Major business events have been cancelled as coronavirus grips the country.
Humber Business Week has been canned, with flagship event The Business Day confirmed as off too. It had been scheduled for June 1 to June 5, with Twiggy the headline act for the Bridlington Spa event on the Friday.
The Northern Lincolnshire Business Awards has been postponed until October 20, with Grimsby Auditorium remaining as the venue, it had been due to take place on May 15.
So too Offshore Wind Connections 2020, with the two-day event at Bridgehead, Hessle, to have opened on May 13. It will now take place on September 9 and September 10.
Mary Green, operations manager at organiser Team Humber Marine Alliance, said: “We have been closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and the possible impact on THMA as well as its members and partners.
“We would like to emphasise that we have not taken this decision lightly. Over the years, Offshore Wind Connections has grown into an event which attracts national and international delegates, and in the interests of all our visitors, we are heeding advice and recommendations from government agencies as well as taking travel restrictions into account.”
Global Offshore Wind, Renewable Ƶ's Manchester gathering in June has also fallen, moving to October 27 and October 28.
Convenience retail specialist Nisa has postponed its annual conference.
The Scunthorpe-headquartered giant said it was determined to “ensure we do the right thing for colleagues, partners and suppliers” who were set to attend Nisa’s annual event at Stoneleigh, on March 25.
More than 1,000 people were expected, with around 250 exhibitors and a gala dinner rounding off the two-day gathering in Warwickshire.
In a statement the company, part of The Co-op, said: “Our priority remains the wellbeing of all those who were looking to attend and, as such, we took the difficult decision to postpone Nisa’s annual retail exhibition at Stoneleigh.
“This decision has not been taken lightly but given the rapidly changing nature of the situation we believe that moving the event to later in the year is the right and responsible course of action to take for our colleagues, partners and suppliers.”
A new date of October 20 has been confirmed with the venue and Xsem, the events management company.
The Lincolnshire Show - only cancelled once before in peace-time history - has also fallen, with the 136th event now taking place in 2021.
ABP has also postponed it invite-only Humber Annual Shipping Dinner, which had been scheduled for March 27, with Catch following suit with its annual dinner for the process industry sector, on May 7, rescheduling for September 24.
Katie Hedges, head of membership at Catch, said: “Many of our member companies have restricted travel, face to face meetings and attendance to networks and events over the coming weeks due to the developing situation with Covid-19.
“We are pleased to announce that our speaker, then venue, and associated suppliers are all fully supportive, and our event will take place as it should, just a little later in the year!”
Mercure Grange Park Hotel in Willerby, Hull is the venue, with former international rugby league player Jamie Peacock MBE to join chief executive David Talbot at the lectern.
Nusrat Ghani had been due to speak at the ABP bash at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Hull, but lost her shipping portfolio in the recent reshuffle.
Internationally Cannes property festival MIPIM has been postponed, so too Seafood Global in Brussels, which was due to take place from April 21. Locally, Grimsby & Humber Seafood Forum at Docks Academy has been moved back from March 26 to June 10.
Marcus Coleman, chief executive of Seafish said: “Our purpose here at Seafish is to give the Ƶ seafood sector the support it needs to thrive. The coronavirus looks set to disrupt how we go about our day-to-day activities.
“Our stakeholders in the Ƶ seafood industry will also experience disruption and uncertainty and because of this we must demonstrate empathy to their challenges and provide support where we can."
Around 70 industry representatives had been expected.
Simon Dwyer, on behalf of the Grimsby Fish Merchants' Association, said: “The responsible thing to do is to postpone the event until the summer, due to the public health and safety issues posed by COVID-19.
“This was to have been the first of a series of events for the local seafood sector, but we will kick off again in summer.”
The event, which was by invitation only to the seafood processors in the Humber region, will be rescheduled for June.
Marketing Humber will switch to delivering the Annual Bondholder Ambassador Celebration event on March 31 in a remote digital video format.
Chair, Andy Parkinson will present a review of the year, and share exciting future plans, with keynote speaker Stephen Phipson CBE, chief executive of Make Ƶ, to explain the important role the Humber plays in the Ƶ’s manufacturing and decarbonisation journey.
