By Simon Hughes - January 2016 saw something really significant happen for the UK event industry. The first meeting of the new Event Industry Board (EIB) was held, under the chairmanship of Nick de Bois. The Tourism Minister Tracey Crouch said: "The UK boasts a world-leading events industry that contributes around £40 billion to the economy and draws hundreds of thousands of business visitors to our shores every year. This board will bring together leaders from across the sector to help us build on the success of this growing industry." The assembled representatives from across the industry and government departments will report into the Minister for Tourism and subsequently the Inter-Ministerial Group on Tourism, and the GREAT programme Board. The aim is clear – to help the UK event industry win more business.
By Simon Hughes - Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. This was due to the diligent work of Larry, the No 10 cat and Chief Mouser for the Cabinet Office. Larry, who was comfortably curled up on his cushion on the window ledge, was surprised therefore when a ghostly apparition appeared in the main reception area just behind the famous Downing Street black door. His ears pricked up as the apparition moaned softly “No ifs, no buts. No ifs, no buts.” It was the ghost of a past promise about Heathrow expansion made back in 2009 and the anguish in the softly spoken words made Larry shiver – which just goes to show what an incredibly gifted and empathetic cat he is.
By Simon Hughes - The terror inflicted on so many people in Paris last week has changed the way we see the world. France declares a three month state of emergency and is now committed to waging war on terror. Politicians from around the world condemn the terrorists and offer support. The arguments over increased military action by UK forces ratchet up another gear. Our current national threat level for international terrorism remains at severe, which means that a terrorist attack is highly likely. It has been at this level since 29th August 2014. Put that another way - we’ve been living with that level of threat for 15 months now. It’s only when a Friday night in a city just 300 miles away from London turns into a night of carnage and mindless, senseless violence that the reality of what that threat level could mean comes into such sharp and painful focus.
By ABPCO - The Living Wage Campaign is continuing to gather pace within meetings and events following a debate bringing together some of the industry’s leading professionals.
The debate, hosted by both M&IT and the Association of British Professional Conference Organisers (ABPCO), took place at Church House Conference Centre on Friday 16th October and discussed the benefits of the Living Wage as well as how to urge event buyers to put it on the agenda.
By Simon Hughes - Hopefully all the partners involved in supporting the BVEP will have been heartened to see the recent news announcing the new APPG line up. Once again the partnership has been able to deliver tangible results for the industry as a whole, supporting an actively engaged group of MPs to make our voice heard. So far, so good. Yet as with most things this is just the beginning of the story and it will be up to all of us to push forward on this positive development and maximise the value of this conduit into the mother of Parliaments.
By Simon Hughes - It was an interesting coincidence that the first award category presented at the 2015 C&IT Awards was for the Automotive Event of the Year. This gave the amiable host Marcus Brigstocke the chance to work in another VWGate gag. “VW had booked a table for two for tonight – but then fifty of them turned up!” He did a sterling job by the way and obviously enjoyed working on an awards ceremony with which he had some real affinity, recognising I’m sure that he was in a room loaded with potential clients that deliver world class events and employ lots of creative talent.