About us
The Power BI & Fabric Manchester User Group is a free to attend event that has been going for almost 10 years and our members to meets every month in Manchester on a Thursday evening.
We host a variety of events including talks from expert speakers and hands-on introduction to Fabric & Power BI. We are a thriving Fabric & Power BI community including end users & industry experts all who use Fabric Power BI – and enjoy using it.
Follow us on Twitter, @PBIMCR.
Follow our Linked-In page and watch past videos here
PBIMCR code of conduct:
The Fabric & Power BI User Manchester Group is committed to fostering a respectful, friendly, and professional environment for all members, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, physical appearance, disability, age, race, or religion.
We have a zero-tolerance policy for any behavior that degrades individuals based on these attributes, as well as any form of harassment or discrimination. It is essential for all members to understand and adhere to these standards, and we encourage everyone to contribute to a safe and welcoming atmosphere.
At our in-person events, we expect attendees to:
- Be friendly and welcoming.
- Listen with purpose and create space for diverse communication preferences.
- To show courtesy and respect to our speakers (i.e. Phones on silent, No getting up mid-talk to get drinks)
- Consider how you can make someone’s experience better.
- Be patient and understanding of varying communication styles.
- Acknowledge that not everyone may be using their native language, which can lead to misinterpretations.
- Communicate thoughtfully, aiming for clarity and productivity.
- Respect differing opinions and seek to understand rather than criticize.
- Make a conscious effort to include those who may differ from you.
- Assume good intent in others' statements and questions.
- Focus on continuous learning by improving your knowledge and engaging with others.
In summary, we ask that all members treat each other with respect, kindness, and empathy. Use inclusive language, communicate thoughtfully, avoid destructive comments, accept constructive criticism gracefully, and create space for others. If you need assistance, please reach out to the organisers.
Upcoming events
2
PBIMCR x Data Decoded feat Rob Sewell & Duncan Boyne
Manchester Central Convention Complex, Windmill Street, Manchester M2 3GX, GBCalling all Power BI & Fabric Data enthusiasts
We've been invited back to run a special User Group event at Data Decoded 2026 conference at Manchester Central
- Enjoy thought-provoking PBI & Fabric talks and demos from industry experts and peers.
Date and Location:
đź“… Date: 13th of October 2025
🕠Time: 5:30 PM – 7:15 PM
đź“Ť Venue: Manchester Central Convention Complex, Petersfield, M2 3GXWe are in the Data Governance, Risk & Compliance Theatre
October's PBIMCR x DataDecoded event will feature 2 talks
Speakers Duncan Boyne and Rob Sewell
Rob's talk
# What is fabric-toolbox and why should I care?
The fabric-toolbox is Microsoft's growing open-source repository of accelerators, tools, and scripts built to solve real Fabric challenges. In this session we'll tour the toolbox — from FUAM, the Fabric Unified Admin Monitoring solution that gives you deep tenant visibility beyond the 14-day Capacity Metrics limit, to FCA for FinOps cost analysis, DAX performance testing, Semantic Model auditing, Data Factory migration assistance, and the MicrosoftFabricMgmt PowerShell module with 295+ cmdlets covering 48 resource types. Whether you're an admin, developer, or architect, there's something here for you. Leave knowing exactly which tools to reach for and how to get started.
Duncan's talk:
AI Can Build the Whole Report. Here's How
You've seen the demos. One model, one chart, everything works first time. Real builds don't go like that, and a room full of developers knows it.So I built a complete three-page Power BI report through AI, end to end, without opening Desktop until the final check. This session is the honest account of how.
We'll walk the full pipeline across the three layers most AI content skips:
The model: tables, relationships, and measures, built by conversation through the Power BI modelling MCP.
The design: the step nobody covers, wireframing the report in Figma first so it looks designed, not assembled.
The report: pages, visuals, bindings, and theme generated through pbi-cli.
Then the part that earns your trust: the twelve things that broke, and the fifteen-second fixes for each. You'll leave with the real workflow, not the demo.Three takeaways:
The three-layer pipeline for building a Power BI report with AI, including the design layer almost nobody talks about.
The specific gotchas that break a Desktop-free build, and how to fix each one fast.
A clear sense of which parts of the pipeline are ready today and which still need your hands.Duncan's bio
Duncan is a Power BI and Fabric consultant, based in Norfolk and running BoyneBusiness Intelligence. He builds reporting that reflects how a business actually
works, rather than what looks good on a dashboard. Semantic models, report design,
governance, and a fair bit of working out where AI is genuinely useful in data work
and where it's just noise. Accessibility runs through all of it, and since he's
red-blind himself, it has never been theoretical.The community is the part he'll talk about longest. He runs the Norfolk Power
Platform User Group and is the founder of the East of England Summit, creating
spaces for people at all levels to learn, connect, and grow. He found this community
by accident, and it's still the best accident he's made.https://datadecoded.com/
**To attend, you must sign up for free Data Decoded tickets and register on Meetup to join the community.**
Enjoy pizza, drinks, and plenty of networking with data community afterwards at Data Decoded afterparty
35 attendees
Past events
135
