What the letters on your badge mean
Five rooms, five letters: how the zone strip on a forum badge works (sample).
The Harbourline Forum 2027
Two days of talks, workshops and a makers’ market for people who run independent shops, studios and small makers’ businesses. At the Corn Exchange, Springfield (sample).
Dates
13 and 14 May 2027
Venue
Corn Exchange
Doors
08:30 both days
Harbourline Forum 2027
Day pass
Wednesday 13 or Thursday 14 May
$190
Opens Main hall, River room, Market floor
Opens Main hall, River room and Market floor.
Harbourline Forum 2027
Full pass
Both days, workshops included
$340
Opens Main hall, River room, Workshop studios, Market floor
Opens Main hall, River room, Workshop studios and Market floor.
Harbourline Forum 2027
Full pass and dinner
Both days and the Forum dinner
$415
Opens Main hall, River room, Workshop studios, Market floor, Forum dinner
Opens Main hall, River room, Workshop studios, Market floor and Forum dinner.
Three passes, one badge each. A solid letter is a room your pass opens; the key to the letters is on the venue plan below. Example prices.
Programme
Two days, five rooms. The letter after each session is the room it runs in; workshops in C need a Full pass and a place booked at the desk.
Wednesday 13 May
08:30
Doors open, badges at the registration desk
Coffee on the Market floor
DMarket floor
09:15
Opening keynote: the year on the high street
Ines Moreau, Moreau Ceramics (sample)
AMain hall
10:30
Pricing handmade work without apologising
Tom Achebe, Fold Studio (sample)
BRiver room
11:30
Workshop: your first wholesale price list
Hana Novak, Northbank Supply (sample)
CWorkshop studios
13:00
Lunch and the makers’ market
Forty stands, open until 14:15
DMarket floor
14:15
Panel: one shop, three channels
Four shop owners, chaired by Ruth Ellery (sample)
AMain hall
19:00
Forum dinner at the Grain Store
Three courses and the shop awards
EForum dinner
Thursday 14 May
08:30
Doors open, coffee
Market floor
DMarket floor
09:15
Keynote: hiring your first two people
Sam Okafor, Okafor & Daughters (sample)
AMain hall
10:30
Photographing products on a kitchen table
Lena Brandt, photographer (sample)
BRiver room
11:30
Workshop: a stock count that takes an hour
Priya Shah, Shah Books (sample)
CWorkshop studios
13:00
Lunch and the makers’ market
Market floor
DMarket floor
14:15
Closing keynote: the shop in ten years
Owen Marsh, Marsh Bicycles (sample)
AMain hall
Programme (sample), published in full six weeks before the forum.
Speakers who run shops themselves
No motivational speakers and no sponsored slots. Every speaker runs, or has run, a small business, and every talk ends with fifteen minutes of questions.
Ines Moreau
Moreau Ceramics (sample)
The year on the high street
Tom Achebe
Fold Studio (sample)
Pricing handmade work
Hana Novak
Northbank Supply (sample)
Your first wholesale price list
Ruth Ellery
Ellery Goods (sample)
Chairs the shop owners’ panel
Sam Okafor
Okafor & Daughters (sample)
Hiring your first two people
Lena Brandt
Product photographer (sample)
Photographing on a kitchen table
Priya Shah
Shah Books (sample)
A stock count in an hour
Owen Marsh
Marsh Bicycles (sample)
The shop in ten years
Tickets and passes
Day pass
Wednesday or Thursday
Opens Main hall, River room, Market floor
$190
Full pass
Both days, a workshop place each day
Opens Main hall, River room, Workshop studios, Market floor
$340
Full pass and dinner
Both days and the Forum dinner
Opens Main hall, River room, Workshop studios, Market floor, Forum dinner
$415
Starter day pass
Students and businesses in their first year
Opens Main hall, River room, Market floor
$95
Dinner only
Wednesday 19:00, the Grain Store
Opens Forum dinner
$85
Example prices, including tax. Groups of five or more from one business get 15% off every pass.
How booking works
1
Send the request
Use the form or call the ticket desk with the pass and the names for the badges.
2
Get the confirmation
Within one working day: your booking by email and an invoice to pay by card link or bank transfer.
3
Collect your badge
At the registration desk from 08:30. Give your name; no printout needed.
The Corn Exchange
Wharf Street, Springfield (sample). Four rooms under one roof and the Grain Store across the courtyard for the dinner.
- Ten minutes' walk from Springfield station; buses 4 and 12 stop on Wharf Street
- Step-free entrance, lifts to every room and accessible toilets on both floors
- Hearing loops in A and B, live captions on the main screen
- A quiet room next to the registration desk, open all day
Running an event of your own?
The team behind the forum plans and runs events for companies, trade bodies and charities: from the first budget to the last box out of the venue.
Conferences
Venue search, programme, speakers, registration desk, stage and sound, delegate care.
80 to 800 delegates
Launches and showcases
A room that suits the product, the running order, press and guest lists.
50 to 300 guests
Awards and dinners
Seating plans, the awards running order, host and stage, catering and wine.
100 to 400 guests
Away days and AGMs
Rooms, voting and timings for the formal part; food and an activity for the rest.
20 to 200 people
Sizes we usually run (sample).
Last year at the forum
Coffee on the Market floor, 10:15 (sample).
Forty stands from local makers and suppliers.
Badges ready at the registration desk before 08:30.
News from the organisers
How we choose rooms for a two-day conference
Seat counts, walking times and the lunch queue: what we check before we sign a venue (sample).
Why our workshops stop at 24 people
Four tables of six, one speaker and a helper: the size that lets everyone get a question in (sample).
Your badge will be at the desk
Request tickets with the form or call the ticket desk. We confirm within one working day.