This is a short, honest view of how the current political situation is affecting our business. It is not a rant or a moan, just a simple appraisal of where we are for anyone who might be interested.
The good news is that we are doing more dinners, award ceremonies and receptions than we have ever done, so big tick for our marketing and business development team who have been focusing on these markets. In addition, business from the Government sector is also up, I guess they have a lot to talk about at the moment and we are in the right neighbourhood for this! The final bit of good news is that from May onwards business looks very good.
And now for the bad news, for us, corporate meetings and conferences have taken a dip at the beginning of this year. I don’t believe this is a budget issue, I think that corporates are holding off until they have something concrete to talk about. Planning for the future is very difficult, so why waste time and money naval gazing about the future when things could all change. Without stability, decisions have no foundation.
Overall, I am optimistic about business whatever happens politically. Despite the slower than budgeted first quarter to 2019, there are enough indicators to suggest that this is a short-term issue and that business will return to more normal levels very soon. This is not a recession, it is just a temporary slowdown while things settle.
Looking further ahead 2020 is already very good and confirmations are well ahead of previous years at this point. So, don’t panic, hold on tight and ride out this blip, normal service will be resumed!
* Please note that due to complete apathy, fatigue and loathing of stupid made-up words the above contains no mention of the “B” word.
Robin Parker is General Manager of Church House Westminster, a Grade II listed multi-purpose events venue in the heart of London offering 19 versatile event spaces. An in-house team of dedicated Event Coordinators, AV technicians and catering teams plan and manager over 800 events a year, most often used as an award ceremony venue, conference and meeting venue, and Christmas party venue.