Cover Feature
EN editor Saul Leese pays tribute to the
people that helped to secure the date for
events to restart and takes a close look
at the All Secure Standard framework
that organisers are advised to follow
Words: Saul Leese
The exhibition industry finally
has a proposed restart date
of 1 October, providing that
Government officials approve a
series of pilot events held across the
UK in the coming weeks.
It has been the most damaging
200 days in our industry’s history
and many businesses will not
recover from the pandemic crisis,
and countless professionals we have
worked alongside for many years
will not return to work.
One of the first large-scale events
out of the starting blocks is Salon
International and Professional
Beauty. Normally attracting around
65,000 combined visitors, this is
one of the largest UK B2B events at
ExCeL London.
Mark Moloney, MD of Salon
International and Professional
Beauty shows, is proud to be one
of the first events and is prepared
to take a significant risk to get the
industry back on track. He said:
“Despite Covid-19, our two shows
will be the largest B2B shows of
their kind in Europe this year. We
believe we are doing our industry
a favour by running this event and
playing an important part in kickstarting
the exhibition industry in
the UK.
“We would normally get around
65,000 visitors over the three
days, but this year’s number will
be considerably less because many
people will be nervous about
Covid-19. We are also reducing
our numbers significantly by
concentrating our audience to
ensure the right people attend both
events.
“We have created 4m gangways
throughout the hall and of course
all exhibitors and visitors will
be wearing masks at all times.
It will be safer than going to a
supermarket or even a pub. Some
of our exhibitors are nervous, too,
because they are worried about
the virus, and some of them are
concerned about the financial
commitment as they have not been
earning any money these past few
months. We have worked closely
with all of them and even offered
them smaller stands and told them
to bank the rest.”
Encouragingly, of the 500
exhibitors that normally exhibit at
both B2B events, Moloney believes
they will lose only around 20% of
the them before the shows.
Maloney also paid tribute to
the team at ExCeL who have
been accommodating his plans
to stage both events at the venue.
Simon Mills, executive director of
exhibitions at ExCeL London is
also excited about another event
taking place at the venue. He said:
“We can’t wait to be running safe,
secure, successful events and are
delighted that the first of those will
be CCR London, the UK’s leading
medical aesthetic event, organised
by Easyfairs.
“We are working closely with
EasyFairs to ensure the event
will conform with the All Secure
Standard, as well as the latest
Government guidance, to ensure
maximum safety for visitors and
exhibitors, as we play our part in
getting the UK back to business.”
The Event Industry Alliance,
consisting of the Association
of Event Organisers (AEO), the
Association of Event Venues
(AEV) and the Event Supplier and
Services Association (ESSA), along
with other exhibition industry
leaders, have been at the forefront
of negotiations with Central
Government.
Chris Skeith, CEO of the AEO,
who has held over 120 meetings
since the crisis began, a large chunk
of which were with senior minsters,
said: “The past few months have
been an emotional rollercoaster
and some of the most challenging
months of my professional career.
But I have also witnessed an
overwhelming sense of community
that I am honoured to be a part of.
“Securing a go date and issuing
government-approved guidance
was a huge breakthrough for
the industry and we must take
a moment to recognise this
achievement. There have been lots
of questions about the pilots which
the reopening of events is subject
to. The Cabinet Office and DCMS
are working through the details,
which will be shared once known.
“As a note of reassurance, they
aim to recap and bring the All
Secure Standard to life. They
are not a pass or fail and will
demonstrate the numerous
mitigation measures which create
Covid-safe environments.
“As for the future – there are
inevitably more bumps in the road
ahead. Our biggest step as we move
past the pilots will be to reinstill
confidence with event stakeholders
on the safe resurgence of events
and the value we know they can
bring. The Project Confidence
campaign will be a huge catalyst in
this mission. Events will be back,
and they’ll be stronger than ever
before.”
Rachel Parker, director at the AEV,
added: “Our industry stopped on
23 March 2020 with the imposition
of the Government’s lockdown.
For better or worse it will never
be the same again, but innovation
is sparked in times of crisis and
we are a hugely creative industry,
so that is what we did, we found
August — 19