Interview
was a case of firefighting
whilst trying to get all our
team across the world to
work from home. There was
very little time to launch
virtual events and we were
at full capacity simply trying
to find new tenancies and
manage our customers’
expectations. Since then we
have cancelled or postponed
a further 23 events and colocates.
Rather than try to
replace them with virtual
platforms, we have taken our
time to really understand
what our communities
would want from a digital
solution and we feel that
hybrid rather than fully
virtual platforms are the
future. In the meantime,
we have helped support
our communities with a
programme of webinars
which have been very well
received.
Which regions, where you have
business, do you see coming back
first?
Speed of recovery in
a specific territory is
predominantly down to
reduced infection rates. In
China and Taiwan, where
we run art and photography
fairs, it is encouraging to
hear how well they are
recovering, albeit with
mostly domestic shows.
Parts of Asia have
undoubtedly learned from
the previous challenges of
the likes of Avian Flu and
SARS. However, as we have
seen in Hong Kong this
week – where we run another
art fair – the situation can
change quickly and controls
can be re-imposed with little
warning.
Speed of recovery is
also heavily dictated by
government policy as well as
their understanding of our
industry. In the UK, it has
been frustrating trying to
get a re-start date and I still
don’t think the politicians
really understand how events
can be a catalyst to get
economies going again and
the value that they bring to
destinations.
Those countries whose
governments have
understood that we run
‘organised gatherings’ rather
than ‘mass gatherings’ seem
to have given an earlier
‘green light’. However,
fundamentally a quick
recovery is about building
the confidence of our
exhibitors and visitors
and that is down to us all.
It is also interesting to
experience the different
support schemes being
offered. Asia is definitely
more proactive and
supportive, with Hong Kong
offering free tenancies
to help the recovery and
cushion the risk for all
tenancies in 2021.
How has Montgomery handled
the financials of the situation?
As a private family business,
we have had to rely on
our own resources and
conventional lines of
credit. We have, however,
taken advantage of all the
government concessions
such as the furlough scheme
and we have also applied
for a CBILS loan in case the
recovery is delayed into the
second quarter of next year
or beyond. In addition, there
have been savings, however
these have been marginal
in comparison to the loss of
income.
Which sectors that you are
involved in do you expect to
return first for tradeshows?
A return for tradeshows
is more about general
confidence in a market than
about the sector served,
although some industries
have obviously boomed
during this crisis and in
theory will be happier to reengage
earlier.
We have a full programme
of events for 2021, starting
the year with art fairs across
Asia followed by food, drink
and hospitality events in the
UK, and a doors, windows
and glass show, which is
benefitting from people’s
desire to refurbish their
houses rather than to move.
After several months on
Zoom and Microsoft Teams,
I believe the desire to meet
has never been stronger
and we need to re-iterate to
our customers with smaller
budgets, the value of events
over other forms of media.
I fundamentally believe
that our future should
remain focussed around
face-to-face. Even before
this pandemic, we felt the
need to really spend the time
developing our data strategy
and insight tools to ensure
that we fully understand our
communities needs and to
subsequently ensure they
get the best return on their
investment. This strategy
has only become more
important with the impact of
the pandemic. EN
36 — September