News

Key annual industry event cancelled for 2020

Guy Pulham
Organiser of UKIFDA EXPO 2020, the UK and Ireland Fuel Distributors Association (UKIFDA) has taken the decision to cancel the 2020 exhibition due to take place on 18 & 19 August at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool.

Guy Pulham CEO of UKIFDA says; “Following the publication of the Government’s Plan To Rebuild Strategy, UKIFDA has been working with Exhibition Centre Liverpool (ECL) on ways in which the 2020 EXPO could be safely organised and hosted. As you know, we have worked hard to try and keep the 2020 event in the calendar as a positive marker of lives returning to some sort of normality.
“In the end, and with great reluctance, we have concluded that it is just not possible to safely run the event that our members, exhibitors and delegates would want – namely a large-scale, high quality event where business gets done. The lack of clarity in the government plan from July onwards (unavoidable given that future stages depends on how the early stages progress) means that we do not know if

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  • mass gatherings will be allowed to take place in August and if they are, under what procedures, set-up, and management.
  • if local service providers (such as shell scheme builders) will be back from furloughed leave especially given the extension to this scheme that was recently announced.
  • local hotels or restaurants will be open for business.
  • travel restrictions into this country will be lifted for European exhibitors and delegates.
  • corporate restrictions on non-essential travel, in place for many exhibitors and delegates, will be lifted by mid-August

“We know that this will come as an enormous disappointment to all of those involved, including our sponsors, exhibitors, suppliers, delegates and speakers. Indeed we, and the whole liquid fuels distribution industry, will miss the 2020 event but the cancellation is necessary for reasons which we are sure you will appreciate, and which are, unfortunately, beyond our control.
“Working with Exhibition Centre Liverpool and The Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Glasgow (both of whom have been very supportive) we have taken the decision to keep the event in Liverpool one more year and hold UKIFDA EXPO 2021 at Exhibition Centre Liverpool on 19 & 20 May 2021. UKIFDA EXPO 2022 will move to The Scottish Event Campus (SEC) Glasgow on 18 & 19 May 2022 and UKIFDA Expo 2023 will also be at SEC on 17 & 18 May 2023.
“We hope to see you at UKIFDA EXPO 2021 which we will work to make even better than before.”
Further information on UKIFDA EXPO 2021 can be found at https://ukifda.org/ukifda-expo/ or by emailing UKIFDA membership and events manager Dawn Shakespeare: ds@ukifda.org