England Positions Itself as Events Capital of the World as it Announces an Impressive Roll-Call of Exhibitors

As England gears up for hosting London2012, Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and the Royal Shakespeare Festival in 2012, the country is also attracting leading conferences in a diverse range of fields, from life sciences to green energies, IT and telecoms.

Head of Business Visits and Events at VisitEngland Simon Gidman says: “England leads the world in many fields including advanced engineering, medicine and life sciences, the creative industries and green energies. Combined with a dazzling array of new venues, hotels and transport developments as well as a rich and diverse culture and heritage, it is not surprising that many leading associations and companies are choosing to hold their major international events in England.”

NewcastleGateshead is gearing up for the Liberal Democrats’ spring conference in March 2012, with £23,000 of hotel bookings already taken. Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said: “I am really pleased that the Liberal Democrats will be visiting NewcastleGateshead for our Spring Conference in 2012. The world-class facilities of The Sage Gateshead, top-quality hotels and the famous friendliness of the local people are obvious attractions to coming to North East England.” The event takes place at the destination’s flagship venue, The Sage Gateshead, and is expected to attract around 1,500 high-profile politicians, decision makers and policy influencers to North East England.

The Conservative Party Conference was held in Manchester in early October, attracting 13,000 delegates and generating an estimated £27.4 million for the local economy. Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: “The development of Petersfield, investment in the surrounding infrastructure and a city-wide partnership approach has enabled us to not only attract these events but keep them coming back year after year. They are now a firm fixture of the city’s business tourism calendar and contribute a significant amount to the city’s £573m-a-year conference industry.”

Manchester has won the bid to host the International Summit on Breast Cancer, to be held at the Palace Hotel between 15 and 18 April 2012. Up to 300 specialists involved in the fight against breast cancer will travel to Manchester for the meeting of the International Association of Breast Cancer Research. Visit Manchester’s MD Paul Simpson said “this is another example of the Conference Ambassador Programme in action. There are a number of organisations and facilities in Manchester that work in the field of cancer treatment and so the city is a natural host for a meeting of this type.”
Earlier this year, the newly rebranded United Events (formerly Manchester United) hosted the International Vehicle Crime Conference at the Old Trafford stadium, welcoming 200 delegates from across the police, government, motor industry and insurance sectors. The stadium offers 24 purpose-built suites, over 160 meeting rooms and can accommodate up to 1,100 delegates.

The new ACC Liverpool has won the bid to host the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in 2013, beating competition from Gothenburg, Copenhagen, Moscow and Munich. The four-day event will attract around 3,000 delegates including clinicians, scientists, allied health professionals working in the field of obesity research and education, and advocacy groups. With 7,125m2 of exhibition space and an auditorium that can seat 1350, ACCL is an ideal venue for conferences of this size.

ACC Liverpool hosted the Labour party conference in September; the largest ever held at the venue. Utilising both the BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena, the five-day event attracted around 11,000 delegates and generated an estimated £15 million for the local economy. ACC Liverpool Chairman David McDonnell commented: "The decision of Labour Party to bring their annual conference to Liverpool demonstrates that our venue and city can host events of national and international significance on a huge scale. This is down to the fact that organisations in both the private and public sector are able to work together towards a common aim.”

The venue has won another major medical event as the International Society on Thrombosis & Haemostasis is set to host its Scientific and Standardisation Committee (SSC) meeting in the city in June 2012. The event, which is expected to attract approximately 1500 delegates, will set out to convey how the SSC is well-positioned to translate new knowledge into better patient care. Promoting cross-information exchange and engaging with external partners are all key in delivering solutions to the needs of patients with haemostatic and thrombotic problems.