Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News, makes an announcement regarding the forthcoming planned events scheduled to be held in the UK next month... 

It is with great reluctance that I must unfortunately announce that we will not be able to follow through with our plans for a special event, the Field Service News Symposium planned to be hosted at Edgbaston on the 20th of October. 

As many of you will know, the vision behind this event was to try to bring our sector together as we all work through the challenges of overcoming the global lockdowns and begin to repair the impact the pandemic has had on the global economy. 

Indeed, it remains my belief that the field service sector will play a critical role in that process and as we all find ourselves attempting to navigate unchartered waters the intention was to bring those who were comfortable doing, together in an environment that was designed for knowledge sharing, collaborative working and guided peer-to-peer education.

"It was something we believed in, something that I believed, was the right thing to do for the industry and community that we serve here at FSN.."

It was such a fundamental belief of mine that such an event should take place as soon as possible to help kick-start the conversations that will be at the heart of driving the recovery that, this special one day event was to be funded solely by 1927 Media Ltd, the publisher of Field Service News in its entirety.

There was no sponsorship on this event, we were not charging anyone to attend. We were doing it because it was something we believed in, something that I believed, was the right thing to do for the industry and community that we serve here at FSN. 

Sadly, following the UK government's announcement last week regarding new regulations which have been implemented since this Monday and also the Birmingham area subsequently being also placed under greater lockdown I see know way for us to be able to realistically continue with our plans. 

Since the announcement we have waited for further clarification from the UK Government on whether the event would be possible, unfortunately there has been no such clarification forthcoming as yet.

However, with the event date now being only a month away I feel we have to make the decision in the interests of all those who had already agreed to give up their time to help facilitate this event, to postpone for the time being. We unfortunately cannot guarantee we will be in a position where we will be allowed to host what will be an important opportunity for knowledge sharing and discussion in our sector, - so we must now wait for an opportunity where it is feasible to do so. 

A phenomenal amount of work has been put in behind the scenes by a huge amount of people to ensure that this event would not just be hosted in a safe environment in line with the previous COVID-19 regulations but also that would bring a huge amount of value to all who would be able to participate.

"It is here where the spark of innovation that can light the torches that shine the light on the path towards a full recovery is most likely to be found..."

I would like to thank each and everyone of you who have assisted with this project so far. The good news is that this work will not go to waste, as soon as we see a genuine chance to move forwards with a revised date for the Field Service News Symposium - we will. 

Finally, I feel I must urge the UK Government to think of business as they continue to make policy.

While I and all of us here at Field Service News absolutely understand the need for ensuring the safety of everyone, there simply must be a pathway back towards industry events such as this being able to resume - it is here where the spark of innovation that can light the torches that shine the light on the path towards a full recovery is most likely to be found. It is now when businesses need the clearest of instructions, that we must avoid the uncertainty created by the vague outline of last weeks announcement. 

As I said in a previous Field Service News Digital Sympoisum Live Stream, these are the most challenging of times, yet having been surrounded throughout 2020 of examples of innovation and ingenuity, having seen the temerity and tenacity abound as we have all adapted time and again to the challenges put before us, I have every confidence that we as an industry will come out the other side of this stronger than ever. 

It might take a little bit longer than we first thought, but I stand by these words today more so than ever. 

Thank you for your time and I'm sorry we couldn't pull this off - yet, but we will and when we do it will be something very special indeed. 

Kris 

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief and Founder,  Field Service News