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Article Index
2. Positive Physical Action
A number of members and wider industry professionals have discussed with ESSA on numerous occasions our position with regard to
organising some form of physical action in response to our current industry plight.
ESSA reviews via its EIA Board representatives and the ESSA Board its position within the area of ESSA endorsing or organising its
own action.
In light of this week’s industry protest and member contact, the Board would like to hear from you
the members. What is your view of ESSA endorsing or organising some form of positive physical action?
Via the link below, you will be asked to answer a single question to help inform the ESSA Board better on its current position in this area. You may also provide further feedback to support your decision.
This link will remain live until Friday 4th September.
A key element within this feedback is that due to the timeline and sensitive nature of the pilots and current round of meetings with government, we would continue with our current strategy until at least 14th September.
What is our current position?
ESSA’s strategy, aligned with its sister associations the AEV and AEO has been to maintain a direct and highly professional dialogue with various government groups during the current plight. The focus of this dialogue has been via the DCMS, BEIS, TIER, BVEP (of which we’re members) and the Events Industry Board (specialist panel of senior individuals who are invited to speak direct with ministers).
We are the only group of trade associations who are invited and have gained this opportunity on behalf of the exhibition sector after several years working professionally with these groups on other project concerning our sector. No other person or body specifically represents you in these groups. These relationships are changeable (different Ministers appointed, changes in government personnel), sometimes fragile and yes often frustrating with the speed in which decisions are made taking unimaginable amounts of time. But I have to stress, this is currently our only opportunity for direct conversation with influential government representatives and due to this we have needed to protect this position.
Advice taken throughout this current process via lobbying consultants has been one of extreme caution by the associations when it comes to taking or endorsing physical action in order to further ones aims themselves. We hope you understand that this position has been important to take to get to where we are.
All the gains we have made in the past few weeks have been via these platforms and this dialogue. It is the associations who were asked to develop guidance to begin the process of enabling the government to get their heads around a possible re-start date and pilots integral to maintain this date. But so far we have not been successful in gaining specific financial support for our sector and we have no indication presently as to whether or not we are making progress on this point. The government ministers and representatives at our disposal simply will not engage in providing feedback in these areas currently.
The focus of any positive physical action would be aimed at furthering our position to gain this fiscal recognition and support.
