Partnership with SGS to help improve safety and hygiene

On 17th July, the UK Government confirmed that conferences and exhibitions will be able to safely reopen from 1st October. It also outlined specific conditions for the organisation of business events, a sector worth approximately £32.6bn to the UK each year.

Tourism Minister, Nigel Huddleston commented that the new guidelines: “will give the business event sector the certainty it needs to plan for the future.”

This is good news for Advanced Engineering UK and Lab Innovations. The shows’ organiser, international events company Easyfairs, has been planning for months how to adjust operations to guarantee a pleasant and safe experience to visitors, exhibitors and staff, without compromising on the shows’ ability to maximise business opportunities and exposure for exhibitors.

In accordance with the new governmental guidelines, visitors will need to pre-register to attend. Registrations for both shows will be launched shortly and those interested will be able to register for free on the shows’ websites. One badge will give access to both shows, allowing visitors to discover cross-sector innovations. Carefully phased time slots will be available for visitors throughout each day, and each slot will be capped to prevent overcrowding.

Contactless registrations systems, a digital-first approach and the limiting of paper brochures will ensure the absence of queues and the minimisation of contact between organisers and guests.

Advanced Engineering UK and Lab Innovations will provide guests with electronic badges. By tapping their badge to an exhibitor’s reader, visitors will receive all relevant information and contact details in digital format. As well as being safer, this complies with Easyfairs’ sustainability criteria and with its efforts to reduce paper waste.

Space between booths and aisle width will ensure compliance with social distancing requirements. With 20 interconnected halls covering 190,000 m² (2,000,000 sq ft) of floor space, the NEC can easily accommodate these measures.

All venues will also have enhanced cleaning procedures. For this purpose, Easyfairs has partnered with SGS, the inspection, verification, testing and certification company.

Easyfairs selected SGS to review and verify its enhanced cleaning protocols, ensuring that they continue to meet the highest international standards, including those to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We want to be sure that every visit to our events and venues is not only an easy visit, but a safe visit,” said Easyfairs Group CEO, Eric Everard. “Live events will play an important role in the economic recovery. It is therefore absolutely vital that we do everything possible to ensure cleanliness and hygiene to protect everybody’s health and safety, and build confidence in business communities.”

“As the events industry has a high responsibility to address health and safety issues, we are very happy to partner with Easyfairs on implementing a monitoring program that takes advantage of our technology solutions and provides a level of comfort to event visitors for years to come,” added Peter Possemiers, Executive VP of SGS Environment Health and Safety services.

For more information on hygiene and safety measures onsite, visitors can watch here an informative video produced by the NEC and read the venue’s comprehensive health and safety guidelines.