Barndoor Strategy facilitated ACT members engagement at Liverpool ’26.  A seminal conference for Labour where the gloom of the Starmer years was finally banished.  We helped members set up in the Labour Tech Zone.  ACT members were able to offer Labour delegates the chance to see cutting-edge tech as diverse as low-orbit satellites from Stars Edge, smart socks and mattress covers from Footfalls and Heartbeats, sustainable 3D-printing from MyPrintPod, the latest robotics from Modus Technologies, and the UK’s top AI education programme from AI in Schools.

ACT member companies met everybody from the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science, and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds MP to Labour Councillors with a budget and an eye for an innovative opportunity.

Elsewhere, we also partnered with the New Statesman to deliver an extremely well-attended panel discussion attended by:

• AI Minister Kanishka Narayan MP;
• Chair of the Science, Innovation, and Technology Committee, Dame Chi Onwurah MP; and,
• App-developer turned politician Gordon McKee MP.

The debate enabled ACT and its members to challenge the Government on a range of issues that really matter to tech SMEs and get key points across to a captivated audience, as well as take questions too.

Conference events are not a one-off and follow-up engagement from those warm conversations had over five days in Liverpool is the next step.  It won’t be too long before we start planning for next year’s Conference season. When we do party conferences, we do them well!

As an agency, Barndoor Strategy tends to be far more reticent than others when it comes to advising clients to attend party conferences. The key issue is the cost benefit to our clients.  With ever-rising fees and eye-watering charges, conference is not for everyone.  Only if there is a genuine benefit in being there will we advise our clients to shell out the thousands of pounds needed to be party of these party-political shindigs these days.

If there is value to be had in attend, Barndoor Strategy will work our socks off to ensure that our clients get everything they can out of them.  This was certainly the case this year as we took the Association of Competitive Technology (ACT) and no fewer than five of their members to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool. The Labour Party Conference offered them a rare opportunity to get in front of the people shaping the policies, funding decisions and procurement priorities that can make a real difference to their businesses, without the need for a large lobbying budget or established networks. Attending a party conference with a carefully planned programme of meetings and activities can open doors, build relationships and ensure their voices are heard where it matters.

If you’d like to explore how Barndoor Strategy can help you get maximum value for money from Party Conferences, do feel free to contact us.