A group of leading agency heads is offering free advice to smaller and more vulnerable businesses and venues on how to get through the Covid-19 hit to the industry.
Rick Stainton, founder and group executive director of Smyle Group made the offer in an open letter to the industry.
He said: "I have been on a number of forums recently and clearly there’s a lot of businesses that just need to confidentially talk through their current situation and glean any advice they can from larger businesses that perhaps have more experience, resources or just simply have been able to develop a route map.
"In addition, with the furlough scheme unwinding married with a recessionary scenario imminent, if I was currently running a smaller agency in a more vunerable position with a lack of depth in strategic experience around me, it’s clearly a lonely place to be.
"So I believe if a few experienced agency heads running leading agencies in the industry offered me 30 mins of their time on a 1 to 1 basis it would be hugely helpful, just to get some perspective, clarity and not feeling alone on this.
"It’s humbling to confirm that having reached out this morning to Julian Pullan ‐ vice chairman at Jack Morton, Michael Wyrley‐Birch ‐ CEO of TRO, Jonathan Emmins ‐ founder at Amplify, Russ Lidstone ‐ group CEO of The Creative Engagement Group and Jeremy Rees ‐ CEO at ExCel London, they all confirmed their commitment to join me on this within a matter of hours.
"As a group, we feel we have a responsibility at least to offer our experience to any small event agency, supplier or venue leader who would like 30 mins of our time on a 1‐1 call over the coming weeks. I have no idea if there will be none, a trickle or many takers but if we only help one business it’s worth it – my feeling is there may be an understandable pride and confidence battle here to have already reached out pro‐actively from their side – so if we reach out first then we dissolve that sentiment at time when as an industry we can and should be there for each other.
"So if you would like to take us up on this opportunity, please email me at [email protected] and then I can connect you with the most appropriate member of our group for a 30-minute call."
M&IT editor Paul Harvey is a journalist with more than 15 years of experience. He began his career in the local press, working for various titles across the north. Since joining M&IT in 2013, he has become a trusted and respected voice in the sector, championing event professionals and reporting on all aspects of the events industry for the brand.
