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gone in our favour. A weaker pound sterling has meant
London is more reasonably priced. The capital always
seems to remain a sensible, safe and solid choice of
destination.
In the context of business events, how has the product
changed since you have been involved?
The product has changed enormously, and London is ever
changing as a city. In the run-up to London 2012
Olympics, some 8,000 hotels entered the market within
the preceding 2-3-year period. That growth has continued,
and we have another 10- to 12-thousand rooms in the
pipeline ready to open over the next three years.
In terms of venues, we have always allowed innovation
in venue space, such as pop-ups. The Olympics was the
catalyst for that. People are using spaces now that they
never have before.
As an industry we have grown up. We are far more
mature in how we handle business and delegate
registrations, ROI and data analytics. Whereas when I first
started we were seen as the ‘party people’.
Are we overcoming the lack of identity and appealing
more as an attractive career option?
Yes, I think it is a notable career option. There are now
more event management courses, more apprenticeships,
more festivals, and more exciting events.
The problem still lives in the fact that if you are working
in the event department for a major bank, are you in the
finance sector or the events sector?
We stretch across every single industry, yet it can be
difficult to have a voice when it comes to government. I
have been sitting on the Event Industry Board for three
years and it is something we struggle with, although
progress has been made.
The government is now starting to understand the
events industry, I think that is due in part to Brexit, which
opened up new opportunities for growth.
Events are a showcase. Former prime minister David
Cameron went to the CeBIT event in Germany a few years
ago and came back asking why we don’t do more of this.
That is when the conversation started to change.
There is now the event industry fund, where any event
organiser with a new event can apply for funding. There
are obviously criteria to be met, but that is something we
didn’t have a few years ago.
We are putting big bids together for interesting events
and they will get their resources to come behind it.
London Tech Week is huge for London. In 2019, we had
the prime minister open the event. The government is
seeing events as a way to tell the UK story. It’s always
something we have done with the mayor’s office and with
the chief digital officer in London, even in terms of getting
the mayor to meet a cardiology team, for example.
The model we have here, where you have got foreign
direct investment and business tourism together, is a
microcosm for what is happening in central government, I
think. The Department for International Trade is talking to the
Department for Culture, Media and
Sport, and collectively they are seeing
what similarities they have which we
could use to tell the story of London.
The dialogue is there, but we
sometimes do not help ourselves in
this industry, as we don’t always have
a collective voice. It can be difficult to
get people engaged in this because
we are busy running events and
doing our own thing, which is the
problem; we are a busy industry.
Where does London & Partners
stand on promoting sustainable
events?
Climate change is happening, and we
need to solve it. Mayor Sadiq Khan
has taken the lead on climate action
goals. We are committed to work to
with the mayor’s team and how we
can spread this through the world of
hospitality. The mayor’s office ran,
and we supported, Climate Action
Week in 2019, which will be repeated
in June. We run a lot of sessions with
our partners and guest speakers to
discuss relevant topics and what
they have done already or what
audiences can do. My colleague Paul
Black is leading the charge in the role
of a sustainability champion, where
he looks at measures that can be put
in place to see if people are making a
difference or not. We absolutely
believe we have to be ahead of the
game and London, as a smart city,
has got to lead the world. Our
members contribute with ideas and
input.
www.conference-news.co.uk
Big Interview
"The
dialogue is there,
but we sometimes
do not help
ourselves in this
industry, as we
don’t always have a
collective voice."
Tell me about your MBE award, it
must feel quite special.
In 2014 I received a letter with an
‘ER’ stamp on it, and my first thought
was that I had been called to court! I
was taken aback when I opened it;
“this is incredible,” I thought. You are
not allowed to tell anybody and have
to keep it secret until the official
announcement.
It was awarded for services to
business tourism, which for me
showed that business tourism was
on the radar, which made it even
more special.
When I collected it, I met the Duke
of Cambridge at Windsor Castle. He
said: “I understand you’re
responsible for bringing 35,000
heart specialists to London,” and I
asked how he knew. He said: “I’ve
done my homework.” There was a
recognition of who we are and what
we have done, and I’ve got it for
something that’s importance.