Timeline

1999: Launched Fire Times magazine

2000: Launched Emergency Services Times (EST) magazine

2006: Launched The Emergency Services Show (ESS) at Royal Horticultural Halls in Victoria

2007: ESS moves to Stoneleigh Park in Coventry

2012: MBO of EST and ESS – set up Broden Media

2013: ESS moves to the NEC

2019: Broden Media bought by Nineteen Group

2021: Launched Future Policing Zone into ESS

2023: Future Policing evolved into The Emergency Tech Show
 

The Emergency Services Show, which runs alongside The Emergency Tech Show, is Europe's largest annual trade show tailored to police, ambulance, fire & rescue, search & rescue, and partner agencies looking to source the latest equipment and solutions to improve emergency response. Across two days in September, a community of over 16,000 blue light professionals gathers at the NEC in Birmingham to discover more than 10,000 solutions from top-tier brands and businesses, share key skills and knowledge to bolster emergency response, and foster meaningful cross-sector connections with colleagues and peers. It's more than just an exhibition, the event is a vibrant celebration of the dedication and bravery of emergency services personnel. It provides a unique platform for collaboration, where experts exchange insights, best practices and innovative strategies to tackle emerging challenges. Through live demonstrations, interactive workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions, attendees gain invaluable expertise while strengthening the collective resilience of emergency services across the UK and beyond.

Launched in London

As the publishing team behind Emergency Services Times magazine, Editor David Holden and I devised and launched the first Emergency Services Show in October 2006, at the Royal Horticultural Halls, near Victoria, in London. At that first show, some 100 exhibitors welcomed almost 1000 visitors to this new experience.

At this time multi-agency working between emergency services was in its infancy. Today, of course, the emergency services work shoulder to shoulder on a daily basis and frequently co-respond to emergencies. With the Government’s findings on the response to the 7/7 terrorist attacks fresh in everyone’s minds, the 2006 show provided, for the first time, a ‘one stop shop’ for many emergency services suppliers to reach all of their target markets.

Since that first event, The Emergency Services Show has grown its numbers of exhibitors and visitors year-on-year, necessitating a couple of venue changes – first to Stoneleigh Park, in 2007, and then to its current home, the NEC in Birmingham, in 2013.

EST goes digital

Emergency Services Times (EST) magazine has been the ‘golden thread’ running through the history and success of The Emergency Services Show. EST was first published as a free bi-monthly print magazine in November 2000 and following a switch to digital in January 2024, today it is a multi-channel website attracting over 30,000 visitors a month from the emergency services community.

The content of the website provides a spotlight on the current challenges faced by the sector and the solutions provided by manufacturers and suppliers. Ensuring the exhibition aligns to the website content ensures it stays current and that addresses the needs to the sector, year after year. The new digital EST boasts online articles, e-newsletters, a comprehensive webinar programme, video and audio interviews and a hugely successful new podcast, called For Every Response.

Collaboration Zone

Another constant, ever since that very first show in 2006, has been the inclusion of a unique area where the emergency services themselves, their partner agencies, associations, large membership bodies, the voluntary sector and the NGOs could exhibit – free of charge – to highlight exciting initiatives that are improving efficiency within their organisations and capabilities that may mean public sector budgets can be better spent on frontline response. Called the Collaboration Zone, it features some 80 exhibitors and is the beating heart of the show.

Show expansion

The Emergency Services Show (ESS) launched The Future Policing Zone, in 2021, to support the Government’s announcement of £1bn investment in UK Policing. Supported by an influential Advisory Council comprising industry leading experts, the ESS team were able to identify and address the needs of policing and the Future Policing Zone brought a new dimension to ESS. Utilising the ad council’s insights, the team created a dedicated area for the policing audience to discover innovative technologies and operational solutions, share their experiences and unite in their collaborative approach to public safety.

Following a successful launch in 2021, the zone doubled in size in 2022, with 80% of exhibitors coming from technology suppliers to all emergency services. The decision was made to develop the Future Policing Zone into a stand-alone event for 2023 called The Emergency Tech Show, running alongside The Emergency Services Show.

Following a record-breaking launch, the 2024 show welcomed over 7000 tech decision-makers and 150 leading brands for a pioneering showcase, highlighting the transformative tech solutions driving change within the emergency response sector.

The Emergency Tech Show returns to the NEC from 17-18 September 2025 as Europe’s largest showcase of the emerging technologies that are driving change in our emergency services.

- David Brown, Joint Managing Director