about

Patrick Collins

Immediate Past Chair

Having joined in 1985, Patrick Collins bought Universal in 2000. Together with his tightly knit team, Collins has overseen Universal's evolution with turnover, profit, staffing and the number of events operated all rising to unprecedented levels. Since that takeover, the last 7 years has seen Universal transformed from a bit part player in to one of the largest 100% privately owned companies in the UK events industry.

Universal CIT Ltd

Since it was founded in 1976, Universal has grown significantly in the last 7 years with 400 plus events a year; a turnover of £38million; over 160 staff across 4 offices on 2 continents and an uncompromised business ethic that has placed integrity as the agency's most treasured value.

Although Universal has been traditionally known as a pharmaceutical specialist, their current diversification plans have seen them make significant strides into establishing their unique approach to event management in several other key industry sectors - both in the UK and in their now well established US offices.