Tag: conferences

EICC confirms £50m boost to economy with new client wins

Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has generated almost £50 million in future economic impact for Edinburgh after securing 91 new events in the last six months.

The conferences and meetings are expected to bring nearly 54,000 delegates to the city and include several multi-year bookings extending through to 2031.

Medical conferences led the way, accounting for more than £17 million in economic impact during the period. This milestone is particularly significant in 2026, as the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Edinburgh celebrates its 300th anniversary. Finance and Investment, Charity, Education and IT & Technology events also featured strongly among the new bookings.

Major events confirmed to take place at the venue include the International Marine Conservation Congress 2026; World Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage Conference 2026; and The Aerosol Society – Drug Delivery to the Lungs, which has been a client of the venue for more than 21 years, has now booked a multi-year event from 2029 until 2031.

Amanda Wrathall, Chief Executive Officer of the EICC, said: “We are hugely encouraged by the venue’s strong performance over the last six months.

Every business event we welcome to the EICC represents more than a booking; it brings together delegates from around the world to enable knowledge exchange, foster collaboration, generate economic impact and showcase Edinburgh on a global stage.

“This continued momentum reflects the confidence our clients place in both the EICC and Edinburgh, demonstrating the city’s enduring strengths as a destination for business events and the value these events create for our economy, our innovation ecosystem and our global reputation.

“We are incredibly grateful to our clients for that confidence and to our team for delivering the high standards and trusted partnerships that make it possible.”

Since opening in 1995, the EICC has delivered more than £1 billion in total economic impact to Edinburgh supporting jobs, investment, knowledge exchange and commercial opportunities created by world-class events.

Tech firms lined up for Turing Fest

One of Europe’s leading tech conferences for start-ups and scale-ups, Turing Fest is set to welcome around 700 in-person delegates to the EICC between 2nd and 4th November 

  • Turing Fest CEO Brian Corcoran: “Turing Fest is a practical learning and networking event, primarily aimed at helping people build better start-ups and scale-ups, and it’s a win-win dynamic because the audience is keen to learn, and the speakers are keen to teach” 
  • Speaker line-up includes: Hannah Fleishman, Director of Employer Brand & Internal Comms, HubSpot; Nilan Peiris, VP Growth, Wise; Ashley Faus, Content Strategy Lead, Atlassian; Saille DaSilva, Head of UX, Cazoo; Chris Savage, co-founder and CEO, Wistia; Varun Nair, co-founder or Two Big Ears and former Head of AR/VR Audio Software at Facebook, and; clinical psychologist Dr Suzanne Brown.  
  • A major theme at Turing Fest is around diversity and inclusivity, building on its inclusion at the tech conference over the last few years with this year’s conference speaker line-up is 50% women and 20% People Of Colour – rare for a tech conference Turing Fest’s partners for 2021 include Current Health, FanDuel, Administrate, GearedApp, FreeAgent, Bureau, Avaloq, CodeClan, Baillie Gifford, Creative Informatics, Harper Macleod, Purpose HR, Turing Trust, Wistia, and the Freer Consultancy 

Turing Fest, one of Europe’s top tech conferences for start-ups and scale-ups, has announced its partner and speaker line-up for 2021, taking place next week from 2nd – 4th November at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). Event organisers are expecting around 700 in-person delegates this year, with a similar number of attendees joining online.  

A major theme at this year’s Turing Fest is around diversity and inclusivity, building on its inclusion at the tech conference over the last few years.

Past speaker Check Warner, co-founder of Ada Ventures, shared: “We started Ada Ventures with the key objective of investing in overlooked founders and markets, following years of not seeing anyone be truly proactive at making a difference in this space. This was also my key focus for co-founding the non-profit, Diversity VC.

“So, when I was asked to be a part of Turing Fest in both 2018 and 2020, I learned about their self-set targets and tactics to provide a diverse and inclusive experience for all. From the range of speakers (gender, POC, background, you name it), to ensuring underrepresented groups could get access easily – and free – to attend the conference, I knew I had to be a part of it.

“I’ve recently found out that they are hitting and exceeding their targets this year – with over 50% of the speakers being female or non-binary and 20% being POC – I couldn’t be prouder of having been on their stage speaking about diversity and would happily do it again.”

Turing Fest’s partners for 2021 are Current Health, FanDuel, Administrate, GearedApp, FreeAgent, Bureau, Avaloq, CodeClan, Baillie Gifford, Creative Informatics, Harper Macleod, Purpose HR, Turing Trust, Wistia, and the Freer Consultancy.

Tickets for Turing Fest 2021 are available via the website: 

https://www.turingfest.com 

Edinburgh set to welcome climate change conference

Dynamic Earth set to welcome over 100 community climate champions

Community groups from across Scotland will gather in Edinburgh on Thursday 2nd November at an event hosted by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful to celebrate and strengthen local efforts to combat climate change that have been supported through the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund. Continue reading Edinburgh set to welcome climate change conference