Humber Business Week 2026 highlights
GOING FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH: Biz Week Chair Pat Coyle, right, and Vice Chair Paige McGowan
By Rick Lyon, Co-Editor
Humber Business Week continues to go from strength to strength and is bursting with new additions for its 2026 edition.
The MKM Stadium will be busier than ever with a full programme on opening day on Monday, June 1 including the usual Future Humber breakfast event followed by the launch lunch.
The same venue will be the scene on Wednesday for The Business Traitors! – an exciting and innovative event hosted by the Tigers Trust.
New venues in the schedule this year include Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre, which will host an event aimed at retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, and Reel Cinema, where the h&h agency will be ‘Rewriting the Script’.
Hull Truck Theatre returns this year with a trio of events on Wednesday, HullBID will present a dining experience with a difference and the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce will focus on energy, power and connectivity at its annual expo.
We’ve picked out some of the highlights below but there’s much more going on.
You can find all the events and register for the sessions you want to attend by visiting the official website at https://humberbusinessweek.co.uk
MONDAY
This is Humber: Flipping the Script
Monday 8.30am -10.30am, MKM Stadium.
Future Humber launches Humber Business Week 2026 with an event designed to challenge perceptions, amplify unheard voices and reframe how we see our place.
Expect an immersive, thought-provoking experience that brings together business leaders, young people and community voices to explore the future of Humber through a different lens.
At its heart is a simple idea: Humber’s story isn’t built on one headline. It’s built on hundreds of smaller stories, shaped by ambition, everyday action and people who show up.
Humber Business Week Lunch
Monday 12pm - 3.30pm, MKM Stadium.
The launch lunch kicks off the social side of Biz Week with a great chance to catch up and network with fellow business leaders over good food in a buzzing atmosphere.
Kieran Breen, a University of Hull graduate who helped shape the development of BAFTA in the UK and United States as a global movie industry executive, will be the headline speaker.
Whether you’re looking to make new connections or just have a relaxed afternoon, this event ticks all the boxes.
TUESDAY
Rewriting the Script
Tuesday 11.15am-12.15pm, Reel Cinema, St Stephen’s.
Grab your popcorn and head to Reel cinema to see work as it really is and find out what it takes to make it better. The team from h&h will show you a simpler way: one that’s clearer, braver, more human. Where ideas land, people feel it and momentum builds.
You’ll leave seeing your role more clearly, with ways to cut through the noise, make your ideas land and spark something in others to incite brilliance.
BUSINESS TRATORS: A new event at the MKM Stadium
The Business Traitors!
Tuesday 10am-12.30pm, MKM Stadium
Business Traitors is back for Humber Business Week, with hosts the Tigers Trust promising that this time the stakes are higher, the twists are sharper, and the competition is fiercer than ever. Step into a high‑pressure world of strategy, suspicion, and quickfire decision‑making as teams from across the region battle it out to be crowned champions.
Inspired by the hit TV show, this immersive experience throws you into a fast‑paced challenge where collaboration is essential - but trust is a dangerous luxury.
EXPO SPEAKER: MP Melanie Onn
Chamber Expo
Tuesday 8am-4pm, Mercure Hull Grange Park Hotel, Willerby.
Chamber Expo 2026 once again brings together businesses from across the region for a full day of networking, showcasing and collaboration.
This year’s theme focuses on energy, power and connectivity, with the help of Energy Voice & E FWD as headline sponsor. The expo lunch will include a keynote from Melanie Onn, the MP for Great Grimsby, as well as a fireside chat panel at 2pm exploring developments in the energy and renewables sector across the region.
WEDNESDAY
Netwalking – Connect, Collaborate and Walk!
Wednesday 1pm-2.30pm, Humber Bridge Country Park.
Not networking but Netwalking, as Forrester Boyd, Metro Bank and Wilkin Chapman Rollits join forces to offer a different way to connect with fellow professionals by taking a guided walk through the beautiful surroundings of Humber Bridge Country Park.
It’s informal, energising and designed to make conversations flow more naturally than they often do across a boardroom table. You will meet a wide range of professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs in a friendly and approachable setting.
REAL-WORLD SCENARIOS: Ed Heppel of Wilkin Chapman Rollits and Tom Saunders, associate director at Hull Truck Theatre, joining forces for the Recognising Harassment event
Recognising Harassment
Wednesday 2.30pm-4.30pm, Hull Truck Theatre.
Hull Truck Theatre’s award-winning team brings real-world scenarios to life, illustrating how unwanted conduct connected to protected characteristics – such as age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation – can amount to bullying and harassment in the workplace.
Alongside powerful theatrical storytelling, employment law specialists from Wilkin Chapman Rollits will provide guidance to help delegate recognise and respond to potential legal risks within their organisations.
This unique blend of drama and legal insight offers an interactive space for meaningful discussion, equipping you with tangible steps to build a more inclusive, fair and legally robust workplace.
SIT DOWN FOR SUPPER: Rosedana restaurant, venue for the HullBID Biz Week Supper Club
HullBID Biz Week Supper Club
Wednesday 6pm-10pm, Rosedana, George Street, Hull.
HullBID’s hugely successful Supper Club initiative makes its Biz Week debut with a combination of sensation food and spectacular surroundings at Rosedana in George Street
The BID launched its Supper Clubs in 2024 with the aims of supporting the city centre’s hospitality sector and bringing together the business community for informal networking opportunities.
Rosedana – a newcomer on the city centre dining scene – is stepping up to present a one-off Humber Business Week offer of three courses and a drink for just £25, plus a complimentary drink on arrival.
BID member businesses and non-members are welcome. To book email Francesca@hullbid.co.uk
THURSDAY
Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre Tour
Thursday 10am-12pm, Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre.
Mix business with pleasure at this event aimed at retail, hospitality and leisure businesses which will take you on a private guided tour of Grimsby Fishing Heritage Centre.
Following the tour, there will be a relaxed networking session where you will have the chance to meet face-to-face with a range of business support organisations on hand to share the advice, funding opportunities and practical resources available to support your business.
Supercharge Your Business
Thursday 10am-12pm, C4DI Media Suite.
Edenic Group founders Rob Lewis and Wayne Willis present a masterclass which will take participants through the principles of business innovation and show you in a live workshop scenario how to develop the strategy, process and tools you need to drive innovation in your organisation.
It’s about thinking differently, shifting views, being close to the customer and being outwardly focused to inform the everyday operations of the business, including every team member at every level. It’s about a culture of innovation, not an ad hoc event or project.
FRIDAY
High-Tech Innovation for Community Value
Thursday 12pm-1.30pm, 345 Anlaby Road, Hull, HU3 2SA.
Jonathan Green, director of BlokBuild, will explore how his organisation’s work delivering innovative, high-budget construction projects has created a toolkit of processes and technologies that, put in the hands of community groups, can revolutionise the way community-led homes are made.
The talk and lunch form part of the Radical Ideas, Real Connections programme showing how, for 40 years, Giroscope has transformed long-term empty and run-down houses into safe, sustainable and affordable homes, and built new ones, demonstrating how collective action can tackle the housing crisis from the ground up.
FINALE: Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, keynote speaker at Bridlington Spa
The Business Day
Friday 7.30am-5pm, Bridlington Spa.
Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson is the keynote speaker at The Business Day, which is designed to allow delegates to build their own programme of activities, giving them a unique experience.
The main floor of the Royal Hall will feature interactive stands and showpiece exhibits. The ‘British Village Countryside Fair’ theme promises to be exciting and invigorating.