Meet Steve Pinches, Senior VP Product at Hyve Group PLC

Hyve Group plc is one of the world’s leading event and conference companies. Headquartered in London, and with offices across the US, Europe, Latin America, and Asia, we host large-scale business events across the globe – from India and Russia, to the USA and Brazil.

Before the pandemic, our business comprised exclusively in-person experiences, but we are in the process of evolving our offering to include online events and use tech to enhance our physical events too.
 
 

 

How has the company evolved during the pandemic?

 
Like most industries around the world, events were severely impacted by the outbreak of the pandemic. New technologies were needed to keep people connected – events businesses began to embrace webinars and Zoom roundtables to fill the loss of in-person interaction.

Hyve quickly adapted to the circumstances, hosting 180 online events over 18 months, welcoming 52,000 attendees in total and keeping vital business communities connected.

As a result, our digital evolution accelerated – we now use technology both to enhance our in-person events as well as create new and innovative opportunities for business communities to come together online, at more times throughout the year.

As we tentatively emerge on the other side, it is clear that many innovations that were borne out of pandemic necessity are here to stay. While virtual events will continue to serve their purpose, they have also paved the way for advances that can be harnessed for in-person events.
 

What can we hope to see from Hyve in the future?

 
We’re using 30 years of event expertise to combine the best elements of physical events with the benefits of technology. We’ve reflected on lessons from the pandemic and are developing our products to make events more tailored, valuable and productive for attendees.

The way we communicate and engage in our work environment has changed forever. Innovation and digital transformation will continue to shape the events sector. Hyve’s goal is to harness the power of technology for in-person events to reignite industries and bring people together from all over the world to do business.

We believe there is an increased desire for people to reconnect face-to-face, particularly within certain sectors – like construction or food & drink – which require in-person conferences and showcases to fully demonstrate the products to buyers.

We conducted a successful beta trial of our facilitated meetings platform, called Curated Meetings at Hyve’s Autumn Fair event in London in September, with the full-scale program launching at Spring Fair in February 2022. Ultimately, we want to use technology to optimise in-person events, matching attendees with other people who will make their experience as productive and efficient as possible.
 

What challenges will you need to overcome?

 
Following the pandemic, many businesses have – like us – decided to prioritise and invest in their digital platforms. However, with lots of companies seeking people with digital skills in a nation where the skills gap seems to be widening – tech tech talent is becoming much harder to find.

According to a recent Tech Nation report, there are currently more than 100,000 tech vacancies in the UK – for employers, finding people with the specific skills needed at the right time is a real challenge.

As we continue to innovate and progress our digital offering – both for in-person and virtual events – we too will need more tech talent to reach our goals and potential. That’s why we want to see tech opportunities made accessible to a wider candidate pool – both at school leaving age and later in life for technically-minded career changers.