The UK’s fastest-growing founder event — hosted on your doorstep
The Festival of Entrepreneurs returns to the NEC, 3–4 November 2026.
5,000 founders, 200 speakers and 150 partners gathering to scale serious businesses.
If you provide funding, marketing, technology, people, leadership or advisory services based in the Midlands - this is a national audience of business owners arriving in your region.
A national audience coming to Birmingham
83% are founders or senior leaders. 35% run £1m+ revenue businesses. Founders travel nationally to attend.
The Festival attracts business owners from across the UK, including strong representation from Midlands, London and the South East.
Attendees include:
• Revenue-backed growth businesses
• Companies expanding teams and systems
• Founders preparing for funding or acquisition
• Decision-makers investing in technology, advisory and infrastructure
This is a national platform delivered in your local market.
Founders travelled to Birmingham to hear directly from those who have built, scaled and exited significant businesses. And meet partners who can add value to their business and accelerate growth.
The 2026 Festival expands that platform — doubling exhibition space and increasing speaker depth.
This is not a regional business expo. It is a national founder gathering hosted at the NEC.
National founders and leaders took the stage in Birmingham in 2025
A national platform, born in the Midlands
63% of founders attend to meet new partners with expertise that can drive their growth.
For organisations based close to the NEC, the commercial advantage is clear.
A national founder audience is arriving on your doorstep.
That means:
• Access to 5,000 decision-makers without national travel cost
• Stronger brand visibility within your own regional market
• Easier client hosting and follow-up meetings
• The ability to deploy full teams across two days
• Long-term relationship building beyond the event itself
Few businesses get the opportunity to engage a national audience in their own city.
The Festival brings scale, visibility and decision-makers directly to the Midlands.
Exhibit within a high-density founder environment
• Stand options from 6sqm to 72sqm
• Positioned around high-traffic stages and networking hubs
• Premium shell scheme stands and turnkey options
• Access to pre- and post-event marketing exposure
The floorplan is designed to drive movement and maximise meaningful interaction.
Lead practical discussions around business growth
• Deliver experience-led sessions
• Align with programme themes inc: Funding, Tech, Marketing, People, Workforce, Innovation, Growth & Leadership
• Extend visibility through professionally recorded sessions
Advisors who demonstrate credibility and depth resonate strongly with growth-stage founders.
“The Festival of Entrepreneurs was a great event, there was real interest in applied AI with established Founders who are scaling their businesses and we made valuable connections. We have rebooked for the next one!”
— Dominic Kos, Founder of Cleverfox AI“Festival of Entrepreneurs was a fantastic event for Strategus Consulting. It was great to meet so many entrepreneurs and founders and hear their ambitions. Follow up has also been excellent, with over 85,000 people viewing our FOE related episodes of the Leaders in Strategy Podcast. We will be back in 2026 with a much bigger stand”
— Mike Harris, CEO of Strategus"We exhibited at last year's Festival of Entrepreneurs and picked up many leads for our fractional c-suite services, so this is a highly recommended event"
— John Courtney CEO, BoardroomAdvisors.co “Our presence at the Festival of Entrepreneurs was a real standout this year. The energy around our stand was fantastic, engaging, inviting, and full of meaningful conversations with entrepreneurs, innovators, and partners who were genuinely excited about what we had to offer. Overall, the event was a brilliant platform for us.”
— Linsey Luke, Head of Business and Stakeholder Engagement, FSB“I had a fantastic experience at the Festival of Entrepreneurs. It’s a rare event that brings together such an open, ambitious and generous group of founders, and the energy across the day really reflected that. I left feeling inspired, with several valuable new connections and conversations that I’m confident will turn into long-term relationships.”
— Mark Rushmore, Co-founder of SURI“The scale and energy in Festival of Entrepreneurs was fantastic, and we really appreciated the opportunity to be part of it.”
— Jay Lad, Business Growth West Midlands
A national platform hosted at the NEC Birmingham
The Festival draws founders from across the UK, with strong representation from London and the South East alongside a growing Midlands base.
The 2026 event doubles in scale — expanding the exhibition, the content programme and the curated networking zones.
The Festival is becoming an essential knowledge exchange and marketplace for scaling founders and the partners who support them.
40% of exhibition space already allocated
Early movers get the advantages of prime exhibition stand locations and alignment with speaker topics.