Business of Events’ UK Policy Forum

Ahead of Rishi Sunak’s reshuffle, the political landscape was a focus for the Business of Events’ UK Policy Forum, at IET London in Savoy Place.

Takeaways here are from the morning/early afternoon sessions, which saw Newsnight’s political editor, Nick Watt, and recently re-elected chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Events, Theresa Villiers MP, among the key hooks.

After an outline of the day from Martin Fullard, director news & content at The Business of Events (TBOE)/associate director news & content at Davies Tanner, Senthil Gopinath CEO at the ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) was first guest up.

Gopinath gave some background, details of the association’s Advocacy Alliance, before singling out Sydney, Singapore and Copenhagen as examples of cities with a good relationship between government and the local business event industry.

The sequencing was good. As Gopinath dashed for the airport, Nick Watt stepped up to take his audience through the machinations, posturings and potential of the two main parties in this country.

Watt has covered six general elections, he’s an affable, engaging speaker for hire, and he’s been cross-country running with Jeremy Hunt. So, addressing 100 or so people in the Kelvin Lecture Theatre was easy pickings.

In a practised 45 minutes or so, with no agenda beyond engagement, Watt wonders how Rishi Sunak’s unapologetic support for Brexit will sell itself to the British electorate eight years on. He highlights how Keir Starmer, who was pushing for a second referendum ahead of the last election, has left the subject well alone since, managing to separate it from his want for a closer relationship with Europe in a bid to keep a dialogue with both camps.

Looking at when to expect the next General Election, Sunak will want to leave it as long as possible, of course, in a bid to deliver on his commitment to halving inflation, to growing the economy et al. There are local elections in the way though, Watt points out, May-time. The government is likely to take another kicking there, which could persuade him to drop the flag earlier.

In terms of odds, Starmer is the clear favourite. Watt paints him as equally earnest and ruthless, but not a great ‘salesman’. And, despite all the stats, never write Rishi Sunak off, we’re told. Like the former DPP, he’s very hard working…

Designed to pitch ideas from thought leaders and commentators interspersed with ‘conversation time’, this UK Policy Forum was about ‘unlocking the potential of the [events] industry’. And next up, real politics came in the shape of Theresa Villiers with Rachael McGuikin from Visit Belfast and Ian Edwards of ICC Wales sitting to Fullard’s left as he put the questions. Villiers is a Brexiter too, incidentally. 

“The first couple of years [of my tenure] were about keeping the sector alive through COVID,” Villiers says. “[Since then, we have] hosted events in Parliament with industry leaders to understand their wants, trying to ensure the events and conferences sector has a voice in Parliament.

“It’s a good idea to try and measure, to highlight the amount of GDP/jobs dependent on the event sector,” Villiers continues. “People involved in the events business talking to their local MPs is very important. We do listen.”

McGuikin pays tribute to Villiers’ impact working with Visit Belfast, helping to secure meetings with Steve Baker, Minister of State for Northern Ireland and, ultimately, a £1m investment over three years – “a multiple problem solver”.

There’s an assumption the sector’s doing okay, McGuikin adds, but business events are underfunded across the board, which is a tough sell for government. ‘Why are you going to prioritise this over hospital waiting lists’?

Like the ICCA, Savoy Place and the majority of other institutions involved, the APPG for Events is a Davies Tanner client. This is an invitation-only event, and credit to the agency for its illustrious roster, but with no questions from the audience and a largely ‘didn’t she do well’ style interaction otherwise, that element feels a bit like an opportunity missed.

Robert Wright, founder of Davies Tanner and The Business of Events, took to the stage next. Under the heading, ‘Developing a Policy Agenda for the UK Events Sector’, he did some of the history behind TBOE, Davies Tanner’s work with the APPG for Events, with UK Events, with Visit Britain, and how the think tank pulls that together.

In step with the takeaways, ahead of another busy couple of hours in the room that afternoon, Wright wrapped the politics stressing The Business of Events’ neutrality, its want for stability, clear representation, low inflation and low interest rates.

An interesting outing then, between the Strand and the Thames.