As Millbrook Medical Conferences approaches a milestone birthday, Managing Director Fiona McDonald speaks to Heather Lishman, Association Director of the Association of British Professional Conference Organiser’s (ABPCO), about the evolution of the company and changes to the industry and conferences over the last three decades.

2022 is a special year for Millbrook as it sees the company celebrate 30 years’ in organising first-class medical education. Millbrook Medical Conferences prides itself on actively contributing to medical education by providing an accessible and compliant conference and event management platform for healthcare professionals.

Fiona was virtually interviewed by Heather. Amongst a range of other topics, the two discussed the changes to the industry and conferences over the last three decades, whilst also reflecting on how Millbrook has grown from an initial concept that included just a handful of events a year to its current status as a leading UK-based PCO (Professional Conference Organiser) for Medical Education.

Fiona McDonald, winner of the prestigious BCIS Lifetime Achievement award, set up Millbrook Medical Conferences in 1992 whilst working in the NHS with demand from colleagues looking to run medical education events, but not knowing how to organise such meetings.

Fast-forward 30 years and Millbrook is an award-winning company that has grown to a team of 12, managing up to 40 face-to-face, hybrid and fully virtual meetings a year from 50-5,000 delegates, attracting global participation. Millbrook’s continued success is borne through understanding the requirements of the organisers, delegates and sponsors.

What’s more, in 2018, Millbrook launched sister company Millbrook Medical Logistics, which offers an effective solution to the preparation of educational grants, booking compliant travel, hotel accommodation and processing conference registration.

Millbrook isn’t stopping there though; the company has exciting plans for the next year, which will all be revealed soon!

Millbrook is going from strength-to-strength, having recently been named as ‘Lockdown Hero’ in the 2020 ABPCO Excellence Awards, which reward excellence and professionalism in the world of association events, recognising professional conference organisers and event industry partners for their contributions to the industry. In 2021, Millbrook was extremely proud to have been shortlisted within the ‘Best Conference by an Agency Conference Organiser’ category for BCIS’s ACI Virtual Experience.

Over the 30 years, Millbrook has built up its workforce, continually investing and supporting every team member. In the interview with Heather, Fiona credited her colleagues for getting the business to where it is today and the positive workplace culture. Of the Millbrook team, Dominic Legate, Matt Daly and Lizzie Head are recognised as Associate Members.

ABPCO is a leading UK membership organisation for professional conference and event organisers working in-house and for agencies across the corporate, public, association and other not-for-profit sectors. Selected following the demonstration of experience and on peer assessment, membership gives individual organisers unique credibility amongst clients, suppliers and competitors alike.

Fiona McDonald’s exclusive interview with Heather Lishman is now available to watch on YouTube: