As you read this, I will be on my annual pilgrimage to the Green Man Festival where, along with my partner Frankie James, we will be enjoying some amazing music, Welsh beers and incredible street food in Crickhowell.
And it was here in 2021, just after the return from Covid, that we started talking about creating an event for entrepreneurs which would have a festival feel that would be very different from the usual business conferences held in hotels around the country.
In fact, the aim was to create a place where entrepreneurs could come together, swap stories, learn from one another, and feel part of something bigger than their own business.
We didn’t want something that was transactional in nature like many of these events where you turned up, collected a few business cards, listened to the same familiar speeches, and then went home.
What we wanted was something that felt less like a business conference and more like a cultural moment that people looked forward to all year and which left them energised, inspired, and ready to tackle the next big challenge.
And so Ideas Fest was born and there was never any question of it being in a bland hotel ballroom or an anonymous conference centre as the whole point was to get people away from their usual surroundings and giving them a setting that encouraged open-mindedness and creativity.
That’s why we landed on the idea of modelling Ideas Fest on the kind of atmosphere you find at Green Man or Glastonbury, except with entrepreneurs and innovators taking the place of rock stars and musicians.
We wanted the speakers to be inspirational but also accessible, the networking to be organic rather than forced, and the conversations to carry on long after the scheduled sessions had finished.
Our first event took shape during the summer of 2022, and like all good entrepreneurial ventures, it was a leap of faith. We knew the concept worked in our heads, but would people buy into it?
The answer, as it turned out, was an overwhelming yes with founders from all over the º£½ÇÊÓƵ, ranging from early-stage founders to incredibly successful entrepreneurs such as Steven Bartlett, Michael Acton-Smith and John Caldwell, spending two days talking about everything from raising investment to building resilient teams, from managing mental health to creating brands that stand out in noisy markets.
There was music, good food, and late-night debates in the outside bar but most important of all, there was a sense that everyone there was part of a community with a shared purpose.
After the initial event, we took a year out because we wanted to ensure we got it right as we had piggybacked the first event on an existing music festival and wanted to put together a team that would allow us to do it independently.
When we did it again in 2024, we not only attracted over 3,000 founders, investors, advisers, and supporters but, more importantly, we cemented a culture of openness, generosity, and ambition.
People came along because they knew they would meet others who understand the challenges of running a business, who’ve faced the same sleepless nights and tough decisions, and who were willing to share what they’ve learned without the usual guardedness you sometimes find in competitive sectors.
And in just under four weeks time on September 10th, we go again with Ideas Fest 2025 where we will have over one hundred inspirational entrepreneurs speaking about their experiences on the festival stages, funding rounds initiated over lunch, and collaborations sparked during conversations between sessions.
It’s the kind of experience you can’t manufacture in a boardroom and this year, we have again made a point of curating the line-up that includes not some of the º£½ÇÊÓƵ’s most successful founders but also emerging voices who bring fresh perspectives.
But beyond the content, what matters most is the way Ideas Fest makes people feel. As many of us know too well, entrepreneurship can be a lonely business and spending two days surrounded by people who get it and who speak the same language can be a huge morale boost.
I’ve lost count of the number of attendees from last year who’ve told me they left with a renewed sense of purpose, or who’ve made connections that changed the trajectory of their business.
The energy and relationships formed at Ideas Fest have fed into our other work whether it’s the º£½ÇÊÓƵ StartUp Awards, the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, or the º£½ÇÊÓƵ Fast Growth Index.
In many ways, the festival is the beating heart of our entrepreneurial community that celebrates, connects, and supports businesses at every stage of their journey. Indeed, it’s where we can bring together all the strands - start-ups, scale-ups, investors, corporates and policymakers - and get them talking to each other in a way that feels real.
Of course, none of this happens by accident and our brilliant team have undertaken months of planning and countless conversations with potential speakers and partners to ensure make the event run smoothly.
Yes, it’s hard work but the reward comes when you see the sparks flying when you overhear two people swapping advice on developing a new market, or when you see a first-time founder being taken under the wing of someone who’s been there and done it. Those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.
In the end, that’s what makes Ideas Fest different and special by creating somewhere, for two days in a field in Hertfordshire, that breaks down barriers between people, that creates a space where ideas can be exchanged freely, and which reminds entrepreneurs that they’re part of a bigger story.
In an age when so much business interaction is on screens, there’s something powerful about people coming together in an open field, and talking about the future they want to build by dreaming a little bigger, taking a few more risks, and supporting each other along the way.
