Conferencing, meetings and events: the capacity conundrum in the UK

As one of the leading financial capitals in the world, the UK is very much a destination to do business. In fact, in 2017 Forbes listed the UK as the best place to do business in the world and Eventbrite has estimated the current contribution of corporate conferencing, meetings and events to be worth £54.8bn toward UK GDP. As the environment for business in the UK has flourished, so too has the hospitality industry as it serves the needs of businessmen and women from across the globe. But how can we continue to be ‘open for business’ and enjoy all of the benefits that business travellers bring with them? Although seen as a fantastic place to do business, over a quarter of the hospitality leaders surveyed by Jurys Inn for its annual ‘Driving UK Tourism’ report said that the UK continues to lag behind its European neighbours as a burgeoning hub for international conferences and events. The main reason for this? Capacity. Other European capitals such as Barcelona, Amsterdam and Vienna all offer a wide range of large convention centres, making it difficult for the UK to truly compete due to its current limitation of conferencing and meeting venues. Many of the M&E players on the continent have taken the needs of conferencing planners to heart, covering their basic requirements of capacity, access, infrastructure and security, whilst offering good value and wider appeal such as good weather, attractive locations and high quality continental hotels. With space at a premium in densely populated urban centres like London, Manchester and Birmingham, meeting the most basic requirements for international event planners can be somewhat of a challenge. Although Britain has invested significantly into its events facilities and supporting infrastructure such as the SEC Centre in Glasgow and the NEC in Birmingham, there is still a lack of large scale integrated hotel and meeting facilities, such as those found in the USA and the Far East, putting the UK at a disadvantage when bidding for some of the large conferences. So what can we do? To address this capacity conundrum, hospitality companies could play an important role in the implementation of city-wide schemes where a city or region works together to identify and market unique areas of value. Hospitality providers, conference centres and related businesses should also develop stronger ties and engage with government bodies, local authorities, tourism boards and the business community to offer world-class conferencing and event services. Nick de Bois, Chairman of the UK Events Industry Board, agreed with this, stating recently, “The Board and the government both recognise that the exhibition, congress and events sector can showcase the UK’s industrial strengths, bolster exports and stimulate inward investment. But Ministers also want to hear directly from business about how to government can help deliver an even more attractive business landscape for events to be hosted in this country.” In addition to the greater revenues generated by increased venue capacity for such events, our research with industry experts also suggest making UK conferencing facilities more tax-efficient. The need for more ‘alternative’ and ‘authentic’ meeting spaces to attract business visitors was also stated as a growth opportunity, and a chance to better leverage the nation’s architectural history and variety. On a national level, we need to invest in more purpose-built meeting and event spaces which will enable the UK to compete on a global stage, and encourage local authorities to develop city-wide schemes to attract more business travellers. Looking within the Jurys Inn Group, we have very much established the business as a significant UK meeting and events player, having seen a 61% rise in our meeting and event spaces during 2016, with 215,000 sq. ft. added, following increased demand. This includes the addition of the 4* Hinckley Island Hotel, one of the UK’s premier meeting and event hotels, which has capacity for 1,000 delegates; Jurys Inn Oxford, which has 20 superb meeting rooms; and Jurys Inn Brighton Waterfront which can hold 300 delegates. Aside from the need for increased capacity and quality of meeting and event spaces, to ease the burden on the most popular hubs, steps should also be taken to improve infrastructure and transport. This could be accomplished by offering incentives to airlines to increase access to other UK destinations, and increase investment in rail networks, especially to and from airports to major cities such as Leeds and Belfast, which have no rail links from the airport to the city centres. If we fail to capitalise on our position as an established international destination for companies of all shapes and sizes, our European neighbours and cities further afield, will profit from business travellers seeking venues that can host the size required to the highest standard. To avoid this, we must address this capacity conundrum and unite together to focus on remaining ‘open for business’.