Brighton’s Corn Exchange becomes the centre of the UK holiday let and serviced accommodation world on 9–10 June 2026, hosting back-to-back conferences under one roof. Day one, SCALE With AI, is a brand-new event built entirely around artificial intelligence for holiday lets and short-term rentals. Day two, SCALE UK, is the flagship gathering for UK operators, with an agenda shaped directly by what the community asked for. No vendor pitches, no filler — every person in the room is a working operator.
Here’s who’s speaking, what they’re covering, and why each session is worth your time.
First, what is SCALE?
For anyone who hasn’t been, SCALE is the leading educational brand in the short-term rental industry. Launched in 2021, it set out to raise the bar on what an industry conference could be: deep, practical education and high-value networking for professional operators, rather than a trade-show floor of vendor stands. Since its first event in May 2022 it has run more than a dozen conferences across Europe, the Middle East and beyond. The defining rule still holds — SCALE doesn’t sell attendee tickets to service providers, so every person you meet is a working operator facing the same challenges you are.
The UK edition is now well established, with several editions behind it. The most recent SCALE UK was held in Manchester (November 2025); for 2026 the show moves south to Brighton, the latest stop for a conference that has built a loyal UK following over successive years.
The bigger development this year is the arrival of a sister event: SCALE With AI. Artificial intelligence has become too large and too fast-moving to slot into a handful of agenda spots — and crucially, operators no longer want to be told that AI matters. They want to see concrete implementation examples: which tools, doing which jobs, saving how many hours, with what results. So SCALE gave AI its own dedicated day, running alongside SCALE UK rather than competing with it. The result is two distinct but complementary events under one roof.
Day 1 — SCALE With AI (Tuesday 9 June)
A full day of practical, operator-focused education on what AI for holiday lets actually looks like inside a real business: automating processes, sharpening decisions, and growing without adding headcount. If you want a working grasp of AI tools for holiday let and serviced accommodation managers rather than hype, this is the day.
Graham Donoghue — Group CEO, Forge Holiday Group
Session: “Using AI as a Superpower”
Donoghue runs one of the largest holiday let groups in the UK — Sykes Holiday Cottages, Forest Holidays and Bachcare, together managing more than 30,000 homes. When someone operating at that scale says AI is delivering a 30% competitive advantage and has reached 70% adoption across 1,000+ employees, operators of every size should listen. This is agentic AI in hospitality proven at enterprise scale, with practical tooling you can borrow.
Luca Zambello — CEO, Jurny
Session: “The End of Generic Hospitality: Hyper-Personalization at Scale Is Here”
Zambello leads one of the most talked-about AI-native property-management platforms. His argument — that AI finally gives small operators the memory and prediction once reserved for big chains — goes to the heart of why AI for short-term rentals matters competitively, not just operationally.
Jessica Gillingham — Founder & CEO, Abode Worldwide
Session: “When Machines Define the Market: Power, Authority and the Future of Short-Term Rentals”
As the leading communications strategist in the sector, Gillingham is uniquely placed to explain how LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini are rewriting the buyer journey. Her session is essential for anyone serious about getting their holiday let recommended by ChatGPT — i.e. category clarity and brand positioning in an AI-filtered world.
Ela Mezhiborsky — Co-Founder & President, Autohost
Session: “Bad AI in Hospitality: Defending Against the New Fraud Toolkit”
Most AI conversations are optimistic; this one isn’t, and that’s exactly why it’s valuable. Mezhiborsky’s company sits on the front line of guest screening, so her walk-through of synthetic identities, voice cloning and deepfake IDs is a rare, grounded look at the risk side of AI adoption.
Rick van der Plas — Chief Product & Technology Officer, Hostaway
Session: “The Hidden Risks of AI for STR Management and How to Overcome Them”
As CPTO of a major PMS, van der Plas can separate AI guest communication automation that genuinely works from features labelled “AI” that don’t. His take on how LLMs’ “yes-man” tendencies distort decision-making is a useful counterweight to vendor marketing.
Also worth catching
Boris Pavlov (Onseason) opens the day with “A Beginner’s Guide to AI” and later maps “The Next Distribution Layer of Travel.” Neely Khan teaches “Get Found. Get Chosen.” — how to show up in AI search without drowning in sameness. Sébastien Grosjean (Smily) and Steve Taggert (My Getaways), who built a live AI voice agent handling guest comms around the clock, round out a day heavy on real, working systems.
Day 2 — SCALE UK (Wednesday 10 June)
The flagship UK conference, covering the issues that decide whether a UK holiday let or serviced accommodation business grows or stalls: market trends, regulation, distribution, tech stack and team design. Content is drawn from feedback collected at previous SCALE events.
Alistair Handyside MBE, Fiona Campbell MBE & Janet Uttley
Session: “From Voluntary to Vital: The Future of Short-Term Rental Licensing in the UK”
This is the panel for anyone tracking UK short term let licensing and regulation. Handyside (Chair, PASC UK), Campbell (CEO, Association of Scotland’s Self-Caterers) and Uttley (CEO, STAA) are the three people most directly shaping policy and registration schemes across England, Scotland and Wales — from Scotland’s short-term let licensing scheme to the England registration scheme. You won’t find a more authoritative read on what’s coming.
