Best Longstanding Association Event – Launched before 2005
Association of Proposal Management Professionals UK chapter – BIDx The Big One (TBO)
APMP UK’s Annual Conference, launched in 2003 and now branded as BIDx® The Big One (TBO), is the premier event for bid and proposal professionals. Evolving from 80 early attendees to over 300 per day in 2024, TBO offers networking, development, and recognition for a high-pressure, often overlooked profession. Run by over 50 volunteers, APMP UK provides a supportive space for members who may feel isolated or undervalued in their roles.
TBO’s format includes motivational keynotes, expert sessions, inclusive networking opportunities, and features tailored to attendee needs, such as prayer spaces and neurodiversity support. The event encourages first-time participation through welcome sessions and a buddy system, fostering connection and engagement.
Sponsor partnerships have matured into strategic collaborations, increasing revenue from £35k in 2023 to £80k in 2024. Marketing efforts leverage LinkedIn, newsletters, and digital campaigns to drive attendance and brand recognition. Feedback shapes future events, with 2024 introducing a qualitative retrospective and speed networking.
TBO2025, set at ICC Wales, promises the biggest, most inclusive event yet, aiming for over 350 attendees and 20 exhibitors. Reinvestment from sponsorships will lower ticket costs and enhance access, underscoring APMP UK’s mission to uplift and grow the profession.
British Insurance Brokers’ Association – The BIBA Conference
The BIBA Conference is an annual B2B event held over two days that is now in its 47th year. The show brings together brokers and insurers to network and do business. We have held the event at MCCC continuously since 2014 and use nearly the whole venue including the full 10,000 square metres of Central Halls 1&2 for our Exhibition. The agenda is full of Keynotes, Seminars and Fringe sessions plus breakout rooms, exhibitor hosted meeting rooms, a Cyber Hub and a Wellness Zone. The show continues to grow year on year and is now the largest insurance exhibition in Europe. Our 2024 event saw record attendee numbers and a sold out Exhibition Hall with 9600 attendees networking and doing business with over 230 exhibitors.
As a membership association and not-for-profit, BIBA is committed to delivering exceptional value to its members. The Conference provides unrivalled access to industry leaders, expert insights, and exclusive networking opportunities. Members enjoy complimentary entry, granting them two days of education, inspiration, and direct access to over 230 exhibitors free of charge. It’s a unique platform to forge new business relationships and secure deals through our dedicated schemes and facility providers – opportunities simply unavailable elsewhere.
Market Research Society – MRS Annual Conference
The MRS Annual Conference underwent a strategic transformation from a declining two-day event into a dynamic, one-day conference with expanded relevance and impact. Rebranded and driven by a new content production team, the event adopted a engagement-led approach to broaden appeal, particularly to younger and mid-level researchers. Extensive stakeholder research informed a revised call for papers, doubling submissions and diversifying content. The revamped format featured 27 sessions across three streams, client-led chairs, innovation-focused content, and new session types like MRS Shorts and MRS Thinks.
Networking was enhanced through exclusive lunches and community-focused activities. Sponsorship models evolved to include high-value partnerships without compromising editorial integrity, while a refreshed marketing campaign boosted engagement and visibility.
The outcome was a significant rise in delegate attendance, stronger sponsor engagement, a notable increase in media coverage, and high levels of delegate satisfaction. The transformation exceeded all key performance metrics and firmly re-established the event as a leading conference within the global research sector.
National Care Forum – The Managers Conference
The Managers Conference is the longest standing conference dedicated to the needs of registered care managers, deputy managers and aspiring managers. Every year since the event’s inception it has been sold out with all delegates places sold and all exhibition space occupied. The event programme has evolved over the years to embrace the expanding needs to care managers in all areas of care from care homes with and without nursing, specialist dementia care, home care, supported living, extra care and all types of care and support for working age adults with a learning disability or autistic people. The event is consistently rated 4 or 5 out of 5 by delegates with repeat bookings year on year while many of the suppliers who supported the exhibition in its first year still support the event now. The attached programmes show exactly how the event has evolved to embrace the needs of care managers, reflect the regulatory and policy landscape and also bring to the fore emerging practice based priorities like digital transformation, learning and development and workforce strategy.
Royal College of General Practitioners – RCGP Annual Conference and Exhibition
The RCGP Annual Conference and Exhibition 2024, a flagship event for the Royal College of General Practitioners, marked a historic milestone in its long-standing history. Following a strategic reimagining, the conference, held in Liverpool, shattered all previous records for attendance and commercial success.
Through a partnership of eight years with event specialists Wonderly, the 2024 event saw a 16% year-on-year increase in paying delegates and a 16% rise in sponsorship revenue, making it the most financially successful event in the College’s history. With over 2,400 attendees, the conference delivered a programme of 80+ clinical sessions, innovative networking opportunities, and a strong focus on delegate wellbeing.
Feedback was exceptional, with over 90% of attendees achieving their objectives. This success was the result of insight-led research, a commitment to enhancing member value, and a bold strategy that has revitalised a cornerstone event, ensuring its impactful future and reinforcing the RCGP’s leadership in primary care.
Royal College of Midwives – RCM Conference and Exhibition
The RCM Conference supports the RCM’s mission ‘to enhance the confidence, professional practice and influence of midwives for the benefit of childbearing women and their families’. With the objectives to:
• Appeal and be as accessible to as many members as possible
• Achieve a personalised experience for each individual delegate
• Ensure attendees are taught topics from every perspective and angle
The theme for the 2024 programme was ‘Energising excellence’. Including sessions that catered for every career stage – from student midwives to those wishing to progress into leadership positions. Plus content that focused on the physical and mental wellbeing of midwives themselves.
There is also always the desire to give something back to the delegates – with little treats available throughout the two days. Last year these included relaxing massages and a knitting and crochet stand with a teacher and all the materials required on hand to help promote mindfulness.
Alongside the conference, a thriving exhibition space presents a unique experience for companies and brands to network and engage with this highly influential audience.
The PM Society Awards
The PM Society Awards – 39 years showcasing the best in pharmaceutical marketing and healthcare communications
The PM Society Awards are the pharmaceutical industry’s longest running and best loved awards event, held each spring at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Park Lane in London. It is organised by the PM Society, a not-for-profit membership organisation, with a small salaried team and a group of engaged and passionate volunteers from the industry.
This afternoon event, attended by 900+ individuals from pharmaceutical and agency organisations has evolved every year for four decades to ensure it showcases the best industry work and provides the optimum experience for sponsors and attendees.
Our categories span marketing campaigns, corporate communications, disease awareness, patient communications, charity submissions, diversity categories, as well as individual and team categories. We recognise the real and important creative work and communications campaigns that have helped bring new life-changing and lifesaving medicines to the patients that need them.
We are proud of our achievements over the last 39 years and can’t wait to celebrate our 40th year in 2026.
Link to website. PM Society Awards 2025 – PM Society
