We are a full-service education event management agency specialising in consulting, designing, marketing and managing creative events on behalf of education institutions across the world.
Founded on decades of collective international event experience, engagement is at the heart of everything we do. We use a highly tailored approach for each client looking carefully at their aims and audiences to help them maximise the strategic value of their events and bring them closer to their institutional goals.
Specialising in delivering impactful events across the education sector, we offer support on events held virtually, in-person or hybrid. Ranging from the student journey to reputational events, we deliver graduations, conferences, festivals, award ceremonies, town halls and more.
We enable organisations to achieve their strategic ambitions by helping them forge new relationships, nurture communities, enhance their institutional reputation and increase brand awareness.
Meet the Team
Emma Darwin
Founder and Director
A highly experienced events consultant with over 15 years’ experience creating high impact, profitable international events worldwide. Emma has a proven track record of producing and delivering events for a breadth of partners including; universities, corporates, not-for-profits and membership associations. These partnerships required the creation and execution of both standalone and event portfolios that sustainably support their organisation’s strategic vision while delivering a return on investment.
Having founded Assemble Events in 2019, Emma was previously Times Higher Education’s Content Director for the World Summit Series and CASE Europe’s Head of Educational Programmes. With her detailed understanding of an organisations’ values and strategic vision, she is able to drive collective content creation aligned to strategy to engage stakeholders. She has extensive experience of ensuring strong delegate attendance, sponsorship and market visibility to meet commercial goals.
Liz Appleyard-Hutchings
Head of Event Marketing and Engagement
Liz has 18 years experience managing events, marketing and communications across the not-for-profit, association, local government and hospitality sectors.
Liz planned and delivered local, national and international marketing and pr campaigns for events including Alumni UK Live, the International Cancer Imaging Society’s Annual Conference and City of London Corporation’s annual six-month outdoor arts programme. She established regional conferences for CASE Europe in the Nordic region attracting delegates from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Iceland as well as neighbouring countries, British Council for Offices NextGen Awards programme for future leaders in commercial property and programmed professional development lectures for the British Institute of Radiology for the national medical imaging community. Liz started her career in venue sales and event management, working for international hotel chains including Hilton and Intercontinental.
Kerry Astin
Event Manager
With over 20 years of experience in event management, Kerry brings extensive expertise across a diverse range of events, including corporate, non-profit, cultural, and entertainment. She has been involved in every aspect of event planning, from designing concepts from the ground up to overseeing execution, taking on multiple roles to ensure each event’s success. Kerry is deeply passionate about crafting memorable event experiences that captivate audiences, with a strong focus on meticulous attention to detail.
Kerry began her career in the corporate sector, managing trade exhibitions alongside networking and awards events. She later transitioned to the charity sector, where she organized fundraising, training events, and community festivals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she expanded her skills through freelancing, which led to the successful launch of an events venue in Wakefield. There, she not only hosted events for clients but also developed the venue’s own program of public and industry events.
Strategic Delivery Partners
Ed Gamble
Ed is Managing Director of Worktime TV and manages all aspects of production, whether that’s for online events, livestreaming, video production or in person events.
He has worked with the British Council on high profile projects for over 10 years. His live event experience has seen him deliver shows in every part of the world for clients including Amazon Prime, YouTube, Meta, Microsoft and the National Trust.
Amar Gudhka
Amar is the CEO and Creative Director of AG Design & Consultancy, and manages all design related requirements for our clients’ projects.
Amar’s passion for creativity began in childhood, from playing with Lego to exploring artistic expressions. Initially studying Architecture, he later transitioned to Graphic Design, graduating with First Class Honours in Graphic Product & Innovation from the University of Arts London in 2013.
Amar is experienced in event design, editorial, and demand generation campaigns to name a few; with significant expertise in the SaaS industry (Docusign, Zoom) and the Education sector (Times Higher Education, TES Global, The British
Council).
Now leading a London-based agency, Amar works with clients globally and has successfully supported numerous brands across multiple industries since early 2023.
Find out more
Whether you need strategic direction, help with your planning, or someone to manage your event, we’d love to help you to deliver.