62
Last Word
TESTING
TIMES
In the face of the Covid19 pandemic, and
its impact on the events industry, BVEP
vice-chair Simon Hughes says we must
stick together in this hour of darkness
There is no doubt that we are all
being tested – tested to the limits
across the global events industry.
In the UK however, we are not all
being tested for the virus (unless
you are already ill or in hospital, a
care home or prison). From a
business continuity point of view
the test that we are being
subjected to is unprecedented.
Across every sector in our
diverse industry, our trade
associations are working flat out
to provide advice, best practice
and information, supporting their
members as best they can.
Many BVEP partners are sharing
the daily updates being produced
by the VisitBritain team, who are
in turn relying heavily on input
from the events industry and
convening the Tourism Industry
Emergency Response group on a
regular basis. The survey that VB
ran on the impact of Covid19 saw
a massive response, with data
feeding into ministerial briefings
for discussion at COBRA
meetings.
A petition launched to get the
government to offer economic
assistance to the events industry
during Covid19 passed the
100,000 signatures mark
required to get a debate in the
House of Commons.
The measures taken in the
Budget statement now look futile,
though welcomed at the time as
a move in the right direction for
SMEs. Too little too late for bars,
theatres, restaurants, visitor
attractions, galleries, hotels,
venues, production companies
and the extended supply chain
that supports our industry, in
which many self-employed
freelancers who contribute
essential services are now
wondering how they are going to
survive the next few months. This
is testing our resilience to the
absolute limit.
Using the numbers developed
for the BVEP last year as a
baseline would suggest that the
current level of business loss
across the whole industry could
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easily be as high as £50bn. In an
already crowded autumn market
the option of postponing events
and making up the current losses
looks almost impossible. There is
real and genuine anger over the
way things have been handled to
date, which is matched only by
the immediate impact in terms of
the loss of many jobs and
livelihoods throughout the UK.
These concerns are being fed
directly into officials working to
ensure our specific needs are
being met; this is not lobbying – it
is urgent, immediate and specific
demands supported by hard
evidence of the impact on our
industry.
How do we cope with this test?
The economic impact of Covid19
will be far reaching – 10% or 20%
of GDP according to some
analysts. Denmark, France and
Germany are all putting huge
amounts of state aid to support
workers impacted by the
lockdown. The scale of
intervention required in the UK
will need to be hundreds of
millions of pounds. The
chancellor has stepped up to the
plate, but the acid test will be
what action the government
takes to address our specific
concerns and how long it will take
them to implement real changes.
At some point in the future we
will see the current pandemic
settle; I’m not qualified to even
guess how long it will take. But
we are a very resilient and
creative industry and will be able
to rebuild and recover. The full list
of cancelled events just proves
what an important role live
events play in our lives these
days. But being together, in the
same space at the same time,
sharing knowledge and
experiences – there is nothing
like that in the world. It is a very
testing time. But we will come
through it, working together and
being united and focused on
delivering solutions that will help
us manage future challenges.
Keep safe.