Our conventions follow a formula built by our chapters and loved by our people. Belgium, Germany and Switzerland have all hosted it. The formula works, and 2027 keeps every part of it. What changes is what carries it.

Before we chose a venue, we wrote down the things people told us had gone wrong. None of this is anyone’s failure. These are the limits of a volunteer formula that has reached the top of its design.

Six things we must be honest about

  1. We are seen as traditional. The UK chapter is seen as steady but not the most forward-thinking. Fair or not, that is where we start, and this plan has to prove otherwise.
  2. Accommodation let people down. Past conventions spread guests across several hotels. Rooms ran short, quality varied, and families ended up far from the action.
  3. Too much travel between events. Different venues for different events meant taxis, car shares, late starts and people missing the moments they came for.
  4. Paying was hard work. Collecting money across countries, currencies and bank accounts was slow and manual. People did not always know what they had paid for.
  5. It looks expensive. A country estate with a mansion house looks grand, and people will assume it costs a lot. We have to say early and often what it actually costs.
  6. “Can the UK pull off something bigger?” Other chapters doubt we can deliver at this scale. We take that seriously.

One answer: one estate

In 2027 everything happens at De Vere Wokefield Estate, near Reading: 376 bedrooms and 250 acres of Berkshire parkland, about 40 minutes from Heathrow by car.

One site holds the Meet and Greet, the Official Opening, the General Assembly, the dance competition, the Gala and the Sunday barbecue. People walk between events. No hotel lottery, and no taxis between venues.

  • Rooms: 376 rooms on site plus a negotiated room block, with nearby hotels 10 to 15 minutes away for anyone who prefers them.
  • Travel: every event on one estate, with shuttles from Reading station and Heathrow at peak times.
  • Paying: one Bali Pass, one app, paid in instalments and by country, into local accounts.
  • Cost: our affordability promise. The money a member spends should be in line with any recent BCA Europe convention, allowing only for inflation. Every pass comes with a worked example of total spend.

Structure, not promises

The answer to “can the UK do it?” is not a promise. It is structure. The UK hosts and Europe owns the convention. Named co-chairs of the Convention Preparation Committee work very closely with the BCA Europe leadership, every workstream has a lead from a different chapter, and a monthly report goes to all chapters on progress, money and risks.

We are working towards signing the venue contract in December 2026. Until then, figures on this site are illustrative and are marked as such.