Two Days at Ideas Fest 2026: What I Actually Took From It
Chris Gore spoke on two panels at Ideas Fest 2026. Here is what he took from two days at the event, the good, the honest and the conversations that actually moved something.
Chris Gore | Updated 2026
I have been to a lot of networking events since starting SPOR Group. Most of them are a bit naff. You end up in a room with people who are not quite at the level you need them to be at to have a conversation that actually moves anything forward. Name badges. Warm drinks. Five people trying to sell you something within thirty seconds of meeting you.
Ideas Fest is not that. I was there for two days at Champneys Tring, speaking on two panels, one on business growth, one on the real challenges of scaling. And what I came away with was not what I expected.
What Ideas Fest Actually Is
The best way I can describe it is access. Real access. The kind of access that does not exist at most events in this industry.
Simon Squibb was there. James Sinclair was there. Andrew Hulbert, who sold his business for £100 million, was on a panel with me. Frank Bruno was walking around the day before. Nobody was hiding behind a VIP fence. Nobody had security surrounding them. They were just milling around in a field, same as everyone else.
The people you follow from afar. The ones whose comments you write things in and never get a reply to. At Ideas Fest you can just walk up to them. Ask the question you actually wanted to ask. Have the conversation that the algorithm never let you have.
For the most part, that is brilliant. More on that in a minute.
The Two Panels
I spoke on two panels across the two days. Both produced real conversations, not the polished version of entrepreneurship that gets posted on LinkedIn, but the actual version. What scaling costs in culture rather than money. What the data behind a business refresh actually looks like. What an exit strategy means for the people around you who have equity in the outcome.
Audiences were engaged. The conversations with other panelists were just as valuable as the ones with the room. You share a stage with people whose businesses look very different from yours and you realise the problems are more similar than they seem from the outside.
Andrew Hulbert being on one of those panels was a moment worth mentioning. He was on my podcast. He sold his business for £100 million. Getting to share a stage with him and have that conversation publicly was one of the highlights of the two days.
The Good Takeaway
Ideas Fest creates something rare: genuine access to people worth talking to, in an environment where the conversation can actually happen. No gatekeeping. No VIP tiers. Just entrepreneurs at different stages of the same journey walking around the same field.
I bumped into people I have followed for years and had the conversations I had wanted to have with them. That does not happen at most events. It happened consistently across two days at Ideas Fest.
The Honest Takeaway
Not everything landed perfectly. There was one person there, a personal branding expert with millions of followers, who I was genuinely excited to speak to. I went over. He more or less fobbed me off. Treated me like a mosquito around his head.
And here is the thing. If you are a personal branding expert. If your entire business is built on an audience. If you are at an entrepreneurs festival surrounded by exactly the people who follow you. The audience you have built is the reason you are in the room in the first place.
That struck me more than anything else from the two days. Not because of how it made me feel, but because of what it says about building something sustainable. SPOR Group has 40 people now. It started with three. The moment you start treating the people who got you somewhere as an inconvenience is the moment you have forgotten where you came from.
What I Would Tell Anyone Going
Go. It is worth it. The conversations you will have in between sessions are often more valuable than the sessions themselves. The people you will bump into will not be hiding from you. And the format, tents, fields, no fences, keeps everyone at the same level in a way that most events do not.
Go with specific things you want to work out. Not general goals. Specific questions about your business that you genuinely do not have the answer to yet. The environment surfaces answers in ways you do not expect.
Work Isnt Working, the book I wrote using Book Magic, which I spotted at Ideas Fest, is available now. It covers the five-step framework behind building a workplace that actually functions. Get the book here.
Want the Weekly Thinking From Chris Gore on Business? Work Isnt Working — the newsletter. One email a week on what is actually working. No fluff. Free. Join the newsletter > spor-group.net/work-isnt-working-newsletter. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ideas Fest?
Ideas Fest is a two-day entrepreneurs festival held at Champneys Tring. It brings together founders, business owners and entrepreneurs for panel talks, networking and access to speakers including some of the most well-known names in UK entrepreneurship — all without VIP fences or gatekeeping.
Who did Chris Gore speak with at Ideas Fest 2026?
Chris spoke on two panels at Ideas Fest 2026, covering business growth and scaling. He shared a stage with Andrew Hulbert, who sold his business for £100 million. He also crossed paths with Simon Squibb, James Sinclair and Frank Bruno across the two days.
What were Chris Gore's main takeaways from Ideas Fest 2026?
Two takeaways. The good: genuine access to people worth talking to in an environment that removes the gatekeeping of most events. The honest: a reminder that the audience you build is the reason you are in the room, and forgetting that is the fastest way to undermine everything you have built.
Is Ideas Fest worth attending?
Yes. The format creates access that most events do not — no VIP areas, no security surrounding speakers, everyone milling around at the same level. The conversations between sessions are often as valuable as the sessions themselves. Going with specific questions rather than general goals gets the most out of it.
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