March 2021

WARWICKSHIRE MEANS BUSINESS

Bright future for Bright Vision following SSG programme expert input

"With the help of WCC through its Survive, Sustain and Grow programme we can now improve the quality of our on-site and studio equipment to deliver these virtual and hybrid events to a highly professional level"

A corporate events company which lost its income streams overnight when the first lockdown hit, last spring, has adapted adroitly to face a new future with expert advice from a business support programme.

Bright Vision Events, which specialises in conference production and team building, engaged with the Warwickshire County Council's Survive, Sustain and Grow programme as it planned how to bounce back from a devastating year.

In March 2020, Covid-19 came as a hammer blow to the business, based in Fenny Compton, which lost over six months of contracted events within three weeks. The pipeline of events dried up and the phone stopped ringing as the industry went into hibernation.

Alison Marshall and her fellow directors at Bright Vision had some tough decisions to make. Did they ‘mothball’ the company and sit it out or make changes and devise a new strategy going forward? Like so many resilient Warwickshire businesses, they chose the latter.

Within months they had launched their own streaming platform, Bright Vision Events Live, and by the autumn were streaming live conferences around the world.  The team building challenges underwent a similar renaissance and assumed a virtual format that hosts over commonly used platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

Bright Vision Events pivoted quickly to advance a long way in a short time, but then needed some advice to progress to the next stage. To compete with larger event companies, the business needed to enhance the quality of their digital events and, without further investment, simply would not win the work necessary to compete in the new digital events world.

So they approached Warwickshire County Council and were offered bespoke advice through their Survive, Sustain and Grow programme. SSG specialist consultant Andy Woodward identified the need for funding for the new equipment necessary for the company to implement its next stage of growth. The business was then delighted when their application for grant support was successful.

“With the help of WCC through its Survive, Sustain and Grow we can now improve the quality of our on-site and studio equipment to deliver these virtual and hybrid events to a highly professional level," said Alison Marshall. "This will enhance our reputation as a first-class events company and provide us with the opportunity to grow as a business in the next few years.”

WCC's SSG Specialist consultant Andy Woodward said: "It was pleasing to engage with Bright Vision and support the business in a way which will enable it to help build on its client base and recruit locally. It is a high quality Warwickshire business at a point where, to maintain its new found position in the UK virtual events industry, it now needs to invest in the latest technology to help accelerate its growth."

SSG Lead Consultant Jagdish Soor commented: "The future for the events industry beyond the pandemic is looking very different and also very exciting. Events will be more inclusive by becoming hybrids where both, in person and virtual attendees are able to access every event, be it a conference, team build or training event. With our support, Bright Vision are well-equipped to thrive in that new world."

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