Working Dad's Summit

The UK's Working Dads' Summit is back for 2026.

Hosted by Parenting Out Loud, and sponsored by Universal Music Group UK, the Summit builds community, inspires and shares best practice around supporting working dads to be loud and proud about their caring responsibilities at work.

You'll hear real life stories from dads who are Parenting Out Loud. And we'll talk to the organisations who are creating workplace cultures that support them in doing so.

Expect honest conversations about paternity leave, dads' mental health and what it really takes to be an equal parent, with voices from family friendly employers, politics and campaigning. This year's speakers and full agenda will be announced soon.

The Summit will take place in person and online on Wednesday 11 November 2026.

This is THE place to be for everyone that cares about working dads, equal parenting and gender equality.

It's free to join online, so register your online ticket today. In person places are limited, and we'll be releasing a select number of tickets to our newsletter subscribers in the autumn. Sign up to our newsletter and keep reading to be first to hear how to get yours.

About Parenting Out Loud

Parenting Out Loud, founded by Elliott Rae, is a workplace culture change programme that supports dads to be loud and proud about their caring responsibilities at work.

Parenting Out Loud is when dads openly work flexibly for childcare reasons. It’s dads taking the full parental leave available. It’s dads including their school pick-up and drop-off in their open calendar. It’s dads joining the staff parenting network and sharing their story. It’s dads leaving loudly at 3pm to do the school pick-up rather than leaving quietly through the back door.

Encouraging, supporting and enabling dads to Parent Out Loud and be equal parents is essential to addressing the gender pay gap, the motherhood penalty and achieving gender equality at home and at work.

When dads parent loudly, they help normalise male caring in the workplace and role model this behaviour for others. They remove the stigma around male caring and help change the narrative around fatherhood in the workplace.

More and more dads want to parent loudly, but research shows us that 1 in 3 working dads don’t feel comfortable talking to their employer about family commitments. Although many dads want to Parent Out Loud, we can’t ask dads to do so when they exist in workplace cultures that don’t support it.

Through online coaching sessions, Linkedin Live webinars, fatherhood-themed football conversations at football stadiums and amplifying the voices of working dads on social media, we support dads to be loud and proud about their caring responsibilities at work. You can join the community and find out more information about our activities by following our LinkedIn Page.

We also work with employers, through talks, workshops and roundtables, to build workplace cultures that normalise male caring and empower dads to parent loudly at work and be equal parents at work. You can read more about the culture change programme on our website.

About Universal Music Group UK

Universal Music Group UK is the UK’s leading music-based entertainment company, home to successful artists that exist to shape culture through the power of artistry. We help UK artists produce, distribute and promote the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful music to inspire and entertain fans at home and around the world.

Alongside our labels which include Island Records UK, Polydor, EMI Records, Capitol Records UK, 0207 Def-Jam Recordings, Decca Records, Mercury KX, Hyperion Records and Universal Music Recordings, our business includes Abbey Road, the world’s first and most iconic recording studio, Mercury Studios, our music-first content studio, Bravado, a leading provider of consumer, lifestyle and brand managed services around the world, and Globe Originals, our world leading content production house.

At Universal Music Group UK, we believe that a healthy balance between work and family life is essential to our long-term success. Our friends & family policies are designed to support employees throughout all stages of their journey with us – from welcoming a new child, caring for a loved one, to navigating the daily responsibilities of family life.

We are proud to offer a wide range of initiatives including:

• Equal family leave policy, meaning all parents employed by the company will be eligible for up to 52 weeks off with 26 weeks at full pay when welcoming a new baby
• 1:1 parental transition coaching in partnership with HDYDI
• A workplace nursery scheme offering savings on monthly fees
• Paid emergency time off to care for dependants
• A vibrant parents & carers community group with regular events and expert-led workshops
• Holiday gift days and flexible approaches to holiday periods

Following the publication of our gender pay gap report, a workshop took place with senior women and Community Group Leaders, and the importance of positive male role models was highlighted as being key to the uptake of these policies and driving a culture of equal parenting and flexibility.