Juliet Price, consultant executive director of HBAA, trade association for meetings, events and accommodation sectors says: “The Chancellor’s grants are in principle, welcome. But we wait to see the ‘small print’ to see how many of our 200 plus member organisations will be eligible for them. £6,000 may be helpful to small businesses but it won’t sustain larger venues or agencies with greater liabilities and no appreciable income in sight for most of Q1 next year.”

says Beckie Towle, marketing director of HBAA beam and founder of The Events Raccoon.

“The business events sector is now looking forward to January with trepidation; with so many events being cancelled or postponed, how much work will we have to keep us afloat?” asks Beckie Towle, marketing director of HBAA beam and founder of The Events Raccoon.

“We desperately need to know whether the intensive rapid booster campaign and the common sense of the British public will halt the rise of Omicron so that confidence returns to our industry? The business events sector has already lost millions of pounds worth of bookings for December and January. If that continues, we will have potentially little work after Christmas, so government support will be crucial to the survival of many businesses. But the schemes that kept businesses alive during the pandemic have ended or are winding down.

“The Scottish Government announced a £100 million financial package will be made available for eligible businesses including the hospitality sector that have lost bookings during this key trading period. We need the other UK Governments to provide the same help in addition to the continuation of the reduced rate of VAT and the Kickstart scheme - our Plan B for Events. We need to know before the end of the year - otherwise the start of 2022 is going to be a bleak midwinter.”

“We appreciate the Government’s efforts to keep ‘business as usual’. But, for corporate organisations planning events, ‘business as usual’ along with a directive to work from home is a mixed message. They must consider their duty of care to their staff while facing charges if they cancel the event - the costs are very unlikely to be covered by the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme. Since 15 December, cover must be purchased no less than 8 weeks before the event is due to occur. Many insurance policies are also expensive and won’t cover against Covid.

“Corporate event planners are facing a challenging dilemma that is likely to be costly for everyone, for venues and event suppliers as well as their own businesses.”

www.hbaa.org.uk

ends

Note to editors

HBAA, soon to be known as beam, is the trade association for the Meetings, Events, and Accommodation Industry.

Driven by leaders, united by collaboration, and representing £70bn* spend into the UK economy. Spearheading representation to government and policymakers, elevating a sector voice, championing change, and sustainable economic health.

Underpinned by four pillars: Resilience, Innovation, Ethics, and Quality.

beam drives, promotes and models good business between its members. It champions best practice, ethical working, and sound commercial judgment, making beam membership the mark of quality assurance for the sector.

For further media information please contact: Chris Lewis T. 07973 370640
E: or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

One Industry One Voice Update w/c Monday 13^th December 2021

Firstly – a reminder to everyone who has yet to see the evolved and exciting ‘OIOV 2022 and Beyond plan’ presentation to join us on 12^th  January 2022 for one of the 3 identical 1 hour sessions – let us know which one of the scheduled presentation calls repeated at 10am, 1pm, 3pm you can attend – see below for links  - thank you in advance as your feedback and input on these developing plans are invaluable, so its shaped by the industry for the benefit of all event professionals across the 7 main sectors.

The final taskforce meeting of the year found everyone  reflecting  on the immediate impact of the arrival of Omicron in the UK. There was general agreement that in many respects lots of events were already operating in Plan B mode, having chosen to do so in order to build confidence about safety and our expertise in risk assessment and management.  The introduction of Covid certification, whilst loathed by some Conservative MPs and problematical operationally for some types of events and settings will, when combined with PCR or LFT tests, provide a degree of reassurance.

Trying to overcome the nervousness that has been created around so many aspects of the new variant is perhaps the biggest challenge. The Taskforce reported a mix of reactions – some music touring is still happening, following the latest guidance but with an increasing sense of deja vu around the timing of similar emergency announcements made at this time last year. Clearly adapting to the latest guidance over mask wearing and Covid certification is much more acceptable than being forced into mandatory restrictions  where the industry's advice and input has not been taken into account.

Venues have seen immediate loss of business, with events postponing, down sizing or simply cancelling.  Agencies are reporting increased nervousness amongst clients with events pencilled for early next year. Many of the event industry associations have been asking their members to submit details of the business impact to the DCMS.  Given that there are no specific financial support packages in place at this point in time, this evidence looks like it might come into play once we all have a much clearer idea of how the new variant is going to impact our lives.

