10
Digest
COLOURS OF
CHANGE
Michael Hirst OBE, chair of the Events Industry
Board, outlines the important role of the events
industry in the coming months
irst it was blue, celebrating
the heroism of the NHS
and, hopefully, also
recognising the
contributions made by venues and
event contractors in constructing
the Nightingale Hospitals.
Then it was red, as event
production teams lit up buildings to
highlight the desperate the plight of
businesses and freelancers having
their livelihoods shut down.
Next, it is green as the Industry
gets the go ahead to reopen from 1
October, subject to the outcomes of
pilots and infection levels
remaining under control.
But what will colour the speed of
recovery and ongoing health of the
events industry will be the
measures and approach taken
during what could be a prolonged
period of building back business
and public confidence. These need
to be a bold and ambitious. The
Events Industry Board has been
consulting on proposals to ensure
the UK retains and enhances its
competitiveness as the
recovery gathers pace.
Part of this must be immediate
support to sustain businesses and
people who work in the industry,
until real momentum is achieved. If
the cultural sector can receive a
£1.57bn package, surely the
£70bn events industry, which
delivers so much tangible benefit
to the economy, can claim a
comparable one, too.
Despite many of the existing
support programmes ending this
autumn, there is growing pressure
for more targeted help to those
industries which will still be
challenged to trade viably for some
time yet. We also need to take into
consideration what other countries
are doing and, as the industry
opens up, look to take an
equivalent or even better approach
to ensure the UK’s competitive
position.
Part of any package should help
the inevitable pivoting of many
event companies and their
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