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Candidate City Bid Support

Supporting Convention Bureaus and Destination Management Companies in bidding for international business events in key sector priorities in Britain, boosting the country’s winning potential through financial support

Candidate City Bid Support

The Candidate City Bid Support fund is currently closed to applications for financial year 2023/2024. The fund is expected to re-open in spring 2024 for next financial year applications.

Funding up to the value of £20,000 can be granted to assist in bid costs for an international business event that is not currently held in Britain. In exceptional circumstances, backed by a strong business case, cities requiring more than £20,000 for a single bid may be considered however this is subject to available funds.

Funds can be used to support the following activities:

  • Site visits (this activity can be supported with a grant up to £6,000)
  • Bid pitch – including costs for support and production of the pitch
  • Production of bid booklet to distribute
  • Translation costs of a bid
  • Communications and digital activity, website, live streaming, social media, film, webinar, e-newsletters or other content to support the development of a bid
  • Media/ social media activity in support of the bid, such as industry/sector channels and networks relating specifically to the sector of the event being bid for
  • Sales and marketing activity to increase awareness and encourage voters to favour the UK bidder

Interested in learning more about Candidate City Bid Support? Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.

Who can apply

We welcome applications from Convention Bureaus, Destination Management Organisations and any venues that are partnering with the above.

Please note: all applications will be assessed against the criteria outlined in the Candidate City Bid Support guidelines (PDF, 1.19 MB). If an applicant does not fulfil the mandatory eligibility criteria, the application will not be accepted. Applications will be considered by an appointed panel of industry experts. Applicants will be contacted if additional information is required.

 

How to apply

NOTE: The Candidate City Bid Support fund is currently closed to applications for financial year 2023/2024. 

The fund can support events taking place in future financial years, but all expenditures must be annualised in the financial year in which they are allocated. If the expenditure will occur between April 2024 and March 2025, please complete this Enquiry form (DOCX, 38.05 KB) to register your interest for potential future grant funds. Please note, there is no guarantee of future funding.

The fund is expected to re-open in spring 2024 for next financial year applications.

Candidate City Bid Support roadmap

  1. Make your application for Candidate City Bid Support.
  2. Applications will be considered by a panel of industry experts.
  3. Successful applicants will be contacted after the panel decision.

Note: the assessment is a two-way process, and it can take up to six weeks from application to receive a Grant Funding Agreement. Please consider this when planning your activity.

VisitBritain

Business Events Growth Programme infographic

How Candidate City Bid Support helped Glasgow’s world-class conference win

Alamy Stock Photo/Jim Monk

Bell's Bridge and the SEC Armadillo by the river Clyde in Glasgow, at sunrise.

Held in nations throughout Europe, the annual Euroanaesthesia Congress is one of the world’s most influential hybrid scientific events. It focuses on anaesthesia, intensive care, pain, perioperative medicine and critical emergency medicine, and attracts over 8,000 attendees from more than 100 countries.

Candidate City Bid Support funding enabled the Glasgow bidding team to attend the ESA Board Meeting in Brussels in December 2019, to present the city’s bid to host the 2023 congress. This included live presentations to the ESA Board, followed by a detailed question and answer session. Glasgow received nine of the 10 ESA Board votes, in favour of the congress being held in Glasgow in 2023.

Useful contacts

Events Support

Contact the team

Discover more

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Blenheim Palace

Title TBA

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VisitBritain/Andrew Pickett

The arena at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during a performance of the military event, parade ground and packed spectator seating. A light show projecting onto the castle walls. Marching band with a leading conductor, and massed pipers playing the bagpipes. Fireworks exploding in the night sky.

Widen your network, sharpen your skills and access new markets with our events and training.

Getty Images/Caia Image

A diverse group of people is networking during a conference break while drinking coffee and eating sandwiches and cake. The focus of the image is on a group of three, two woman standing and one man sitting in a wheelchair, talking to each other in front of people standing at a buffet in the background.