The organisers of Sleep & Eat have announced the first details of this year’s show, taking place on 17-18 November at Olympia London. New for 2020 are meeting and networking platforms designed to generate conversations and connections between all members of the hospitality community, including a series of one-to-one meetings organised in advance through the show’s new portal. These initiatives will be combined with experiential set concepts, a conference exploring the shape of hospitality after Covid-19, and an international exhibition. The organisers have also revealed that, for the first time, the event will be delivered in collaboration with international hotel brand partners Accor, IHG and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
“Sleep & Eat 2020 celebrates 15 years of leading thought and exciting innovation, and we have taken this opportunity to consult the industry on how it would like us to do even more of what we do so well – bringing the community together and looking forward – when coronavirus has slammed the brakes on their world,” says Mark Gordon, Director of Sleep & Eat. “As we emerge from the crisis, there will be a vital need for new collaborations, new engagements and different ways of doing things. Sleep & Eat’s 2020 programme of lively, inspiring and thought-provoking features integrated with constructive and grounded opportunities to do business on an individual and company scale, will be just the tonic the industry craves. Watch this space for more announcements of receptions, business networking and roundtables!”
Also new to the event will be two wining and dining spaces. Boxx Creative, the consultancy behind a number of global hospitality ventures, will be designing the eat experience with Michelin star chef, Oli Marlow, in residence. Meanwhile, Superfutures Design, whose founder Andy Martin was the creator of the hotel design for Puro Hotel Group, and worked with Oliver Peyton and the Hart Brothers on some of London’s best-known bars and restaurants, will be serving up the Sleep & Eat bar experience.
A Lounge Bar will make its debut too and be designed by luxury hospitality firm, Atellior, taking centrestage on the main exhibition floor. Significantly larger than previous Sleep & Eat bars, it will provide a spacious gravitational hub for visitors eager to catch up with colleagues and enjoy a rekindling of social life.
Una Barac, founder of Atellior, comments: “We are really excited and honoured to participate in Sleep & Eat as this is the leading event in the hospitality design industry and a great opportunity to showcase our work, meet and catch up with number of developers, operators and peers in the industry. We love the way the show has grown in the recent years to include restaurants and bars. Now more than ever, it is important to see how hospitality industry will evolve and being a part of this, at Sleep & Eat, is truly momentous!”
Elsewhere across the show, the Guestroom Sets – one of Sleep & Eat’s perennial favourites – will be created by ReardonSmith Architects, Perkins & Will, AD Associates and Chalk Architecture, while Heleri Rande will once again be at the helm of the conference, entitled Redefining Freedom, after her successful debut last year.
“No one knows what the world will look like come November, but one thing is certain – our behaviour will have changed,” says Rande. “The rules of social distancing that are keeping billions at home right now will alter how we act, interact and re-act. What this means for hospitality remains to be seen. How will the travel preferences of different generations be altered? What will be the new normal for hotels, restaurants and bars? What sort of freedom will we be allowed to practice? These are just some of the issues we will be exploring.”
Finally, the exhibition will showcase the latest products and services from a range of companies, some familiar, others waiting to be discovered. Amongst the returnees will be Germany’s Baulmann, which develops and manufactures decorative lighting concepts for hotels, restaurants, bars and cruise liners, and luxury British fabrics company, Arley House. Sleep & Eat newcomers will include Vaughan, the eminent designer and manufacturer of lighting, furniture and accessories, whose UK projects include The Ned, Gleneagles and Firmdale Hotels, and Ahmet Kasapoglu Mobilya, which has provided project-specific furniture to the likes of Rixos Hotels, Hilton and Kamelya Collection.
