The Good Business Festival has been postponed until later in the year after new Government travel guidance was announced for the Liverpool City Region.
The event, which saw hundreds of business leaders gather at the ACC Liverpool for a pilot run back in April, has been delayed yet again due to Covid rules.
Organisers of the festival, which was set to take place in Liverpool over three days in July, made the announcement today - which also took into account the Government's full easing of restrictions originally set to take place on June 21 being delayed by four week.
A statement from the organisers said: "In light of the extension of lockdown restrictions, The Good Business Festival will be postponed to later in 2021.
"We have been dedicated to making our festival happen safely in person and were part of the government event pilot programme in April when we delivered Europe’s first post lockdown business event to which the response was phenomenal.
"Subsequent research demonstrated it did nothing to increase Covid infections, but it also served as a poignant reminder of the power of the business community in meeting face-to-face and what it can achieve collaboratively."
Originally scheduled to take place in September last year, the showcase was postponed due to the pandemic - although a virtual ‘Act 1’ event took place in October.
The Government announced on Monday that the roadmap had changed, with the Good Business Festival having been set for the "wrong side" of the new dates for Stage Four of lockdown easing.
The statement added: "Additional travel restrictions also announced this week limit travel for audiences and contributors into and around the Liverpool City Region. So although logistically we could deliver the event, we feel it is the wrong thing to do.
"On this occasion we strongly believe that switching to digital for July is not the solution.
"Britain is primed to meet in person, and we want to use our resources wisely to do justice to the subject matter, our participants and the business community. We will be in touch with more details soon.
"Meanwhile, we’ll continue to look forward to later this year when The Good Business Festival and Liverpool City Region can continue the conversation on changing for good."
