Due to the ongoing uncertainties surrounding Covid 19 the Directors of APF 2020 have taken the difficult decision to postpone the event this year. Our revised plan is to roll forward the show to 23/24/25th September 2021 at the same venue at Ragley Estate.
The decision was taken after carefully considering many elements including:
· The current ban on mass gatherings is still in place with no indication of if or when this restriction will be lifted.
· Recognising that exhibitors need to order stock and equipment for the show, much of which has a three month lead time and avoid the risk of exhibitors buying stock for the show which is then cancelled at short notice.
· Many businesses have been forced to close and equipment that some exhibitors would like to have for the show will not be available
· The potential lack of availability of nearby hotel accommodation for APF staff, exhibitors and visitors
· The proposed restrictions and quarantining of anyone visiting the UK will severely affect exhibitors, their staff and visitors from abroad being able to attend
· Social distancing rules making it very hard for exhibitors to engage with visitors safely
· Concerns about safety and business lockdowns affecting the number of exhibitors who attend.
· Concerns that safety issues will restrict visitor numbers and therefore badly affect trading levels for exhibitors
· Our ability to safely manage large numbers of visitors and maintain social distancing rules.
· Not to place an unnecessary potential strain on local emergency services by holding a mass gathering and recognising that currently police, ambulance and St John Ambulance are not attending any such events, with no indication of when they might do so.
· Concerns about our own staff safety working at such a large event.
· Concerns raised by exhibitors about attending and whether it would be viable for them to do so.
Taking all the above into account it became obvious to us that there was only one sensible option to take at this time and that was to postpone until September 2021. The show is the industry flagship event and the organising team are passionate about it and want to make it the best we possibly can. We simply cannot stage the event this year to the size and quality our exhibitors, sponsors, visitors and ourselves want. We sincerely hope that in 12 months time the world will have returned to something much closer to normal and we can run the event as we and everyone else want.
Although the decision to postpone will impact financially, we remain in a robust financial position. Exhibitors will not lose their site fees and we simply roll these forward until September 2021 and guarantee your site booking but we cannot offer any refunds. We also guarantee that there will be no surcharge to cover any additional costs we will incur by the postponement. If you have not yet paid for your site in full you may defer your payment until March 31st 2021. We hope you will appreciate that as organisers we have already committed significant resources into staging APF 2020.
We trust you will agree with our decision to postpone and that by doing so we can all have a far better event next year and that you will continue to support the show.
If you have any queries about any of the above please contact us on 01428 723545 or email us at info@apfexhibition.co.uk
Forest Machine Magazine is written and edited by a forest professional with over 40 years hands on experience. We are dedicated to keeping you informed with all the latest news, views and reviews from our industry.
To support us you can subscribe to our bi-monthly magazine which is delivered to your door from only £30 per year.
Subscribe here