AEO News

The Association of Event Organisers (AEO), Association of Event Venues (AEV) and the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) have announced that their members' only "heads up" well-being tool kit has been made available to the public as a free resource for anyone needing help or support with their own mental health or that of colleagues, friends or family.

The AEO is pleased to announce the launch of its Keep in Touch Portal.

This portal, spearheaded by Alison Willis and James McGough, Chair and Vice-Chair of the AEO Talent Working Group, has been designed to keep the talent of our industry who were made redundant, connected with the AEO.

AEO, the Association of Event Organisers, and the Virtual Events Institute (VEI) have announced a strategic education and training partnership. The partnership will see the organisations sharing knowledge and best practice on digital and hybrid events to help upskill event organizers in the UK.

 

Request for publication of information on the Events Research Programme

The Events Industry Alliance (EIA) represents the UK’s event and exhibitions organisers, venues, and suppliers - a sector that prior to the Covid-19 pandemic was generating £11bn in economic activity and supporting 114,000 jobs. However, unlike many other parts of the UK economy, the exhibitions industry has been effectively shut since March 2020 due to national Covid-19 restrictions and faces additional unique challenges to resuming operations once restrictions are eased. 

EIA welcomes the Chancellor’s focus on supporting jobs and businesses but seeks urgent clarity and action on specific measures to support the still-closed exhibitions sector

The EIA welcomes the Chancellor’s statement that he intends to help businesses and individuals through the challenging months ahead. However, it is essential that all measures announced yesterday that give support to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are also extended to those in the exhibitions and events sector, given the identical nationwide restrictions to their activities they are facing.

The Event Industry Alliance (EIA), comprising the AEO, the AEV, and the ESSA, has studied yesterday's announcement by the Prime Minister, giving it a mixed review from an event industry perspective.

Thousands of businesses across England facing further job losses or bankruptcy due to local authorities failing to pay up to £1.4bn of emergency COVID-19 grants

• Freedom of Information Request by the Events Industry Alliance to Local Authorities across England has shown that an estimated 87 per cent of the £1.6bn Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) funds announced by the UK Government have yet to be paid out to companies, despite the scheme being launched four months ago.
• The ARG scheme was announced in October to help businesses forced to close due to COVID-19 restrictions, including those in the events, exhibitions and hospitality sectors
• Businesses closed by COVID-19 restrictions face being forced into making further job cuts or bankruptcy due to local council delays

The Events Industry Alliance (EIA)  is continuing its call for more funding, and improved availability of cash through current grant schemes, as part of its wider lobbying of government.

The EIA raised concerns with the Chancellor when members of ESSA repeatedly contacted the association to complain that local authorities were not forthcoming in providing even the basic support grants promised by the government on 31st October 2020.

Over the years, the mission of AEO has transitioned and developed to align with current issues.

A century on and the original collaborative ambitions are not too dissimilar from the AEO’s current objectives, albeit on a much wider and ambitious scale. It is run by its members for the benefit of its members through an elected council, specialist working groups and a fulltime secretariat.

The winners and finalists of the AEO Excellence Awards celebrated their successes virtually, last Friday the 4th December.

The event, which was due to take place earlier this year, saw hundreds of attendees tuning in to watch Dara Ó Briain present all 25 AEO awards, with Simon Kimble from Clarion Events taking the trophy for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry.

The Association of Event Organisers (AEO), Meetings Industry Association (mia), Association of Event Venues (AEV), and the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA), have today made the following joint statement. 

The business events sector warmly welcomes today’s Prime Minister’s announcement that the sector will be able to reopen under the revised Tier system. This integrates the business events sector with sports and performing arts sectors, providing the consistency for which the associations have been fighting.

AEO, AEV and ESSA have officially joined the One Industry One Voice Coalition with the #ProjectRecovery movement.

#ProjectRecovery’s objective is to inform and engage stakeholders on the work the associations are doing to facilitate the safe resurgence of events, at the earliest opportunity.