PRESS CUTTINGS

The English rugby team prior to their

knock-out game against Australia

Corporate sales around the Rugby World Cup have come to a

"grinding halt" now all home nations have been knocked out of the

tournament.

The Rugby World Cup spirit across the UK has been dampened

following the weekend losses, which event organisers predict will

reflect in corporate sales.

Despite the expected drop, the Rugby World Cup has already become

the most successful sporting event in England, with corporate

hospitality sales up 50 per cent from the London Olympics.

AOK Events, which has been appointed as one of four official agents

for the world cup, expects yearly targets to take a slight hit due to a

slow-down in sales.

CEO Alex Hewitt says he was aiming to sell an additional 500-1000

corporate packages as England progressed, but now says that will be

near impossible.

"But for England exiting the World Cup I had been extremely confident

of hitting targets (a 20 per cent lift on last year). Now it's going to be

hard," he said.

"The fact England didn't even make the quarter final4 if they had

made the quarter and maybe even the semi-finals people would have

chased England home in the tournament and we could have been

confident in selling more corporate packages.

"Without any of the home nations in the tournament it's just dampened

it a tiny bit. Sales had been very good until England came out of the

World Cup and then it came grinding to a halt."

Cavendish Hospitality, another appointed Rugby World Cup agent, has

also witnessed a slowing in sales. CEO Chris Bruton said the

tournament had run seamlessly and hospitality had been very good, but

it was let down by the performance of the home nations.

"We had some Scottish and Irish clients on the end of last week who

were talking about being in touch this week (and haven't yet)," he said.

"It's just a shame England didn't do better on the field. All you can do is

do your best to organise a fantastic event and hope the teams come

up.

"We've already hit our targets so we're happy about that. We did take

a few bookings yesterday, single figures though. But getting into the

last two weeks and hospitality-wise we're not expecting to sell much

honestly, and I think it's a shame, or worse than a shame, that the

home nations have done so badly. But on balance, we weren't good

enough so I don't think you can argue. It's just how things turned up."

Pretty Clever Events director Sam Nash said while there might be a

few more empty seats at the games, the tournament had inspired the

event industry.

"I do think it's reignited interest in the sport again," she said.

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Rugby World Cup corporate

sales come to a 'grinding halt'

Corporate hospitality sales drop following the exit of all the

home nations

20/10/2015

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Sam Coates of Keith Prowse 26/10/2015

Long standing competitions such as the RBS 6 Nations are continuing to be popular as organisations want to see in person the proven strength of the home nations. The RBS 6 Nations provides a cost effective solution

to see world class rugby in a format that sees the home nations compete head-to-head.

Giselle Ripken of Grass Roots Meetings & Events 20/10/2015

Sadly, the loss of the home nations from the Rugby World Cup has only heightened the negative impact on corporate hospitality.

In many cases, hospitality assets (tickets) were already being wasted because individuals have been afraid to say yes to invitations due to bribery risk, and understandably so. The problem is that many businesses do

not adopt an intelligent and procurement-led process to make the most of purchasing those assets. Systems like this can save millions, demonstrate a genuine ROI – removing the bribery issue - and stop empty seats

appearing around the stadiums.

Unfortunately, the disappointment of the home nations’ tournaments will only serve to emphasise hospitality asset wastage and it is something the industry needs to learn from.

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The first Living Wage for Live Events campaign debate is set to take

place featuring some of the UK meetings industry’s key figures.

The debate at Church House Conference Centre on Friday 16 October

will feature meeting and events professionals from firms including TFI

Group, Grass Roots, drp, KPMG, Innovision, MIA and BHA.

M&IT and the Association of British Professional Conference

Organisers (ABPCO) teamed up to launch the campaign this year, and

are encouraging event buyers to put the Living Wage at the top of their

agenda.

The debate, moderated by M&IT managing editor Martin Lewis, will

consider the campaign’s aim to ensure frontline staff in hospitality,

meeting and event venues are paid the Living Wage.

The discussions will be from 12 noon- 2pm, with registration from

11.45am, and Church House will be providing a working lunch at the

event.

Anyone with strong views on the subject or who would like to take part

or attend the debate should email Heather Lishman for more

information.

To follow the debate online, follow the @ABPCO and @meetpie

Twitter feeds and the event hashtag #LivingWage4Events. You can

pledge your support by signing the petition at

www.livingwageforevents.com.

ABPCO association director Heather Lishman said: “It is something we

are passionate about and we want the campaign to address questions

on behalf of event professionals everywhere.

"At present, the hotel and hospitality sectors are rated as some of the

worst offenders when it comes to not paying their frontline employees

the living wage. The Centre for Research in Social Policy found that 90

per cent of workers in the hospitality sector are paid under the living

wage and, whilst it is not enforceable, people are now starting to

question whether this is morally right.

“The positive news is that some companies are beginning to react and

make a change. One of the first conference venues to be accredited

was Sundial Group’s Barnett Hill and the campaign is now urging event

buyers to put the Living Wage at the top of their agenda when it comes

to selecting a venue.

“Support is growing and this is superb news but we are not so blind

that we accept there will not be challenges to face when adopting the

Living Wage and this is why a debate has been organised. It is

important that the campaign is debated from all angles so it ultimately

ensures that what is best for the industry is recognised and

implemented.”

The inaugural debate is also being held as part of the National Events

Month campaign, of which ABPCO is an active supporter.

Those attending the debate include:

- Robin Parker – Church House Conference Centre

- Des Mclaughlin, Grass Roots Meetings & Events

- Hannah Richardson – KPMG London

- Laura Brookes – KPMG London

- Tim Chudley – Sundial Group

- Claudia Douglass – Innovision

- Rachael Betts – on behalf of the MIA

- Dale Parmenter - DRP Group

- Sarah Vero - Living Wage Foundation

- Martin Couchman - BHA

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Debate at Church House Conference Centre on Friday 16

October will feature top names from across events industry

09/10/2015

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