One Industry One Voice

Getting our members through this crisis is what matters most to us. The lobbying and campaigning since the beginning of the pandemic is an ongoing battle with Government to shout about who our members are and the support they need to survive Covid-19 and we’re still fighting for you.

The surveys, ongoing feedback and continual communication with Government & other associations in the hospitality and events sector is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tackling the range of challenges that our sector faces and now more than every before we need to stand together to tell the Government what we need.

Our most recent survey indicates that 81% of members who’s primary business is mobile or street food catering, are part of the events supply chain whether that is festivals, weddings, private or corporate events. The average loss in turnover since march is now £133,836.62 and the average business costs for the next 12 months coming in at £105,292.12.

You don’t need us to tell you that a solution needs to be found and the limbo we find ourselves in is not acceptable, we have asked for more notice and consultation on measures being debated and introduced in parliament to give you as much time as possible to make your businesses work, whether this is through markets and street food, mobile trading, deliveries, collections, pop-ups; your resilience and ability to adapt is astounding and we will do everything we can to ensure there is a future for our sector.

When asked what would make the biggest positive impact on your business now in order of importance, events sector reopening was deemed the biggest impact, sector specific grants was the second and the next was the return of the private events sector such as weddings, after this more places to trade as a mobile caterer and then the 10pm curfew to be lifted.

The re-opening and support needed for events industry is gaining more and more momentum and the One Industry One Voice taskforce has been set up to bring the events sector together. The information you give us when you take our surveys or feedback to us helps us to give as much information on the situation at present to government  – your input is invaluable and we thank you for spending the time to fill in surveys, sign petitions, read the updates and share your experiences. All of this helps to get our collective voice heard.

The organisations behind #WeMakeEvents, #Let the Music Play and #WeCreateExperiences are now aligning;  three campaigns represent different communities of interest within the £84 billion UK Events industry, and a diverse range of creative and technical skills, venues, suppliers and infrastructure that make up the UK events eco-system.

By joining forces through the One Industry One Voice initiative, the taskforce hopes to coordinate closely on campaign dates; to amplify each other’s messages where relevant; share and agree on data and statistics to accurately reflect key industry numbers; align closely on key industry asks of Government; and to promote each other’s activities.

We work closely with the Events Industry Forum (EIF) and asked them how they felt the industry will benefit from OIOV, here is what Steve Heap, Chair of the EIF and Jim Winship, EIF Secretary said:

“The outdoor events industry has been growing successfully for several years without any need for financial support from HM Government. However, the COVID-19 crisis brought festivals and events to a sudden halt in March 2020. We were the first to stop work and we will probably be the last to re-open.

 After much campaigning from several quarters of our industry, the Government saw fit to offer £1.57billion of support for Culture and Heritage. A welcome injection, but not sufficient in size or even distribution to help the event organisers, the support crews, the technical staff or the small sole traders that supply our industry.

 Several associations and campaigning groups are now banding together to present a case to HM treasury requesting financial support to cover the period from the end of the furlough scheme to the end of March 2021. A fund of this nature would keep the jobs and technical expertise of the events industry support staff along with the actual organisers so our business can safely re-start in spring 2021. Without this funding there will sadly be many redundancies and company bankruptcies pushing the industry to near collapse with little chance of a revival for several years.

We welcome the creation of One Industry One Voice as a mechanism for bringing together the different strands of the UK event industry to campaign on issues of common interest.   One of the problems the industry has faced has been the lack of co-ordinated effort, which minimises the impact we should be having with opinion formers and the public generally. Gathering facts, figures and information to support this case is vital and the lobbying work of EIF, BVEP and UK Music now coming together as ONE INDUSTRY, ONE VOICE is grateful for the input of NCASS members. We will now take this forward and present the best case possible.

While the three key organisations – BVEP, UK Music and EIF – have successfully brought their sectors together, there are times when all three need to work together to be better heard and OIOV provides an opportunity for us to do just that.    This will be particularly important as we come out of this pandemic and need to encourage the public back to events.”  

Working together is the way forward and to show this we need to make as much noise as possible as an industry. Share your experiences on social media, tag Rishi Sunak, Alok Sharmer, BEIS, DCMS in your posts, write to your MP, speak to your local authority about additional funds, share the #oneindustryonevoice, share your experiences with us so we can share them, sign the petition for events, take our survey and keep updated with the latest news and resources on our website.

“By working together with a common goal we can be much more effective.”