Simon Hughes is a business consultant with specialist experience in developing and managing events in the public and private sectors. In 2020, he was appointed as chair of the British Visits and Events Partnership (BVEP), an umbrella organisation representing leading trade and professional organisations, government agencies and other significant influencers in the UK business visits and events sector. BVEP works with other stakeholder and advocacy groups such as the Tourism Alliance, UK Events Industry Board, UK Hospitality, UK Inbound, The Tourism Industry Emergency Group and the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events to coordinate and support wider lobbying activities. It is the public-facing lead of One Industry One Voice (OIOV), a cross-industry movement to unite the wider events sector; BVEP also conducts independent research. Alongside his role at BVEP, Hughes runs a business consultancy that provides strategic services to the events sector. He has previously served as director of live events at the Central Office of Information working on high-profile events for government departments and agencies. With 30 years of experience in the events sector, he now serves on the board of Evcom. Hughes’s career began as operations director at The Media Gateway in 1999, a strategic event consultancy and production services. He has also worked as managing partner of the Monterey County Hospitality Association.
