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PRODUCT NEWS FEATURE


The industry likewise provides around 114,000 jobs in the UK. If the Government’s negligence of the exhibitions industry continues, it is inevitable that many of these jobs will be lost. We know the damage unemployment does to mental and physical wellbeing. While the Government is myopically focused on maintaining mothballed hospitals in case of a 'second spike', that may never come, it should pay more attention to the misery and health problems it is creating through unemployment.


Alan Jenkins


of allowing the exhibitions industry to fail will be significant in and of itself; The Global Association of the Exhibition Industry estimates that the UK exhibitions industry generated £11 billion of sales in recent years, contributing £5.4 billion towards Gross Domestic Product. This activity could simply cease if the Government doesn't act now.


These GDP numbers don’t account for the intangible benefits the exhibitions industry provides the UK economy. Exhibitions and trade shows create enormous network benefits for nearly every industry and sector of the UK economy. Exhibitions create new relationships, employment opportunities, supply contracts, or even provide the spark for people to start new businesses. Exhibitions are a powerful growth engine that should be prioritised to boost the wider economy.


Considering both the requirement to get the economy back on its feet, and the Government’s duty to save as many livelihoods as possible, it doesn’t make sense to maintain mothballed hospitals at the expense of the destruction of the exhibitions and events industry. It is unacceptable that the Government is failing to provide guidance about what stage, and under what conditions, the Nightingale hospitals will be returned to use.


This isn’t to overlook the ongoing danger of COVID-19. Returning the Nightingale hospitals to normal use must be contingent on COVID-19 cases continuing to fall. If there is a ‘second peak’, or cases start to rise significantly again, the exhibitions industry will have no choice but to accept that its primary facilities will remain unusable for the time being.


If this seems complacent, look at examples in Europe. Germany, which has won praise


for its handling of COVID-19, has reopened its exhibitions industry. Shows including Nürnberg Messe, the world’s largest landscape gardening show, are due to restart in September. I would urge the Government to learn more from European counterparts, as it is belatedly realising with our overly strict social distancing rules.


The UK Government is treating the exhibitions industry as if it’s disposable, allowing businesses and jobs to be lost in favour of maintaining unused facilities. We urgently need clarity on when, and how, our businesses can begin to return to viability.


While the


Government is myopically focused on maintaining mothballed hospitals in case of a 'second spike', that may never come, it should pay more attention to the misery and health problems it is creating through unemployment."


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