Millbrook Medical Conferences, a leading provider of event management services to the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors, today announces that Fiona McDonald will step down as Managing Director, a role she has passionately held for over thirty years. In a carefully planned transition, Dominic Legate will assume the position of Managing Director effective Tuesday 1st October.
Fiona McDonald has been the cornerstone of Millbrook Medical Conferences since its inception, guiding the company through significant growth, evolving healthcare landscapes, technological advancements, and service expansion. This transition has been thoughtfully curated and gradually executed behind the scenes over the past year. Moving forward, Fiona will continue her work with Millbrook, focusing on leading the administration of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS), ensuring dedicated service and continuity to the charity.
Millbrook began on Fiona’s dining room table while she was on maternity leave with her son, Dominic. Recognising a clear need for the creation and management of medical conferences within the NHS, she combined her organisational strengths and people skills to establish Millbrook Medical Conferences. Since then, the company has grown steadily, now comprising a team of fifteen managing over 50 conferences annually and supporting numerous charities and initiatives. Under Fiona’s leadership, Millbrook has become a trusted partner to healthcare organisations, renowned for delivering high-quality, bespoke medical conferences both in the UK and internationally.
Reflecting on her time with the company, Fiona said, “I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved as a team at Millbrook. It has been a privilege to serve as Managing Director for so many years and to have worked with such talented individuals. I am confident that under Dominic’s leadership, Millbrook will continue to flourish, maintaining the values of excellence and service that have always defined us.”
Dominic, who has been with Millbrook for 10 years in various strategic roles, brings a fresh perspective and a deep understanding of the company’s core mission. Throughout his time at Millbrook, Dominic has worked closely with Fiona, learning the business from the ground up and building strong relationships with clients— the company’s most important asset. His vision is to build on Millbrook’s existing strengths, while also exploring new opportunities for innovation in medical conferencing and event management.
Commenting on his new role, Dominic said, “It is an honour to take on the role of Managing Director at Millbrook. I’ve had the privilege of learning from one of the best, and I’m excited to carry forward the remarkable legacy that has been built. My focus will be on ensuring that Millbrook continues to be a leader in our field, while also adapting to the evolving needs of the healthcare sector.”
This leadership transition marks the beginning of the next chapter in Millbrook Medical Conferences’ growth story, with the company poised to continue delivering world-class service to clients across the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
We’re halfway through the year, and what a whirlwind six months it’s been for us! We’ve been firing on all cylinders, organising a remarkable 25 conferences for healthcare professionals nationwide. We’ve welcomed several new clients and expanded our team with three fantastic new hires.
But it’s not all been hard work – we’ve found time to give back as well, fundraising for the brilliant causes of Red Nose Day and Wear a Hat Day. With the year now at its midpoint, we’re feeling energised, inspired, and ready to take on the second half with the same enthusiasm and creativity that’s defined our journey so far.
Let’s take a moment to celebrate our milestones and look ahead to the future with optimism and determination.
The British Cardiovascular Intervention Society’s Advanced Cardiovascular Intervention (ACI) kicked off the year by bringing together healthcare professionals from across the globe. Working with the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS) is always a challenge we relish – we aim to continually raise the bar for each event, and ACI was no exception. We achieved record-breaking attendance, educating over 1,500 professionals, with more than 1,000 attending in person. ACI was broadcast to over 50 countries online, supported by 37 sponsors, and featured a faculty of 137.
We partnered with the British Heart Rhythm Society to successfully launch its Scientific Sessions in Manchester from Tuesday 27 – Thursday 29 February. The event included additional training days such as the Arrhythmia Nurses Day and Hands-on Simulator Training Day both on Monday 26 February, as well as an EP Traces Day on Thursday 29 February, which all received excellent feedback from attendees who appreciated the organised structure and relevant content.
Feedback from delegates included:
March was a month of fundraising for Comic Relief and Brain Tumour Research. On Red Nose Day, Friday 15 March, we did something funny for money by dressing up in red and the team didn’t disappoint turning up in pyjamas, as a chilli pepper and Mario!
On Thursday 28 March, we sported our favourite hats and donated to Brain Tumour Research for Wear a Hat Day. Wear a Hat Day is Brain Tumour Research’s annual event raising money to bring hope to brain tumour patients and their families.
