Institute of Regulation Annual Conference 2025
Institute of Regulation held its third annual conference on Thursday 27 March 2025. Attracting 270 regulatory leaders, experts and professionals, delegates spent a day considering: Good regulation - protecting citizens, supporting growth and building trust.
Hosted by the Institute of Regulation, with support from Objective Corporation and a large number of affiliate members, the conference is the UK’s largest conference on regulatory professionals and experts.
Conference opened with Minister Justin Madders, Department for Business and Trade, speaking towards a vision for good regulation, followed by sessions exploring innovation in regulatory practice, trust in regulation and regulatory leadership, building on the 2024 insight report from the Institute of Regulation which explored how to create the conditions for good regulation.
Michael Hanton, Institute of Regulation board member and host of the Annual Conference, said ‘Now is absolutely the right time for regulators to come together to engage in the pursuit of good regulation. Effective regulation plays a central role in protecting citizens, supporting growth and building trust in all aspects of our lives across society and the economy. Our annual conference brings together regulatory leaders, academics and experts in pursuit of that goal.’
Kirsty Dusting, Global VP RegTech at conference sponsor, Objective Corporation said ‘Here at Objective, we are passionate about the role technology plays in the future of effective, evidence-based regulation; a topic strongly reflected in our latest Digital Change in Regulation report. It’s our privilege to continue our support for the Institute and to be a part of the day.’
2025 is the first year of the Institute of Regulation awards.
“Good regulation helps businesses to compete fairly and grow and gives confidence to consumers and users of public services. With our inaugural awards for collaboration, innovation, and a rising star in regulation, we hope to enable learning from good practice, such that the UK can become a world leader in regulating efficiently and effectively.”
Rising star award winner, Tom Vincent, Food Standards Agency (FSA) said ‘I'm delighted to have been recognised by this award. It is testament to the innovative and cutting edge work we’re continually doing at the FSA to protect consumers and give them greater confidence in, and choice of, safe foods.’
Collaboration award sponsor, Peter Horne, Nous Group said ‘Regulators enable improved outcomes for citizens and consumers. The Nous team was inspired to read about a wide range of effective collaboration, and the NHS HRA stood out for its impact and duration in a complex ecosystem. Their interventions have dramatically improved lives.’
Collaboration award winner, Matt Westmore, NHS Health Research Authority said ‘We are delighted to be recognised by the Institute of Regulation for our commitment to collaborative work. This award also recognises the joint efforts of our partners across the UK, so we are gratefully accepting this award on their behalf too. Our role as a regulator is to make it easier to do research that people can trust – and we know that we can’t do this on our own. We are proud to work in partnership with organisations based across the UK. With regulators, funders, other agencies, the research community, our volunteers and above all with people. By taking this collaborative approach, we are making changes that benefit everyone – researchers, the NHS, the economy and patients.’
Innovation award sponsor, Matt Bristow, PA Consulting said ‘we are thrilled to continue our support for the Institute of Regulation and to be sponsoring this year's innovation award. We are committed to supporting regulators to drive positive change, and the Institute's annual conference will help us all come together to share ideas, celebrate success and rise to the biggest challenges facing society’.
Mary Jervis, Group Manager for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) SME Service Hub, said: ‘I am incredibly proud of the team that worked so tirelessly to make the privacy notice generator a reality. Knowing that the tool has helped thousands of small and medium-sized businesses on their data protection journey is reward enough, but to have the initiative recognised by our peers in the regulation industry is the icing on the cake.’
Notes for editors
Institution of Regulation (IoR) is a membership organisation. We’re a professional network, providing professional development in regulation and promoting good practice in regulation. We believe good regulation is essential for a thriving economy and society. We aspire to become the home of good regulation.
Institution of Regulation (IoR) established as a membership organisation in 2021.
Today we’re a thriving professional and expert community:
over 1000 regulatory experts in our membership network
over 55 regulator members, regulators based in the UK and Channel Islands
over 200 individual members
a rapidly growing network of affiliate members from business and third sector organisations
Institute of Regulation grew from an informal network of 35 non-financial regulators, who began meeting in 2019. We are a charitable not-for-profit company, registered with Companies House (13628098) and are currently applying to the Charity Commission for charitable status.
For further information, please contact info@ioregulation.org or director@ioregulation.org.