BCO Annual Conference 2026, Conference Brochure - Flipbook - Page 2
Welcome to a festival
of enlightenment
Following successful visits to Scotland
in 1999, 2002 and 2009, the BCO annual
conference is back, this time in not just
one of the nation’s great cities but two –
Edinburgh and Glasgow.
The 2026 conference is designed as
a Festival of Enlightenment and has
the ambition to inspire, challenge and
connect delegates across both cities
over two inspiring days, with plenaries,
tours and workshops designed to
showcase expertise, knowledge and
industry insights from across the
BCO membership.
The BCO’s membership has an
unbeatable mix of senior wisdom,
brilliant young minds, multi-disciplinary
knowledge and world-class expertise
and at this once-a-year opportunity
we’re going to maximise the amazing
diversity of talent with a packed agenda
of BCO National and Regional awardwinning offices, workplaces
and developments as well as debate
and deliberation.
2026’s tours will be a festival of the
new, refurbished, ancient, historic,
BCO Annual Conference 2026
repurposed and rejuvenated. They
include four BCO National Award
winners from the last three years,
workplace innovations, engineering
masterpieces, some of the UK’s largest
urban masterplans and best-in-class
case studies across ESG. The tours
will also highlight stories about local
communities and will showcase the
mixology of the retail, office, university
and hospitality sectors.
Our conference plenaries and
workshops have been purposely
designed to spark debate, challenge
thinking, drive conversations, educate,
and to spark future possibilities for
conference delegates.
Ten incredible workshops will ignite the
minds of the industry’s greatest thinkers
and problem solvers. We want you to
be enlightened.
Across the event we’ll make sure
you’re set up to not just learn and be
inspired, but to celebrate and socialise.
Scotland’s rich tradition of music,
arts, history and the enjoyment of
great company with fab food will be
blended across the conference agenda,
supported by local refreshments, tonics
and nips.
We’re creating fresh opportunities to
connect, mingle, chat, meet and share
stories melded together with local
character, traditions and
amazing surroundings.
And finally, we’re adding a new level
of social purpose across the conference.
The conference charity is Spifox,
which supports amazing work through
its donations to deliver life-changing
charity projects that have a tangible
and lasting impact, turning practical
support into real change for
young people.
Throughout the build-up to the
conference and through June 2026
we’ll be setting a stretching fundraising
target and we appreciate all the support
you can give.
against the backdrop of the worldleading innovations and inventions
that emerged across Glasgow and
Edinburgh during the European
Enlightenment of the 18th and 19th
centuries in arts, architecture, science,
medicine, philosophy and economics.
We look forward to welcoming
you to Edinburgh & Glasgow for the
BCO’s Festival of Enlightenment
on 17 & 18 June.
We’ll provide the festival, the tours,
the debate, the gatherings and the
party. All we ask from you is to bring
your expertise and creative energy so
that together we can spark discussions,
opportunities and the
new enlightenment.
‘‘
...designed to spark debate,
challenge your thinking,
drive the conference
conversations, educate and
share future possibilities for
the conference delegate.”
A festival o
The BCO’s Festival of Enlightenment
has been inspired by the great
festivals that give Edinburgh its global
stage every summer. It’s also set
Regards,
Andy McBain
BCO Annual Conference 2026 Chair
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