Business events and conferences will be permitted to resume from 1 October provided rates of infection remain at current levels. Government has announced that it will begin pilots to help plan how best to restart indoor business events.
New guidance, which can be found here, outlines how the nation’s conference venues can get back up and running safely.
Tourism Minister, and MP for Mid Worcestershire, Nigel Huddleston said:
“Business events and conferences are a key part of our visitor economy and this is an important step in getting them back up and running safely.
Pilots will help inform our plans for the return of the sector in October with guests and staff adhering to social distancing and measures introduced to reduce close contact.
The UK has a great reputation in staging fantastic events that help drive growth for many different sectors and this will give the business event sector the certainty it needs to plan for the future.”
The guidance states that the following measures should be considered to allow for safe resumption of business events and conferences:
- Attendees will need to pre-book and pre-register to attend events
- Contactless registration systems will be introduced at venues to reduce waiting times and limit contact between organizers and guests
- A digital first approach will be adopted to eliminate the need for physical badges and lanyards
- Paper handouts and gifts will no longer be offered
- Entrance to event or conference spaces will be staggered to reduce queuing and overall capacity will be limited to ensure social distancing can be maintained
- Events will be planned around one way systems for visitors
- Spaces between exhibition booths will be increased and aisles widened to achieve social distancing requirements
- All venues will also have enhanced cleaning procedures, with hand washing and sanitising facilities at frequent intervals
To read the full government press release, click here.
To view the full government guidance, click here.