Big Interview
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
co-locates. 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.
We have seen Informa Markets,
among others, tap the financial
markets to ease their cash balance.
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
Above:
Montgomery
believes that
hybrid rather
than fully virtual
platforms are the
future
market than about the sector
served, although some industries
have obviously boomed during this
crisis and in theory will be happier
to re-engage 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 and bringing
people physically together. 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.
www.exhibitionworld.co.uk Issue 4 2020 17