Following the UK Chancellor’s £40bn tax raising Budget, 30 October, including a hike in employers’ National Insurance contributions to 15%, the Events Industry Alliance (EIA) gave its reaction. The group represents business events in the UK with almost 500 companies of various types, from large multinationals to small and medium sized privately owned businesses.
A spokesperson for the Events Industry Alliance said: “We welcome the government’s ambition to kick start economic growth and we believe that the business events industry can help. Last year, our industry contributed £10.9bn to the UK economy, bringing businesses and visitors from around the world.
“However, [the] announcement of an increase in tax for small and medium sized businesses will be detrimental to growth prospects. Employment costs for our members are soaring and the increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions will clearly affect jobs, wages and prices within the industry.
“We believe that the Government should commit to providing incentives to boost the potential of our sector and encourage entrepreneurship. Combined with reducing trade frictions across the EU, this would supercharge the business events industry and enable us to deliver real economic growth.”
CEO of EDGE Venues, Jacqui Kavanagh, added: “Whilst support with business rates and investment in growth are welcome, the impact of an increase in National Insurance contribution by up to 15% from April 2025, is a deep blow for a meetings and events sector currently bucking the trend on growth. The hospitality sector by its very nature provides specialist services – there is a threat that personal services may have to be replaced by AI in some instances to reduce cost, dumbing down the services that we offer.
“This was never going to be a Budget full of giveaways, but it is frustrating that the government is laying the burden of fixing the economy on small businesses.
“These measures show that this new government doesn’t understand, or value, the potential of the meetings and events sector, in growth or the contribution of £60bn+ a year that it currently provides to the UK Exchequer.”
The MIA’s chief executive, Kerrin MacPhie, welcomed the government’s promise of a “genuine living wage”, but said government “must recognise that these changes reflect further cost increases to businesses, while also reinforcing our sector’s widely reported recruitment and staffing challenges.
“The rise of the National Living Wage to £12.21 an hour for over 21s and the 16% increase in minimum wage for 18–20-year-olds will have implications for our sector, increasing operating costs from April 2025 and further impacting pricing and profitability.
“Given the ongoing staff shortage in the sector we have been actively encouraging organisations to consider the employment of apprentices to fill and grow into roles. With it announced that new and existing apprentices’ hourly wage will raise from £6.50 to £7.55 an hour from April 2025, having already increased from £5.28 earlier this year, this is becoming increasingly less viable.”
MacPhie added that the increase in employer’s National Insurance contributions from 13.8% to 15% reflected, “significant cost increases when spread across the average workforce – particularly for large-scale conference centres and venues”.
She added that the 75% discount on business rates for the retail, hospitality and leisure industries to be replaced by a discount of 40%, up to £110,000, again created “a significant increase in expenditure for those that have found much-welcome relief in the scheme”.
“Currently, event venues may be eligible for the scheme dependent upon their specific use of the venue as well as local authorities’ interpretation of the scheme’s guidance. We have long had challenges based on the definition of hospitality and leisure and where business meetings and events sits, so we continue to ask for clarity on this so that venues can understand whether they will be entitled to some level of relief,” she added.
Julia Green, head of corporate events at Center Parcs Conferences & Events, also spoke about the possible effect of the Budget on the sector:
“The measures outlined in the Autumn Statement, particularly the 1.2% rise in employer contributions to NI and increases to both the national living wage and minimum wage, will have left many businesses closely scrutinising their budgets and looking for ways to reduce overall spend to maintain existing profit margins. As businesses cast critical eyes on all areas of expenditure, some may be tempted to slash the cash invested in conferences and events, especially on company away days, which are sometimes viewed, albeit mistakenly, as a discretionary spend or luxury investment to reward employees.
“But conferences and events deliver business benefits far beyond simply rewarding and bringing employees together, including driving considerable contributions to productivity, revenue, and retention, which collectively work to bolster the bottom line. In our recent survey of corporate events decision makers, for example, we found that 75% of companies reported increased productivity following employee-centric events, and 70% agreed that conferences and events directly or indirectly contributed to revenue generation strategies – both serving to increase profits in the long-term. It’s only natural for purse strings to tighten when facing increasing taxation burdens, but businesses should think carefully before the pulling the plug on their conferences and events spend – they might well be cutting off an investment that’s vital to overall performance.”
The UK’s Business Travel Association (BTA), separately, released a statement on the government raising regulated rail fares. Clive Wratten, CEO of the BTA said:
“The government’s decision to raise regulated rail fares by 4.6%, effective March 2025, along with a £5 increase for most railcards is deeply concerning. Affordable and reliable rail services are essential for business travellers and directly impact the UK’s economic growth.
“Passenger experience is at an all time low. Rail travel is a necessity for businesses and individuals, but additional costs must lead to tangible benefits for travellers. The BTA urges the government and the rail industry to use these increases to prioritise investments in service quality, reliability, and capacity improvements.”
