Over the last few weeks the eyes of the world have been firmly focused on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront with Cunard Line’s 175th birthday bringing a host of spectacular events to the city. Now, as the anniversary celebrations draw to a close, the focus remains on the river with the launch of the £65m Exhibition Centre.
With the new event space set to open in September and the programme of events for the rest of 2015 already announced, Your Move caught up with Tim Banfield, commercial director of ACC Liverpool which operates Exhibition Centre Liverpool, BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena to find out what the development means for the city.
YM: How will the Exhibition Centre differ from the Convention Centre or Arena?
At its simplest level Exhibition Centre Liverpool gives us more space to bring more events and exhibitions to Liverpool. We have some conferences and exhibitions that loved the venue and the city but whose events had outgrown the current arena and convention centre facilities and we can now welcome these events back.
The new venue doubles our available exhibition floor space as well as being able to host standing concerts for 6,000 people which gives us the flexibility to host multiple events of different genres across all three venues.
Exhibition Centre Liverpool is purpose built which means we have been able to design it to ensure it contains all the facilities exhibition organisers need as well as providing resource and support to help them bring their events to Liverpool. It’s down to simple things like the access to the exhibition floor for set up to get their vehicles in.
Have you see more interest from bigger events since the Exhibition Centre was announced?
The development of Exhibition Centre Liverpool has been key for us winning exhibitions and large trade conferences that had outgrown our current capacity. This includes; the Labour Party Conference in 2016, Renewable UK 2015, International Festival of Business 2016, Federation of Petroleum Suppliers and World Cup Netball 2019, for the first time under one roof.
We have the advantage that all three venues are inter-connected, so organisers can use all three venues together if needed.
What will the centre mean for Liverpool and its people?
In our first 12 months we expect to bring £20 million of Economic impact to the city with a programme of 40 events and another 150,000 visitors
It’s not only a great addition to the city but also for the residents of the city with a great mix of consumer events where people can do anything from have a great Girls’ Day Out to see some amazing toys with all the family, so there’s something for everyone to find their passion.
Can you tell our readers something that may not know about the centre?
- It includes over 2,000m2 of glass we need to clean before we can open
- We actually started planning for Exhibition Centre Liverpool 18 months after we opened ACC Liverpool
- With over half a million man hours now worked at the site of the new Exhibition Centre Liverpool and Pullman Hotel development, ISG our construction partner has calculated that once completed, the project will have contributed around £169 million to the regional economy
- Our logo reflects the shape of the building
You’ve already announced the calendar of events so far, do you have any big surprises up your sleeve that have yet to be announced?
We have a great launch programme and we look forward to welcoming people to Exhibition Centre Liverpool but we have more great events to come, a lot of shows are booking up to two years in advance so we can’t tell you what yet so follow us on Facebook or Twitter or sign up on ExhibitionCentreLiverpool.com to be one of the first to know.
What is planned for the official opening?
We open our doors on 2 September with our first exhibition and that’s the start of our strong programme already announced until the end of the year.
The Telegraph Cruise & Travel Show
17-18 October 2015
The perfect event for travel enthusiasts, visitors will be able to access an ocean of helpful information from cruise and travel experts and take part in a range of holiday activities from wine tasting to cocktail making. Highlights include:
Toytopia
24-26 October 2015
One for kids of all ages, meet characters from much-loved TV shows, comic and film, try out the latest toys from AirBoards to balance bikes and be in with a chance of winning a mountain of toys and games.
MCM Comic Con
12-13 March 2016
For the first time ever, one of the biggest comic conventions in the world will be heading to Liverpool. Details have yet to be released but if the London and Manchester editions are anything to go by it’s set to be epic.
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