We spotted this press release and thought it was worth sharing with the UK insurance sector. The shows and events circuit has been an integral part of insurance, and insurtech knowledge sharing, pitching and investment for over 20 years. It will be a shame in many ways to lose that huge swathe of shows, even though many of them were based in London and there was a certain elitist element to many events – if you’re not in London then you an’t a player, that kinda vibe.
Maybe the industry needs a certain number of physical face-to-face shows and conferences, spread across the UK to provide a more localised, and therefore inclusive opportunity for the many companies active in insurance, software, data, marketing, SEO, chatbots and more? Post a comment below.
So have a read of this, by David Blackburn, founder of Marketing Quotes;
Tens of thousands of marketing and creative businesses that support the UK exhibition and events sector had a final nail hammered in the ‘coffin’ following the Chancellors budget as they sit dormant because of Covid-19. Without support and a possible changing of operating systems post-Covid, furloughed staff may be moved to redundancy as agencies close their doors permanently due to the social distancing restrictions, resulting in a skill shortage that will hinder the recovery of UK Plc.
The exhibition and incentive travel markets are worth £50 bn per year, employing nearly one million people and delivering 35% of the UK’s total visitor income. With London being the #1 EMEA city in terms of meetings and event activity, in the UK over 10,000 venues host over 1.3 million events, attraction over 90 million attendees each year.
Since March, the exhibition, events & incentive travel market has seen all events cancelled, with many creative and marketing campaigns being cancelled with global advertising spend plummeting.
With promotional budgets shelved the marketing and creative sectors have seen scheduled campaigns for 2020 and into 2021 either put on hold or cancelled altogether. With no foreseeable signs of recovery, resulting in a predicted future skills shortage, which, when businesses want to kick start recovery, will struggle to engage competent teams to roll out those plans.
In step with other sectors, online platforms like Zoom have seen rapid uptake as the communication tool of choice, and virtual events have the potential to change the exhibition landscape, replacing the need for ‘face to face’ events and exhibitions until life returns to normal, whatever that may be.
David Blackburn, founder of www.MarketingQuotes.co.uk comments;
“Over 30,000 businesses support the exhibition and event sector, including event organisers, venues, destination marketing organisations (DMOs), exhibition contractors, and event production companies. Together with a host of other creative industries and agencies, PR, publishers, transport operators, and more the list is endless. A large proportion of these businesses are SMEs, owner-operated, and depend upon this industry and have seen their order books empty.”
“We work with over 35,000 creatives in the UK and have seen a demise of over 30% of those agencies in one way or another, with thousands folding permanently with no sign of recovery. With staff furloughed and redundancies in the sector looming, when and if business does return, many creatives will have exited the industry permanently. Those redundant staff that do stay may become ‘freelancers’, embracing new home working practices, sourcing projects from their previous employers, or via freelancer platforms, resulting in a huge skills shortage’.”
Many of the bigger agencies may never recover and return. The new freelance community may be the ‘go-to guys’ where returning clients can find cost-effective solutions. With smaller agencies and fewer agencies, technology could fill some gaps, accelerating marketing automation as it plays a more prominent role for both agencies and corporate marketing teams. The new normal after COVID is changing many industries, with the creative sector being one of them.
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