April 2025: Dedicated to healthcare and sustainability

April has been all about healthcare events! Here is the April monthly roundup of what’s been going on at Horizon Leeds.

I write this on the train on my way back from the Care Closer to Home: Primary and Community Care Conference 2025 where I have spent the day working with the NHS Confederation events team and I am now hot footing it back to Leeds to manage a Business Coach event with the fantastic Iain Strachan this evening at Horizon Leeds.

This is the type of day I love, meeting lots of people from a variety of industry sectors, whilst having interesting conversations and learning something new, as they say every day is a school day! Also, does anyone else find that the train is a fantastic place to crack on with work?

Which brings us nicely onto, did you know that the NHS Confederation owns Horizon Leeds? NHS Confederation organises many healthcare events across the UK, the largest being NHS Confed Expo, which takes place next month, the UK’s leading health and social care conference for over 5,000 delegates. Did you know booking with Horizon Leeds gives you access to the services offered by the NHS Confederation’s events team, creating a one-stop shop for all your event needs.

As you can see, the NHS Confederation is the go-to organisation for health and care events. Horizon Leeds perfectly complements this offering by providing an award-winning, digitally led venue for up to 220 delegates.

Don’t worry, Horizon Leeds isn’t specific to the healthcare sector, any sector can use the venue. However, as you would expect, around 75% of the clients have a link to the health and social care sector. The best bit of the relationship is that all profits Horizon Leeds generates are reinvested to support the Confederation’s work to represent the NHS and support its members to continually improve care for patients and the public. This is a great ESG tick for organisations, so if you are passionate about looking at how you can strengthen your ESG strategy when planning your events, then please give me a shout.

I thought this would be a good time to run through some of the healthcare events we have had supported this month here at Horizon Leeds and give you a sneak peek of what we are working on over these lovely summer months.

This month, we welcomed the British Society for Gynaecological Endoscopy (BSGE) to the venue. They held their annual scientific meeting at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, which was attended by over 500 delegates. They needed a place to host several of their workshops, and with Horizon Leeds being only a 7-minute walk from the Royal Armouries and our links to the NHS, this worked perfectly. We held three separate workshops at one time, one with a separate room for practical demonstrations. There was also a small exhibition area in Meet@, which included some ultrasound equipment.

Horizon Leeds is a great space for an event of this kind as the whole venue is situated on one floor, so delegates can easily navigate between sessions and use Meet@, the refreshment area, to speak to exhibitors, network and hot desk between sessions. On this, did you know that you can hire out the full venue for exclusive use?

Earlier this month, we welcomed the latest cohort of radiology students for their radiology exams. These exams take place on high-spec computers, which are installed across the venue. The venue works perfectly for this kind of event as we can accommodate the following:

  • Up to 100 desktop computers
  • Additional rooms for candidates who require extra support
  • An open space that can be used as a holding area to maintain exam conditions
  • Installation and management of high-spec computers
  • Software downloads, including Speedwell and Practique
  • A designated secure, hardwired network
  • Exclusive use to ensure sound is kept to a minimum
  • Weeklong hire available

This month, I have been working on the final plans for a three-day health association event in June, which will see 150 delegates, many of whom will be travelling into Leeds from across the country. We have supported the client not only with the venue requirements but also dinner requirements, both at the venue and at other establishments across the city, hotels, travel and printing. I love events like these as it means we can fully utilise our amazing customer service across all elements of the event and promote Leeds as a city, which we’re very proud to be.

I hope that gives you a taste of the type of healthcare events we host at Horizon Leeds. However, there is something else I have been beavering away with which I am excited to share with you. We have been selected as the venue partner for a brand-new event – The Yorkshire Events Sustainability Summit. The event is a first-of-its-kind dedicated to transforming the events industry through sustainability, innovation, and collaboration and putting Yorkshire on the map as a sustainability event hub. It would be great to see you there, to find out more and to book your place, please visit: https://yourfirst.events/yess

Talking of sustainability events, this month, to mark Earth Day 2025, we shared several blogs focusing on sustainable event planning and our five sustainability pledges, showing areas where we want to improve. Our latest blog delves into our commitment to sustainability at our venue and how we are working towards being more sustainable in all areas.

Right, I’d better jump off the train and get ready for our next fantastic event! Enjoy the sun!