BBC Midlands pays a visit.

BBC Midlands Today visited the Exhibit 3Sixty shop floor on Wednesday March 31 for a detailed report on the state of the event industry and how businesses are coping, interviewing co-directors Alan Craner and Andy Pearce about their experience over the last 12 months.

In the 6.30 pm package, correspondent Kevin Reide reported that Exhibit 3Sixty was now in ‘survival mode’, and branching out into shopfitting and office refurbishments as well as a small foray into retail, in order to keep the company operating until events can reopen in full.

Alan was pleased to see the issue get regional exposure saying, “We’re a year into this pandemic and, despite signs that the event industry is beginning to come out of hibernation, we’re still part of a massive effort with the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) to release relief funds from local government. Together with ESSA, we’re also calling for government-backed event insurance, which will be integral to restarting events and exhibitions this summer.”

Andy added, “We’ve been grateful for the general support from government through schemes like furlough, but the event industry is essential to getting other businesses trading again, and without more sector-specific support that’s going to be a much slower process than it needs to be.”