The UK is now fully open for business – all COVID-19 restrictions across the country have now been lifted and life is moving back to “normal”. However, many believe that some of the foreign press are portraying the UK in a negative and unfair way. Some believe this is political driven, rather than reflecting a true representation.
We wanted to, therefore, enlighten you on how life currently is in the UK from our perspective. More than 80% of adults in the UK are now fully vaccinated, making it one of the top 15 most vaccinated countries globally. Social distancing has come to an end in the legal sense and facemasks are no longer compulsory. However, the majority of citizens continue to wear masks in public places and many local organizations such as the London Underground still require you to wear masks. This approach is sensible and appears to be working well.
The general feeling in the UK is much more positive, and many sporting and social activities are taking place and people are having fun again! The vaccination program continues to progress and lessen the risk to people and reduce the burden on the NHS. Covid is still with of course but most UK citizens are learning to live with the virus, albeit cautiously, and are getting on with rebuilding their lives. Our cities are becoming vibrant again and are starting to look like they did at the beginning of 2020.
IR London 2021
Our Annual Conference in London, this October is going ahead as planned and ticket sales are strong. However, we have introduced some measures to ensure that the event is as enjoyable and comfortable as possible for everyone attending.
- We will request attendees to wear a face mask on arrival and moving around the conference venue.
- We will be partnering with a testing company with facilities at airports and close to the conference venue to assist members with travel requirements
- We will introduce a traffic light badge system to allow people to let other IR members know how comfortable they are with social contact, facemasks and handshakes. This badge should be worn throughout the conference so that people understand individual preferences. The traffic light system is:
RED means an attendee wants no physical contact, “no exceptions”
YELLOW denotes that an attendee is still being cautious but are OK with elbow bumps as a greeting
GREEN indicates that an attendee is relaxed about physical distancing and comfortable with handshakes and high fives.
We are developing a bespoke events app to limit paper use for the conference. This app will host all of the information on COVID-19, including the traffic light badge, you can book meetings, update your COVID-19 vaccine status, upload your test results, and view the full schedule for the event. Naturally are doing all that we can to ensure everybody’s safety and enjoyment whilst adhering to the UK Government guidelines so that it will be a great event!
Don’t miss out on all the fun, get your ticket here.