In an open letter to Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the Event Industry Alliance has asked for a fixed restart date to be announced on 5 July.
The letter also describes the recent delay to Step 4 of the roadmap out of lockdown as a ‘hammer blow’ for the events sector.
“We respectfully ask that in your review on 5 July, you are able to provide a firm date for the events sector,” the letter states.
The letter was penned by the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA), the Association of Event Organisers (AEO), and the Association of Event Venues (AEV) which collectively forms the Events Industry Alliance.
In it, the alliance outlines the precarious position the industry is in due to the ongoing delay of moving into Step 4 and lifting all restrictions. The letter also reminds the government just how vital the industry is to the UK economy.
“Business events and trade and consumer exhibitions in the UK have always delivered business, economic and societal benefits,” the letter states. “If we look to the wider events sector, to include meetings conference, festivals, music and cultural events we see some 700,000 jobs and £70bn of economic impact generated each year.”
While the alliance recognises the fine balance between public health and reopening business sectors, the letter emphasises the dismal fact that many event organisations are barely surviving.
“Event organisations have been forced into further postponement, or worse, cancellation, resulting in even greater pressure to survive. Due to the cyclical nature of events calendars, several organisers will not have delivered their core product for four years.”
The letter also calls for more support from the government. Acknowledging the support already handed out by chancellor Rishi Sunak, the alliance pulls on examples of how other governments have provided support: financially through event planner grants to entice meetings and events to the region, strategically identified business events as organised gatherings and exempted business travellers from general travel restrictions and politically with measures to build customer confidence including government-backed insurance.
The letter goes on to make the argument that every member of staff still on furlough is costing the treasury money and therefore would make more sense to allow events, without restrictions, to happen and bring back staff full time.
In part, the open letter is a result of the delay to Step 4 and in part due to the radio silence on the results from the Events Research Programme which took place in April and May. Through leaked information to the press, the public is aware that these pilot events were ‘safer than going to the supermarket’ and did not transmit any Covid-19 infections between event attendees.
However, the lack of publicly available results from the Events Research Programme led many MPs to broach the subject in parliament this week and now legal action, led by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Cameron Mackintosh and Peter Gabriel, has been launched against the Government to force the publication of the results.
They aim to force the government to hand over the report of Phase 1 of the Events Research Programme (ERP).
Lord Lloyd Webber said: “Today, with a range of voices from across the theatre and live entertainment industries, we are forced to take it further. We simply must now see the data that is being used to strangle our industry so unfairly.”
“The Government’s actions are forcing theatre and music companies off a cliff as the summer wears on whilst cherry-picking high-profile sporting events to go ahead. The situation is beyond urgent."
You can read the full open letter from the Event Industry Alliance below:
A desire to travel led Holly Patrick to the business meetings and events world and she’s never looked back. Holly takes a particular interest in event sustainability and creating a diverse and inclusive industry. When she’s not working, she can be found rolling skating along Brighton seafront listening to an eclectic playlist, featuring the likes of Patti Smith, Sean Paul, and Arooj Aftab.
