The events industry in the UK alone has seen a rapid growth over the last 10 years, with the rise of festivals and changes in consumer behaviour meaning that more people than ever are attending events worldwide. Not only are people attending more events, but also, they are willing to pay more to gain the live experiences on offer. The future of the events industry looks bright, with new events popping up on an almost daily basis, and we've taken a look into both the present and the future of this vibrant industry:
The Present
The events industry is booming. With consumer purchase behaviours changing from investing their disposable income in material goods, to choosing to spend it on exciting experiences and opportunities, such as festivals. In 2016, there were around 85-million event attendees in total in the UK alone. It's not just festivals that bring the limelight onto the events industry either; as reportedly, the largest driver of events in the UK is for training and development purposes. This includes conferences, workshops, seminars and other educational events that take place each and every year. In total, there are around 1.3 million business events held annually, each with their own unique offering – and this number is growing at a rapid rate.
From festivals and live music performances to conferences, the events industry in the UK was estimated to be worth around £42 billion in 2016, and this figure is only expected to further grow over the next few years.
The UK is known for being a hub for events, more so than almost any other country in the world. In fact, around 35% of all event attendees in 2016 had travelled from further afield to be a part of a wide range of events in the UK. This isn't a surprising fact either, particularly considering there are over 10,000 event venues in the UK alone.
The industry doesn't just provide training and entertainment opportunities; it also makes a vast contribution to the UK's economy. It is estimated that the industry creates around 600,000 full-time jobs, from the event crew members that set up the stage and the lighting (as we do here at Gallowglass) to those in control of security, marketing and every other vital component that goes into organising a successful event. These jobs offer a high level of satisfaction, and help to keep team morale at peak with the exciting environments that each person can be a part of. Would you like to be a part of the vibrant industry of events? Take a look at our event crew jobs in London and across the UK and Europe today.
The Future
Statistics show that over the next year the industry is only expected to continue its growth, with some event organisers noting that they expect their events to grow as much as 65% in just one year. Alongside this, the plans for new events continues to grow, meaning that the array of events will be increasing even further, alongside the size of the event industry and the number of jobs created.
Event market leaders have commented that the next stage for most events in the current climate is to make them as efficient as possible. This is in terms of costs, environmental factors, logistics, health and safety, as well as many other factors. Gallowglass can be a part of the solution to event efficiency. With our flexible and highly skilled teams, we can offer large numbers of crew members to work on event locations to complete a vast array of jobs. This means that events benefit from specialist skills and knowledge with the upmost efficiency, without having to employ and train specialists of their own given the short timeframes and tightening budgets that many events may have. The event crew benefit too, from being able to be a part of these incredible events!
We are very excited to see what the next few years in the events industry brings, and cannot wait to be a part of what the future holds.
