Following over 12 months joint activity from the Events Industry Alliance, Liverpool Experience Campus and The Business of Events, we are very pleased that the long-awaited Culture Media and Sport Select Committee report into Business Events has been published today.
The report outlines several key findings and recommendations, following the evidence session that took place in Parliament in December 2025, and the previous and subsequent written evidence that was also provided to the committee.
Those recommendations include;
- That the government develop and publish a standalone, long-term national business events strategy aligned with the industrial strategy
- The establishment of a sector-led National Business Events Council, to provide coordination, leadership and sustained engagement between government and industry
- For the government to maintain funding for promoting UK-based business events abroad
- That ministers and VisitBritain reconsider the decision to reduce the size of its business events team
- That the government transfer responsibility for business events to the Department for Business and Trade and establish a cross-government structure, with dedicated representation, a clear strategy and sustained funding support
We welcome the recommendations in the report, and now urge the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to implement all of the committee’s recommendations in full, and in addition for both DCMS and VisitBritain to reverse the recent and devastating cuts to their business events team and restore funding for the Business Events Growth Programme.
As Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, Chair of the CMS Committee, said:
“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.”
We are grateful to Dame Caroline Dinenage and all the members of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee for their work and continued support and cooperation during the long process of this inquiry.
Collectively, we remain committed to engaging and working with Government, and the wider business events sector, to work together to ensure that the UK continues to be seen as one of the most attractive and competitive destinations for business events, to grow our world leading business events economy and to deliver much needed growth in every part of the country.
The report by the Culture, Media and Sport Committee into Business Events can be viewed and downloaded here
A copy of the Committee’s official Press Release on the report can be viewed here