Meet Your Lecturer: Nick Oxborrow
- The Event School London
- Jul 28
- 4 min read
When studying event management, the quality of your learning is shaped not only by the course content, but by the experience of the person leading the room.
Nick Oxborrow is Lead Event Management Lecturer at The Event School London, bringing extensive international industry experience, academic expertise and a practical understanding of what it takes to deliver successful events.
From professionals preparing for senior leadership to those developing their core event management skills, Nick helps students connect structured learning with the realities of working in a fast-moving global industry.
International experience across events and hospitality
Nick has spent more than 25 years working internationally across hospitality, events and education.
Before moving further into teaching and professional development, he founded and led the award-winning Singapore events agency Fabulation.
His portfolio has included conferences, exhibitions, marketing activations, gala dinners, celebrations and large-scale outdoor events.
Throughout his career, Nick has worked with globally recognised organisations and brands including Netflix, Facebook, Microsoft, Credit Suisse, Soho House, Chanel and LVMH.
His professional background is supported by an education in Hospitality Management at Hotel School Switzerland, alongside further study in Boston.
He has since taught event management and hospitality students at universities and colleges across the United States, Europe and Asia.
For students, this means learning from someone who understands events from multiple perspectives: as an agency founder, event producer, business leader, educator and industry mentor.
Real industry insight in every class
Nick’s teaching is grounded in the principle that professional learning should remain closely connected to professional practice.
Rather than presenting event management as a purely theoretical subject, Nick draws on the challenges, decisions and responsibilities involved in delivering events for real clients.
This includes managing stakeholders, developing viable concepts, working with venues and suppliers, controlling budgets, responding to risk and maintaining standards under pressure.
“I share 25 years of international event experience to give students a real understanding of how the industry works.”
Students gain the benefit of established frameworks and contemporary event management knowledge, supported by examples that show how those principles operate within the industry.
Leading the new ATHE Level 7 Diploma in Events Management
Nick will be the Lead Lecturer for the new part-time, live online ATHE Level 7 Diploma in Events Management at The Event School London.
Designed for experienced professionals (or graduates from relevant degree programmes), the programme provides an opportunity to examine strategic event management at postgraduate level while continuing to work.
The course is intended for professionals who want to strengthen their strategic thinking, extend their management capabilities and develop the knowledge required for more senior roles within the international events sector.
Speaking about the new programme, Nick said:
“I am really delighted to be working with The Event School London to deliver this new programme, and it’s great to see another route opening up for professionals in our industry.”
Nick’s background makes him particularly well placed to lead a programme at this level. He combines senior operational experience with agency leadership, business development, international client management and higher education teaching.
This gives Level 7 students the opportunity to explore complex industry issues with a lecturer who understands both the academic expectations of postgraduate study and the commercial realities facing event professionals.
Learning for every stage of an event career
Nick believes that effective professional development should help people progress from their current position, rather than following a single prescribed career route
“We give you the tools, knowledge and real industry insight to move forward in your career from whatever stage you’re at.”
For someone entering event management, this may mean developing a clear understanding of how the different parts of an event come together.
For an existing event professional, it may involve consolidating experience through structured training, filling knowledge gaps or preparing for greater responsibility.
For senior practitioners and business owners, development may focus on leadership, strategy, sustainability and long-term commercial decision-making.
Building experience across the industry
Nick encourages emerging event professionals to gain experience across different functions before specialising too quickly.
“Work across different roles, from planning and operations to suppliers, to learn how events really run, then choose where you add value.”
Event management depends on collaboration between many specialist teams. Experience across planning, production, operations, venues, catering, technical delivery and supplier management can help professionals understand how their decisions affect the wider event.
This broader perspective can also help individuals identify where their strengths are most valuable and which direction they would like their careers to take.
Combining study with professional practice
A consistent theme within Nick’s teaching is the importance of applying knowledge in practical settings.
“Always partner learning with real experience. It’s how you become a fully rounded professional people trust.”
Formal study can introduce new frameworks, challenge established ways of thinking and provide a more strategic view of event management. Practical experience then allows professionals to test that learning, adapt it and understand how it operates within different event environments.
This relationship between knowledge and application is central to the teaching approach at The Event School London.
Study with Nick Oxborrow
Alongside the ATHE Level 7 Diploma in Events Management, Nick leads and teaches across several professional programmes at The Event School London:
Certificate in Event Management
A five-day short course in London providing an intensive introduction to the core principles and practices of professional event management.
MasterClass in Sustainable Events
A focused professional development course examining how sustainability can be integrated into event strategy, planning, procurement and delivery.
CPD Diploma in Event Management
A part-time, live online programme for those seeking structured event management training alongside their existing professional or personal commitments.
Across each programme, students benefit from Nick’s international perspective, practical examples and direct understanding of the standards expected within the contemporary events industry.
Learn from experience
Successful event management requires more than enthusiasm or creativity. It requires professional judgement, commercial awareness, detailed planning and the ability to lead people through complex situations.
Learning with an experienced industry practitioner gives students the opportunity to understand not simply what should happen, but why particular decisions matter and how experienced professionals approach them.
For Nick, the aim is to help students become informed, capable and trusted event professionals, ready to make a meaningful contribution at the next stage of their careers.
