Exhibition News November 2022 | Page 15

TALENT AND RECRUITMENT

Easy come , easy stay

Easyfairs prides itself on being the UK ’ s largest family-run exhibition organiser . Divisional Managing Director Alison Willis and head of talent Richard Ainsworth , told Emily Wallin how the family feel of respected , empowered and trusted staff helps the company attract and retain their team

How integral are your people to Easyfairs as a company and the events you create ? Richard Ainsworth : It ’ s a cliche isn ’ t it , but we are a people business , we don ’ t actually have any assets or manufacture anything . It ’ s crucial that we that we retain the best people . We want them to grow with us , I think culturally it makes sense , and definitely from a financial viewpoint .

What is Easyfairs ’ approach to attracting talent ? RA : It ’ s a recruitment fire out there at the moment , speaking to other exhibition organisers we ’ re all going through the same challenges .
It was a very difficult last couple of years , but we paid annual bonuses for 2020 and 2021 when pretty much everybody else stopped them . Alison Willis : We restructured our commission scheme so
“ It ’ s a recruitment fire out there at the moment , speaking to other exhibition organisers we ’ re all going through the same challenges .”
it was less against money coming in and actually against KPIs that were achievable during the pandemic to ensure that the salespeople stayed focused and positive and could achieve results . RA : People are extremely grateful and loyal result . We ’ re growing the business , and there will be increased opportunities as a result of that .
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