Published by Neil ThompsonThe organisers of CHS Birmingham have announced that the show will be moved to spring 2021, following discussions with exhibitors, stakeholders, the event’s venue and its Advisory Board.
The exhibition will now take place 20th April 2021, however the organisers will also be running a series of smaller ‘buyer meetings’ in October to support exhibitors and give its visitor community vital access to new venues, services and information that allow them to schedule meetings.
“Our customers are our lifeblood, so it was important that we consulted with them and made the decision to move collectively,” commented Emma Cartmell, CEO and Founder of CHS Group. “Based on their feedback, we’re moving the show to the spring and setting up a series of smaller meeting programmes that we hope will inject some momentum into the industry.”
The smaller meetings programme will be open to everyone, but exhibitors at CHS Birmingham will be given a free spot as a thank you from the show organisers. Exhibitors will also be given the choice to move their presence to the new spring date without consequence.
“This is all about doing the right thing to the right standards, for the right reasons” continues Emma. “We committed ourselves from the outset to doing things live and doing them exceptionally. Right now, we can’t promise this, so we’re changing the format and will do our bit for our visitors and our exhibitors a different way. The ICC Birmingham have been amazing. Their support for what we’re trying to do has been unwavering, from the outset they have put the need to create a great show first and allowed everything else to follow.
CHS Group, the organisers behind CHS Birmingham, also took the decision to postpone CHS Leeds at the beginning of the shutdown. The show will also take place in the spring with dates to be announced later this year.
“Our visitors are really hungry for CHS Leeds and we’re looking forward to running that show again,” continues Emma. “With CHS Birmingham also moving to the spring, the aim is to give visitors and exhibitors the chance to create local contacts at two shows, but to leave a good month or so between the events to allow them to follow up and create their events.”
Talking on the consistent disruption to the industry and its exhibitions, Emma added, “We all continue to champion the role exhibitions play in injecting momentum into business. Our own industry needs this as much as any other out there. The sooner we can get out there doing what we love, the better it will be for all the industries we serve. Until then we’ll continue to do what we can to be of service to our own event community.”
