Jacobs on


Covid created a “perfect storm” for T


ravel Weekly


parent Jacobs Media Group. Jacobs said: “We’re


predominantly an events business, and an international events business. We won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise [at the start of] this year for our international expansion – of all the years to win. We span the hospitality and travel sectors and run events, so talk about a perfect storm. “This has given us time to


money. That is the way the industry works. Customers crowdfunded my business – that is how I was able to build Holiday Autos. Truth be told, the risks have been exposed many times, but this [pandemic has] tipped it in a different direction. “We’ve got to learn lessons,


otherwise confidence in this industry will be severely damaged. “If [customer] money had to


go into escrow [trust accounts] people would have to find other ways of raising money. We have to move forward in a way that creates confidence.”


Industry should ‘lead on health protocols’ Jacobs argued: “People are hailing Rishi Sunak as the next leader of the Conservative Party. But to me, it’s common sense. Do you want a situation where hard-working people with mortgages and families find themselves out of work? “The right thing to do would be


to continue to support industries that travelweekly.co.uk


are affected and get everyone else back to work. “There are going to be good


companies that fail. Many businesses have not got the right levels of funding. The problem is we’ve been in this state of suspension and people have been able to muddle through. Just as businesses feel they can come through, they will run out of cash. “We can’t keep taking on debt.


There is no point piling more on to a business which eventually would sink it. There has to be the right balance. “We have to learn to live with


this disease. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything possible to create [health] protocols. “As an industry we have to lead


the way. It’s no use waiting for the government. You’ve only got to look at the track and trace system. We need to set protocols and lead in terms of best practice, not just for now but for the future. “If we want travel to move


forward, people have to comply or they can’t travel. Whether we like it


or not, we’ve got to take measures to create confidence, and prove to governments and particularly Centres for Disease Control [CDCs] that we’re taking measures that are best practice and minimise risk – because this is all about risk minimisation. “Covid has wreaked havoc. In


future, there might be other viruses. We had Sars, Mers, swine flu and there is no reason not to expect a more lethal virus than Covid. The fact is these viruses cross borders on aircraft. So we have to put in place protocols, like post-9/11. The likelihood of terrorists being able to get on a plane was rapidly diminished by the measures taken post-9/11. “We’re in the thick of Covid, but


we should be asking ‘how are we going to stop this happening again?’ How can we protect our industry and protect people? “I’m no expert but there should


be ways to stop diseases moving around the world. We can learn from this, protect people better and insulate ourselves from a repeat.”


reflect on how we can make the business better. We will get through this. We have the resources to do so and a team that is committed, albeit sadly we’ve had to let people go. We’ve made a lot of sacrifice. But we’ll come out stronger. “There are going to be


casualties in the industry. A lot of people are going to lose their jobs, though there will be new businesses. The recession that is going to follow is going to be horrible. You would have to be deluded not to realise it’s going to have a major impact. The travel industry is remarkably resilient, but there is going to be a cost.” Jacobs added: “I want to say publicly a massive thank you to the team at Jacobs Media Group. A lot of sacrifice has been made. People have had to go through a lot, and we’ve not had the luxury of being able to furlough anything like the number of people many businesses have because we’ve had to be there for the industry. It has been a massive strain on people.”


JMG NEWS


THE INTERVIEW


1 OCTOBER 2020


15


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