American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has expanded messaging capabilities and made enhancements to the Amex GBT Mobile platform, elevating the on-the-go care experience for travel managers and business travelers. 

In a united effort to kickstart the events market, many U.K. industry associations and prominent leaders in the sector have teamed up to create and support UKickstart Event 2020, taking place on Tuesday, September 8 at 2 p.m. This free-to-attend, nationwide, multi-hub live and virtual event will bring together meeting and event leaders and professionals who want to drive the U.K. to have the confidence to start meeting again.

A survey of event professionals by etc.venues during its first hybrid event since lockdown revealed that almost three-quarters (73 percent) of them are planning a hybrid event before the end of the year.

A fifth (19 percent) of planners said the biggest barrier to choosing a hybrid event is a lack of experience, followed by concerns over cost (17 percent), risk of failure (17 percent), perceptions of low attendance (17 percent), confusion with technology (16 percent) and getting stakeholder buy-in (15 percent).

At the Association of British Professional Conference Organizers (ABPCO)’s annual general meeting, which took place digitally on Friday, June 26, Michael Smith from RenewableUK and Barbara Calderwood from MCI UK began their two-year tenure as joint chairs of the association.

Last week’s ICCA (International Congress and Convention Association) U.K. and Ireland Chapter meeting was attended by more than 90 delegates from destinations, venues and suppliers. It was moderated by newly appointed chairman of Business Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP), Simon Hughes. 

American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has launched a new sustainability feature in its corporate travel and expense software, Neo. Now, the travel management platform has a carbon emissions filter to help travelers make better-informed booking decisions; this is available for both air and rail tickets.

VisitBritain has announced that its flagship annual Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) event MeetGB, will this year be run as a virtual educational event due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and will take place on June 17 and 23.

As countries around the world respond to the coronavirus pandemic, London’s events industry has been adapting their business offering to support the fight against coronavirus. While the government takes small steps towards reopening parts of the U.K. economy and the events industry considers the path to recovery, the London Convention Bureau is launching a new resource for event planners: London’s Virtual Site Visits.

The UK is likely to hold a general election December 12 as lawmakers continue to work to settle on a Brexit plan. Here's the latest.

The European Union (EU) has agreed to extend the Brexit deadline, which had been set for this Thursday, to January 31, 2020. Here’s the latest.