UK Events

Hello,

Welcome to November’s Briefing from The Business of Events.

It has been an incredibly busy season for us and the events industry as a whole. On the 8th November we ran our UK Policy Forum at the wonderful IET London: Savoy place, which itself was preceded by a fabulous dinner courtesy of the team at 116 Pall Mall and Searcys.

Below you will find a link to the summary, and we cannot thank you all enough for supporting us and attending the day. The content was carefully curated to meet the agenda of the Department for Business and Trade’s International Trade Week which focused on trade and export, and we have had wonderful feedback from our delegates.

We are currently putting together a summary report of the Policy Forum’s outcomes which will be shared directly with our colleagues across government, the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events, and publicly across the industry. This will form a key step in the development of a policy agenda.

At this time of year, the work never stops, and from the 28th to 30th November we will be out in Barcelona at IBTM World, where we have curated several content sessions on the Impact Stage, the agenda for which can be viewed below.

These sessions will have advocacy at their core and we do hope that you will be able to join us.

One session will be the launch of our Global Destination Report 2023 which we have put together in partnership with Meet in Ireland. The report will shine a spotlight on sentiment from destinations around the world and its purpose is to be a tool for destinations to have meaningful conversations with their local, regional, or national governments to promote a stronger business event sector.

This week also saw the Chancellor of the Exchequer deliver his Autumn Statement, and while we have compiled a short briefing note based on the information shared with the House of Commons, there is much more reading to be done and details to be explored.

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Reports

Q3 2023 experienced a typical summer dip in July and August, yet September stood out with a significant surge in confirmed events, marking the highest level in recent years. Notably, forward bookings exhibited signs of softening, presenting a nuanced picture of the industry’s trajectory.

News

The UK Policy Forum took place on 8^th November and aspired to educate the events industry on the current political landscape so that any policy agenda that is created can be done so with realistic objectives at its core. The content for this year’s event was specifically curated not just to align with the Department for Business and Trade’s International Trade Week but to discuss key industry policy areas for which the UK government can benefit from.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, delivered his Autumn Statement to Parliament, 22^nd November. As widely trailed, there were tax cuts for business, reductions in national insurance, along with extensions in business rates reductions for hospitality and leisure businesses and full expensing on business investment – all of which will be welcomed by businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Upcoming activity

This year The Business of Events has helped curate content for the destination stream on the Impact Stage at IBTM World, which takes place in Barcelona from 28th to 30th of November 2023. The sessions have been curated with advocacy in mind, and we’ll showcase what work is being done to drive business events forwards to arrange of initiatives. Download your copy of our IBTM World: Impact Stage Programme by clicking here.

Join us at 1pm (C.E.T) on 28^th November for the launch of the Global Destination Report 2023, in partnership with Meet in Ireland. You will be able to download the report by visiting the homepage of our website following the

Partnership update

The Business of Events is able to deliver its programme of activities thanks to the generous support of its strategic and commercial partners.

These activities provide the perfect opportunity to promote your organisation as a brand leader, share a platform with sector leaders, government and influencers, help shape content and deliver key messages to industry and policy makers.

We have a range of cost-effective partnership opportunities available for our 2024 programme.

More news

Opinion: Let’s ensure business and outdoor events aren’t left in the silent disco

Events Industry Alliance publishes its key policy asks in their second Parliament event

Our partners

If you're interested in becoming a partner to support our advocacy and policy work, download The Business of Events 2024 Partner Prospectus which includes further details about our 2023 objectives, Policy Unit, partner news, content, and more.

In partnership with

To find out more about our content partners, or for more information for prospective partners, head to The Business of Events website where you'll also discover more about our events, our work with the APPG for events, our Advisory Council, and how to get in touch.