Thursday 24th June marked the start of a new era in business tourism for London.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, officially launched the Capital’s first International Convention Centre at ExCeL London with ADNEC Chairman, His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan.
The new £165 million facility encompasses London’s largest banqueting space ICC Capital Hall, the 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 £1.6 billion worth of economic benefit to the Capital in 2011.
Speaking at the launch, the Mayor of London, 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 timezone 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."
CEO ExCeL London 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.”
Murphy further added: “None of this would have been possible without the shared vision and investment of our owners, ADNEC, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company. They are committed to the long-term future of this business and London as a leading business destination."
"On 8th June, we announced a further investment of £50m by 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.
Image: (left to right): Kevin Murphy, CEO ExCeL London, with Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, meeting H.E Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, at the launch of ICC London ExCeL, the capital's first International Convention Centre.
