The Value of Events in Uncertain Times
With inflation still stubbornly high and the pressure of event budgets tightening during this period of economic uncertainty, we asked our Founder, Sam Gill, for his thoughts on maximising event budgets and how to justify internal and external events spend over the coming months.
“Having founded my first events business way back in 1986, I have lived through (and survived!) many economic downturns and recessions. Whilst we are currently facing increased uncertainty, I feel this is a very different situation to the many previous market dips. Whereas in the past, large-scale redundancies were common, in London and the South East, recruiting quality and experienced staff remains a big challenge.
Retaining, rewarding and recruiting staff remains the key driving factor in what is an increasingly competitive labour market. Creating and maintaining an attractive culture is therefore a vital ingredient in commercial success. Live events, whether it is a conference or seasonal party have become an increasingly cost-effective tool in motivation, recruitment and retention. With many in the service sector still working from home (either full or part-time), the value and ROI of these get-togethers is further heightened.
The results of our recent London Christmas Buyers Survey, sponsored by our colleagues at Venue Search London and next month’s London Christmas Party Show, reports that only 2% of respondents are not planning an end-of-year celebration, indicating the importance of these internal events”.
Similarly, progressive forward-thinking companies do not stop spending on entertaining clients and marketing new products at the first sign of uncertainty, since they know that they will lose future competitive position if they do not remain active in their marketplace.”
Whilst the case may be made for continuing to run events through uncertain times, here at Story we appreciate that budgets may be restricted over the coming months. Our approach has always been to design events with maximum impact and minimum wastage, to deliver the best possible ROI for any given client and budget.
We have extensive experience and expertise in finding the right venue at the right price and ensuring that all suppliers deliver value to our clients, cutting out some of the unnecessary and “nice to have” frills that often go unnoticed by the attendees and therefore add little additional value to the overall event.
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