Dragonmeet now operates under sole ownership after John Dodd bought out co-owner Chris Birch, Chief Creative Officer at Modiphius. Speaking on the GMS Magazine channel with host Paco Garcia Jaen, Dodd confirmed the buyout agreement, initiated in 2024 and concluded in 2025, leaving him as the sole company director alongside volunteer leads and senior staff.
The Dragonmeet handover coincides with a permanent relocation to ExCeL London, driven by capacity limits that forced booking closures and capped ticket sales during the convention’s final run at the Novotel London West in Hammersmith. Despite overheads jumping roughly threefold to cover external logistics, furniture hire, and hall power, trader numbers grew from roughly 170 to 220. Dodd confirmed that future expansion will involve securing adjacent halls within ExCeL rather than scouting another venue change, having previously rejected sites such as Olympia, Boxpark, Truman Brewery, and Wembley Arena on accessibility and layout grounds.
Multi-Day Expansion and Floor Policy
Growth towards a full three-day convention, bringing Dragonmeet in line with events like UK Games Expo, remains roughly two years away. Dodd outlined an incremental strategy that builds out Friday as a dedicated preview day focused on academic panels, therapy research, trade networking, and evening live performances before adding further public days.
This phased approach aims to avoid punishing independent publishers and attendees with excessive London hotel bills:
If you move to three days, you have to pay for a hotel room in London at Christmas, which is not cheap. Whatever you just spent on a hotel, you could have bought that many hundred pounds’ worth of games. The algorithm in hotels means that as soon as it starts picking up, the prices surge.
To maintain space for small-press creators, Dodd enforces parity in the trade hall. While major distributors and publishers, including Asmodee and Hachette Boardgames UK, maintain large presences, they are asked to keep their stalls at hall level rather than hang high overhead banners that obscure neighbouring indie exhibitors.
| Timestamp | Topic | Operational Details |
| 07:16 – 07:56 | Sole Ownership Transition | Dodd details buying out Chris Birch’s share across 2024 and 2025, confirming 2026 marks his first cycle running the business entirely solo. |
| 17:14 – 18:37 | The Novotel Capacity Limits | Why the Hammersmith site could no longer safely hold attendees, resulting in closed-door sales and a wristband hand-back system to let queues enter. |
| 32:22 – 35:21 | London Venue Vetting | Review of rejected options including Wembley Arena (inadequate fire egress for wheelchair users) and the InterContinental O2 (quoted at over £500,000 for two days). |
| 36:42 – 38:42 | ExCeL Cost Reality | Managing a 3x overhead spike across standalone charges for power feeds, tables, chairs, and security. |
| 40:35 – 41:40 | Big Publisher Footprints | Requiring large tabletop companies to tone down exhibition displays to avoid overshadowing small-press booths. |
| 44:50 – 46:08 | The Three-Day Roadmap | Why a three-day shift sits roughly two years away, driven by concerns over London hotel pricing. |
| 48:00 – 49:44 | Pre-Booking Rules | The history behind minimal ticketing charges for RPG tables, introduced to eliminate mass no-shows and ticket hoarding. |
| 51:34 – 52:25 | RPG Therapy & Local Government | Friday academic tracks covering public library programmes and therapeutic roleplaying projects across Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea councils. |
| 53:18 – 53:55 | Bridge Command Tie-In | A planned, officially licensed anniversary event for a major roleplaying game system scheduled for next year’s Bridge Command setup. |
| 55:05 – 58:30 | Celebrity Policies | Restricting guest announcements until one month out to verify security logistics, travel, and genuine hobby relevance. |
Dragonmeet returns this winter at ExCeL London, with game booking schedules opening online ahead of the show.
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