Graham Donoghue & Jessica Gillingham
Session: “Fireside Chat with Graham Donoghue”
Donoghue returns for a candid close on how a 30,000-home business is restructuring for AI-native operations, agentic search and constant disruption — mapping every role against AI impact. Gillingham’s questioning makes this a genuinely strategic look inside holiday let management at the top end.
Becky Ward — CEO, Simply Owners
Session: “The Trust Advantage: Beating the OTA Rankings with Human-Driven Direct Bookings”
Ward’s session is the practical heart of the direct bookings vs OTAs debate: how to win visibility and guest trust without gaming algorithms. Relevant to every operator weighing their dependence on the major channels.
Dale Smith, Emma Kelman & Richard Bond
Session: “What Makes an STR Leader?”
A panel of founders who’ve built standout UK holiday let brands — Host & Stay, The Island Holiday Company and Finest Retreats — moderated by Lisa Roads. Useful for operators thinking about culture and scale, not just systems.
Thibault Masson — Founder, RSU by PriceLabs (Rental Scale-Up) & Global Head of Product Marketing, PriceLabs
Session: “The ‘Market’ Doesn’t Exist: How to See Real Opportunities in Short-Term Rentals” — Studio Theatre, 10:30–11:00
We’ve got skin in the game too. Thibault Masson — founder of this very publication, Rental Scale-Up (RSU by PriceLabs), and Global Head of Product Marketing at PriceLabs — takes the SCALE UK stage on 10 June. His argument: across the UK, market averages hide more than they reveal, and there is no single “short-term rental market” at all. Redefining the market by location, property type, quality level and performance tier surfaces opportunities the averages bury. Using real examples, he shows operators how to benchmark their holiday let business against the right peer group, spot pockets of demand, and make more confident pricing, investment and growth decisions — essential for anyone serious about UK holiday let market data and revenue management.
Also worth catching
Sally Henry (KeyData) and Miro Gospodinov open with “Checking the Pulse — Five Key Signals Shaping the UK STR Market,” the clearest snapshot of UK holiday let market trends for 2026. Shahar Goldboim (Boom) reframes growth in “The Architecture of Scale,” and a no-holds-barred OTA panel — “The Gloves Are Off” — promises fireworks on the operator/OTA relationship.
The venue: Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
Both days run inside the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, a Grade I-listed former riding school commissioned by the Prince Regent in the early 19th century and reopened after a £38m restoration. The main Corn Exchange hall (roughly 500 seated, 1,291 standing) hosts the SCALE Stage, with a parallel track in the adjoining Studio Theatre. Day one closes with drinks on site and an official after-party on Brighton Seafront, sponsored by Hostaway and Wheelhouse — a fitting backdrop in a city that’s long been one of the UK’s most distinctive short-stay markets.
Should you go?
If your priority is AI for holiday lets — practical tooling, automation and AI-driven discovery — Tuesday’s SCALE With AI is built for you. If you run a UK holiday let or serviced accommodation business and care about market direction, regulation and distribution, Wednesday’s SCALE UK is the room to be in. Most attendees do both, and with around 300 professional operators across the two days and zero vendor pitches, the networking alone tends to justify the trip.
SCALE UK + AI 2026 takes place 9–10 June 2026 at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. The two-day programme spans AI for holiday lets, serviced accommodation, short term let licensing and UK holiday let management.
Frequently asked questions
What is SCALE UK?
SCALE UK is the flagship UK conference from SCALE, the leading educational brand in the short-term rental industry. It brings together professional holiday let, serviced accommodation and short-term rental operators for a day of practical education and networking, with an agenda shaped by feedback from the SCALE community and no vendor sales pitches.
When and where is SCALE UK 2026?
SCALE UK 2026 takes place on Wednesday 10 June 2026 at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange in Brighton. It follows the most recent edition, held in Manchester in November 2025.
What is SCALE With AI?
SCALE With AI is SCALE’s new sister event, running on Tuesday 9 June 2026 at the same Brighton venue, the day before SCALE UK. It is a full day dedicated to artificial intelligence for holiday lets and short-term rentals, focused on concrete implementation examples — which AI tools operators are using, for which jobs, and what results they are seeing.
Who should attend?
Both events are built for professional operators: holiday let and serviced accommodation managers, hosts and property management companies (typically those managing 10+ units). SCALE does not sell attendee tickets to service providers, so everyone in the room is a working operator.
How much does it cost and how do I get tickets?
Tickets are available via the official SCALE UK website. Many attendees buy a combined ticket to attend both SCALE With AI (9 June) and SCALE UK (10 June).
Who is speaking at SCALE UK 2026?
Confirmed speakers include Graham Donoghue (Forge Holiday Group), Luca Zambello (Jurny), Jessica Gillingham (Abode Worldwide), Alistair Handyside MBE (PASC UK), Fiona Campbell MBE (ASSC), and Thibault Masson (RSU by PriceLabs / PriceLabs), among many others.
Thibault Masson is a leading expert in vacation rental revenue management and dynamic pricing strategies. As Head of Product Marketing at PriceLabs and founder of Rental Scale-Up, Thibault empowers hosts and property managers with actionable insights and data-driven solutions. With over a decade managing luxury rentals in Bali and St. Barths, he is a sought-after industry speaker and prolific content creator, making complex topics simple for global audiences.
