The exhibition industry should be at the front for driving the UK economy out of the crisiss

Mash Media Group， the biggest UK MICE industry publisher， with titles including Conference & Meetings World and Exhibition World serving the international markets， and Conference News and Exhibition News serving the UK market alone. The company also publishes a range of directories and digital information products. Mash Media is also organiser of industry communication events regularly， including International Confex， the UKs largest and respected MICE industry tradeshow， which has a proud 39-year heritage in London. Mash Media is also a member of ICCA.

The British exhibition economy： high quality and richly variety As Mr. Paul Colston， Managing Editor of Exhibition World introduces， the broader UK events industry is worth an estimated￡70bn to the UK economy and provides 700，000 jobs and， in 2019， business events generated more than ￡31bn of direct spend in the UK， according to official statistics. The UK exhibitions sector contributes ￡11bn of that overall MICE figure to the UK economy annually， according to the UKs Association of Event Organisers， and this extraordinary economic powerhouse directly and indirectly supports over 110，000 jobs attracting over 9 million visitors， and servicing almost 180，000 exhibitors.

Paul Colston proudly points out that the UK has a vast selection of high quality and richly varied purpose-built exhibition venues and historic heritage buildings suitable for hosting world-class events. They range from sports stadia， like Wembley Stadium and Wimbledon， to historic venues such as the Royal Horticultural Halls， and through to modern purpose built exhibition iconic venues such as ExCeL London and The NEC Birmingham. Also， Scotland boasts the big and impressive SEC campus in Glasgow and Wales has a new ICC recently opened.

More importantly， the UK also has a network of talented， experienced and creative suppliers and organisers of exhibitions， and many exhibition organisers from the UK have cloned successful exhibitions in other countries， including Informa Markets， Media 10， Montgomery， Tarsus and many more. “Many leading exhibition and convention venues and exhibition companies around the world have British nationals leading their businesses and the events profession is something ingrained in our DNA in the UK， I believe，" he adds.

The UK exhibitions industry is also committed to assisting new events to align with key sector priorities， to use events in order to promote UK businesses and their products and services， to attracting more international events and grow already successful events further. Paul Colston points out that the exhibitions are like the roots that nurture the UK economic ecosystem， so that the tree grows strong in all sectors， there is not an economic sector that does not use the platform of exhibitions and conferences in its marketing armoury to advance itself in the UK.

Industry identity issue to be solved to be heard

“An exhibition does not exist to serve the exhibitions industry： it exists to serve other industries. We are selfless toilers！” Paul Colston observes. Interestingly， while the exhibitions industry is integral to the success of many other sectors and industries， in the UK it has suffered with an identity issue. Those staff that work in the sector lack a Standard Industrial Classification （SIC） code， which means the government will see the events team that runs an oil companys exhibitions as working in the energy sector. This has led to problems for the industry getting its voice properly heard in the corridors of power， a point fully illustrated during the coronavirus crisis， where the MICE industry was first to close and nearly last to reopen. The UK exhibition industry hides in plain sight， it seems. Responding to this， Paul Colston comments， “Our message in this time of Covid-19 crisis has been that the exhibition industry in the UK must not be at the back of the queue asking for government support and handouts， but at the front of the queue for industries driving the UK economy out of the crisis.”

Restarting the events industry will be a gradual process

According to Paul Colston， in the UK， a timeline for hosting the first shows after the pandemic is far from being determined yet. The government has been very cautious in the UK， not least because of the heavy price of over 45，000 deaths， due to Covid-19 in the UK. ExCeL London and The National Exhibitions Centre（NEC） in Birmingham， the countrys two biggest venues， have been requisitioned and turned into emergency ‘Nightingale hospitals.

Paul Colston reveals that the UK government has finally given the conference and exhibition industry a reopening date， 1 October 2020， provided there are no flare ups or new outbreaks and that safety and hygiene protocols， which the industry has worked hard to produce， are observed. He believes that the return to business will inevitably be gradual with smaller meetings and events going first to test the waters and ensure everything runs smoothly. Meanwhile， the UK industrys Association of Event Organisers association will be keeping a watchful eye and helping to ensure new standards of hygiene and safety are observed.

Paul Colston was recently pleased to profile in his article the Hunan Auto Show， leading the way back to exhibition business in China at the end of April. He is sure that the UK has learned a lot from such case studies to keep that show running safely and hygienically.

More sophisticated events technology expected in the future

For Paul Colston， the obvious No.1 future trend is the acceleration to use more sophisticated meetings and events technology. People have got used to a new normal of faster and more multi-level networking via such platforms as Zoom and Teams， with many others being fast developed.

Secondly， large events will increasingly have hybrid elements and allow organisers to reach larger audiences and not just on the scheduled physical dates and venues， but 24/7， 365 days a year.

In the meantime， Paul Colston warns that while one silver lining of the coronavirus crisis has been the accelerated development of hybrid events， we shall not forget that our industry is based on faceto-face and the human factor， and the sooner confidence in that tried and tested method of doing business on the tradeshow floor is returned， the better for us all.