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05 Aug 2026

Sector warns UK risks losing out on growing international business events market

Sector warns UK risks losing out on growing international business events market

More than 214 trade associations, venues, organisers and suppliers from across the UK’s business events sector have written to Lisa Nandy MP, Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to demand that the recent Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s recommendations, which call for immediate support for the UK’s £33.6 billion event economy, are implemented in full.

The move follows the Committee’s own year-long inquiry, which resulted in the publication of its Business Events report on 6 July 2026 with a clear set of recommendations. The signatories of the letter have demanded that these are all actioned in full:

  • A more structured approach to ministerial attendance at major events
  • Move responsibility for the sector to the Department for Business and Trade (now the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
  • A dedicated national business events strategy, matching the coherent approach of EU competitors
  • Reverse VisitBritain’s cuts to its business events team and its Business Events Growth Programme

The Committee’s report, which followed evidence sessions held in December, concluded that the government’s current approach is holding the sector back from competing internationally, and that business events should be treated as a distinct, trade-driven sector, separate from major events and tourism policy.

Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the DCMS Select Committee previously stated: “The huge contribution they make to the economy demonstrates the exceptional quality of the conferences, exhibitions and trade fairs held every day across the country.

“The Government’s decision to slash support for business events is utterly irrational and entirely counterproductive, when we should be supporting the sector to boost economic growth. It’s time for the Government to show it understands the importance and distinctiveness of the business events sector.”

The global business events market is continuously growing. The UK is now the only major economy without a fully funded national business events team, trailing Ireland, France, Germany, Spain and around twenty other European competitors.

Since 2018, VisitBritain’s now-axed Business Events Growth Programme delivered a 35:1 return on investment, turning less than £1.8 million of government funding into £60.6 million in direct economic return. It brought 167 business events to UK cities, including Aberdeen, Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool, Cambridge and Newport.

Visitors attending business events already account for 17% of all visits to the UK. The government has set a target of 50 million international visitors by 2030, a target the sector says is at risk without continued investment.

A spokesperson for the business events industry said: “Jobs, trade, investment, innovation; this is what’s on the line. Every month of inaction hands our competitors the advantage, and they are outspending and offering more support to win the large events we should be winning. Government has the evidence, it has the Committee’s recommendations, and it has a sector standing ready to help deliver growth in every part of the country. What it needs now is the will to act.”

The letter with its full list of signatories is available here.

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  • The events industry is only as good as the sum of its parts – the EIA represents all parts of our amazing industry. We are members because together we are so much stronger and are therefore so much better placed to deal with both our challenges and the massive opportunities that lie ahead.
    Simon Parker
    CIBSE
  • The EIA serves as the quintessential industry forum and working group representing the cornerstones critical to all events; the organiser, the venue and the supply chain providing goods and services to the sector. Whilst it’s always been a valuable alliance for the industry, in these times of post-pandemic economic uncertainty and geo-political challenges, the ability for the industry to convene, confer and communicate as a unified sector is imperative as we seek to grow and have an even greater impact on the UK’s social and economic landscape.
    Shaun Hinds
    Newbury Racecourse
  • The EIA is a great forum for collaboration between three of the major UK business events associations. It’s so important as an industry that we speak with one voice, that we collaborate on the biggest issues that we face and that we build mutual understanding and respect. The EIA provides the opportunity to do all of these things and is a made more powerful by all of our contributions.
    Carina Bauer
    IMEX

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