Unlocking Growth in the Global Events Economy

Steve Monnington, CEO of Mayfield Merger Strategies, reports on an unprecedented time for events M&A. In last month’s column I analysed the three big PE transactions involving CloserStill Media, Emerald and Questex. However, we weren’t done there. On June 2nd, PE firm Hellman & Friedman announced that they had acquired Hyve for $1.8bn in a… Read more

Senior leaders from across the UK events industry, accessibility sector and Parliament gathered yesterday at Portcullis House, Westminster, to discuss the development of a more consistent and effective approach to accessibility across the UK events sector. The parliamentary roundtable, hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Events in partnership with The Business of Events… Read more

Martin Rhodes MP, Chair of The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Events and Labour MP for Glasgow, will officially open The Meetings Show.  Taking place at Excel London on 24-25 June 2026, the UK’s premier event for meetings, incentives, conferences and events professionals will bring together nearly 6,000 people for two days of fresh ideas and valuable… Read more

Steve Monnington, CEO of Mayfield Merger Strategies, reports on the busiest ever 4 weeks in events M&A and talks to Douglas Emslie about the latest Private Equity moves and what lies behind the growing dominance of the USA in events M&A. The last 4 weeks have seen the announcement of 11 transactions, 8 of which… Read more

AI is increasing the need for human meetings, not reducing it, according to new research commissioned by The Meetings Show. Challenging assumptions about the role of technology in improving efficiency, almost two-thirds of business leaders (62%) say AI is increasing the need for human discussion and alignment. The findings come from the UK Productivity Gap… Read more

The Business of Events, the leading Think Tank and Advocacy Network for the business events sector, has announced its initial line up of politicians, policymakers, campaigners and leading industry figures for its signature Policy Forum. Returning to IET London: Savoy Place on Tuesday 7th July 2026, the Policy Forum is designed to drive growth within the UK’s business events economy through developing policy initiatives. Among the… Read more