The Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) is asking its members and relevant businesses to take to Twitter, 5 May, in an effort to highlight to prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak the extended measures needed to help the events industry survive the Covid-19 crisis.
ESSA director Andrew Harrison said that while the association, alongside the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) and Association of Event Venues (AEV) have been lobbying ministers and government to act on behalf of the event industry, this “twitterstorm” is intended to highlight the scale of the businesses impacted. Harrison said: “[It is] a collective cry for help from hundreds of individual event businesses, underlining precisely what is at stake here, namely thousands of jobs, billions in revenue, and the continued pre-eminence of the UK event industry on the world stage.”
Those taking part should use the hashtag #weareevents, with ESSA also asking participants to tag the prime minister and chancellor personally.
ESSA has published a list of requests, including recognition of the part that events and exhibitions will play in reigniting the UK post-outbreak economy, and inclusion of the events industry in the government’s plans to stimulate key vertical markets.
The supplier association is also calling for equal and comparable focus and support for UK exhibitions and events, as identified with the government’s International Business Events Action Plan, confirmation that the sector is a part of leisure, hospitality and tourism and that it will benefit from all current and future packages and measures, and an industry support package.
ESSA has further asked for clarity on the lockdown scenarios from the government and guidance on when events are expected to be allowed to run again, so to allow time for the supply chain to resource and plan effectively.
