National Media Joins the AFR Fast 100: A Defining Moment for Australia’s Exhibition Industry

In a marketplace increasingly shaped by digital platforms, artificial intelligence, automated buying cycles and remote engagement, the Australian exhibitions sector has earned an unexpected but powerful endorsement. National Media, one of the country’s most progressive, entrepreneurial and globally recognised event organisers, has been officially named in the Australian Financial Review’s Fast 100 list.

Mark Harvey – Founder National Media

For a face-to-face exhibitions company to appear in a ranking traditionally dominated by fintech innovators, SaaS scale-ups and high-growth technology firms is significant. For National Media, it is far more than a commercial milestone. It is an affirmation of three decades of reinvention, discipline, strategic insight and a belief that business is still built most effectively through personal connection.

This recognition underscores something the exhibitions sector has known intuitively for years: while technology can accelerate information, it cannot replace human trust.

“You can’t replicate the power of face-to-face connection online.

Exhibitions still matter, and our growth proves that more than ever.” - Mark Harvey

A Recognition Built on Real Performance

The AFR Fast 100 is one of Australia’s most authoritative measures of business achievement. Each year, the list identifies the nation’s fastest-growing independent companies through a rigorous assessment of multi-year revenue performance, business maturity, financial resilience, independence, and sustainable growth practices.

To be ranked, companies must pass stringent criteria designed to eliminate one-off surges, windfalls or inorganic expansion. In short, it recognises sustained, disciplined growth, not hype.

National Media’s inclusion is therefore a powerful endorsement. Its performance over recent years has been marked by long-term reinvention, strong commercial yields across all major portfolios, a maturing national footprint, and a scale of growth rarely seen in the exhibitions industry. In the past year alone, the company has doubled its revenue, expanded its team significantly, increased buyer quality across all events, and rebuilt multiple shows that now stand as national leaders in their categories.

The recognition also sends a compelling signal across the wider business events industry: exhibitions remain one of the most commercially potent and strategically important channels available to Australian businesses.

Three Decades of Reinvention

National Media’s story is one of consistent evolution. More than 30 years ago, the company began as a modest B2B publishing operation on Queensland’s Gold Coast. As industry needs shifted, the business expanded into consumer and trade exhibitions, laying the foundation for a portfolio that would eventually become one of the most dynamic in the country.

But their trajectory was never linear. When the Global Financial Crisis reshaped corporate budgets and destabilised the events landscape, National Media made the strategic decision to consolidate around a single flagship event. This decision preserved capital and talent, ensuring the business was well positioned for the eventual recovery.

Years later, when the pandemic brought the global exhibitions industry to an abrupt halt, many organisers chose to pause, mothball or retreat. National Media chose a different path. The company rebuilt, acquired distressed properties, redesigned formats, and prepared a pipeline of new launches based on emerging market needs. Where others saw risk, National Media saw long-term opportunity and acted decisively.

This ability to turn disruption into momentum has become one of the organisation’s defining attributes.

An Innovation-Led National Portfolio

Today, National Media operates 13 national events across 10 distinctive industry brands, placing it among Australia’s largest independent B2B organisers. Its portfolio spans foodservice, hospitality, workplace health and safety, fitness, architecture, design and construction, sectors that have historically been underserved by traditional organisers yet rich with potential for innovation and transformation.

National Media’s growth has accelerated sharply in recent years thanks to a deliberate blend of expansion, reinvention and new product development. The company has launched industry-first events that fill critical market gaps, rebuilt events that required new purpose and identity, and strengthened commercial performance across all major portfolios.

Foodservice and workplace safety, in particular, have emerged as major contributors to growth, supported by fresh investment, industry partnerships and a deep understanding of what exhibitors and buyers need to generate meaningful commercial outcomes.

This launch-driven approach continues to gain momentum. The success of the Pizza Pasta & Italian Food Show demonstrates the company’s ability to identify and nurture niche opportunities, while the Café & Coffee Show, debuting in 2026, signals a continuing commitment to innovation within rapidly evolving sectors.

A Team of Global Specialists

Behind National Media’s success stands a team intentionally assembled for excellence.

Under Mark Harvey’s leadership and the operational stewardship of CEO Brad Langton, the company has built a talented workforce of more than 50 event, marketing and commercial specialists from across Australia, the UK, South Africa and Brazil.

Collectively, they bring more than 200 years of combined experience.

Brad Langton – CEO National Media

This depth of talent is unique in the Australian market. It allows National Media to embed its teams directly within the industries they serve, monitoring sector trends, technological shifts, regulatory change and emerging commercial pressures. These insights inform every aspect of event development, from content curation to buyer acquisition and commercial program design.

National Media’s people are not merely event operators; they are industry collaborators and strategic partners. Their expertise has played a central role in the company’s ability to launch category-leading events and consistently deliver buyer audiences with unmatched decision-making authority.

For Langton, the company’s approach to growth is grounded in quality rather than quantity.

Growth Built on Quality, Insight and Precision

National Media’s commercial performance in the past year has been exceptional by any measure. But what sets the company apart is the consistency of its philosophy: quality over volume, accuracy over assumption, and insight over tradition.

Rather than chasing overall attendance as a measure of success, the company prioritises ensuring that exhibitors meet the right buyers, those with real purchasing authority and intent. The result has been higher conversion rates, record exhibitor rebookings, stronger buyer profiles and double-digit growth across key commercial indicators.

This precision-led approach is supported by strong financial discipline. National Media is well-funded, operationally agile and unencumbered by the bureaucratic constraints that can slow larger organisations. Trust, entrepreneurial spirit, integrity and unbridled passion remain central to the company’s culture, and instrumental in shaping its future.

A Broader Win for the Exhibitions Industry

Although the AFR Fast 100 recognition is a significant achievement for National Media, it also reflects a wider narrative. At a time when many predicted that digital channels would erode the relevance of live events, the opposite has occurred. As businesses navigate a world of information overload, automation and virtual noise, they increasingly seek trusted, curated, high-quality environments where relationships can flourish and real commercial decisions can be made.

As National Media prepares for a new chapter of growth, expansion and innovation, its place in the AFR Fast 100 stands as both a milestone and a signal. A milestone recognising three decades of persistence, reinvention and evolution. And a signal that the future of exhibitions, driven by data, talent, insight and human connection, remains exceptionally strong.

For the company, and for the broader exhibitions sector, the path ahead is filled with potential.

For more information about National Media, visit their website HERE.

National Exhibitions current portfolio of events include:

Food & Hospitality

Building & Design

Health & Safety

Fitness & Performance

For more information about their events, click HERE