CHS Group set to grow Conference and Hospitality Show for fourth consecutive year
Thursday, 18th April 2013
CHS Group is planning to achieve record attendance figures at this year’s Conference and Hospitality show exceeding previous years’ growth by an anticipated 10% per cent. Following a rise in pre-ticket registration for this year’s event - to be held on 30th April in the Centenary Pavilion at Leeds United Football Club, Elland Road – attendance looks ready to exceed expectations.
The CHS Group specialise in events and exhibitions for the meetings and events industry and manage the successful Conference and Hospitality Show which takes place annually in Leeds. The York based business manages the only national meeting and events show outside of London, having beaten off stiff competition during the recession when two shows in Manchester and Birmingham were forced to cease trading. CHS on the other hand has grown 50 per cent year on year since Emma Cartmell, director of CHS, took over the show in 2010 when it was the Northern Venue and Big Wow Show.
Emma states:-
“The show had been established for more than 10 years but after speaking to all of the exhibitors it definitely needed a shake up as it had become too "entertainment" focused and less about placing business.
“The opportunity to revisit exactly what exhibitors wanted, what visitors wanted to see and to totally re-brand the event was exciting. It didn’t occur to me to worry about the fact that we had just hit the deepest recession since World War II. Now I believe recession is the best time to launch a new venture. If we can take ownership of a show, take it back to basics and grow from a solid base point in a recession, just imagine what we can do when times are good.”
The growth of the show reflects a return of business interest in the meetings and events industry. In 2011 there were an estimated 1.3 million business events in the UK ( Source - UK events market trends survey 2012 prepared by Team Tourism Consulting and Tony Rogers Conference and Events Services). In that year West Yorkshire hosted an estimated 88,200 business events attended by 5.4 million business event visitors. They accounted for an estimated spend of £660m in venues and the local destination. (Source Conference Leeds)
Emma Cartmell, Director of CHS Group comments:-
“We have recently been short listed for the ‘Best New Organiser Team’ by national industry media Exhibition News for the work we have undertaken re-launching and growing the show. We are currently putting the finishing touches to the show for the end of the month, which really is worth a visit for anyone within the conference, events and hospitality industry.
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