De-risking for the future: expert strategies for organisers from the AEO Partnership Summit
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The AEO Partnership Summit, held at Olympia London under the theme Built to last: future proofing your events business, brought together senior industry partners to share practical strategies for building resilience.
Speakers delivered direct advice to organisers on how to de-risk their businesses against operational, financial and market uncertainty - and ensure sustainable growth into the future.
Sustainable growth: focus on fundamentals
Novistra Capital, Partnership Network Events (PNE) and CloserStill Media shared a real-world case study on mergers and acquisitions, offering organisers valuable insight into creating value-driven growth.
Ash Mittel, managing director at Novistra, stressed the importance of a cohesive growth story: "It’s not just about growing a business for the sake of growing a business. You need a cohesive story. You need to create a platform that can drive sustainable growth."
He also noted that post-COVID, investor priorities have shifted significantly: "Pre-COVID there was certainly a land and expand - organisers were happy to buy events in higher-risk emerging markets. Post-COVID that’s certainly changed."
Alex Howe, corporate development director at CloserStill, urged organisers to concentrate on their core proposition rather than chasing trends: "If I’m in the position of having a business I’m trying to grow, I wouldn’t worry about any of them [trends]. I’d stick to what is my core value proposition. Make sure it’s growing."
Matthew Butler, group managing director at CloserStill, reinforced the importance of market ownership: "Owning the market and taking those delegates all the way through, from that initial engagement all the way through to the delivery of the event - super important - but doing it in a way that keeps it simple."
Adding a different perspective, Jack Jacob, founder and chief executive of PNE, reflected candidly on his journey, noting that he did not set out with a clear exit plan:
"My plan was, I didn’t know what my plan was at the get-go. I probably didn’t even know what merger and acquisition meant at 24, to be honest."
Instead, he emphasised the importance of building a strong, sustainable business first, allowing future opportunities to emerge naturally: "We have to work with these people. Can I see myself working with these people long-term? And the answer to that question exclusively was yes."
The session underlined that sustainable growth demands clarity, discipline and a focus on audience engagement beyond the event day, but also that successful businesses are often built through genuine market understanding and passion, rather than rigid exit strategies.
Top three takeaways:
- Focus on sustainable, value-led growth
- Stay disciplined around core propositions
- Build ongoing audience relationships beyond live events
Workforce resilience: prioritising people strategies
Siân Feuillade, senior HR advisor from Leadership Connect Solutions, tackled one of the sector’s critical vulnerabilities: workforce stability.
Organisers were advised to rethink talent strategies, recognising that new generations are motivated not just by salary, but by leadership quality, flexible working, career development and a values-driven culture.
A live Slido poll confirmed that recruitment and retention remain top challenges for organisers.
Beyond measuring turnover, the session highlighted the need to monitor regretted loss - the departure of valued employees - to catch problems early.
Feuillade reinforced that building a resilient workforce must be a strategic priority, summed up neatly in the reminder: "Happy people, happy customers, hit the numbers."
Top three takeaways:
- Prioritise leadership, flexibility and purpose in recruitment
- Track regretted losses, not just turnover
- Treat workforce planning as a core strategic function
Risk management: proactive planning over reactive response
Mark Blair from InEvexco delivered a clear message: organisers must take a more proactive and holistic approach to risk.
He advised attendees to critically examine risk registers, particularly when launching events in new territories: "If you are geo-cloning into a different territory, is there an increased earthquake risk? Is there an increased tsunami weather risk?"
Cyber threats were highlighted as a growing danger, with Blair stressing the need for pre-emptive action rather than relying on insurance alone.
He reminded the audience: "Hope is not a strategy."
The top five risks facing organisers were identified as financial instability, operational vulnerabilities, regulatory changes, cyber security threats and environmental risks.
Top three takeaways:
- Conduct holistic, regular risk assessments
- Plan proactively for cyber and environmental threats
- Embed crisis response into business continuity planning
Future opportunities: adapting to an evolving market
The summit concluded with a fireside chat featuring Emma Barrett from Broadway Events and Phil Soar from CloserStill Media and Nineteen Group, who outlined growth opportunities for agile organisers.
Soar emphasised the importance of building community year-round, not only at events, and noted the rising significance of Tier 2 cities for future growth.
Throughout the discussion, Soar underlined that while the exhibitions model is evolving, organisations that focus on deep audience ownership and continuous innovation will find strong opportunities ahead.
Top three takeaways:
- Build year-round audience communities
- Explore growth opportunities in Tier 2 cities
- Innovate continuously to meet evolving exhibitor expectations
The AEO Partnership Summit 2025 made one message clear: de-risking is central to building stronger, more competitive events businesses.
For organisers willing to act now - focusing on sustainable growth, workforce resilience and proactive risk management - the future remains full of potential.
Thank you to the following partners for their involvement and/or support in this event: Aztec, InEvexco Ltd, Leadership Connect Solutions (LCS Partners), Novistra Capital and Olympia Events.
