5 minute read
An Eventful Task Ahead
Charlie McCloskey, Head of ¬Events & Customer Experience ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall & Ulster Hall; Julia Corkey, CEO ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall & Ulster Hall; Mark Goodfellow, Chief Operating Officer NICTS and Anthony Harbinson, NICTS Director. J ulia Corkey was one of many business leaders who stepped into a prominent role at the height of the pandemic. Here, the Chief Executive of ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall, talks to Emma Deighan about delivering economic impact through the events sector.
In July 2020, Julia Corkey believed her new job heading up ICC Belfast, Waterfront Hall and Ulster Hall would face short-term challenges borne from the pandemic. Fastforward 19 months and challenges remain, but pent-up demand for events has seen her establishments thrive, despite the backdrop. “It’s been tough. When I took up the position, I never thought we would be operating under the level of restrictions we were over a year later. Early on I was optimistic and believed we’d be opened by September 2020. Our industry was the first to shut down and the last to reopen. Amid all the uncertainty one thing remained clear from the outset, we were going to be in this for the long run,” she begins. Support from the venues’ shareholder, Belfast City Council, and a diary packed full of rescheduled events kept ICC Belfast and its sister entertainment venues focused on the future and remaining match fit for their reopening.
At one stage over 90% of all team members were furloughed while a skeleton crew remained to reimagine the business portfolio and its offering as well as accommodating other socially distanced events during lockdowns. This includes ICC Belfast’s contract with the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) as a COVID-secure Nightingale venue to help process a backlog of trials. And as of the middle of last year, the venue had played host to 17 inquests heard by the Coroners Court as well as preliminary hearings, 24 Small Claims Court sittings, three Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal hearings and the Appeals Service had completed 45 sitting days for appeals for benefits decisions among many more legal events. Justice Minister Naomi Long credited the venue and its staff, saying: “I welcome an asset such as ICC Belfast being put to such an important use during the pandemic. Both I and my officials are very grateful to the leadership team and staff of ICC Belfast who have not only provided the venue but who have worked very closely and effectively with NICTS staff, the judiciary and the legal profession to provide a safe space for courts and tribunals users.” Julia continues: “The Nightingale Lagan was in operation for nine months, during which time we worked collaboratively alongside the NICTS team to ensure operations ran smoothly. To facilitate an essential public service, alongside the delivery of a host of other events including Ulster Orchestra rehearsals and over 30 hybrid business events whilst mandated shut was incredible and is testament to the resilience of our team.”
By adapting the 2000-seater main auditorium, the Ulster Orchestra were also able to continue operating at the venue, performing with three metre social distancing in place. Through the use of divider screens and masks throughout, it saw the Waterfront Hall set the stage for over 40 outstanding classical musicians to produce and record music for BBC and beyond. Then, once restrictions eased, pent-up demand was evident in a flow of bookings, Julia says.
“The appetite has been very strong. Since we opened at full capacity in September 2021, we’ve had over 80 business and entertainment events. Looking ahead to 2022 the work that was done to retain bookings through postponements rather than cancellations will continue to pay dividends as we gear up for a bumper year.”
Among those events was the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s President’s Banquet, a Snow Patrol concert, the Premiere of Kenneth Branagh’s Oscar-tipped ‘Belfast’, the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) Annual Congress, and the AIB Business Awards – all of which were permitted to proceed at full capacity.
Julia says travel restrictions and a new model of working have yet to be felt in the diary of listings but investment in hybrid conferences will accommodate any type of demand from conference organisers.
“We’re keen to get delegates back here,” she adds. “Because that’s what brings the economic impact and the feedback we are getting now is that people want to meet up, people want to come together. With more working from home, there has been a renewed focus about that element of socialising and its importance in building networks and collaborating with other delegates. There is definitely demand there.”
She continues: “Prior to COVID-19, we were building a thriving business, having delivered on a £100million economic impact target a year ahead of schedule. Belfast’s star was on the rise as a conference destination and it will be about catching that again.”
With the Department for the Economy on her side as well as a host of ambassadors as part of a new collaborative scheme to get businesses bringing events and investment to NI, Julia’s well equipped to recoup her venue’s successful momentum gained before the pandemic.
DfE launched a £1million scheme to bring more business events to Northern Ireland. Economy Minister Gordon Lyons said the Conference Support Scheme, first created in 2010, was revised and relaunched to help support the recovery of the tourism industry. It will see conference organisers receive £50 for each out-of-state delegate who visits Northern Ireland.
“People are interested in Belfast as a conference destination. They’re intrigued by the journey it’s been on and the feedback we get from people who come here is they love it; it’s walkable, we have great entertainment, a great welcome and we’re an award winning venue and people look forward to coming back to the city.”
She says she’d like to see better connectivity to open up access to more delegates but concludes that hope is rife, strengthened by a collaborative approach across business and hospitality.
“The willingness to collaborate across the city is huge and that is a great advantage because when we win, everyone wins. When we work with the Ambassador Circle and different organisations there is a real sense of team Belfast. We have a good strong mix of conferences coming and we look forward to getting out there and selling the city.”
