England's Ambassador Programmes connecting cities with world-leading experts and associations
ShareEngland regularly attracts some of the world’s leading association conferences, hosting delegates from across the globe with expertise in fields such as energy, automotive and aerospace engineering, creative and digital, and medical sciences. To effectively engage such a variety of fields, many of our leading conference destinations run Ambassador Programmes which support individuals in securing and organising these association events and conferences.
Convention bureaus with Ambassador Programmes often offer free services and advice to their ambassadors too. This can include venue visits, bid preparation, support with promotional materials leading up to the event, accommodation and help organising social programmes and itineraries to enhance the experience of attendees. For example, the Cambridge Ambassador Programme run by Meet Cambridge works closely with academics and professionals in the region and further afield to bring association events to the city. They offer a wealth of free resources to ambassadors including an Event Planner Toolkit, a Sustainable Events Toolkit, and Incentive Programmes and itineraries for delegates and partners.
Ambassador Programmes are an invaluable way to secure prestigious and world-leading events in key sectors, with industry experts who are passionate about their field and their city. The growing number of programmes around England demonstrates the value of this relationship between ambassadors and convention bureaus, which together create opportunities to convene sector leaders and showcase new initiatives on an international stage. MeetManchester’s Ambassador Programme reports that the city is twice as likely to secure an event with a sponsoring ambassador than without one, with a conversion rate of 48% on conference bids with ambassador support, compared to only 25% conversion without - resulting in more opportunities to elevate the reputation and work of leaders in the Greater Manchester region.
With the growing recognition of the importance and value in using ambassadors to secure and plan events for cities across England, there has been an increase in convention bureaus launching their own Ambassador Programmes, particularly in the last 15 years.
Undoubtedly, the impact that Ambassadors have on securing events in their cities is significant. They help to attract world-leaders and decision makers whilst simultaneously building networks for their associations and providing unprecedented education and research opportunities for the global community.
Ambassador Programmes and their members help to put both their sector expertise and research, as well as their cities on the map, allowing them to cement their reputation as world-leading destinations for association conferences.
Below you can hear from several English destinations about the success of their Ambassador Programmes. Reach out to our team at MeetEngland to discuss support available to bring your association’s conference to England.
Find out more about the Ambassador Programmes in England below.
Birmingham
In 2022 ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Birmingham and the West Midlands Convention Bureau launched their Conference Ambassador Network to drive more global events into the region. With connections to leaders in key sectors such as digital, creative and tech, life sciences, data-driven healthcare and low carbon, their Conference Ambassador Network is thriving. Events such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM) in 2023, organised by ambassador Dr Ingo Frommholz at the University of Wolverhampton, attracted over 650 world-leading researchers in the field of AI and Data Science to the West Midlands.
With the help of ambassador Dr Anthony Pickles from the University of Birmingham, the city will host its first major anthropology conference in 2025. These ambassador-led events offer an opportunity for both cities and their ambassadors to position themselves at the forefront of research and development in their sectors, as well as simultaneously driving growth for the wider region and community.
Clare Hurter, Conference Ambassador Network Manager, said:
“Although still in its infancy, the network has successfully allowed us to solidify our strong relationships with local universities and the business community, with membership more than doubling in the last six months to over 60 ambassadors.
“We firmly believe that the West Midlands is the driving force behind business events in the UK thanks to a broad choice of affordable, accessible venues, fantastic cultural experiences and a proven track record of delivery. Through our activity with the region’s greatest minds and industry leaders, we have been able to build a healthy pipeline of future national and international events to add to a thriving sector, which contributes approximately £2 billion to the regional economy.”
Bristol & Bath
With four universities and more than 91 languages spoken, the West of England is a cultural melting pot with world-leading industry experts from across the globe. Meet Bristol and Bath, the region’s convention bureau, works to encourage industry leaders and academics to become ambassadors to share their passion for the region by helping to bring in significant association conferences.
Conference ambassadors for Bristol and Bath are supported with preparing conference bid documents, content, advice on external funding applications and even creating bespoke websites for delegates to book accommodation ahead of their visit to the area.
Key sectors of research and development in the region include aerospace, advanced engineering, fintech, energy and creative industries. When bidding for and then hosting ambassador-led events, ambassadors are encouraged to help develop a positive impact and legacy for local communities and the wider region, enabling the West of England, and in particular, Bristol and Bath, to be positive, forward-thinking and successful cities to host association conferences.
Liverpool
The Club Liverpool Ambassador Programme was launched in 2015 and is a partnership between ACC Liverpool and Liverpool Convention Bureau. Club Liverpool works to build networks and encourage important figures to promote the city, with key sectors in engineering, environmental sciences, biomechanics, digital media and journalism and paediatrics.
By 2023, the city’s Ambassador Programme had 300 members with 77 events secured and an £80m economic impact through events won by ambassadors. Jane Fawley, Club Liverpool Programme Manager, explains the importance of the city’s ambassadors:
Our Club Liverpool Ambassador Programme - a partnership between Liverpool Convention Bureau and ACC Liverpool - will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2025. Working together alongside key stakeholders to support our academics, medics and professionals to bring conferences to Liverpool City Region has been invaluable. Since its inception ambassador led events have contributed £100m economic impact and in 2023 we hosted a record 23 events brought by Club Liverpool ambassadors.
