Ops Foundation will return to Excel London for two courses in 2027, continuing its focus on giving event professionals practical experience and a deeper understanding of the elements that deliver exhibitions and events.

Ops assistants, execs and managers will spend two days in the classroom and two days in the venue getting hands-on with the realities of event operations. Working directly with venues, suppliers and experienced ops professionals, the course covers everything from the technical and build elements of an event to logistics, scheduling, security, customer experience and accessibility.

Lou Kiwanuka, founder of The Ops Nest, said: "It feels special to be heading into our fifth year of Ops Foundation. We created the course to give ops people concentrated access to the knowledge and practical experience that can be really difficult to pick up when you're busy doing the day job. What has been really brilliant to see is what happens after the course. We've watched people grow in confidence, progress their careers and continue to learn from the relationships they made during those four days. Some of our earliest candidates are already putting their own teams through Ops Foundation next year, which is a pretty special way to be heading into year five."

2022 candidate, Paloma Simmonds of Wonderly Agency for Haymarket Media Group said “The course didn't just teach me skills - it gave me a mindset. It helped me understand how to approach challenges, how to think commercially and how to operate effectively in a live event environment. I would even go as far as saying I've found it more useful and applied more of it to my career than my Events Management degree!”

Luke Beisiegel, Conference & Logistics Manager at CloserStill Media adds “As an organiser, we’re responsible for bringing together every element of an event from budgets and floorplans through to suppliers, logistics and delivery. But even with that level of oversight, we don’t always get full visibility of how each part works behind the scenes, or how decisions impact other stakeholders. That’s what made Ops Foundation so valuable to me. It really was an incredible week.”

Ops Foundation is designed for event professionals looking to strengthen their operational knowledge, progress their ops career and understand not just what happens during event delivery, but why - and how decisions made by organisers affect venues, suppliers, contractors and ultimately the event itself.

Over 120 professionals have already benefited in the four years the course has run. Two opportunities for 2027 will enable a further 42 to benefit.

Kiwanuka continues “Five years on, the industry continues to change, so the course keeps changing too. But that hands-on learning and the willingness of people from right across our industry to openly share what they know remains at the heart of it. We can't wait to welcome our class of 2027 and the suppliers who have supported us."

Booking for both 2027 courses is now live via the Ops Nest website along with insight into the benefits of the course from previous candidates –25-28 January 2027 and 28 June-1 July 2027

 theopsnest.uk.