FOW Summit 2026 | Navigating the Modern Workplace

Before this year’s Future of Work Summit really began, attendees arriving at Kingston Business School were presented with a stack of post-it notes and a deceptively simple question: what is your biggest business challenge in 2026?

Embracing the challenge, the collaborative board (considerably more decorated by mid-morning) became an insightfully accurate snapshot of the very business environment #FOW2026 was designed to address: market volatility, funding pressures, sustainable adoption of technology, and navigating the current landscape as an entrepreneur; different sectors and different scales, but concerns that felt ultimately familiar.

These themes were also reflected in the opening remarks from Professor Sankar Sivarajah, Head of Kingston Business School, and Councillor Andrew Wooldridge, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, who both respectively returned to the importance of shared goals and the strength of Kingston’s business community – fitting, given what was already visible on the board.

And as attendees moved onto the day’s full programme – across economic outlooks, roundtables, peer learning and leadership discussions – what emerged was a welcome (and often needed) reminder: many of the pressures organisations are working through today don’t sit neatly within one industry and, increasingly, the most productive responses emerge when people compare approaches rather than work in isolation.

So if you left the Summit wanting to continue the discussion (or if you’re looking to get involved), fortunately there are plenty more opportunities on our calendar – from networking breakfasts and lunches to workshops and learning resources – each designed to create more space for the conversations that matter to you. Visit our events page to find out more.

Want to read more about the FOW Summit? Take a look back at the day on our official FOW 2026 page to explore reflections from our CEO, attendee feedback and our photo gallery.