The Perfect Blend: celebrating partnerships and collaborations in Business Archives.
A Business Archives Conference, 12th November 2026, Edinburgh
In 2026 the Business Archives Council and the Business Archives Council of Scotland will hold their joint annual conference in Edinburgh. The conference will take place on Thursday 12th November 2026 hosted by Diageo, at their Johnnie Walker Experience with online attendance also available.
Our theme is The Perfect Blend: celebrating partnerships and collaborations in Business Archives. This conference theme will explore how good partnerships and collaborations can help transform our business archive collections. This might be through the use of new technologies or volunteering projects to assist with cataloguing and digitisation projects. Or research based collaborations that can unlock collections and engage new audiences with our material.
Programme
The Perfect Blend: celebrating partnerships and collaborations in Business Archives.
Networking & Registration:
09:45 Networking breakfast session (tea/coffee with pastries)
10.15 Registration
10:30 Welcome
Session A
10:40 Title TBC. Diageo
11:00 The University of Glasgow at 575: collaborative corporate storytelling. Michael Gallagher, University of Glasgow
11:20 40 Years and Beyond: Cross-team collaboration and co-curation of the Islamic Relief Archive. Dr Daniella Gonzalez and Mohammad Shakir, Islamic Relief Archive
11:40 Q&A
11:50 BREAK Tea/Coffee (20 mins)
Session B
12:10 Sponsor slot
12:15 19th Century Whisky Distillation In Perthshire: A Rise and A Fall Before Success. Arthur Motley, The Motley Spirit Agency Ltd
12:35 Hackathons Title TBC. Kiara King, The Ballast Trust and Dr Alix Greene, University of Essex
12:55 Q&A
13:05 LUNCH (1 hour)
Session C
14:05 Sponsor slot
14:10 Checked Out: Research, Collaboration and the M&S Archive. Katharine Carter, Marks & Spencer
14:30 'Can I see what's in these 33 boxes?': Research partnership success and sidequests. Kelly Collins MacMillan Publishers
14:50 Building the Museum Design Archive at the University of Leicester: Collaboration, Collecting and Challenges. Vicky Holmes, University of Leicester
15:00 Q&A
15:10 BREAK Tea/Coffee with snack (20 mins)
Session D
15:30 Sponsor slot
15:35 Business Archives in Crisis: Saving the Debenhams Archive. Richard Wiltshire, Crisis Management Team
15:55 Lock 16 - Where Heritage and Placemaking meet. Dawn Stewart, Scottish Canals
16:15 Guinness at the Arctic World Archive. Eibhlin Colgan, Guinness
16:35 Q&A and closing remarks
16:50 Finish
18:30 Evening drinks reception with canapes to 8pm Times TBC
The Diageo Team are offering a tour of the Johnnie Walker Experience to in person delegates. Tours will take place before the 6.30 drinks reception. Places are limited to 30.
If you would like to join a tour, please tick the appropriate box when you book your ticket. Places will be allocated on a first come first served basis and delegates with a tour slot will be notified on the day of the conference.
