Calderdale businesses Your Event Solutions celebrates 20-year anniversary

Founded in 2001 by Sue Gill, former travel agent and entrepreneur, YES was launched with the intention of creating a fully bespoke global events service that put the client at the heart of operations.

In 2019, YES embarked on its next chapter of growth by joining Internova Travel Group, one of the largest travel companies in North America.

The MICE organisation has significantly grown its worldwide footprint over the last few years with eight office locations throughout Europe and North America. Its twenty-strong team work across prominent client accounts including L’Oréal, Bentley, Invisalign and Estee Lauder.

Founder and CEO of YES, Sue Gill, said the challenges the business has faced over the last year makes the occasion feel even more poignant.

“As an events-focussed business, the very start of the pandemic was really daunting and unsettling. We were on a trajectory of growth pre-pandemic, going from strength-to-strength with global expansion and new client wins.," she said

“We had to quickly re-evaluate the entire business model and adopt new services and a new way of working. We launched our Events Evolution campaign shortly after lockdown to meet the needs of clients who still needed to find ways to host critical conferences and interactive meetings.

“Having a creative and passionate team meant we had the ability to sharply pivot in 2020. We had to immerse ourselves in emerging technology, different ways of working and find new services to support our clients. I don’t think I could have ever predicted that we’d be spending over a year planning virtual conferences and team building, loyalty programmes and experiences, but here we are – and we’ve learned a lot along the way. I am incredibly grateful to our team and customers who have been so loyal and supportive, in fact so kind – they really are what make YES the brand it is today.”

Its 20th anniversary comes after fourteen months of disruption across the events and MICE industry with face-to-face meetings and conferences grinding to halt.

Despite challenges, the business has bucked trends to generate positive trading figures thanks to successfully pivoting to virtual events and are now anticipating early signs of recovery for the coming year.

The YES anniversary was marked with an open-invitation virtual event – The Kitchen Disco – where YES invited clients, suppliers and colleagues to toast the celebrations by joining a virtual fundraiser.

During the event, the YES team raised funds for Maggie’s Cancer Charity, where Sue Gill stands as a volunteer non-executive board member, with prizes such as cruises, luxury 5* hotel stays and coaching sessions up for grabs.

So far, the YES team have raised over £4000 with donations still coming in.