In addition to fundraising activities, some of the team headed down to Newport, Wales, for the SCTS Annual Meeting which attracted over 1,100 delegates. A new client for us, we were brought in to assist the SCTS with attendee registration through the creation of a fully branded website, abstract management, and the creation of a multi-track programme and app. We were also pleased to provide support on the day with badge kiosks and directing delegates.
When asked to provide feedback on the registration process, delegates said:
The team travelled across the nation this month, hosting one online meeting and four in-person meetings in Cardiff, Derby, Oxford and London. Oxford Live, held on Monday 8 – Tuesday 9 April at St Anne’s College, marked its 20th anniversary and bid farewell to Matt Daly as he embarked on new ventures. Following Oxford Live, we organised an evening symposium for the Barts Interventional Group, a BCIS education forum on Bifurcation PCI and Coronary Complications During PCI: A Case-based Learning Opportunity.
In May, we welcomed three new team members: Maisie Splevings, Sophie Broomfield and Natalie Cornwell-Stevens. Their fresh energy and perspectives are already making an impact.
During Star Wars month, Dominic Legate and Lizzie Head were invited to the Vascular Perspectives’ Impactful Presentations and Impactful Speaking Courses in Birmingham. The Impactful Presentations Course had been carefully designed for healthcare professionals but consisted of invaluable information for people giving presentations in any industry. It focused on moving away from ‘Death by PowerPoint’ by making presentations more succinct whilst delivering the intended message in an engaging way.
Our Managing Director, Fiona McDonald was invited to give a short presentation at the 20th-anniversary meeting of Chronic Total Occlusions: An Introduction to CTO PCI where she reflected on its legacy, which involved the late Professor Tony Gershlick.
June was packed with back-to-back conferences, starting with the BHRS EP Traces Day and culminating with the London Arrhythmia Summit. Over five days, we organised five conferences, welcomed 305 delegates and 54 faculty speakers, heard 68 talks and covered 1,884 miles.
Additionally, Tilly, Sarah, Natalie and Sophie represented us at The Meetings Show in ExCeL London from Wednesday 19 – Thursday 20 June, participating in presentations on marketing trends and AI and networking opportunities.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Here’s to more milestones, learning and incredible experiences together!
Millbrook Medical Conferences is delighted to welcome three new team members and announce internal promotions for hard-working staff.
In May 2024, Shalome Quailey was promoted from Assistant Conference Organiser to Conference Organiser. Since joining in April 2023, Shalome has provided support and managed many meetings from start to finish successfully, including Yorkshire Cardiac Rhythm Management, Newcastle TAVI, Return of the Scaffold – Is Bioabsorbable Back? and more.
Shalome is currently working on a mix of meetings in interventional cardiology and adult congenital heart disease and echocardiography, including TransPennine PCI, Bifurcation Left Main Therapy, Bristol ACHD Echo and the BCIS Coronary Intervention Trainees Course.
Millbrook welcomed three new team members in May 2024, who have already hit the ground running! Maisie Splevings has joined the team as an Administration Assistant, bringing over a decade of experience in administration and customer service. Maisie works incredibly hard behind the scenes, supporting each professional conference organiser with general administrative duties. Her tasks include accepting and processing delegate registrations, creating feedback surveys, issuing certificates of attendance, adding on-demand content to the Millbrook Hub and ensuring all delegates receive the necessary information to attend Millbrook’s meetings.
Sophie Broomfield was the second of three to join the Millbrook team. Sophie was brought in as an Executive Conference Manager, taking on several of Millbrook’s in-person, hybrid and online meetings. Fresh from studying Events Management at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Sophie landed an internship at The Little Nell in Colorado, then moved on to work as an events manager at Winstanley House, C&W Chamber of Commerce and Coventry University. Sophie is currently organising Practical IVUS and OCT, the Lower Limb Endovascular Symposium and Leeds Calcium, bringing energy, enthusiasm and fun to everything she does. When Sophie isn’t managing conferences, she enjoys cycling, playing golf and netball and visiting her family in Wales!
