The Event Society has launched its first policy, setting out guidelines for how event agencies and suppliers should manage the costs of site inspections.
The voluntary Site Inspection Policy aims to encourage greater transparency around the costs of visits, particularly for overseas programmes, and reduce the number of speculative inspections undertaken at suppliers’ expense.
The policy was unanimously accepted by The Event Society’s membership, according to founder Chris Walls, and is intended to provide a common starting point for discussions between agents, suppliers and end-clients.
Under the guidelines, suppliers should charge reasonable direct costs at cost, with fees quoted and agreed in advance.
“The intention is to provide a
framework that demonstrates commitment, integrity and transparency,” said Walls. “It should
mean that any site visits are the back end of a real requirement and aims
to reduce the number of holidays disguised as site visits.
“We hope that this allows the suppliers to have the ability to fight back against the spurious, vague site visit requests from some of the less scrupulous agents,” he added.
Agencies are encouraged to discuss inspection costs with clients at the outset and include them in programme budgets. Suppliers are also encouraged to explain their inspection policies at the start of an enquiry and take account of the programme’s potential value and business history when setting costs.
The Society hopes wider recognition of the policy will encourage adoption beyond its membership.
Walls added that the policy should help agencies demonstrate their commitment to a project while giving suppliers greater confidence that a visit represents a genuine opportunity.
“It would be included within conversations with the end-user client and the suppliers at the outset of the project enabling the costs to be included within the budgets which in itself then becomes a deliverable,” he said.
The policy is the first formal initiative from The Event Society, founded by Walls, a former chair of the Alliance of Independent Event Agencies, to promote collaboration, knowledge-sharing and stronger commercial relationships between agencies and suppliers.
The Society now has 35 agency members and 21 suppliers, spanning venues, hotel groups, representation organisations, flight agents, convention bureaux and other services. Members work across UK and international business, with a focus on small and medium-sized agencies.
The full site inspection policy is available from The Event Society.
