An industry trade body has launched a new initiative to help businesses across the experience economy assess their capabilities and identify opportunities for future growth.
Developed in partnership with Experiential Edge, the complimentary Experience Readiness Benchmark is available to Experience UK members and is designed to provide a practical assessment of organisational strengths, development priorities and preparedness for the challenges facing the sector.
Benchmark assesses business readiness
The Experience Readiness Benchmark covers a range of areas affecting experience-led organisations, including audience engagement, customer experience, digital maturity, artificial intelligence (AI) readiness, commercial growth, innovation, operational capability, compliance and future planning.
Rather than requiring a lengthy assessment, the benchmark uses a focused set of questions to help members evaluate their current capabilities and identify priorities for development.
Participants will receive a personalised summary report after completing the benchmark. This will include an overall readiness score, key strengths, development opportunities and recommended next steps.
The initiative is intended to support organisations at different stages of their development, from businesses launching new concepts to established operators seeking to increase visitor numbers, improve commercial performance or scale their operations.
It also aims to provide a framework for organisations exploring the potential of AI, preparing for investment or seeking to strengthen operational delivery.
“The Sector is Moving Quickly”
Experiential Edge brings more than 20 years of experience working with experience-led businesses on launching, growing and scaling their operations, as well as preparing for investment or exit.
Its work spans brand and commercial strategy, customer growth, partnerships, operations and site development, alongside funding and exit readiness.
The partnership reflects a focus on helping Experience UK members understand their current position and determine where improvements could support their next stage of development.
Luke Miles, Co-Founder of Experiential Edge, said: “The sector is moving quickly. Customer expectations are changing, AI and technology are reshaping how businesses operate, and organisations are under increasing pressure to grow, prove performance and move faster.
“The Experience Readiness Benchmark gives members a practical way to understand where they are today, where the opportunities sit and what could help unlock their next stage of growth.
“Experience UK brings together many of the organisations, operators, creators and partners shaping the future of the experience economy, so this is a really exciting partnership for us. For Experiential Edge, this is about creating something genuinely useful for members while helping Experience UK build a stronger evidence base for the sector.”
Findings to inform wider industry support
As well as providing individual organisations with a view of their readiness, the benchmark is intended to help Experience UK develop a clearer understanding of the challenges facing the wider experience economy.
With members’ consent, anonymised responses will be used to identify common challenges, emerging trends and capability gaps across the sector.
Experience UK intends to use these insights to inform future white papers, member communications, sector commentary, roundtables and practical support for its network.
The findings could help the organisation better understand the areas where businesses require additional guidance, while providing an evidence base to support its work representing organisations across the experience economy.
Ian Clappison, CEO of Experience UK, said: “This is a practical member benefit that gives organisations across the experience economy a clear opportunity to reflect on their current capability, identify areas for development and better understand how they can prepare for future growth.
“The anonymised insight generated through the survey will also help Experience UK better understand the challenges and opportunities facing our members, supporting our work to represent the sector and provide relevant, meaningful support.”
Take part today
The Experience Readiness Benchmark is available to Experience UK members at no cost. Participants can complete the assessment online and receive their individual summary report, including their readiness score and recommended next steps.
The initiative combines individual business assessment with anonymised sector-level insights, giving Experience UK a potential basis for identifying shared development needs while helping members consider their own priorities for growth.
Members can now access the Experience Readiness Benchmark survey through the Experiential Edge website.