The DCMS team has also been holding roundtables on supply chain issues and how they are impacting across the sectors. Lack of human resource features largely in such discussions and creating a concerted effort to attract graduates into the industry by giving them access to industry leaders and associations has been proposed as one possible solution to the immediate challenge in the workforce.

There was also a very clear sense that highlighting the challenges created by the unknowns thrown up by Omicon wasn’t a great way of building confidence, but that the pragmatic and creative people working in our industry would find ways of delivering safe events of all types once the time required to fully map out the variants impact has been used by our equally brilliant scientists and medical experts.

It is clear that the pandemic rollercoaster riding we have all been forced to endure  will stop in 2022 as we adapt to living with Covid 19 and start delivering the experiences that so many people want to get back to. The surprise of the very limited season we could operate in this year was how strong the pent up demand was – making that brief window of activity feel even more wonderful as December now falls apart.

But as long as the NHS isn’t put under too much stress, as long as the booster campaign rolls out as required and we maintain the resilient and confident approach that has brought us this far,  next year will be so much better.

Part of that confidence is built on the exciting plans we are developing for the future role of OIOV – as per the 12^th Jan 2022 presentations already outlined (see zoom links below).

Finally many, many thanks to all of you that have supported OIOV over the last 18 months. We hope that everyone gets the chance to have a safe and healthy holiday season with some well earned R&R too.  Back on it in 2022 – so Happy New Year too.

Rick & Simon

12th Jan 2022 - Future OIOV plan presentation links – choose one time to join the repeated presentations: 10am, 1pm or 3pm.

January 12th – 10am Session: 

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Jan 12, 2022 10:00 AM London

Topic: One Industry One Voice supporters

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://smyle-co-uk.zoom.us/j/97527891724

Or One tap mobile : 

    United Kingdom: +442039017895,,97527891724#  or +442080806591,,97527891724# 

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        United Kingdom: +44 203 901 7895  or +44 208 080 6591  or +44 208 080 6592  or +44 330 088 5830  or +44 131 460 1196  or +44 203 481 5237  or +44 203 481 5240 

Webinar ID: 975 2789 1724

    International numbers available: https://smyle-co-uk.zoom.us/u/acGvEnUTKq

January 12th – 1pm Session: 

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Jan 12, 2022 01:00 PM London

Topic: One Industry One Voice supporters

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://smyle-co-uk.zoom.us/j/93458638610

Or One tap mobile : 

    United Kingdom: +443300885830,,93458638610#  or +441314601196,,93458638610# 

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        United Kingdom: +44 330 088 5830  or +44 131 460 1196  or +44 203 481 5237  or +44 203 481 5240  or +44 203 901 7895  or +44 208 080 6591  or +44 208 080 6592 

Webinar ID: 934 5863 8610

    International numbers available: https://smyle-co-uk.zoom.us/u/adG2uYG2Kf

January 12th – 3pm Session: 

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.

When: Jan 12, 2022 03:00 PM London

Topic: One Industry One Voice supporters

Please click the link below to join the webinar:

https://smyle-co-uk.zoom.us/j/96051225321

Or One tap mobile : 

    United Kingdom: +442080806592,,96051225321#  or +443300885830,,96051225321# 

Or Telephone:

    Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):

        United Kingdom: +44 208 080 6592  or +44 330 088 5830  or +44 131 460 1196  or +44 203 481 5237  or +44 203 481 5240  or +44 203 901 7895  or +44 208 080 6591 

Webinar ID: 960 5122 5321

    International numbers available: https://smyle-co-uk.zoom.us/u/advxop99Py

This December we returned to the iconic House of Lords for our final event of the year: The Fellowship Awards Lunch. Guests included EVCOM’s Board members, our membership community and Patron members who offer support to EVCOM across the year.

Guests were welcomed with a drink of fizz before making their way through to the Cholmondeley Room and Terrace, where they could enjoy a view of the Thames in winter sunlight. It was then our pleasure to announce our three 2021 Fellows, all of whom have been selected in recognition of their contributions to the communications industries.

DCMS Guidance on mandatory certification - Just so you are aware, the three central guidance pieces on mandatory certification have now been published online.