Before Friday evening’s EN Awards glitz and glamour at Park Plaza, the afternoon saw exhibition’s hot topics discuss at the EN Roundtables across the road at etc.County Venues, part of Covene County Hall. The day started with Phil Soar, veteran in the exhibitions industry, as a keynote speaker, followed by five roundtables which discussed creative digital marketing, AI, technology boosting engagement, event communications and connections over content.

The venue

Covene’s etc.County Venues Hall played host to the roundtables. Sat on the banks of the River Thames in Central London, etc.County Venues proved a good fit for the roundtable format with the catering to match.

Jane Hague, UK director of sales at Covene, commented: “We were delighted to host leaders of top exhibition companies at etc.venues County Hall for an insightful roundtable discussion on key industry trends.  The Convene portfolio of brands was designed to serve this exact purpose – bringing people together for impactful meetings and events.  As an added bonus, we got to show off our incredible spaces and teams in action, demonstrating how we seamlessly blend high-touch hospitality with flexible spaces for both exhibition and content.”

Phil Soar’s data: What we learnt

The day started with Phil Soar sharing data on how the exhibitions industry has been performing since the 1980s.

His first slide showed a steady decline of visitors at UK exhibitions since 1985. He showed delegates the peak in the year 2000 with approximately 11m visitors which declined to 7m in 2024. Soar explained 2016’s Brexit was a major contributor to the decline and the obvious reason of the pandemic stunting growth significantly.

Next, Soar touched on Net SQM sold at exhibitions since 1985. He stressed that space sold at exhibitions is the most important statistic for an organiser. Space is revenue. If the space sold is doing well, so will the exhibitions industry. However, net SQM sold also saw a small decline over time. Once again, a peak in the year 2000 with 37m SQM sold which decreased to around 29m SQM in 2024.

Again, Soar attributes this decline to Brexit. Brexit reduced trade from abroad proving a difficult challenge for trade shows. It has trade in the name! However, despite the difficulties of the pandemic, the response has been good with both visitor numbers and space sold steadily increasing since 2022 for trade shows.

Consumer shows have not faired as well. Since 2015, there has been a 29% decrease in consumer show visitors compared to a 3% decrease for trade shows.

Soar then showed delegates the data for total number of exhibitors since 2015. The numbers did not read well. There has been a 22% decrease in the number of exhibitors in the last 10 years. Similarly, net exhibition size fell by 21% from 2015. While Soar could attribute part of the reason to Brexit and the pandemic, he could not explain why the decline was so big, saying simple as to why it has declined that much: ‘I don’t know’.

Soar explained that economic and social issues have been a huge challenge for the industry. From 1985 to 2000 the industry was on the up. ExCeL London opened at the turn of the millennia and the NEC expanded. Further growth seemed inevitable at the point, Soar explained. Yet, that has not been the case in the 21st century.

The roundtables

The roundtables offered a chance for an open discussion, debate and advice on some of the latest hot topics in the exhibitions industry. The roundtable titles were:

  • How to easily elevate your creative and boost your digital marketing 
  • How technology helps boost engagement and create memorable experiences
  • Website Optimisation Supercharged by AI: Unlocking Event Success?
  • Revolutionising event communications – using AI to save weeks out of your show cycle
  • Connections over content: Why event organisers are rushing to add meetings to their events

A heavy focus was the role of AI at events, in marketing and in website engagement. Many believe we are still in the infancy with a lot of learning to do, but most did not doubt the power and potential of AI if used properly.

The creative and digital marketing discussion talked of how simplicity is key in creative marketing. The classic emailer is still a valuable tool to help boost registration numbers at shows.

The importance of connections was also discussed. Exhibitions are for meeting people. While a good content programme is important, the value of networking and building connections should always remain.

Overall, it was an insightful day for all delegates. The roundtables gave a space for honest conversations about the exhibitions industry and how, as an industry, we can improve. Soar’s keynote speech, while not showing the most favourable numbers, was honest, raw and interesting to all in the room. Events like these are key to ensure our industry is networking and learning.