The South East's leading construction event has become the latest to fall victim to the pandemic.

Kent Construction Expo was due to take place on October 1 at the Kent Event Centre in Detling.

But organisers Revolution Events and the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce have now confirmed it will be postponed until next year.

It will now be staged on Thursday, February 11.

The decision comes amid continued uncertainty around running large scale public gatherings as the lockdown continues to ease, "combined with an urgent need to finalise arrangements" for the event.

Jo James, chief executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber, said: “We are obviously disappointed to be postponing this year’s event, which was shaping up to be another fantastic outing in spite of the disruption caused by Covid-19.

"However, we have a primary duty of care towards the safety of our delegates, exhibitors, sponsors, staff and speakers. We are also determined that Kent Construction Expo should always deliver a high quality experience that is not compromised by external factors, so with less than three months until the original date and many people still concerned about meeting face-to-face, we feel it is better for us to defer until early-spring than to risk a slightly subdued event in October – however disappointing this may be in the short-term.”

Organisers added that scientific opinion is still divided on the most effective precautions to protect larger groups of people at live events and there is "very little government advice around business conferences and exhibitions,

despite their huge potential for helping to kickstart the UK economy".

Nick Litton, joint managing director at Revolution Events, said: “I would like to reassure all of our customers that we are constantly monitoring the prevailing health and safety risks for live events and we already have a range of precautions planned to reduce physical contact and proximity at our events, which we are ready to implement as soon as we get the go-ahead from government."

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