Exhibitions able to take place from October if pilots are success, says PM
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that “conferences and other business events”, including exhibitions, will be able to take place in England from 1 October, providing a series of pilots are successful.
A small number of sporting and indoor performance events will be piloted from now. If the outcome of these pilots is deemed a success, and the R rate remains below 1, these sectors as well as business events will be given the green light.
With the ExCeL London no longer occupied by the NHS Nightingle Hospital, the venue has returned to an exhibition centre and will now be preparing to host the FutureScape EXPO 2020 event on 17 and 18 November, as planned.
Jim Wilkinson, managing director of Eljays44 which founded the FutureScape event, says: “We are delighted that the exhibition industry can now reopen and we can start planning FutureScape 2020. It is paramount that we put the visitors’ safety first, and working with ExCeL with its vast experience, we’re sure that we can do hold FutureScape with the appropriate measures in place.
“We now look forward to putting together a really exciting programme and we will hopefully see you all in November!”
Reopening the events industry is part of a continued easing of lockdown measures being introduced by the government, with Boris Johnson saying today: “It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November, at the earliest, possibly in time for Christmas.”
