“ Now we are back in business on the exhibitions side and we expect exhibitions to grow . It ’ s something we are totally committed to . We are looking at exhibitions being really profitable again , and we are looking for further acquisitions .
“ The first year of the pandemic we weren ’ t able to do a single live event . The exhibitions side of the business made a big loss but the company as a whole made a very nice profit , EBITDA of £ 10m – that ’ s despite not doing an exhibition .
“ In 2020-21 our exhibitions made a small profit , but we ’ re very pleased with that . This year ( 2022-2023 ) we ’ ll make a much bigger profit and year after we should make a really sizable profit , well in advance of where we were prepandemic .
“ What exhibitions are is a buying and selling mechanism and a chance to meet and network with other people and those human aspirations are never going to go away . There will always be an events market .”
Growth As Mark Allen Group looks to grow , their sights are definitely acquisitive . Over the past 12 years they have achieved huge growth through acquisitions of companies , events and magazines . Allen is quite clear that he plans to acquire more .
We meet just days before their latest acquisition – and second so far this year- Heelec Ltd , which runs EMEX , the net zero and energy management expo .
Allen says : “ We ’ re in a very good situation , we ’ ve got a good track record , we ’ re very profitable and must be one of the fastest growing publishing and events businesses in the country . We ’ re in very good position to grow .
“ We see the future of our business as a combination of magazines and events and they coalesce very well together and dovetail with each other .”
Digital revolution Reflecting on a career spent watching
“ What appertains both publishing magazines and creating events is content . If you get the content right everything else follows ...”
digital and technological innovation radically alter the publishing and events landscapes , Allen embraces change .
“ There ’ s no doubt people still want to go to live events , but you can ’ t ignore advances in digital . It has been demonstrated over the past couple years , we have been running webinars and digital events and I see that development still going on . But I also see live events going back to being accessible and popular , certainly in most parts of Europe and most of the rest of the world .
“ As far as publishing is concerned , I ’ ve always been agnostic over whether it ’ s print or digital . We ’ re talking about a delivery system . The same thing applies to events . Some events will become digital events . We do a number of healthcare events , and doctors and nurses are busy , they want quick-fire information and don ’ t necessarily want to meet people , but there are some sectors where networking is crucial . A lot of people are guilty of thinking one size fits all .
“ I think you have to be sensible in your approach and let customers lead the way . If they want a digital event , we ’ ll give them a digital event . If they want live , we ’ ll give them live . You have to let your customers lead you , not the other way round .
“ What appertains both publishing magazines and creating events is content . If you get the content right everything else follows . If technology helps and aids you in that process then great , but it shouldn ’ t take over the whole shooting match . Technology is an aid , it ’ s not the solution .”
Allen is very clear that publishing and
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