Millbrook’s most recent recruit, Natalie Cornwell-Stevens, has joined the team as an Executive Conference Manager. With over 10 years of experience organising impactful and important pharmaceutical and medical meetings and mingling with celebrities at prestigious award ceremonies and conferences, you know you’re in safe hands with Natalie! She spent five years in Spain before going onto study Events Management at the University of Derby. A Canva whizz and dog mum, Natalie is passionate about marketing and is working on the organisation of the new and exciting PPCI Course, Shockwave Fellows, the BCIS Cardiac Physiology Catheter Lab Course and Complex High-risk Indicated Patients.
Look out for Maisie, Sophie and Natalie at Millbrook’s upcoming conferences!
Millbrook is on track for another successful year with 58 conferences in the diary for 2023. To support the exponential growth of the company and Executive Conference Managers, Millbrook has hired a Societies and Associations Administrator and an Assistant Conference Organiser, taking the team total to 15 (yes, that does include our pawsitive pup Nico).
Millbrook welcomed Charlotte in March as a Societies and Associations Administrator – “a complete career shift” as Charlotte describes it, joining the team from an insurance background. Charlotte has worked as an insurance broker for a decade, bringing a plethora of transferable skills with her, including computer literacy, effective communication, leadership, relationship building and more. Charlotte isn’t completely alien to the medical sector, though, having recently achieved a level 3 qualification in healthcare and midwifery!
Charlotte ensures the societies, associations and initiatives that Millbrook supports are thriving. No matter what is needed, Charlotte is there to help push these important organisations forward through the management of large and small projects whilst maintaining flawless day-to-day administration.
When Charlotte isn’t busy looking after members of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society (BCIS), West Midlands Physicians Associations (WMPA) and Valve for Life, she enjoys cycling and watching medical dramas.
Shalome joined the team as an Assistant Conference Organiser in late April, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience in the events and hospitality sector with her. Naturally outgoing with a dry sense of humour, Shalome is no stranger to planning fun and memorable events with experience in the wedding industry. The mum of two has worked as a personal assistant, event manager, charity and events fundraiser – the list goes on!
As well as managing some of Millbrook’s conferences and webinars from start to finish, Shalome supports the conference team on a wide range of conference-related tasks, adding additional capacity to the team where needed.
Speaking of her new role, Shalome said: “Millbrook is a breath of fresh air. I am excited about the journey ahead, supporting the team, managing conferences, and adding additional capacity to a truly esteemed organisation.”
Commenting on the appointments, Managing Director Fiona McDonald said:
“I’m delighted to welcome Charlotte and Shalome to the Millbrook family! As the number of new business enquiries and societies that we manage grow, we need the best people on board the Millbrook team to develop and grow the business whilst maintaining our exceptional standard of easily accessible, sustainable medical education.”
You will be hearing (and seeing!) more of Charlotte and Shalome at Millbrook’s upcoming conferences.
Following a busy couple of years, three new roles have been created to streamline the business and prepare for further expansion over the next twelve months.
Tilly Broadbent joined as administrative assistant to support conference coordinators and executive conference managers. Tilly graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a first-class degree in event management in 2017. Since then, she has spent two years travelling across Australia and recently returned home to continue her career in event management.
Sarah Moore joined as business development and marketing manager, focussing on digital marketing and seeking opportunities to further expand the business. Sarah attained a first-class degree with honours in Business and Management at De Montfort University and previously worked within marketing for a specialist healthcare event management business. Sarah has additional experience in marketing across a range of sectors from construction to finance.
Matt Daly will join the team in February. In 2019 Matt spent six months at Millbrook and we are delighted that he is re-joining the team. Matt, previously the owner of a conference management company whilst living in Australia, also has extensive experience as a freelance event manager.
As well as the recently created roles, Dominic Legate has recently moved into a new role as operations and finance director. Dominic will oversee the day to day company processes and will be actively involved in the business development programme whilst continuing with his role as finance manager.
Fiona McDonald, Managing Director, commented:
“I’m absolutely delighted to welcome our new team members. Millbrook has continued to grow over recent years and we’re very proud of the work we have produced as a team.
“As a result, I have taken some time to review the structure of the business to ensure we continue to provide an exceptional standard of easily accessible, sustainable medical education and have the capacity to accommodate future growth over the next twelve months and beyond.”
In addition to our new team members, we have welcomed one executive conference manager back from maternity leave. Rebecca Hopper returned to work in September following the birth of her baby girl in October 2018. Two of our team members, Lizzie Head and Emma Robinson, are both currently on maternity leave and are due back to work in 2020.
