5 Editor ’ s Letter
WHAT IS THE EVENTS INDUSTRY ?
hat do you think of when you hear ‘ events industry ’? You would be forgiven for jumping towards Glastonbury , Wimbledon , or the British Grand Prix , but I ’ m sorry to say they are rather lazy examples . The events industry , as a whole , is a vastly fragmented beast , which before the pandemic was worth £ 84bn to UK PLC annually . According to the DCMS-accepted UK Events
Report , and attested by One Industry One Voice , published in March 2020 , conferences and meetings ( often referred to as ‘ business events ’) were worth £ 18.3bn in direct spend annually . Elsewhere , exhibitions and trade shows : £ 11bn ; incentive travel : £ 1.2bn ; corporate outdoor events : £ 0.7bn ; arts and cultural events : £ 5.6bn ; festivals , fairs and shows : £ 6bn ; sporting events : £ 9.6bn ; weddings : £ 14bn ; and music events : £ 17.6bn .
That ’ s right , conferences and meetings are worth more to the UK annually than music events . It is therefore unbelievable that this sector gets no support and very little recognition in terms of official government classification , despite its importance being clearly evidenced by 2021 ’ s G7 Summit and COP26 . While some venues have been eligible for the Culture Recovery Fund , many more , as well as agencies , organisers , and suppliers , are not .
If anyone needs further evidence of how vital conferences and meetings are to local economies then do a Google Maps search for ‘ conference centre ’ on a selection of UK city centres and observe the supporting infrastructure of hotels , restaurants and amenities that surrounds them .
For context , pre-pandemic , events were worth £ 3.3bn to Liverpool annually , supporting 38,000 jobs . RJS Associates in December confirmed that the sector was worth £ 2.3bn to the West Midlands alone . Indeed , a new £ 260m events complex is currently under construction in Newcastle .
Boris Johnson has spoken often about ‘ levelling up ’, so perhaps making business events a central component of all regions ’ business development plans should become a government priority .
This is not an industry that forever cries for financial support , it is quite happy to go about its business , leading on knowledge exchange and legacy . All it wants is to be properly recognised by government : to be properly administrated by Companies House , the Office for National Statistics , and the Treasury .
The conference and meetings industry may not have the voter appeal of music or hospitality , but it is no less important to the UK ’ s economic strength .
Martin Fullard Editor Conference News www . conference-news . co . uk