NDML And Dan Mills At The BARBI Trade Show
The NDML team attended the BARBI Trade Show in Bristol. It was a fantastic event, featuring top distributors, independent businesses and key speakers.
We talked to Dan Mills, Head of Commercial, who was exhibiting at the BARBI Trade Event in Bristol on behalf of Visit West. We wanted to gauge his unfiltered thoughts on the visitor economy sector as part of our new Nightlife Unscripted Series.
Watch the video here:
NDML Talks To Dan Mills
“My name is Dan Mills, I work for Visit West and my role is Head of Commercial.”
When asked what they believe the tends in 2024 for nightlife will be, they said:
I think lots of places are very likely to diversify their offering. It’s something that we’ve seen quite a lot of in terms of during the pandemic, in terms of organisations pivoting. Now I think businesses are trying to get more creative in order to draw people in. I was talking to a venue on Gloucester Road [in Bristol] earlier; they’ve said they’ve turned the upstairs room into a bit of a cinema, they’ve also talked about holding quiz nights as well. Some of the things that historically renowned for such as their Sunday roast and their beer offering are always going to be there, but it’s just about trying to get those hooks to encourage more people to come into the organisation, and sample things and hopefully come back.
When asked about their most recent experience of nightlife, they said:
“In terms of nightlife venue, it was actually my wife’s birthday on Saturday. So we went to a lovely Thai restaurant called Siam Smile on Church Road. It was absolutely fantastic, a great venue. Also I’ve recently been somewhere closer to home – I’m more South Gloucester than Bristol – there’s a great place called the Forge and Fern, we went there for a couple of drinks over the weekend. All local produce and set in a lovely ambience. So recommend both of those, all be it very different
When asked what they would change in the hospitality sector if they were made Prime Minister for a day, they said:
“I’d change more support for the wider industry. There’s lots of challenges regarding recruitment, retention, and that’s been a hangover from the pandemic, and that’s something that’s still continuing. So, I think that definitely needs addressing in terms of more support for the industry regarding recruitment, retention and trying to bring staff back and trying to keep hold of them.”
More From Nightlife Unscripted
Much needs to be done across the whole scope of the nightlife economy. Learn more about the other opinions and motivations from night time industry leaders here