Following a challenging year for businesses across the UK in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Warwickshire-based conferencing and event venue, the British Motor Museum, is one of many companies to have reopened its doors following the green light from the Government. Jeff Coope, who was appointed as managing director at the British Motor Museum in April, reflects on businesses in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Located just off the M40 in south Warwickshire, the British Motor Museum has over 3,000 sqm of internal event space offering a flexible and safe event experience for a wide range of delegates – in the midst of the very best in British automotive heritage. The venue is already operating socially distanced outdoor events for up to 1000 attendees, as well as small internal meetings for up to 30, and are ‘event ready' for when larger indoor business events and conferences are permitted to resume from the 1 October. These larger events will hopefully start to see the return of the sector - worth approximately £32.6 billion to the UK each year.

Jeff Coope, who was appointed as managing director at the British Motor Museum in April, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has had a enormous impact on the events industry, with many conferences, exhibitions and meetings cancelled or postponed. Having only recently taken my position as managing director in April this year, it has been a challenging few months but I’ve been incredibly proud of the way our team has been able to pull together and tackle the challenge head on as we now prepare to fully reopen.

“We're delighted with the Government announcement that internal conferences and events can commence from the 1st October. As a not-for-profit educational charity, the British Motor Museum is heavily reliant on the income generated by our conferencing and events programme to provide direct donations to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust. With the Museum now reopen, several outdoor events taking place and all with the correct measures in place to ensure guest safety, we are looking ahead to the new phase of fully reopening for internal conference and events as the industry recovers.”

Keen to ensure delegate safety, the British Motor Museum has pledged its Safe Spaces – Safe Meetings commitment, which outlines the five steps which will be put in place. This includes flexible bookings and contracts, strict social distancing practices, revised catering provision, increased cleaning regimes and enhanced technology, including video/relay conferencing which will be available to enable more guests to attend conferences and exhibitions safely or remotely.

Jeff continued: “Following a challenging period, we're delighted that the Museum has been awarded the ‘We’re Good to Go’ industry charter mark by VisitEngland. This means we have all the required processes in place from hand sanitising stations, protective screening and signage, as well as an automated counting system for our toilets, all of which ensure a safe and enjoyable visit.
“We are consistently reviewing our policies in line with the most recent Government guidance and are taking proactive steps to put additional measures in place. These include investing in virtual tours for event organisers to view the event space remotely in the first instance, changing our menu options to include single serve bowl food, utilising compostable packing and recycled bamboo cutlery, as well as utilising our in-house bottling plant to provide sparkling and still filtered water.

“As well as trying our best to strike the right balance between Covid safe yet friendly and inspiring events, we have recently created a list of top tips to help organisers navigate the latest guidance to create an impactful and safe event. For any event organisers currently thinking about how their next event could commence, our talented bookings team is on hand to chat through any questions and to help organisers adjust to the new normal.”

For further information on Safe Spaces – Safe Meetings commitment to customers, please click here, or to read the top tips blog for meetings in a post-Covid world, click here 
Alternatively, please contact the Bookings team on 01926 649649 or by email at bookings@britishmotormuseum.co.uk