How far would you travel for a UK event?

British events need to take place within an hour of travelling, according to a recent poll. The study by Barbican is being used to highlight the importance of high speed travel infrastructure projects such as HS2 and the Elizabeth Line.

The study revealed that 58% of organisers think an event should require less than an hour of travel, and around two in three expect to change trains no more than twice. Conveniently for the Barbican, the expansion of London travel with the Elizabeth Line and HS2 gives the venue greater accessibility, while also growing the amount of access outside of the capital with links to Reading, Birmingham and the North.

Built as part of London’s Barbican development and officially opened in March 1982 by HM Queen Elizabeth, unlike many other venues, Barbican was specifically built with the dual purpose of holding conferences and arts events.

“It is no surprise that organisers want to minimise travel time but keeping it to less than an hour is tough, even for many commuters,” said Jackie Boughton, Head of Events at the Barbican. “Organisers however need to juggle the appeal of each venue and its surrounding infrastructure and opportunities with ease of travel.”

Despite people not wanting to travel too far when staying in the UK, going abroad is a different story. Many attendees will travel much further when in a new environment, and the appeal to ‘discover’ a new venue or hidden secret in an exotic world is often considered a big draw for international business events.

Although more people of all ages are travelling abroad for events, organisers are being put off by the perceived hassle of running an event outside of their home country.

“We all love booking our personal holidays, sitting down in the evening with a glass of wine discussing options leisurely with a partner,” said Paul King, Director of Sales at Blue Cube. “Booking Business Travel is not so nice, more often than not it is a last minute request, demanded to be delivered yesterday at last year’s pricing and with a smile and this is where Blue Cube step in delivering a service that has seen us nominated for the last two years as finalists for Best travel management company under £50m turnover.

“We have been told that we have again been shortlisted as a finalist again for 2018 so fingers crossed its 3^rd time lucky for us.”

How far are you willing to travel for a British event? How does this change when attending events abroad? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.