As we look ahead into 2026, the amount of internal communications and HR events you see advertised may feel a little overwhelming, but we’ve got you covered. We’ve created this list of our 10 favourite IC and HR events that we find the most valuable in terms of insights, conversations and actionable takeaways that the team brings back.
Whether your role sits in HR, employee experience, internal communications or somewhere in between, we’re confident you’ll find at least a few conferences to add to your wishlist for 2026.
Internal Communications Conference
📍 28th January at The Pendulum Hotel, Manchester & London in June (venue tbc!)
The Internal Communications Conference takes place in January in Manchester, then in London in June, each with a fresh bill of speakers, topics and themes to explore during the one-day session.
Sessions throughout the day are varied, so you could have a panel of experts speaking around a key topic, followed by real-world success stories from other organisations who live and breathe the same goals as you in their workplaces.
Popular themes include reaching dispersed and remote employees, handling change and avoiding burnout, authenticity, inclusion and navigating budgets to do more with less.
Retail Technology Show
📍22 - 23rd April at Excel, London
For anyone working in retail and brand, from automotive and financial services to groceries, restaurants, travel and more, the Retail Technology Show could be a great shout. This year’s vibe is disco, groovy and inviting you to boogie into the future of retail!
This workplace tech event is the premier destination for innovation, insight and connection in retail, to explore the future of commerce. While we’re exploring internal comms and HR events, this one really is suitable for everyone across the decision making or influencing process, so bring a handful of key stakeholders to share the excitement and inspiration about retail tech. Speak with over 450 solution providers and stay ahead of the curve with cutting-edge insights from some of the leading brains in the industry.
Gartner Digital Workplace Summit
📍27 - 28th April at InterContinental - The O2, London
In keeping with the theme of workplace tech, next on the list is Gartner’s Digital Workplace Summit. When it comes to inspiration for levelling up the digital employee experience, you are in very capable hands here.
This is the only conference shaped by data-driven insights which means if you’re looking for strong data to back up your business case, this is definitely one of the key employee experience events to focus on.
HR Technologies
📍29 - 30th April at Excel, London
It’s a busy April in London for HR events, which means there is more choice for you to select an event that best suits your requirements. The two-day HR Technologies UK conference is tailored to senior HR and talent professionals, with two keynote theatres and four seminar theatres where you’ll hear from your favourite brands and be able to see cutting-edge HR tech in action.
You’ll most definitely leave this event inspired with many modern ways to level up your HR function. Best of all? It’s free for HR professionals to attend!
IoIC Festival 2026
📍6 - 7 May at Warbrook House, Hampshire
Every year, the Institute of Internal Communications hosts their IoIC festival in a beautiful country setting. In 2026, we’ll be heading out to the Hampshire countryside to join them for two days of unmissable insights, discussions and exploration of key themes that are defining the future of internal comms.
With a jam-packed agenda of exclusive insights, talks from leading industry experts, interactive workshops, mentoring sessions and so much more, it really is an internal comms event that is not to be missed. An added bonus: you could earn IoIC CPD points for attending.
Engage Employee Summit
📍20 - 21 May at Evolution Battersea, London
A showstopper of an internal comms and HR event, the Engage Employee Summit returns to Evolution in London for 2026.
The number one employee engagement conference, this event drives us forward in understanding trends that impact internal comms, HR and employee experience alike. Themes include remote and hybrid work, a focus on employee wellbeing, the integration of AI and automation, continuous learning and upskilling. They also have a strong emphasis on DEI, technology-driven feedback, employee centric tech and a lot more which will be shared in the agenda as the event approaches!
CIPD Festival of Work
📍11 - 12 June at Excel, London
One of the biggest HR events in the calendar is the CIPD Festival of Work. In 2025, their headline artists included Sports Broadcaster Alex Scott MBE, Taskmaster’s Alex Horne and Broadcaster & Entrepreneur Jamie Laing, to name a few. We’re very excited to hear who is announced for 2026!
Throughout this two-day HR conference, you’ll be immersed in inspiration, industry experts and dedicated areas to deep dive into key features with interactive activities. This is in addition to a high-energy line-up of speakers to energise your approach to your work with the help of modern tech and collaboration.
We'll be hosting a customer spotlight at this event to explore the great work that they've done since launching with Oak and the lasting impact on their organisations. We'd love to see you there!
Intranet Reloaded
📍29 - 30 June at Maritim proArte Hotel, Berlin
One for the Europe-based teams, Intranet Reloaded Berlin is the leading digital workplace event in the region, filled with inspiring talks, networking opportunities and real-word case studies of success. This event is co-located with the Internal Communications Summit Europe and the Employee Engagement Summit Europe so you can bring your colleagues, attend different sessions and feed back to each other afterwards.
We had a great time at the event last year, met wonderful people and had a lot of truly interesting conversations. We are very much looking forward to returning and would love to see you there!
CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition
📍4 - 5 November at Manchester Central, Manchester
The other of CIPD’s huge HR events is their CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition. Returning to Manchester for 2026, we’re expecting an action-packed agenda of conference speakers, panels and deep dives into real life success stories on the insight stages. From employee experience to practical solutions and more, there really is something for your wider team here, beyond just the HR team’s benefit.
In recent years, we’ve taken to the stage to explore all things employee engagement through modern tech with Pizza Express and Ascot Lloyd. We’re very excited to announce our speaker for 2026 as this event approaches!
Unleash World
📍20 - 22 October at Paris Convention Centre, Paris
The UNLEASH World expo is full of interactivity, discovery and entertainment. Plus, it’s in Paris! This internal comms and HR event is where those shaping the future of work and technology come together to network, do business and share ideas.
With a packed agenda of thought leaders and industry experts, this truly is a fantastic event to discover new ideas, solutions and technology to improve employee experience. What’s more - they even have a ‘justify my trip’ section on their website to help you get it signed off by the powers that be!
Which internal comms and HR events will we see you at?
We hope that this list has given you some food for thought of which HR events, internal comms conferences and employee experience expos would be the most beneficial to you and your organisations goals for 2026.
Our team will be in attendance at all of these events so let us know which ones you’re attending and we’d love to have a chat about your situation and what you’re hoping to get out of 2026.
Stay in the know about which special guest speakers we’ll be bringing to these events, deep-diving into their challenges and the impact they’ve had on their business. Subscribe to Comms Corner to stay informed about all of the fun things ahead in 2026.
