It is with immense regret that I must inform you that it is necessary to defer the dates of 3CDSE from 7 & 8 July to 3 & 4 November 2021, at Three Counties Showground Malvern.
We are contacting all stakeholders, including Sponsors, Exhibitors, Delegates and Visitors to advise of this decision. I apologise if we have not yet been able to contact you personally, but given the urgency of the dissemination of this information, we felt it provident to provide this news publicly in parallel with this dedicated communication process.
As doubtless you will have anticipated, we have been engaged in contingency planning with the Ministry of Defence since 2020, seeking to anticipate any circumstances which might prevail by July 2021, including the known possibility that the Covid 19 restrictions might not be lifted from 21 June as was hoped.
Prior to 14 June, the MoD had committed to participation in an event in July on the basis of all the anticipated variations which might then apply.
However, the government’s announcement on 14 June prompted an internal review within the MOD which led to a change in their position based upon safety considerations for their personnel.
As a result of that review, we have been advised that MOD personnel are no longer able to participate in a July event. Please see below their Statement in regard to this decision.
This has forced us to take the unwelcome and difficult decision to defer the event to November.
Although this is not our favoured option, it is nonetheless right to observe that the deferment does carry with it some advantages, including:
- The opportunity for wider and more significant input from MOD in the event, and;
- Anticipation of a larger delegate audience, including foreign procurement personnel who would have been prevented from attending by current travel restrictions
My sincere apologies for all inconvenience which will inevitably be caused by this late deferral.
MOD OFFICIAL STATEMENT
It is with great regret that we inform you that the UK Strategic Command Capability Special Projects / DE&S Industry Day and 3 Counties Defence & Security Exposition (3CDSE), due to take place on 7 and 8 July 2021, is now postponed to 3 and 4 November 2021.
This decision has not been taken lightly, however, given the 4-week delay to the COVID-19 Government roadmap announced by the Prime Minister last week, we felt it prudent to follow suit and proceed with caution. While the benefits case for the 3CDSE event remains as strong as ever, and especially so given the lapse of time since the last Expo in July 2019, the health and safety of our staff and attendees at the event remains our top priority and hence we have made the difficult decision to defer. Our decision has been made after full and careful consultation with all key stakeholders including UK Strategic Command, across DE&S and the 3 Counties Defence and Security Group.
On behalf of UK Strategic Command and DE&S, we would like to reassure you that we remain entirely committed to 3CDSE. It affords us a great opportunity to nurture the strong relationships between Defence and the Industry base that supports our Special User groups and to this end we would be very grateful if you could reserve the new dates into your forward plans.
The successful 2019 event provided a tremendous forum for engagement and discussion, both Authority to Industry and Business to Business. We reached over 200 companies and were able to share, first-hand, an overview of future requirements and the potential business opportunities within the Special Projects Capability area of UK Strategic Command. Continuing these discussions and engagement will be increasingly important as we look to the future beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am sure you will understand our decision and hope that you will continue to support this event over the revised dates in 2021. Thank you for your efforts and our very best wishes to you and your teams during these challenging times.
Steve Bentley
Head of Capability for Special Projects Defence Equipment & Support
Vikash Patel
Air Commodore Head of IBOC Special Projects
ENDS
If you have any specific questions, please do contact us at info@3cdse.co.uk.
I very much look forward to welcoming you to 3CDSE in November 2021.
Anna Roby-Welford
CEO, 3CDSE
