The All-Party
Parliamentary Group for Events (APPG) held its first parliamentary dinner
of the new parliament on Tuesday 6 May.
Hosted
by Shaun Davies, MP for Telford and chair of the APPG, the
dinner welcomed MPs – including several serving APPG officers
– alongside key figures from across the UK events sector and senior political stakeholders.
Attendees
included representatives from beam, the Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Togather,
Event Hire Association, Experience Oxfordshire, Raccoon Media Group, Manchester
Central, the Association for Event Venues (AEV) and the Meetings Industry
Association (MIA).
Senior
figures from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport, VisitBritain, ICC
Wales, Northstar Travel Group and industry think tank The Business of Events
also joined the evening.
The
dinner served as a vital platform for strengthening ties between the UK events
industry and Parliament, enabling industry leaders to directly engage with
policymakers and discuss the sector’s priorities, challenges, and opportunities
for growth.
Mike
Seaman, group CEO of Raccoon Media Group, said: “It restores a lot of your faith in politicians when you get to engage
with them in this way - most of them are truly in it for the right reasons and
are trying to help. We were there to talk about our world-class events industry
and to ask for recognition and support at the highest level.”
Mike
Fletcher, director of news and content for The Business of Events, said:
"This dinner was a timely and important opportunity for the events
industry to come together with government in a spirit of collaboration. The
APPG plays a crucial role in ensuring the voice of the sector is heard in
Westminster, and evenings like this are invaluable in building the
relationships that underpin effective advocacy."
The
APPG, which has been in operation since 2011, continues to champion the UK
events industry by increasing its profile among MPs, government ministers, and senior officials across Whitehall.
