Return of the Mack
STEPHEN BROOKS , FORMER OWNER OF GLOBAL EVENTS ORGANISER MACK BROOKS , TELLS PAUL COLSTON ABOUT HIS 33-YEAR CAREER IN EVENTS , HIS EXIT FROM THE BUSINESS AND HIS THOUGHTS ON THE FUTURE
fter 33 years in events you must have seen some changes . What were your key experiences ? I went to work for my father in 1987 after a period at Jaguar-Rover . I had seen UK manufacturing decline under Margaret Thatcher and was happy to switch to services , taking advantage of the much-promoted single market to develop tradeshows around Europe . It was easy to recruit foreign nationals in the UK , and we benefited from globalisation and growth of world trade . With the opening of China , India , South America , Eastern Europe , the Arabian Gulf and S . E . Asia we could develop the business in all corners of the globe , but Central Europe was where we had most success . Running my first show there in 1993 , I saw China grow from next to nothing to a leading geography for events .
I saw , too , the arrival of UK and US-led financial engineering of the events industry , with PLCs then private equity taking hold . Everything became about leverage , multiples , acquisitions and scale , but we pretty much stuck to launch and hold . When I started , intellectual property rights and trademarks for events were not well established . The idea you could value a non-balance sheet asset like an exhibition was unproven , and selling ownership of an event was unimaginable . But that all changed in the 1990s .
The 2000s were defined by the rise of internet-based technologies , which had an unexpectedly positive impact on event organising .
What made you sell your business in 2019 ? It was tough after so long , but I figured the tide of increasing valuations was bound to turn at some point . In particular , I thought private equity backed acquisitions didn ’ t add up any longer . It felt like a valuation bubble based upon cheap money , tax breaks , executive incentives , and PE companies selling to each other at ever increasing multiples . It didn ’ t feel rational from an investor perspective . Strangely enough this turned out to be the case , but not for the reasons I imagined .
What have you done since you sold the business ? I ’ ve invested in a variety of non-event businesses , spent more time in Antibes , and completed a masters degree in history .
What is the secret to success at Mack Brooks ? Mack Brooks is especially great at delivering specialised machinery and capital equipment trade exhibitions worldwide , from a flexible base with variety of approaches depending on the sector and geography . Without borrowings , over a long period , the company established some 45 tradefairs derived from 12 invented brands . Mack Brooks ’ largest exhibition , with 95,000sqm of net sold space , became the biggest privately-owned tradeshow in the world .
Did you experience anything like the Covid crisis ? In a more limited way . We were impacted at various times by everything from ash clouds to terrorism , wars , earthquakes , hurricanes , geopolitics , embargoes , SARS , financial crises and strikes . But these issues were relatively short-lived and restricted to specific geographies . I have never known anything as widespread or nightmarish as Covid .
What do you make of the current position for organisers ? The events industry has shown remarkable resilience with limited support from either government or insurance . The understanding of customers is vital . Unfortunately however , the cost of staff overheads in Europe and the USA is high , companies simply can ’ t afford to suffer income interruption for an extended period and , to conserve cash , many have been forced to cut into muscle , not just fat , in order to survive . In parts of Asia , with lower overheads , it has been more possible to maintain staff costs and , probably , the experience of SARS meant there was more knowhow about how to cope .
Undoubtedly the crisis means a shake-out will take place and weaker events will suffer . That said , we should be optimistic about improvements to manage the position , especially with new vaccines and treatments , which will make things much more bearable before too long . The desire for meetings is so visceral I anticipate strong pick-up in many people ’ s inclination to get out and meet . It may be followed by Zoom-like tiredness of too much all at once , date congestion , and gathering concern about the carbon footprint of staging events , so there are still challenges ahead . But I anticipate a significant upturn .
18 / CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD / ISSUE 110