Festival of Entrepreneurs

At Festival of Entrepreneurs you can hear speakers on several stages and meet exhibitors over two days without paying for a pass, at NEC Birmingham. It is a free two-day exhibition and conference for people who run or are starting a business. The 2026 edition took place in Hall 8 on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 November 2026, when the organiser, V&S Business Events Ltd, listed 200 speakers, 150 exhibitors and five stages and put the expected audience at 5,000 founders and business leaders. Dates for the 2027 festival have not been announced yet.

Opening times and registration in 2026

In 2026 the free visitor pass covered both days, including the conference stages, the exhibition and the general networking areas, and talks did not need booking one by one. Doors opened from 9am to 6pm on the Tuesday and from 9am to 5pm on the Wednesday, with conference sessions starting from 9.30am each day. Each person registered separately online and collected a badge at visitor registration in Hall 8. If you are new to trade events, you can compare options with our guide to choosing your first UK trade show.

Who the festival is for

If you run, lead or plan to start a business, the festival is aimed at you. The organiser aims the event at entrepreneurs, founders, business owners and business leaders, and says directors, senior managers and team leaders in founder-led or growing companies will find it relevant too. People planning to start a business are also welcome. It is one of our business services shows, alongside the West Country Business Show at Westpoint Exeter from 10 November 2026 and The Business Show London at Excel London from 11 November 2026.

The 2026 conference programme

The 2026 programme covered starting and scaling a business, funding and investment, artificial intelligence, sales and marketing, leadership and teams, and productivity. Sessions ran on stages including the Keynote Stage, the Funding Stage, the Tech, AI and Marketing Stage and the People and Leadership Stage. Programme highlights listed by the organiser included:

• Fireside interviews on the Keynote Stage on 3 November with Ray Kelvin CBE, founder of Ted Baker (10:55), Sir Richard Harpin, founder of HomeServe (14:35), and Juliet Barratt of Grenade (16:25)
• A session on where AI is already producing revenue in growing businesses, with Piers Linney MBE and Dr Aalok Y Shukla of Implement AI (4 November, 11:50)
• A Google session on using no-code AI tools to automate everyday tasks (Tech, AI and Marketing Stage, 10:00)
• Three AI automations built live on stage for jobs such as chasing invoices and preparing management reports (3 November, 12:15)
• Former The Apprentice finalists on turning television exposure into a lasting business (4 November, 14:35 to 15:20)
• Four founders from Ghana pitching their businesses, presented by the British Council through its Innovation for African Universities initiative (3 November, 15:15 to 16:15, Funding Stage)

Exhibition and networking

In 2026 you could meet 150 exhibitors covering funding, technology, AI, marketing, professional services, recruitment and business advice, and join timed meet-ups run by partner networks. NatWest, a Gold sponsor, promoted its NatWest Accelerator support for founders, and the international payments company WorldFirst met visitors on both days. Two Connection Hubs hosted the meet-ups, with partner networks including BNI, FSB, Enterprise Nation, Creative UK, TechWM and Be the Business, and NatWest Accelerator held a meet-up at the central café from 2pm. If you are thinking about taking a stand, you can plan costs with our guide to building an exhibition budget.

Background

The organisers trace the festival’s roots back to the Festival of Enterprise, which they say brought more than 4,000 entrepreneurs to the NEC in 2019. The Festival of Entrepreneurs launched in 2025, so the 2026 show was its second edition. Founder James Ashwood co-founded the Innovation Zero event in 2022, and the Rt Hon Sir Liam Fox chairs the festival. Stages and exhibition infrastructure in 2026 were supplied by NEC Connected, the venue’s in-house event services team.

Getting there

You can walk from Birmingham International railway station to the NEC under cover in about five minutes. In 2026 drivers followed event signs marked ENTREPRENEURS and directions from parking staff. Parking is run by the NEC, which says paying online in advance can save you £5, and free shuttle buses link the car parks with the halls on exhibition days. Lab Innovations and Advanced Engineering ran at the venue the same week in 2026, and more are listed under trade shows in Birmingham.

Source: festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk, festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk/faq, festivalofentrepreneurs.co.uk/whats-on-highlights, thenec.co.uk