Why collaboration will secure a better future for the UK events industry

Joining us as guest editor this month is Rick Stainton, CEO of The Power of Events, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to better showcase, respect and value the power of the UK events industry.

In his column, Rick explores the power of collaboration across all areas of the industry, and how, by collaborating better, we can secure a future for the industry. 

Why collaboration will secure a better future for the UK events industry

The UK’s events sector is made up of many parts: Agencies, suppliers, trade associations, support organisations, media, freelancers, educators and more. It’s a huge, exciting, powerful industry, but those outside it often remain unaware of this.

So, in 2023, we launched The Power of Events, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to better showcase, respect and value the power of the UK events industry, defining seven core sectors as well as the partner organisations at its foundations.

The Power of Events is designed to uniquely answer the question: ‘Where is the one place to go to learn, explore and discover all about the UK events industry?’

Over the last two years, we have created that place. We have fast become an inclusive and representative community, comprising more than 350 supporters, from the smallest to the biggest agencies; the huge supply chain across hundreds of service areas; the essential freelance network as well as leading venues from all four nations of the UK. Partners include trade associations and media publications. It’s an unprecedented level and range of organisations supporting one mission.

Building the community has required collaboration from across the sector, and as we move forward, collaboration will continue to be essential to secure the future of the industry. 

As we know, one of the few key challenges facing all sectors within the industry is inspiring and securing the best talent, so we are focusing on this.

The industry has jointly launched a UK-wide Schools Engagement Programme which aims to engage with as many young people as possible in secondary school education over the next five years.

Following a pilot funded by the Events Industry Forum in the East of England, it rolled out to Birmingham, the South Coast, Hertfordshire, Edinburgh and the North West, with industry-leading organisations as regional sponsors. It will launch in other regions, including London and the South West, with the forecast of engaging 50,000 – 75,000 young people across 300-450 school visits by the end of 2025.

The Power of Events also launched the Events Industry Insight app in 2024 to help associations and academia maximise their engagement with data and insight collation projects.

We will be talking about these projects and others, as well as the principal challenges and opportunities our supporters and partners are currently focusing on, at the Power of Events Stage at The Meetings Show 2025.

Other topics we’ll debate with proposed calls to action include inclusivity and accessibility, and human sustainability and welfare.

Please join the team and 35 industry leaders across eight sessions over two days at The Power of Events stage - see you there!