Left : Boris Johnson signing the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement |
with them .
With a new government in Westminster , advocates are hopeful that the conversation in the UK will change . One of the most important changes is Shaun Davies , MP for Telford and the chair-elect of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events . Industry figures have their fingers crossed that the young Labour MP will push for change .
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about 50 pages long and legally-binding . It doesn ’ t provide the same legal headache as a work permit , but it ’ s another factor adding time , cost and risk to the bill .
The golden ticket for those lobbying the government is to insert a single sentence into the Brexit agreement . Not to reopen it , but to simply add ‘ the delivery of events services ’ to the list of work permit category exemptions .
Under the UK ’ s Conservative government , there was no willingness to do this . Mentioning Brexit
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complications was a political no-go and no department wanted to claim responsibility . The DCMS ( Department for Culture , Media and Sport ), for example , claimed when contacted that this was an immigration issue , and refused to connect industry advocates with the right personnel .
Former chief adviser Dominic Cummings reportedly said in 2020 that “ the f ****** ballerinas can get to the back of the queue ”. He was referring to the arts industry , but the events industry has been lumped in
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Left : Control checkpoint on the French-German border |
Dancing Squirrel : succeeding despite the hurdles One of the many UK-based agencies affected by this bureaucratic chaos is Dancing Squirrel . Founder and CEO Neil Woodward has been delivering events in the EU for decades . He has worked with NBDA Systems for 15 years , Manhattan Associates for 20 years and Sunseeker for 25 . These clients have taken Dancing Squirrel to Spain , France , Italy , Portugal and more .
In the days of free movement , Neil and chief operations officer Clay Robinson could load up a truck , jot down a kit-list and drive into the EU without a hitch . The vehicle would be locked up with a cable-tie in the UK and untouched by customs until arriving at their final destination .
Now , with requirements for permits , carnets and more , Dancing Squirrel is making considerably less return from its EU business . “ Our profit point has fallen from 40 % to 20 %,” Neil tells me . Clay has to submit the carnet a week before the event , costing around £ 2,500 .
On top of that , the team has to arrive at events days in advance , because even with the carnet , there is no guarantee of safe passage . On one occasion , Clay had one truck impounded on the French border and another broken into . French officials checked every item against the carnet while the crew sat around and waited . “ Luckily , the crew came from a rock-and-roll background , so it didn ’ t
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