Lab Innovations will bring together scientists, lab managers, R&D professionals and quality specialists from across the scientific community as it returns to the NEC, Birmingham on 4-5th November 2026.
Lab Innovations
The event will showcase practical solutions that can be implemented immediately to help laboratories work smarter, more sustainably and more efficiently.
Reflecting the priorities transforming laboratories across every sector, this year’s event is built around five cross-industry pillars: Sustainability, AI & automation, Applied Innovation, Quality & Compliance and Skills & Development. Across a comprehensive exhibition, expert-led conference programme and live demonstrations, visitors will discover cutting-edge products, practical insights and real-world case studies, while exhibitors will showcase innovations designed to solve today's laboratory challenges and accelerate scientific progress.
Exhibitors already confirmed for this year include returning industry leader Thermo Fisher Scientific, with UKRI, Agilent, Merck and Xylem also set to join the show floor. As always, the event is expected to draw leading voices from across pharma, biotech, academia and industry, and to build on last year’s record breaking-attendance, when more than 4,700 visitors came together across two days at the NEC.
“Lab Innovations embodies the importance of collaboration between the different roles within the modern laboratory,” said Adam Gough, portfolio director at Lab Innovations. “We aim to capture the breadth of challenges and opportunities facing today’s laboratory professionals and give exhibitors and visitors a clear framework for navigating the show’s focuses, forming the basis for many cross-industry conversations.”
A highlight of this year’s programme is the expansion of Applied Innovation, which broadens the show’s life sciences focus to encompass food and drink, nutraceuticals, chemicals and industrial manufacturing. This reflects the increasingly cross-sector role of laboratory science, extending well beyond traditional pharma and biotech to support innovation, quality and product development across a wider range of regulated and high-growth industries.
The show will also cover the full range of challenges facing the modern laboratory, from the growing pressure on supply chains and regulatory standards to the accelerating adoption of AI, robotics and digital tools through its extensive conference programme. Alongside this, the show continues to champion greener laboratory practices with focuses on sustainable lab practices, green chemistry and carbon-neutral research.
The human side of laboratory science will also be a principal discussion point, with dedicated content exploring how labs, training providers and academic institutions are working together to close the skills gap and develop the next generation of scientific talent.
“Events like Lab Innovations are pivotal for the lab community,” said Andrew King, senior director of strategy and PMO lead at AstraZeneca, as he reflected on 2025’s show. “Without it, we wouldn’t be able to make the connections, understand the changes or grasp the new technologies that are coming. We also wouldn’t be able to work collaboratively to actually drive change or tackle the new challenges that are coming ahead of us.”
Lab Innovations 2026 continues to provide a shared space for cross-disciplinary learning through peer-to-peer exchange with the Lab Square, a dedicated space at the centre of the show floor where knowledge and ideas can be shared and explored in real-time.