Exhibition preview: franchising face to face is back

The International Franchise Show returns this autumn with a range of safety measures in place

Over the past year, exhibition organisers have had to spend an increasing amount of time planning and putting in place additional measures to ensure the safety of guests returning to live events amid the pandemic.

Research conducted in 2021 by Explori, an attendee feedback platform for events, expos and event venues, and sponsored by event management software specialist EventsCase found that the primary focus of event organisers is on delivering postponed events, developing new sources of revenue, engaging target audiences and understanding changing customer needs.

After a year - or more - of postponements, event organisers have had to adapt in order to stay afloat and find new ways of delivering value to their audience and exhibitors.

The roll-out of the UK’s vaccination programme increased testing and trials of live events has brought confidence that live exhibitions will return.

Opening doors

One exhibition eager to open its doors once again is the International Franchise Show, the UK’s biggest franchise event, which each year delivers Britain’s largest selection of franchise brands under one roof.

On the planned autumn return, marketing manager Joshua Christopher says: “On October 1-2 the International Franchise Show will play host to over 250 exhibitors and more show features than ever before.

“After being postponed for more than one year, we’re super excited to put on our biggest exhibition to date and we cannot wait to again welcome guests to our event in a COVID-secure environment.”

The organiser of the International Franchise Show adds that the safety of all attendees is its number one priority and has put in place a number of measures following the industry-wide ‘All Secure Standard’.

Pilot concert

A recent pilot concert held in Liverpool saw 5,000 music fans partying at a nightclub without face masks or the need for social distance.

All party-goers were required to take a supervised lateral flow test at one of four testing centres in the city the day before, with admittance only being allowed if their test returned a negative result.

Attendees were retested on May 7 in order to determine whether there was any spread of the virus.

For the events industry, these pilot schemes are crucial and pave the way for live events to return safely. The pilot events also demonstrate what sort of measures, such as ventilation, need to be implemented for future exhibitions.

Visitor preregistration

At this year’s International Franchise Show all visitors will be required to preregister at thefranchiseshow.co.uk in advance and follow strict social distancing measures.

The organiser will be monitoring excel.london/visitor/your-safety and updates will be communicated via the show website, email and social media to ensure guests are well informed before attending.

In addition to ExCeL’s strict cleaning regimes, the International Franchise Show has teamed up with ElectroClean, which will provide a deep electrostatic clean of the hall prior to the event, so attendees can rest assured everything has been done to protect them.

At a glance International Franchise Show

When:

October 1-2

Where:

ExCeL London

All attendees must preregister at thefranchiseshow.co.uk

For sponsorship and exhibiting information contact Simon Chicken +44 (0) 1179 902 simon.chicken@comexposium.com