On 24 June, 2010, the £165m ICC London ExCeL officially opened in London’s docklands. Mike Fletcher was there for venuefinder.com to report on the capital’s new conference facility and the day’s main highlights.
The Mayor of London,
Boris Johnson, and ADNEC Chairman, His Excellency
Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, officially launched the UK capital's first International Convention Centre at ExCeL London on 24 June.
The new £165m facility encompasses London's largest banqueting space, ICC Capital Hall; a 5,000 tiered seater, ICC Auditorium; and a conference suite, ICC Capital Suite, comprising 17 individual meeting rooms for 50 to 2,500 delegates.
In addition, ExCeL London with the ICC and extra facilities will support 38,000 jobs and generate £1.6bn worth of economic benefit to the UK capital in 2011.
Speaking at the launch, Boris Johnson said: "For 20 years London has been voted by business leaders as the top European city for business. It is in a class of its own as a world city with a highly skilled workforce, favourable time-zone and unrivalled access to global markets.
"Business tourism is vital to the London economy and the opening today of the ICC is a brilliant addition to our business offering. Alongside the Olympic Park it will boost the overall regeneration of the East End and help ensure the capital remains an open, diverse and competitive city."
ICC London ExCeL Chief Executive Kevin Murphy commented: "Until now, London was not able to compete for large international conventions. With our ICC and the cohesive support and working group with the City and the convention bureau, Visit London, we now have a compelling offer and a world class facility to compete for the £100 billion business we know is out there and wants to come to London. Since the announcement of London's first ICC, we have confirmed business in excess of £300 million of economic benefit to London, beating leading cities such as Barcelona, Paris and Vienna. This is proof that we have built the right facility and that the pan London working group and support from the Mayor's Office, is meeting the market's needs."
One of the major contract wins for the new facility is a two-year deal to stage Cisco Live, a convention which takes place in Europe and the US annually and attracts more than 3,500 delegates.
Cisco Live will debut at the ICC London ExCeL from 30 January to 3 February 2011 and is expected to attract 100 of the top Chief Executives from major corporations as well as a host of technology companies and corporate decision makers.
Last year's Cisco Live Europe took place at the CCIB in Barcelona. Vice President European Marketing Amanda Jobbins revealed Cisco's decision to come to London for 2011 and 2012 during a London Future Forum debate, which formed part of the day’s activities to launch the new docklands venue.
She said: "In the ICC London ExCeL, the city finally has a facility capable of hosting this size of convention as well as the technology to provide demonstrations and truly enhance the delegate experience. The Olympics taking place in 2012 was a massive draw to return and be in London during Olympic year. We'll arrange tours of the Olympic facilities for delegates and with the city's four heritage sites and Europe's largest ferris wheel, everyone is very excited about coming to London."
The London Future Forum discussed how the UK capital is going about attracting more events business and took place on the morning of the ICC London ExCeL launch. It was organised by the UK Chapter of the International Special Events Society (ISES) in conjunction with Visit London and the Mayor's Office.
Cisco's Jobbins was joined on a panel of speakers by Dan Ritterband, Director of Marketing for the Mayor's Office, Sarah Wright, Head of Events for Barclays, Richard Foulkes, Imagination Director of Special Events and incoming ISES President, Bill Morris, LOCOG Director of Culture, Ceremonies and Education and Kim Myre, Senior Vice President and Managing Director EMEA at George P Johnson.
The majority of the panelists voiced their concerns that, despite the opening of the ICC London ExCeL, the UK capital still wasn’t doing enough to capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the 2012 Olympics and urgently needs to address perceptions surrounding value, accessibility and transport.
Speaking on behalf of the Mayor’s Office Ritterband summed up the debate, which further discussed sustainability, technology, business tourism and the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games: "The practical ways in which we can help event organisers come to London are things like working closely with Transport for London and finding creative ways to encourage private sector companies to get involved. In the run up to 2012 we will also be implementing a really strong London brand campaign," he said.
On the future plans for the ICC London ExCeL, Chief Executive Kevin Murphy concluded: “On 8 June, we announced a further investment of £50m by our owner ADNEC to build the UK's first Starwood ALOFT hotel. This will be a four star, 252 bedroom business hotel linked to the ICC London. Our vision doesn't just stop there. We have created a key cornerstone in the Thames regeneration project and have strong ambition with key London partners and our owners to continue the regeneration of the Royal Docks."
ICC London ExCeL has taken two years to build with the volume of concrete used for the venue enough to fill 10 Olympic sized swimming pools, while two 747 jumbo jets could be parked in each hall, such is the scale of the new facility. Together with the existing ExCeL London, the new ICC is also the only single building in the UK to span between two rail stations.