With over 20 ambassador-led events taking place in Liverpool last year, it’s safe to say that ambassadors are shaping the scope of association events in Liverpool, putting the city on the map as a world-leading destination to bring conferences.
Manchester
MeetManchester’s Conference Ambassador Programme encourages enthusiastic experts, its Mbassadors, to promote the city to their associations and bid for conferences such as the Media, Communication and Cultural Studies Association (MeCCSA) Conference which took place in September 2024.
Ambassadors are instrumental to Greater Manchester’s Business Events industry. MeetManchester reported that within the last five years the region has hosted over 200 national and international conferences with a conference ambassador, attracting 65,000 delegates and generating over £115m for the local economy.
With partners at the Universities of Manchester, Salford and Bolton, as well as the Royal Northern College of Music, to name a few, Greater Manchester has a varied programme with valuable connections to key sectors in the city focusing on digital, creative and tech, life sciences and healthcare, advanced materials, and low carbon.
Manchester Convention Bureau also offers 1:1 expert knowledge and complimentary support tailored to the specific needs of its ambassadors such as bid production, promotion of events and welcoming delegates. They also have the ABS (Accommodation Booking Service) and the VLS (Venue Location Service), free services to ease the booking process for delegates attending such events.
Anthony Cassidy, the bureau’s Senior International Bid Manager gave an insight into the importance of the region’s Ambassador Programme:
“Impact-savvy destinations understand that association conferences are not just events, but investments. When it comes to attracting valuable conferences, a well-run Ambassador Programme is the secret weapon of the convention bureau. The Manchester Conference Ambassador Programme bridges the gap between conferences and the region's intellectual capital. Imagine having Nobel laureates, industry titans and cultural luminaries not just attending your conference, but actively attracting it and shaping it. Manchester’s Ambassador Programme connects conference organisers with these leading figures, ‘Mbassadors’, who lend their expertise through leadership, keynote addresses, panel discussions, and even exclusive access to labs, studios, or research facilities. Mbassadors inject a dose of 'Manchester magic' into association conferences, offering delegates unparalleled insights and a truly unforgettable experience.”
NewcastleGateshead
NewcastleGateshead have had a few variations of an Ambassador Programme in the region with the first dating back to 2002. The region quickly recognised the value in city ambassadors building a strong connection between domestic and international networks across the public, private and third sectors to drive business tourism.
After great success in bidding for and winning events within the region, the NewcastleGateshead Conference Ambassador Programme (CAP) was relaunched in 2014 as a partnership between the NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau and Newcastle University, with a focus on key city sectors such as sustainability and medical sciences. The programme has since been developed further by the NewcastleGateshead Initiative and Newcastle City Council who work closely with a range of partners to build and promote the Newcastle brand, both domestically and internationally. Caroline Reed, Senior Manager for Business Events at NewcastleGateshead Initiative highlighted that their Ambassador Programme has been "hugely successful, having worked with academics, researchers and professionals across our key sector strengths for over 15 years. It’s proven to raise the profile of the research that is taking place here, shines a spotlight on the region as a hub for innovation, and helps to bring conferences here that align and drive our key sector strengths."
NewcastleGateshead Convention Bureau recognises that ambassadors raise the profile of the region in numerous ways including attending meetings and conferences, creating blogs and contributing to thought leadership as well as responding to specific requests to represent their city at domestic and international conferences. In addition to recruiting ambassadors, Newcastle’s CAP actively seeks out opportunities for its ambassadors within the programme, supporting them throughout and offering a free toolkit to ease the process.
“We work closely with Newcastle University, Northumbria University, and the local NHS Trust and have brought the likes of the 41st Annual Meeting of the European Thyroid Association, the Annual General Meeting of the International Society for Clinical Biostatistics, and the Faraday Institution Conference here where thousands of delegates have been able to experience real Geordie hospitality.”
Sheffield
Sheffield has one of the longest running Ambassador Programmes in the UK. Since launching over 15 years ago, the Sheffield Conference Ambassador Programme has continued to pair expert ambassadors with event bidding, bringing significant conferences and associations to the city. Sheffield’s ambassadors have helped to secure conferences worth £4.6 million to the local economy since the COVID-19 pandemic alone.
Marketing Sheffield’s Business Tourism Manager Emma France speaks about the value that ambassadors have had on the city in recent years:
“Sheffield’s Ambassador Programme is in its sixteenth year and continues to drive our association and especially international association business. Within recent weeks, Ambassadors have welcomed almost 1,000 delegates to Sheffield across three international events: the 20th International Celiac Disease Symposium (ICDS), the International Symposium of Academic Makerspaces (ISAM) and the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI). It is truly amazing that a group of passionate ambassadors working with a proactive convention bureau can result in leading experts from across the globe coming here. It’s a testament to what English cities like Sheffield have to offer as leaders in health, research and innovation!”