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Key results so far include:

• More than 1.3m meetings took place in the UK, attracting 116.1m attendees who accounted for spending just under £40bn in 2011.

• Meetings took place in 10,127 meeting venues across the UK.

• 64% of meetings were classed as small, with fewer than 100 attendees; nearly 30% were for between 100-500 attendees; and 6% attracted more than 500 attendees.

• The average length of a meeting was two days. More than half (53.8%) of meetings in the UK in 2011 were a single day or less.

The project is led by the MPI Foundation, with the study undertaken by researchers at the International Centre for Research in Events, Tourism and Hospitality (ICRETH) at Leeds Metropolitan University.

Patrick Delaney, board memeber of MPI Foundation International, said: "The level of detail provided by this research is truly fantastic, particularly the regional and city specific information, which allows us to develop a clear picture of the sector within this country. Ours is a growing industry, these figures show its current scale and set the benchmark for the future."

The study highlights that across the UK, 86% of events are held in England, with 6.6% in Scotland, 5.8% in Wales, and 1.6% in Northern Ireland.

Of the meetings in England, 32.4% took place in Greater London, and a further 14.6% in the south east.

The West Midlands hosted 12.8% and the North West 10.8% of all English events.

James Samue, International Confex event director and president elect of MPI UK & Ireland, said: "The UKEIS is the most important research ever undertaken by this sector and this profile data provides a clearer picture of the industry than we have ever previously had. 

"As the figures are broken down and further information becomes available we will gain a true insight into not just the size of our sector but also its impact and position in the world around us."

The full findings will be announced at the Meetings Show in July.

The research team from the ICRETH reviewed reports and other secondary data from 2011 and analysed 3,460 survey responses from venues, meeting organisations and destination management organisations across the UK as well as from attendees and exhibitors in the UK, France, USA, Ireland and Germany.

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