The annual showcase of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme, held on 6 November 2026 at London's Business Design Centre: one day of exhibitor stands, live demonstrations and expert panels bringing quantum hardware, software, sensing, imaging and communications companies together with government, research councils, investors and international delegates. Free to attend, with capacity limited.
The UK National Quantum Technologies Showcase is the annual flagship public event of the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme, the government-backed initiative coordinating national investment in quantum research and commercialisation. It runs as a single day at the Business Design Centre in London and is organised by Innovate UK Business Connect. The format combines an exhibition floor of quantum companies and research groups with live demonstrations and expert panel sessions. Attendance is free for delegates and capped by venue capacity. Its organiser positions it as the UK's largest quantum industry event and one of the largest of its kind globally; that claim is organiser-declared and is not independently audited here.
The showcase exists to make the output of a national research programme visible in one place on one day. Exhibitors are drawn from the companies, university groups and national facilities that the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme and its funding bodies support, and the audience it is built for includes the people who decide where public money goes next. That gives it a different centre of gravity from a paid commercial quantum conference, where the exhibition floor is sold to whoever buys it and the agenda follows sponsor interest. The practical consequence for a visitor: the room skews toward capability demonstration and partnership formation rather than direct procurement.
The event has been a recurring annual fixture of the programme for several years. The exact edition number is not confirmed in public sources and is not stated here.
The 2026 edition is scheduled for Friday 6 November at the Business Design Centre in Islington, north London. The format is unchanged in structure from the established pattern: an exhibition running through the day, live demonstrations on stands, and a panel programme running alongside. Delegate registration is free but capacity limited, so places close once the venue fills rather than on a fixed cut-off date. Organisations wanting a stand go through a separate expression-of-interest process with its own application deadline, which closes well ahead of the event; the deadline date is not disclosed in the material verified for this entry.
Six themes run across the exhibition and panel programme. Four are technology tracks, two are market and adoption tracks.
| Theme | Track type |
|---|---|
| Quantum computing | Technology |
| Quantum sensing and imaging | Technology |
| Quantum communications and networking | Technology |
| Quantum cybersecurity | Technology |
| Commercialisation and industrialisation | Market and adoption |
| Investment and international partnerships | Market and adoption |
The split matters when planning a visit. A technical attendee will find the value on the exhibition floor and in the demonstrations; a corporate development, policy or investment attendee will find more of it in the panel programme and in the delegations the organiser brings in.
The showcase is one event, but the institutions represented in the room are the ones that between them fund and direct UK quantum activity.
| Body | Role |
|---|---|
| Innovate UK Business Connect | Organiser of the showcase |
| Innovate UK | The UK's national innovation agency, part of UKRI |
| UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) | Umbrella body for the UK's research councils and innovation funding |
| Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) | Research council funding physical sciences and engineering |
| Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) | Research council funding national physics facilities and infrastructure |
| National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) | National centre building UK quantum computing capability |
| Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) | Government department responsible for science and technology policy |
| UK National Quantum Technologies Programme | The national programme the showcase presents |
Three groups dominate. First, UK quantum companies and research groups, spanning hardware, software, sensing, imaging and communications, most of them exhibiting rather than simply visiting. Second, the public sector: Innovate UK, UKRI and its research councils, the NQCC and DSIT, present both as funders and as speakers. Third, the demand and capital side: investors, corporate buyers assessing whether quantum is close enough to use, and international delegations using the day as a single-stop survey of UK capability. The event is classified B2B and is not aimed at a general consumer audience, though the free registration model makes it more open than most events on this circuit.
London now hosts several distinct quantum events, and the differences between them are more about business model than subject matter. Commercialising Quantum Global runs at the same Business Design Centre venue but is a paid, commercially operated conference built around enterprise adoption and dealmaking. Qubits Europe is likewise a paid London fixture. The National Quantum Technologies Showcase is the government-programme entry in that set: free, one day, and organised to present publicly funded capability rather than to sell floor space or delegate passes. Attendees weighing which to attend are generally choosing between a broad free survey of UK capability and a paid environment built for commercial conversations.
Its November date also places it late in the year, after the summer commercial conferences and shortly before the main European quantum gatherings, which makes it a reasonable point to take stock of where UK activity stands before year end.
Quantum companies and research groups exhibiting their work, government and research council staff tracking programme output, investors and corporate buyers scouting capability, and international delegations surveying the UK sector. It is a B2B event, not a public science fair, though free entry makes it accessible to a wider professional audience than paid quantum conferences.
No. Delegate registration is open and free, subject to capacity. Programme affiliation is not a precondition for attending, though exhibiting is tied to a separate expression-of-interest process.
Business model and purpose. Commercialising Quantum Global and Qubits Europe are commercial conferences funded by delegate fees and sponsorship, built around enterprise adoption and dealmaking. The showcase is funded as part of a national programme, free to delegates, and built to make publicly supported UK quantum capability visible in one day.
The content is UK capability, but the audience is not UK-only: the organiser explicitly brings in international delegates, and one of the six themes is investment and international partnerships.
The Business Design Centre sits on Upper Street in Islington, north London, a short walk from Angel Underground station on the Northern line and within reach of King's Cross St Pancras for Eurostar and mainline rail arrivals. It is a converted Victorian hall with a central gallery and surrounding mezzanine levels, a layout that suits a single-floor exhibition with stands, demonstration space and a panel stage in one sightline. The same venue hosts Commercialising Quantum Global, so exhibitors working both events will find the floor plan familiar.
Innovate UK Business Connect is the network arm associated with Innovate UK, the UK's national innovation agency within UK Research and Innovation. Its role is connecting businesses with research, funding and each other across the sectors Innovate UK supports, and it runs the showcase as the public-facing event of the National Quantum Technologies Programme. Registration, exhibitor applications and the event programme are all hosted on its own site rather than on a standalone event domain.
A free one-day state of the nation for UK quantum, where the funding bodies, the policy department and the companies they back are in the same room and nobody is paying for the privilege.
Delegate attendance is free. That is unusual on this circuit, where comparable London quantum events charge three-figure or four-figure delegate fees, and it follows directly from the event's status as the public-facing day of a government-funded national programme rather than a commercial conference. There is no delegate tier structure, no early-bird window and no academic discount, because there is no fee to discount.
The practical constraint is capacity, not price. Registration runs through the organiser's event page and closes when the Business Design Centre's capacity is reached, so the operative deadline is set by demand rather than published in advance. Anyone planning to attend should register as soon as registration opens rather than treating a free ticket as one that will still be there in late October.
Exhibiting is a separate track. Organisations wanting a stand submit an expression of interest through the organiser, and that process has its own application deadline that falls significantly earlier than the event. Stand costs, where applicable, are not disclosed in the material verified for this entry.
Nothing for delegates. Registration is free, with places limited by venue capacity.
As early as possible after registration opens. Because entry is free and capacity capped, the constraint is availability rather than a published cut-off, and demand for a free national showcase tends to close places well before the event date.
Through the separate exhibitor expression-of-interest process run by Innovate UK Business Connect, which has its own application deadline earlier in the year. Details are published on the official event page.
The Business Design Centre is on Upper Street in Islington, roughly a five-minute walk from Angel Underground station on the Northern line. King's Cross St Pancras, for mainline and Eurostar arrivals, is one stop away.
| Official website | https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/events/uk-national-quantum-technologies-showcase-2026/ |
| Registration | https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/events/uk-national-quantum-technologies-showcase-2026/ |
| Exhibitor expression of interest | Via the official event page (separate application deadline) |
| Organiser | https://iuk-business-connect.org.uk |
| Programme | not disclosed |