It is surely not a secret anymore: BREXIT did hit the British economy!
An era ends for now - tribute to my life project
In the current political climate it’s an understatement to
say a lot can happen in 24 hours. In my case It’s been an interesting
few weeks and months, some which saw my business struggling of the
uncertainty our clients face.
8 years ago I decided to relocate
from Germany to the UK and to rebuild my business (Rock Ya Events Group Ltd.) in Scotland. The
country I am very proud to call now my home! The home where you settle
and where you want to stay for the rest of your life. Fairly quick I
learned about the culture, the history and also everything what I needed
to know about the tourism industry to start my first job as tour guide.
I started to follow my personal dream - to explore and experience
Scotland, my new home.
Everything went pretty much to plan and I
have been able to form a business in the event and tourism
industry. After a couple of years of guiding I have been able to
generate a decent turnover as sole trader delivering travel expeiences
next to my event business. A start of a great journey since this changed
my business model and we developed to an Event & Destination
Management Company with loads of great clients and projects. A journey
which did reach the next level another couple of years later ... Private
Limited status. This was certainly a new chapter not only in business
life also as private person. Different approaches, more responsibilities
and also creating job opportunities. Another mile stone reached.
Anyway,
this journey now seems to take a complete different direction. Lots of
things changed not that long ago and reason for this is very much in
every one's mind these days. As company working predominantly for the
European market the political situation around the UK became more and
more of a uncertain terrain and with this some sort of a hassle. I
understand that this topic devides opinions and could also cause a bit
of unease. But for quite a while now I have quitely listened to people
talking about this situation. I tried to stay away from rumour as long
as possible for the sake of not getting dragged into this too much
myself. I experienced the change from "Will be fine" to "Not sure how
this will end", about issues and fear regarding the uncertainty of what
to do. Even after all this I still tried to stay away from all the
scaremongering and overreaction, all the avoidable actions to be made
mainly for preperation and protection.
The UK is renowned for its
events industry. Worth an impressive £42.3bn to the UK economy in 2018,
the sector is made up of over 25,000 companies – spanning from venues
to marketing organisations and suppliers. With the UK consistently
ranking third place in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 ICCA rankings as a
destination for business events, it's responsible for a huge influx of
international entrepreneurs every year. Hence it accounts for £19.9bn
annually, overseeing 1.3 million conferences and networking sessions.
The looming uncertainty surrounding Brexit, however, has made it
difficult to pinpoint exactly how the UK’s departure from the EU will
affect businesses involved in running and managing events. For instance,
international trade and investment are fundamental to the events
industry which relies on strong business connections and trade links.
Within
12yo providing unique and bespoke events to hundreds of clients in
Europe we experienced a lot of great development and changes. Innovation
and also creativity. But now it’s time to invest in myself, focus on my
path and find a new assignment. Change is a constant we all live with
and being the person we are, in our book, it’s not something to run away
from. Instead it presents an opportunity for reflection, renewal and
growth. The change also comes with new perspectives, new perceptions and
purposes.
Without bringing politics to much into this.... since I had to apply for the Indefinite Leave in the United Kingdom under Appendix EU to the Immigration Rules (so called "settled status") with the British Goverment I have voiced my opinion to everyone who asked me and I can openly admit that I am a proud European citizen. One who doesn't agree with the current leadership of the United Kingdom and what also happened in 2014. However, as buisness owner I don't wanted to upset anyone or even cause any harm. Interesting video for this here .
Although my email inbox is still filling up with tips and news about Brexit prevention, every day I hear, read and see the anxiety becoming more and more present. Companies start to change their concepts or close down, suppliers start struggling to deliver, clients cancel jobs, employers start to panic, staff are getting made redundant. But even more scary.... contracts with loyal staff are not getting extended and so these professionals have to start looking for job opportunities. This made me think and I started researching and wondering. Will Brexit affect me? Will I suffer from it? What could I have done better? Until I found out that there is nothing really what could have done different. But it is how it is ... the UK will most likely leave the European Union and with this will also loose a lot of economical connections. Scotland and some of it's businesses reached the point not knowing how to survive this ucertainty. How to overcome the struggle of loosing business and the financial long haul.
As founder and director of a SME in the event industry working
closely with the European market I now sadly reached the point where I
have to realise that I can't ensure a consistent service to our clients
any longer due to the political uncertainty. After long and intense
considerations, I decided to put our event department (Rock Ya Events)
on hold until the economical and political situation settled down and
developed more clarification. Although we will still operate with our
existing DMC department (Rock Ya Scotland), we hope very much to come
back soon in full scale continuing to create memorable and unique event
experiences for clients who appreciate the dedicated work containing in
our bespoke and unique services.
Whilst uncertain I’ll embrace the
opportunity to reach out to all our clients we’ve had the privilege
of providing and all the partners whose support has proved invaluable to
say
"Thank you!"
I sincerely hope we’ll find a means to continue working for and with you. I'll
now look for alternative options, to which I can bring my extensive
work experience and skills achieved within many various environments in
the event and tourism industry to the table.
#positive #attitude #entrepreneurship #eventprofsUK #eventprofs #bettertimesahead #worklifebalance #development
Pierre Kruff
Managing Director
Rock Ya Events Group Ltd.