THE next BAA Heathrow Meet the Buyers' looks set to be the most successful yet, with record-breaking business expected.

Six weeks after last year's event, which took place in November 2003, a survey has been compiled showing that local companies expect to win new business worth £11.5million as a result of attending. The event attracted 71 major buying organisations, including many T5 contractors, and a record 474 suppliers.

The Heathrow Meet the Buyers' is the UK's largest supplier/buyer matchmaking event, giving local businesses the chance to introduce their products and services to buyers from major organisations from around the airport, including Heathrow-based companies, blue-chips such as GSK, local authorities and universities.

Some of the main findings of the survey were: 1. The number of suppliers attending from the boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Spelthorne and Slough rose to 46 per cent, compared to 35 per cent last year.

2. 94 per cent of businesses came from the wider Heathrow area.

3. Black and minority ethnic businesses accounted for 21 per cent of suppliers, up from 14 per cent in 2002.

4. 87 per cent of buyers said that they would definitely' or probably' be doing business with local suppliers met at the event, compared to 83 per cent last year.

5. 18 per cent of responding suppliers have already won business, compared to 13 per cent at this stage last year.

Joe Hardman, Economic and Development Manager at BAA Heathrow, said: "We are delighted that yet again the Heathrow Meet the Buyers' event was such a huge success. Millions of pounds worth of business takes place during and after this event, which makes a major contribution to local prosperity and employment. We were particularly pleased to see that our strategy to increase the numbers of local suppliers and black and minority ethnic suppliers has been so successful.

"Attendance at the 2003 event has surpassed all previous years. A further survey takes place six months after the event, which we hope will confirm that local firms have won record levels of new business."