UK exhibitions have reached their strongest level in ten years, with new data showing a sustained recovery and renewed growth across the business events landscape. The latest Size and Scale Index for Exhibitions (SASIE) from the Events Industry Alliance (EIA) indicates that exhibition activity in the UK has climbed to its highest point in a decade, underlining the sector’s role in driving trade, innovation and in-person engagement.
The 2025 edition of the SASIE report marks the tenth year of the study, which has become a central benchmark for understanding the scale, performance and trajectory of exhibition activity nationwide. Produced by the EIA – the umbrella body representing the Association of Event Organisers (AEO), the Association of Event Venues (AEV) and the Event Supplier and Services Association (ESSA) – the report aggregates a decade of consistent research and analysis to chart how the market is evolving.
Background and industry context
Over the past decade, the exhibitions sector has undergone significant structural change, shaped by economic cycles, shifting marketing budgets, and the rapid adoption of digital and hybrid formats. The COVID-19 pandemic created the sharpest contraction on record, with venue closures, postponements and cancellations effectively halting large-scale in-person exhibitions for extended periods.
In this context, SASIE’s longitudinal dataset has been used by organisers, venues, suppliers and investors as a reference point for evaluating market capacity, planning portfolios and modelling risk. By tracking metrics such as the number of events, occupied space, exhibitor participation and attendee volumes, the report offers a comparative view of pre-pandemic baselines, periods of disruption, and subsequent recovery.
The 2025 report’s headline finding – that the UK exhibitions market is now operating at its highest level in ten years – signals not only a return to pre-pandemic activity, but also an expansion beyond it in several core indicators. This trend aligns with the broader rebound of business events, as organisations renew investment in face-to-face engagement alongside digital channels.
Key developments in the 2025 SASIE report
The tenth SASIE edition consolidates data drawn from across the UK exhibitions ecosystem, covering trade shows, consumer events and specialist B2B exhibitions. While the full report includes detailed quantitative breakdowns, the overarching developments highlighted by the EIA can be summarised as follows:
- Decade-high activity levels: Aggregate exhibition activity across the UK – measured through a combination of event volume and occupied space – has surpassed previous peaks recorded over the past ten years.
- Stabilisation after disruption: The market has moved from recovery mode into a more stable growth phase, with a clearer pattern of annual scheduling and reduced levels of postponement or rescheduling.
- Consistent measurement framework: Because SASIE has applied a consistent research methodology over a decade, the 2025 data can be reliably compared against earlier editions, providing continuity in tracking market cycles.
- Evidence base for decision-making: The report reinforces its position as a central source of market intelligence, used by organisers and stakeholders to guide investment, strategic planning and resource allocation.
The EIA’s role in coordinating input from organisers, venues and suppliers underpins the breadth of the study. By combining insights from the AEO, AEV and ESSA communities, SASIE is positioned as a shared reference for all sides of the exhibition value chain.
Industry impact and strategic implications
The indication that UK exhibitions have reached a decade high carries several implications for the wider business events and event technology sectors. First, it validates the resilience of in-person trade and consumer shows as a marketing and sales channel. Despite the acceleration of digital marketing and virtual engagement tools, the data suggests that exhibitors and attendees continue to value physical environments for networking, product demonstration and deal-making.
Second, higher activity levels place renewed emphasis on operational efficiency, from venue utilisation and logistics to health, safety and sustainability practices. Organisers and venues are likely to scrutinise how they can support larger or more frequent events while maintaining service quality, controlling costs and meeting evolving expectations around environmental and social impact.
Third, the report’s findings may influence investment flows, including capital expenditure on venue upgrades, digital infrastructure and attendee experience enhancements. With the market operating above previous peaks, stakeholders have a stronger evidence base for justifying long-term investments in technology, data capabilities and hybrid delivery models that complement physical shows.
Why this matters for event professionals and technology providers
For organisers, the SASIE data offers confirmation that demand for exhibitions is not only back but expanding. This underpins decisions on portfolio growth, market segmentation and international expansion. Data-driven planning becomes more critical as competition for delegate time and exhibitor budgets intensifies, making reliable benchmarking essential.
For venues, a decade-high level of activity highlights the need to optimise scheduling, space configuration and digital infrastructure. As organisers push for richer visitor journeys and improved exhibitor ROI, venues will be expected to support advanced connectivity, data capture, wayfinding and onsite engagement tools at scale.
Event technology companies can also interpret the SASIE findings as a signal of opportunity. An expanding exhibition calendar typically increases demand for registration platforms, lead retrieval systems, mobile apps, matchmaking tools, analytics solutions and hybrid streaming capabilities. With more events in market, providers that can demonstrate measurable impact on exhibitor pipeline, attendee engagement and event efficiency are likely to find a receptive audience.
The report additionally underscores the ongoing convergence of physical and digital channels. While SASIE focuses on the size and scale of physical exhibitions, the operational reality for organisers increasingly involves integrating data from registration platforms, onsite interactions and digital touchpoints. Technology providers that can help unify these data sets into coherent insights will be well placed to support evidence-led decision-making informed by longitudinal market benchmarks like SASIE.
Conclusion
The 2025 SASIE report marks a significant milestone for the UK exhibitions sector, not only because it represents a decade of continuous measurement, but also because it confirms that the market has reached its highest level of activity in ten years. For organisers, venues, suppliers and technology partners, the findings provide a clearer view of where the sector stands after a period of profound disruption and change.
As the UK exhibitions market enters this new phase of growth, the role of trusted, longitudinal data becomes even more important. The EIA’s ongoing commitment to maintaining and developing SASIE as a shared evidence base helps the industry benchmark performance, identify trends and plan for the next cycle of innovation. For event professionals and technology providers alike, the report’s headline message is clear: exhibitions remain a core pillar of the business events ecosystem, and the momentum now evident in the UK market will shape investment and strategy decisions in the years ahead.