BAPCO 2026 Recap: The Conversations That Mattered

Two days, B28, and a very full stand

BAPCO 2026 wrapped on Thursday 26 March. Over the two days of the show we had a constant flow of conversations on stand B28, from first-time visitors to integrators and end users we have worked with for the better part of two decades. Thank you to everyone who came by.

Rather than list the sessions we attended, this is a short read on what we actually heard from customers on the floor, and what we plan to do about it.

The themes that came up most

1. ESN migration planning is no longer hypothetical

In previous years, conversations about the Emergency Services Network tended to circle. This year, forces and integrators were arriving with specific questions: dual-band antenna requirements during the transition period, vehicle re-fit schedules, and supply lead times for public-safety-grade LTE units. The practical shift is that people now need hardware they can deploy this financial year, not in principle.

2. Dual-band and multi-band is the new baseline

Almost every engineering discussion on the stand involved more than one band. TETRA plus LTE was the most common pairing, with increasing mention of Band 28, Band 3 and the wider public safety bands. The days of specifying a single-band antenna for a new vehicle install are effectively behind us for most forces.

3. Bespoke work is back on the agenda

We had more bespoke enquiries in two days than in the whole of Q1. These ranged from non-standard mounting footprints for body-worn equipment, through to environmentally-sealed variants for marine and coastal installations. Our engineering team is already working through the shortlist.

4. Trust in UK supply is a real selling point

Following well-documented supply disruption in the sector, several conversations came back to where an antenna is actually made and where stock physically sits. UK warehousing with EU-manufactured hardware turned out to be more valuable to procurement leads than we had expected.

New customers, new projects

We will not name anyone without permission, but at a headline level BAPCO 2026 delivered:

What happens next

If we spoke with you on stand, you can expect:

If we missed you, it is not too late. Email sales@renair.co.uk or request a quote directly from any product page on renair.co.uk and we will be in touch.

Thank you

Thank you to the BAPCO team for another well-run event, to the conference speakers for a genuinely useful programme, and to everyone who took the time to stop at stand B28. The through-line across the two days was clear: the UK public safety community is busy, the technology is changing quickly, and reliable antennas matter more than ever. That is a good thing for a company that has been making them for forty years.

See you in 2027.