Feature
Beyond Brexit
At the latest EN
Roundtable, held at the
Victory Services Club,
event professionals
from across the industry
gather to discuss the
potential implications of
Britain’s exit from the EU
34 — March
W
ith less than a month to go until
Britain’s scheduled exit date from the
EU on 29 March, there is still a vast amount
of uncertainty around what the procedure
will look like for businesses.
For the UK events industry, which is
so interlinked with Europe and so reliant
on effective logistics, manpower from
the hospitality sector, and the financial
confidence of its customers, finding answers
to key questions is becoming ever more
urgent.
For the latest in its series of roundtable
discussion, EN gathers exhibition industry
professionals from across the organiser,
venue, supplier and association spectrum
to discover their key concerns ahead of the
UK’s historic split with the European Union.
First up, Mark Bristoll, sales director at
CEVA Showfreight, gives his perspective as a
logistics contractor.
“The big thing for us is customs,” he says.
“We’ve got pages and pages of research
documents, but for me the issue is that no
one knows. It could be business as usual or it
could be falling off a cliff. We’re anticipating
things like Calais-Dover to be extremely
busy and chaotic and so we’re looking at
providing flexibility.”
Adam Aston, chief business officer at
Creative Hire: “For me, it’s the knock-
on effect; all these things will have a
knock-on effect on every service. It’s
about contemplating whether venues and
organisers have this area in which they may
accommodate the delays that might occur.”
Paul Brady, sales & marketing executive
at CEVA Showfreight: “Across the board
everyone needs to have in the back of
their mind the need to have a contingency,