• Swindon & Wiltshire Events
• Thursday September 25 2025

Bath BID announces fourth Bath Business Conference

Bath BID has announced the fourth edition of the Bath Business Conference: A Successful City, which will take place on Wednesday, November 19, in the Apex City of Bath Hotel.

The Bath Business Conference is the largest meeting of business minds in the city and aimed at local professionals looking to connect, grow, and be inspired.

The one-day event features interactive workshops, panel discussions and an impressive line-up of expert speakers in their fields.

Among these are headline speakers Ojay Mcdonald, chief executive of the Association of Town and City Management, and local activist, founder and investor Johnny Palmer, owner of Warleigh Weir.

This year’s event follows a hugely successful 2024 conference, which hosted 242 delegates and featured three panels, 11 workshops and a lively ‘market place’ exhibition area.

A Successful City, will create opportunities to learn from business peers, covering a range of topics including recruitment, finance, and AI.

Kicking off the day will be keynote speaker Johnny Palmer, owner of popular tourist attraction Warleigh Weir, who will be sharing his journey in business.

Speaking of his involvement, Johnny said: “Bath is an exemplar of how a heritage city can be run. It preserves its history, attracts tourists, has a thriving local economy and offers inclusive recreation as well as maintains the natural world.

“This is possible largely due to the incredible local businesses and activists. I am delighted to contribute to the excellent work of the Bath community and am honoured to be part of it.”

At the start of the day, delegates can choose to attend a conversation between both universities on the proposed Bath Innovation development along the riverside, or a discussion on successful high streets led by Paul MacKenzie-Cummins, founder and MD of Clearly PR.

This discussion will include Ojay, Kathryn Davies, managing director of Visit West, Allison Herbert, CEO at Bath BID, and Jess Merritt-Johns, chair of Bath BID and general manager for the new Jollys.

Ojay said: “Bath is receiving high levels of investment, and this reflects the diversity on offer in the city. I am looking forward to hearing from local businesses and understanding why Bath is bucking the national trend of the high street.”

AI and technology will feature in two workshop sessions, alongside an ‘AI lab’ at which businesses will be invited to bring their AI curious queries to a team of local tech experts led by Lucy Paine of TechSPARK and Bath Digital Festival, supported by postgraduate students from The University of Bath.

Allison said: “We are really pleased to be hosting the fourth year of the Bath Business Conference.

“It is a brilliant chance for local business owners, leaders and professionals to come together and share ideas, inspire one another and positively plan ahead for the future, and we always hope that the day will include something unexpected.

“Businesses across Bath and the country are all facing challenges, and it is key to business resilience that we make the most of opportunities and spaces that allow for collaboration, cooperation and the formation of strong business partnerships.”

Early bird tickets are now available to buy via the Welcome to Bath website at the reduced price of £30 until September 30.