TFI Lodestar unlocks greater impact for BSG LIVE’25 through destination partnership

When the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG) needed to bring forward the Glasgow edition of its flagship annual congress, BSG LIVE’25, the change came late in the planning process after venue arrangements had already been confirmed. Delivering the event on a revised timeline required more than contractual changes. It demanded speed, flexibility and close collaboration between IAPCO Accredited PCO TFI Lodestar, BSG, Glasgow Convention Bureau (GCB) and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC).

Working as one team, the partners transformed a potentially disruptive challenge into an opportunity to strengthen the congress and expand its impact. Held from 23–26 June 2025 at SEC Glasgow, BSG LIVE’25 brought together the UK’s gastroenterology and hepatology community for four days of scientific exchange, professional education, practical learning, networking and industry engagement.

As the UK’s largest gastroenterology and hepatology membership organisation, representing more than 4,000 clinicians, surgeons, nurses, scientists, allied health professionals and researchers, BSG relies on its annual congress to share the latest research, advance clinical practice, and strengthen collaboration across the specialty.

Beyond delivering a successful congress, the partnership demonstrated the value of destination collaboration. Working alongside the GCB and SEC, TFI Lodestar and BSG helped secure financial support, connect the congress with local organisations, embed sustainability and community initiatives, and extend health education beyond the conference walls. The result was a more inclusive, accessible and outward-facing congress that set a new benchmark for future BSG LIVE events.

Challenges
Delivering BSG LIVE’25 in Glasgow required TFI Lodestar to respond quickly to a late scheduling change while continuing to support BSG’s broader ambitions for growth, engagement, revenue, accessibility and legacy.

• Responding to a revised timeline: The decision to bring BSG LIVE to Glasgow a year earlier than planned came after venue contracts and planning assumptions had already been established, requiring significant contractual, financial and operational changes within a compressed timeframe.
• Maintaining momentum and confidence: Contractual and logistical issues needed to be resolved quickly without disrupting programme development, delegate marketing, industry engagement and supplier planning.
• Broadening representation: BSG wanted the congress to better reflect the full gastroenterology community, including nurses, patient representatives, charities and international delegates, rather than serving only its traditional core audiences.
• Accessibility at scale: The scientific programme needed to be more accessible to a diverse audience through inclusive programme design, multilingual support and captioning, enabling more delegates to participate fully in the educational content.
• Maximise destination impact: BSG wanted the congress to generate value beyond the venue by building meaningful connections with Glasgow’s communities, charities, arts and community organisations.
• Embedding sustainability and legacy: The event needed to deliver sustainable initiatives that reduced waste, encouraged event material reuse and ensure resources created for the congress continued to deliver value after the event concluded.

Solutions
TFI Lodestar led the delivery response in close partnership with BSG, GCB and SEC, combining congress expertise, venue capability and destination knowledge to transform a scheduling challenge into an opportunity for innovation and wider impact.

• Rapid, collaborative problem-solving: TFI Lodestar coordinated the response to the revised event timeline, working closely with BSG, SEC and GCB to resolve contractual, operational and logistical challenges. The flexibility and commitment of all partners ensured the congress remained on track while maintaining confidence among delegates, exhibitors and suppliers.
• Destination investment to strengthen the congress: TFI Lodestar worked with GCB and SEC to secure financial incentives that enabled BSG to invest in attracting new audiences, strengthening accessibility initiatives and enhancing the overall delegate experience.
• A more inclusive scientific experience: The programme incorporated content for priority audiences alongside multilingual support and live captioning. These initiatives created a more accessible educational experience and encouraged wider participation across the gastroenterology community.
• Extending health education into the community: For the first time, BSG LIVE expanded beyond the conference venue with public-facing health initiatives. Working with the British Liver Trust, the ‘Love Your Liver’ activity outside the SEC provided liver health information and advice to members of the public.
• Community health engagement: At Forge Shopping Centre, the six-foot inflatable ‘Colin the Colon’, delivered in partnership with GCB and Guts UK, gave shoppers an engaging and memorable way to raise awareness of colon health, extending the congress’ educational impact into the wider community.
• Local partnerships with purpose: Drawing on the destination network, SEC and GCB connected the congress with Glasgow organisations including Paradigm, Healy Arts, Glasgow Caring City, Calluna Upcycling, Amma Birth Companions and The Pyramid at Anderson Trust. These relationships supported community engagement, creative reuse and the re- and upcycling of event materials.
• Destination expertise embedded in delivery: Throughout planning and delivery, TFI Lodestar leveraged GCB’s local knowledge and SEC’s venue expertise to identify organisations, suppliers and opportunities that aligned the congress with Glasgow’s social, environmental and community priorities, helping created a more meaningful and locally connected event.

Outcomes
Led by TFI Lodestar, the collaborative approach delivered strong results for BSG, its professional community and the host destination, demonstrating how an association, its IAPCO Accredited PCO, a convention bureau and a venue can work together to create value at every level.

• Audience growth and diversity: BSG LIVE’25 achieved increased attendance, including a 24% increase in international delegates, while attracting greater participation from nurses, patient representatives and charities. This created a congress that better reflected the wider gastroenterology community.

• Greater accessibility and representation: Targeted content, expanded language options and captioning capability made the congress more accessible, enabling a broader range of delegates to participate fully in learning, discussion and professional exchange.

• Extended BSG’s health mission into the community: Through initiatives such as Love Your Liver and Colin the Colon, the congress took practical health education into public spaces, engaging the Glasgow community and reinforcing BSG’s mission to improve public health as well as professional practice.

• Meaningful local collaboration: Partnerships with charities, arts and community organisations embedded Glasgow’s people and local networks into the event, creating social value and community benefits that extended beyond visitor spend.

• Sustainability and circularity: Recycling and upcycling partnerships gave event materials a useful second life, reducing waste while supporting local causes and demonstrating practical approaches to circular event delivery.

• A stronger model for future events: The Glasgow edition set new benchmarks for attendance, accessibility, community engagement, representation, wellbeing, sustainability and legacy, establishing a stronger model for future BSG LIVE congresses.

• Demonstrated the value of destination partnership: Glasgow demonstrated how destinations create greater impact when they move beyond the role of host to become strategic partners, bringing local knowledge, networks and collaborative problem solving to help associations achieve their wider objectives.

BSG LIVE’25 showed that a destination’s contribution extends far beyond providing a venue. By bringing together the expertise of TFI Lodestar, the British Society of Gastroenterology, the Glasgow Convention Bureau and the Scottish Event Campus, the partnership delivered a congress that reached new audiences, advanced public health, strengthened community connections and created a practical legacy for both the association and the destination.

For associations considering future host destinations, the message is clear: the strongest outcomes are achieved when an association and its IAPCO Accredited PCO engage destination and venue partners early, align around shared objectives, and harness each partner’s expertise to advance the association’s wider mission.