Events

Conference & AGM

2026 Conference

The Business Archives Council of Scotland and the Business Archives Council will hold their 2026 conference in Edinburgh. Date and venue to be confirmed. Details and a call for papers will be added here once decided.

2025 Conference

Our 2025 conference was held at the National Railway Museum in York and the theme was ‘Just the Ticket! Changing tracks and bridging the gaps in core archival practices.’

This conference theme explored the idea of going back to basics in our modern world and share new approaches to core archival activities such as appraisal and cataloguing, collections care and access to archives. As well as innovative ways in which archivists have advocated for their service, positioned themselves in their organisation or delivered outreach activities. 

Speakers included The National Archives, Edinburgh City Archives, Islamic Relief Archive, the National Railway Museum, Sainsbury’s Archive, National Trust for Scotland, The Guardian, AOC Architecture Ltd, the National Theatre and the Scottish Council on Archives.

We were delighted this year to have the support of four sponsors to enable us to put on this conference. This year Soutron join our existing sponsors Naomi Korn Associates,  Preservica and TownsWeb Archiving who we were pleased to have sponsoring our conference again after our 2024 Glasgow conference. All our sponsors attended the conference and had stands in the venue for attendees to visit and hear about their work and services offered to the sector.

Conference Bursaries

The Business Archives Council of Scotland and the Business Archives Council make up to four bursaries available to attend their joint conference every year. These bursaries are open to members and non-members of the BAC and BACS. Applicants for the bursaries needed to meet one of the following criteria:

• Be a student or
• Be a recent graduate (in the last 3 years ie graduated by July 2023) or
• Be a qualified archivist, currently out-of-employment (this excludes consultants and freelancers) or
• Be retired from the archives profession or retired with an interest in business history

The bursary covers full conference attendance, including up to £150 for travel & accommodation expenses (receipts will be required ahead of reimbursement.) The following should also be noted:

• Applicants must confirm that any costs they claim will not be paid by their employer, and that their employer has not already registered them as a delegate at the Conferences.
• Successful applicants will be asked to provide a short report on their experience at the conference to be used in various BAC & BACS communications and encouraged to contribute to the reporting of the conference through social media while the conference is taking place.

2025 AGM

The 2025 AGM for the Business Archives Council of Scotland took place on Thursday 12th June at the Scotch Whisky Association in Edinburgh.

The papers discussed are below:

• 2025 AGM Agenda
• 2024 AGM Minutes
• 2025 Annual Report & Accounts

Business Bites

Business Bites

Since 2023, the Business Archives Council of Scotland and the Business Archives Council have presented a joint programme of regular online webinars on subjects related to Business Archives.

Business Bites is the name of this initiative to encourage conversations, bringing together the small community of business archivists and custodians of business archives across the UK, many of whom work alone, to share our experiences.

Business Bites: Cataloguing Business Archives

Our first Business Bites session of 2026 is now open for bookings. This event is open to all but future events may be members only. For more information on joining BACS please see here.

Theme: Strengthening Data Protection in Cultural Collections
Where: Online – via Zoom
When: 25th February 2026, 12.30 – 13.30

What: Strengthening Data Protection in Cultural Collections: The London Library’s Audit with Naomi Korn Associates

Discover how the London Library partnered with Naomi Korn Associates to undertake a comprehensive data protection audit of its catalogue records. This session will outline why the audit was commissioned, the risks it addressed, and the practical steps taken to strengthen compliance and safeguard member data. Attendees will gain insights into key findings, lessons learned, and the value of embedding privacy‑aware information management practices within cultural heritage organisations.

Why archivists should attend:

• Learn how to identify and manage data protection risks hidden within legacy or large‑scale catalogue systems.
• Gain practical takeaways for improving the governance, accuracy and security of descriptive records.
• Understand how to approach audits in a way that supports transparency, accountability and public trust.
• Take away ideas for strengthening organisational readiness ahead of future compliance reviews.

Book your free place to attend here.

Business Bites

In 2023, the Business Archives Council of Scotland and the Business Archives Council joined forces to present a joint programme of regular online webinars on subjects related to Business Archives. Business Bites is the name of this initiative to encourage conversations, bringing together the small community of business archivists and custodians of business archives across the UK, many of whom work alone, to share our experiences.

These will continue throughout 2026 and we will hold a Business Bites event every two months with the first event in February on Strengthening Data Protection in Cultural Collections: The London Library’s Audit with Naomi Korn Associates. The full programme will be shared below once confirmed. All Business Bites sessions are held on the last Wednesday of the month.

This new partnership means that our online events will be a mixture of member only events with at least 50% of events still open to all. Normally our regular in-person events are for BACS members who are business archivists or custodians of business archive collections. Not a BACS member already? Come along to see what BACS has to offer and become a member! (Annual membership starts from £10 for an Individual Member, £20 for Organisational Membership, £50 for Corporate Membership).

Corporate Connections‌

Corporate Connections was an initiative launched by BACS in 2017 (and which ran to 2023) to encourage face to face conversations, bringing together the small community of business archivists and custodians of business archives in Scotland, many of whom work alone to share our experiences. Regular social meet ups were held twice a year, with a rotating theme to kick start conversations and let you meet your peers. Anything and everything business archives was openly discussed among friends. From 2020, due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, our Corporate Connections events moved online. The BACS team invited those with an interest in business archives to these informal online talks where current challenges, successes and ideas were shared over virtual tea and biscuits (to be provided by the attendees!)