Covid-19-related disruption continues to hit the schedule of Pure London organiser Hyve Group. The group highlighted this in its Q1 trading update (from October-to-date). But the UK-based company says it was encouraged the vaccination rollout would see the gradual return of customer participation, particularly in Western countries. Hyve managed to run eight in-person events in Russia, Ukraine, China and, for the first time, in Turkey, taking its tally since the onset of the pandemic to 20. Q1 is usually Hyve’s smallest and quietest quarter by revenue so the impact of pandemic-linked issues would have been smaller during the quarter.
Although Western Europe remains a firmly closed platform for its in-person events business, it noted there's strong demand as a recovery continues into FY22. For the time being demand for remote events are a plus as the business adopted and rolled out a more digital events. That was boosted by the acquisition of Retail Meetup in December which has encouraging forward bookings for the upcoming events in March and May 2021.
The group’s strategy and focus is on building an omni channel business positions Hyve well for a post Covid-19 environment as markets reopen.
Another plus for group is that it maintains a strong liquidity position, supported by insurance claims against cancelled events. In FY20, the group successfully secured a further £22 million of related income so far, from a pot capped at £62 million. It noted insurance cover is in place for the cancellation of FY21 events, with potential claims capped at £50 million.