Back by popular demand, we are delighted to announce that East Midlands Councils will host the East Midlands Challenge event on 29 April 2026 at Leicester Racecourse.

The challenge offers a fantastic opportunity for aspiring leaders to gain exposure to issues outside of their normal work, giving them a taste of what senior management is really like.

To complete the challenge, teams must work with neighbouring stakeholders and partners to deliver a new strategy for their organisation. They’ll have to identify which areas to prioritise, deal with politically sensitive issues and maintain customer focus when determining how to provide the public with the best services possible despite limited resources.

Previous participants enthused about the value this event brought to their personal development.

The East Midlands Challenge – Preparing tomorrow’s leaders

The country of Boroland is a former British Overseas Territory located somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. The country is split into 24 counties with each area having its own unitary authority, fire service, police service, Police Fire and Crime Commissioner, NHS trust, a housing association and a major charity. Each of these organisations has had its senior leadership team removed by the government due to poor performance, and today sees the arrival of a group of new senior leaders who have been seconded in from the UK to help sort the mess out.

Can you and your colleagues step up to become saviours?
Can you rescue your new organisation and Boroland from the brink of disaster?

Benefits of entering a team….

• An opportunity to develop resilience to rapidly changing priorities, demands and timescales.
• An opportunity to put analytical and problem-solving skills and tools to the test.
• Exposure to intense time management constraints.
• An opportunity to collaborate with and create lasting bounds with colleagues from across our sectors and services.
• A rare opportunity to develop political acumen by working alongside real life elected officials in a highly pressurised environment.
• Exposure to tasks and situations that senior managers face daily and some that luckily only occur occasionally!
• An opportunity to win the challenge and be crowned as East Midlands Challenge Champions

Who can enter?

Organisations can enter as many teams as they wish. Each team will comprise of 6 people who aspire to reach a senior post within their organisation and are currently working in:

• Local Government
• Emergency Services
• Housing
• Health

Timings

• Registration will start from 8:30, with instructions to the event at 9:30 ready for the lights to go down at 9:45.
• The competition element will conclude at 17:00, with dinner and awards to follow. Anticipated finish time 20:00.

Cost

For 2026’s Challenge we are offering an early bird rate to EMC Members only.  Register a team by 30th January 2026 and the cost is £1,850 plus VAT. After this date the cost to register a team will be £2,250 plus VAT.   For information about purchase orders please click here.

Closing date for all bookings is 25th March 2026.

How to enter the Challenge

Please book via our website.  Just book one place for your team to register your intent to submit a team of 6 as team members can be confirmed nearer to the event.  A purchase order number will be required for registering.