About Us

Learn about our past, present and future.

  • Our aim

Following news updates on UK cases of the Coronavirus and recent government announcements, Open Forum Events is taking all appropriate steps to safeguard event attendees and staff and our events will take place as planned. We are following official UK government and Public Health England advice and are continuing to closely monitor developments; we will review our current response and will act on any further relevant advice as appropriate.

Full official advice can be found here
Full information about the government response can be found here

Open Forum Events exists to develop and promote new thinking and practical solutions in delivering quality, affordable public services and economic prosperity. Open Forum Events brings together a wealth of experience in healthcare events, education events, technology events and events management services. We deliver high quality events where delegates hear from leading thinkers, influencers and practitioners and have the opportunity to learn about and debate latest policy and service developments. It will bring together public and private sector personnel and provide an opportunity to learn from each other.

  • Why Choose Us?

Excellence

Open Forum Events professional team ensure every event is organised to the highest standard. We provide the perfect platform for key stakeholders to meet, share ideas and improve outcomes.

Value

We deliver the highest quality conferences at the lowest cost ensuring our customers get value for money alongside a superb conference experience.

Quality

First class speaker programmes, select and targeted audiences and a high level of professionalism.

Service

We offer excellence in customer service, undertaking surveys and feedback to develop agenda and offering bespoke and tailored sponsorship packages.

Thought Leadership

Putting policy into practice we want to make a difference, highlighting new thinking and new ways of working.

Integrity

We want to help move the agenda forward, we pride ourselves on being honest and transparent.

Design & Develop

We have our fingers on the pulse to ensure you have the very latest information and creative thinking that is happening in your sector.
Our key contacts and unrivalled network of high-profile contributors ensure that we have the very best input on conference agendas.

Partnership

We work alongside our customers to develop tailored and bespoke conferences that meet their needs first time, every time. Our team are dedicated to delivering the highest standards of customer service.

197
Leading
Events
26134
Registered Delegates
666
Event
Sponsors
2235
Leading Speakers
  • Our History

  • The Beginning

  • We start at an end.

    At ten to five, the day before pay day, over 200 staff at an events and publications company were made redundant as the company entered administration. A conference organised by this company was due to be chaired by a prominent speaker the following month, so he contacted a conference producer to ask if they could possibly still run it. The short answer was no. The longer answer was maybe they could do something else.

  • We opened our doors

    In October Open Forum Events was registered at Companies House and we started trading. It was formed to care about it’s customers, to offer real value, integrity, new thinking and to make a difference. Our small office opened in Manchester city centre and we hired our first member of staff, Luke Boulter.

  • Our first event

    In December we successfully organised our first ever event in London at the home of Universities UK, Science Summit. We welcomed amazing organisations such as European Science Foundation, British Science Association and the Technology Strategy Board. It was that good we thought why not run some more?

  • 2014

  • New Year, New Events

    With the success of the first event, we moved straight onto other topics we felt could be further addressed, such as Dementia, Obesity and Mental Health. We welcomed the likes of Alzheimer’s Society, Care Quality Commission, NHS England and Public Health England.

  • The Team Grows

    With more events, we needed more staff. So we increased our team to 10.

  • Our 10th Event

    We hosted our 10th event, a major milestone! NHS Productivity: Weathering the Storm included the Health Foundation, NICE, Health Education England and Monitor.

  • More demand, more events

    We held 15 events with over 1,200 attendees! We started a successful series of events ranging from science policy to dementia care. New venues included the Barbican in London to the famous Palace hotel in Manchester.

  • 2015

  • Our 25th Event!

    Continuous Improvement: Change for the Better was held in May at the Manchester Conference Centre. We welcomed sponsors such as Triaster and Changewise and high profile speakers including Andrew Larner, Chief Executive of iESE and Lindsay Hoult, Head of Continuous Improvement at the Food Standards Agency.

  • We Grew in Size, and Office Space!

    Again, the increase in demand for our events meant we had the opportunity to recruit more staff. With this thought, we expanded our office space.

  • 2016

  • Building on Success

    In 2015 we held 28 events with over 2,400 delegates in attendance. We started 2016 with the plan to bring attention to various other key topics that needed reform including Smart Cities & Communities, Teaching Excellence Framework and Charity Reform.

  • Our 50th Event

    From Surviving To Thriving: Reshaping The Public Sector was organised in partnership with iESE, we welcomed some fantastic speakers including Theresa Grant, Chief Executive of Trafford Council and Neil Gouldbourne, Deputy Director in the Strategy Group at NHS England.

  • 2017

  • New Event Topics

    In 2016 we held 26 leading events, which covered CAMHS, Mental Health, Research Excellence Framework and NHS Five Year Forward View amongst others.

  • Our 75th Event!

    In March 2017, we held our 75th event as Open Forum Events. The event was DigiHealth UK: Enhancing the Patient’s Journey, which included leading speakers from all over the industry and sponsors such as IBM, Texthelp and iRhythm.

  • Our 100th Event!

    Our 100th event was held on 9th November 2017 at the America Square Conference Centre, London. Smart Cities and Communities: Connecting Citizens included speakers from organisations such as Future Cities Catapult, Health Innovation Network, Leeds City Council, Esri UK Ltd, FutureEverything and Digital Greenwich.

  • Today

  • Here’s to the next chapter

    Each year we've been building on our successes and learning from what we can do to help improve our public services. We believe it is now more important than ever to bring people together.