Changes to bank holidays could cause chaos in the events industry
Celebrations scheduled for the Queen’s diamond jubilee next year could cause chaos for the event industry, according to one experienced supplier.
Richard Crawley
Richard Crawley from John Anderson Hire told Event Industry News that plans to move the traditional end of May bank holiday could have an impact on events, revenues and supply chains.
The government has granted an extra bank holiday on Tuesday 5th June to provide a focal point for the jubilee festivities. In addition, the bank holiday planned for Monday 28th May 2012 will be moved to Monday 4th June to make it a four-day weekend.
Richard said: “We are all aware of just how much planning goes in to the summer events calendar for both organisers and suppliers. Events that usually run over three days on the May bank holiday could decide to move their dates back a week in order to keep that extra day. If this happens it will cause huge problems.”
In this scenario, it is feasible that some contractors could be unable to cope with demand, leaving some events short of the equipment they need. John Anderson Hire, the parent company of Superloos, already has a busy schedule on the weekend in question due to the Epsom Derby. With their order book nearing capacity for that weekend, Richard says it will only take a handful of events to relocate their dates to cause some serious issues.
As a knock on, events that usually run for only two days on the first weekend in June could look to take advantage of the extra bank holidays by extending. However, for suppliers, this situation could leave them with fewer days to de-rig and transport equipment to the following weekend’s site.
Richard also pointed out that the bank holiday issue does not seem to have registered with as many people as he thought. “In comparison to how much consideration is being given by event suppliers to the Olympics, the change to the bank holidays seems to have been forgotten.”
If you are a supplier or organiser and have concerns over next year’s changes to the bank holiday, get in touch using features@eventindustrynews.co.uk
We’ve highlighted that week’s calendar to show exactly where the changes are.
2012
Saturday 26th May
Sunday 27th May
Monday 28th May – usual date for the bank holiday
Tuesday 29th May
Wednesday 30th May
Thursday 31st May
Friday 1st June
Saturday 2nd June
Sunday 3rd June
Monday 4th June – bank holiday (moved from 28th May)
Tuesday 5th June – bank holiday (for diamond jubilee)
By James Dickson
