Business Vision Live, one of the Southeast's biggest annual business events, has been postponed indefinitely after organizers said they were unable to make it commercially viable since the pandemic.
This year's event, scheduled for May 8 at the Kent Event Center in Detling and expected to draw more than 1,500 attendees, has been “postponed until further notice.”
It will come as a shock to the business community, which considered it one of the region's biggest networking events.
The event attracted more than 150 exhibitors and featured numerous panels and discussions open to attendees (admission free).
Organizers say the event, which has been running for 17 years and was originally known as Kent Vision Live, never recovered after being canceled for two years at the height of the pandemic. Says.
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Revolution Events, based in Pembury, said that although the event will resume in 2022 and 2023, the decision has now been taken to postpone the event indefinitely.
Nick Litton, co-founder of Revolution, explained: “Sadly, the combined impact of coronavirus and the ensuing economic slowdown has hurt many of the small businesses that have always provided the lifeblood of events.
“With marketing budgets under intense pressure, many of our customers are having to prioritize spending on a small number of highly targeted activities.
“So while all of our events specializing in the construction and education sectors are booming, we cannot continue to offer a wider range of small business events of the quality that our audiences expect.”
However, it hinted that the event could continue, but only if companies who want to bring it back in the future come forward. Interested parties were invited to contact us for initial informal discussions.
Celebrities regularly attend the event's launch, with the likes of Robert Peston, Steph McGovern and the BBC's Ben Thompson appearing in recent years.
Nick Litton added: “It has been a real privilege to showcase Kent’s amazing small business community over the past 10 years and I would like to thank all the businesses who have sponsored, exhibited and supported the event over this time, especially Kent County Council and KM Media. I think Group and Kent Event Center.
“As an organizer, I am very disappointed to be leaving this venue, but I look forward to being a proud and very active member of the local business community for many decades to come.”
