The event, which is targeted at professionals responsible for managing their organisation’s energy consumption, will sit within MA Exhibitions, run by managing director Tim Willoughby. It is scheduled under its new ownership from 23-24 November at London’s ExCeL.

Heelec – an acronym for Home for Energy Efficiency and Low Energy – was set up in 2013 by events professional Jason Franks and Lord Rupert Redesdale, a Liberal Democrat hereditary peer. Lord Redesdale will join Mark Allen as a consultant and remains the face of the exhibition.

Mark Allen said: “This is a superb acquisition for us coming so soon after the interest generated by the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop 26, which was held last year in Glasgow. It puts our company right at the heart of the central debate relating to sustainability. Rupert was very keen to stay with EMEX and we are delighted he has agreed to do so.”

Ben Allen added: “Although we have become a much bigger concern during the last decade, we are a family-based company whose values, we believe, align with those of Rupert’s and the net zero community. What we aim to do is build this community and event into an even greater force for good, without compromising the independence and vision which is what has made EMEX successful.”

Lord Redesdale said: “I am delighted to be joining Mark Allen as a consultant for the EMEX event. This is a crucial and vital time for the planet. It was particularly important to us that we reached out to a company which put such a premium on content and intellectual integrity and Mark Allen fitted that bill. With more investment coming its way, EMEX can only expand and develop.”

The deal was brokered by Steve Monnington of Mayfield Merger Strategies. It follows Mark Allen Group’s acquisition earlier this year of Regen, the regeneration event held annually in Liverpool, and represents its 24th deal in the last 10 years.