughter of CEO Eric Verstraeten, is the new marketing manager for the Belgian-based crane manufacturer.

A graduate of Ghent University, she has spent several years working with start-up businesses with Seedrs, based in London and also worked with Virgin Group. Now Laura will head up the marketing efforts of her family’s business.

In her first week in the new role, Laura made her debut at the London show. She told us: “We have businesses on both sides of the Atlantic, so I will be busy….and I want to help the company to grow, both internally and outside of the group.”

Elsewhere, one of the very few Middle East personalities to travel to London for EAG this week was Nabil Kassim, CEO of Warehouse of Games in Dubai.

Kassim is pictured with a new game Duck Derby from Adrenaline, making its European debut.

“It is a water game with a difference,” said Kassim. “A water pump handle is at the front of the game – it is a two-player model – and the player will pump furiously to drive water down a winding course with a plastic duck floating on it. The first duck to reach the target zone is the winner.

“It is an update on the old ‘derby’ type games that are always popular crowd competitive games. Line up two or three of these units and you have great fun.”

Warehouse of Games is the Adrenaline distribtor in Kassim’s region.